Is Canon in Trouble?

[benjikan]

Just an opinion. I think Canon has gone off track recently and are in the process of loosing clients due to their recent complacency. Nikon is now number one in Japan and Pentax have taken an even larger market share of 12.8 percent.

Just my take.

Ben

 

[Alex_B]

I think neither Canon nor Nikon are going to be in any trouble in the near future. There will always be fluctuations in market shares, they are all fighting for those shares actively.

Cannot see much difference in Canon and Nikon regarding marketing and how they treat customers

 

[Alex_B]

BTW, just realised now, that your avatar is so damn similar to mine!

 

[Don Simon]

I'm not very good at following business news but I can't really see Canon being in trouble even if they're losing a bit of market share. Fact is most people (here in the UK at least and it seems to apply elsewhere) immediately think "Canon" or "Nikon" when it comes to photography. Every shop that sells digital SLRs sells Canon digital SLRs. I've spoken to shop staff who don't like dealing with Canon but not selling them is simply not a realistic option.

A lot of people like the little Rebels, and people able to invest more in photography understandably like full-frame sensors, the quality of the higher-end models, IS technology. The low price of some of the primes alone is quite a compelling factor. Not to mention availability. We don't even need to mention professionals; with respect you are in a minority in not using Canon or Nikon, and in many areas of professional photography there are good reasons for this. So there are plenty of really good reasons why Canon's products fly off the shelves, then of course there are the psychological reasons - the name brand itself, plus of course the magical effects of printing "L" on a lens... so no, I don't see why Canon would be in any real trouble.

 

[benjikan]

BTW, just realised now, that your avatar is so damn similar to mine!

You have more hair...In fact everyone I know has more hair..

 

[Big Mike]

I agree with the others. Canon is not in trouble...it does look like their lead in this market is slipping, for the moment...but it's more a matter of other companies catching up.

Personally...I don't care how Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Sony etc., split up the market. I do know that competition is good for us, the consumers. The more great products that come out...the better & lowered priced they will get.

The PMA show starts tomorrow, I think. Check back here in a week and we will have a better idea of what these companies are up to.

 

[THORHAMMER]

as far as I know neither nikkon or pentax has full frame sensors yet. They still have a lot of R&D to do before they can be considered a huge threat.

although I dont see cannon worried about sonys full frame since there isnt too much pro backing for it yet, I mean the older minolta 7D has more features and is setup more professional then the new sony cameras...

hes right, the more competition we have the better for us...

 

[RacePhoto]

Big Trouble...

They probably won't be able to make and ship the new 1DN III fast enough to fill all the orders coming in for the new super camera. 110 frame burst rate at 10 FPS! 45 point auto focusing. 50 different top of the line lenses. 3200 ISO full size sensor. I don't think they are in any trouble.

Market share is only one part of the picture, if you don't mind the play on words.

Up until recent years, GM was the largest auto maker in the world and sold the most cars. Does that make the Chevy the best car in the world?

All of the other cameras mentioned up to this point, in this thread are very good digital cameras. Canon isn't going away because they sell less point and shoots at Walgreens, Shopco or Best Buy.

Just an opinion. I think Canon has gone off track recently and are in the process of loosing clients due to their recent complacency. Nikon is now number one in Japan and Pentax have taken an even larger market share of 12.8 percent.

Just my take.

Ben

 

[lostprophet]

Canon should be announcing the 40D in a few months then a few months later the 1DS mkIII then towards the end of the year the 5D replacement.
The one area Canon seem to be doing badly is the PnS market. They place to much on the IXUS brand name in my mind. I have an IXUS 800is which is nice but the comp around that time was much better, why did I buy it? Hey Canon done me a better deal!!

Nikon have a few things on the way but getting info out of them is like getting blood out of a stone. Their PnS cameras are going from strength to strength.

Pentax, well Pentax UK only do repairs, all camera equipment is now dealt with by Intro2020. Another odd move in my mind because sells are up and their dSLRs are getting better and better, so why ship all camera sells to a third party?

Sony, who knows. they seem to be getting everything wrong at the moment
PS3 is slated everywhere
yet more cameras (PnS) taken off the shelves because of sensor problems and not forgetting the problems with other manufacturers cameras that use Sony made sensors.
Alpha 100 is a great camera but a slow seller. The day it arrived in the shop all anyone asked was "when are the higher spec cameras coming?"

 

[Garbz]

The fact is marketing fluxuations are very common in this business. Although I disagree with some of what has been said in this thread.

Nikon did a horrible move a few years ago by adding encryption to the white balance data in their raw files. This angered some photographers who jumped ship to Canon. But every design decision a company makes like delaying a product or adding certain features or omitting others will influence some photographers who may suddenly take a dislike and leave.

