Sony buying Nikon ?

[Drive-By-Shooter]

here's why companies will need to merge. also, we're getting o the point that the cameras won't be better than what we own! This Chart Shows How the Camera Market Has Changed Over the Past Decades

 

[greybeard]

Given the way Canon is going after Nikon (Tom Hogan) and probably Sony, it could happen.

 

[Solarflare]

Thom Hogan is completely independent from Nikon, even if he comments on Nikon a lot. He's not a Nikon ambassador (and I dont think he stands a chance in hell to ever be one, the way he keeps telling Nikon what they should do) and he's not an employee or owns part of the company either. All he is is a photographer who keeps working with Nikon gear while speaking doom and gloom about it all the time.

And no, I dont think that Canon and Nikon will ever merge. Because they are the two giants of the photography business, in competition to each other since over half a century, and have completely incompatible systems. So neither of them has anything to gain from acquiring the other. They dont need the extra employees and they dont need the extra Knowhow.

I believe that the photography market is shrinking due to a couple of factors:

- The worldwide economic crisis. People dont have the money needed to buy good cameras
- The cellphone revolution. People dont need point and shoot cameras anymore, thus that market is drastically collapsing.
- The lack of need to upgrade. What do you want from a camera ? That it takes excellent pictures. But some older cameras like a Canon 5D (2005) or a Nikon D700 (2008) are still fantastic cameras today if you know how to use them right.

The companies try their best to produce artificial need. For example with the sharpness (for lenses) and Megapixel (for cameras) wars. But the truth is, if all that owners of a Canon 5D or Nikon D700 (and other high quality cameras) want to do