Then there's the photographers who don't care enough about these minor problems. I did not like Nikons move a while back, but it was not enough for me to jump to canon especially since I had 3 Nikon lenses for my previous camera which would be compatible with my next purchase.

Finally there's the zealiots (sp?). They will buy their brand of camera regardless of how crap it is, and you see them arguing without actually saying anything noteworthy all the time at photography shops.

What I disagree with is the full frame or R&D arguement. Nikon doesn't stick to APS sensors because they lack the research to go full frame. It is simply a business decision, the APS sensors are easier to manufacture. Some photographers will sware green and blue that it makes a huge difference, whereas I know more photographers personally who use a Nikon D2X than a Canon 5D. Again this is the result of weighing up which features are important to which photographer.

In the end though the only thing that matters is the brand value. Nikon and Canon are considered the top 2 brands by those people who don't know any better, and by many who do. Pentax while making good cameras are less known, Sony is still considered "toys" by many pros, and something like this will not change any time soon.

 

[benjikan]

The fact is marketing fluxuations are very common in this business. Although I disagree with some of what has been said in this thread.

Nikon did a horrible move a few years ago by adding encryption to the white balance data in their raw files. This angered some photographers who jumped ship to Canon. But every design decision a company makes like delaying a product or adding certain features or omitting others will influence some photographers who may suddenly take a dislike and leave.

Then there's the photographers who don't care enough about these minor problems. I did not like Nikons move a while back, but it was not enough for me to jump to canon especially since I had 3 Nikon lenses for my previous camera which would be compatible with my next purchase.

Finally there's the zealiots (sp?). They will buy their brand of camera regardless of how crap it is, and you see them arguing without actually saying anything noteworthy all the time at photography shops.

What I disagree with is the full frame or R&D arguement. Nikon doesn't stick to APS sensors because they lack the research to go full frame. It is simply a business decision, the APS sensors are easier to manufacture. Some photographers will sware green and blue that it makes a huge difference, whereas I know more photographers personally who use a Nikon D2X than a Canon 5D. Again this is the result of weighing up which features are important to which photographer.

In the end though the only thing that matters is the brand value. Nikon and Canon are considered the top 2 brands by those people who don't know any better, and by many who do. Pentax while making good cameras are less known, Sony is still considered "toys" by many pros, and something like this will not change any time soon.

You know..Give me any decent DSLR and I could pull it off...In fact I once did a pro shoot with a 5 mega pixel Casio. I think so much of this comes down to the person behind the camera and not so much the camera.

However...In principle and within the given frame of reference, I completely agree with the above post!

 

[Garbz]

Oh yeah brand has nothing to do with final image. Probably the best or second best image I took in my holiday in Austria was done on my sister's Olympus cheapy since I didn't want to carry the D200 up the skiislope.

What I meant with the last sentence is "In the end though the only thing that matters [to the company's profitability and future] is the brand value." e.g. Hassleblad make some ridiculously fantastic cameras but I doubt (no actual knowledge on this) they are anywhere near as profitable as Nikon or Canon.

 

[THORHAMMER]

I see what your saying, but, wether they lack the R&D or not isnt something we can prove, although it seems a shame they would not think their users could benefit from a FF sensor.

FF has its purpose, and its not automatically better for everyone

less noise, easier depth of field, much much brighter viewfinder, more pixels from sensor size not interpolation, bigger print sizes, wide angle lenses are now wide angle.

For landscapers, and architectural photogs this is invaluable. for sports and animal shooters its not so good as your zoom lens is now less powerful.

non EF-S wide angle lenses don't give the FOV they should either with cropped sensors.

I think the extra resolution and tonality itself makes it an invaluable workhorse for a studio environment. Id rather decide that myself then have my camera company decide that I dont need it...

who knows... im sure N will have a FF sometime too... itll be a mute point..

 

[fmw]

I would disagree with Ben that Canon is in any trouble but I would certainly agree with his last post. The equipment is fairly immaterial. A good photographer makes good images with any equipment. Some equipment may be more convenient or get the job done more efficiently or have some special capability needed for some particular application. But in general, all the equipment is competent and just needs a good eye and a good brain to make it do good things.

 

[benjikan]

I would disagree with Ben that Canon is in any trouble but I would certainly agree with his last post. The equipment is fairly immaterial. A good photographer makes good images with any equipment. Some equipment may be more convenient or get the job done more efficiently or have some special capability needed for some particular application. But in general, all the equipment is competent and just needs a good eye and a good brain to make it do good things.

Some photog's think that by hanging a 'Blad around your neck "You have arrived"...So Wrong!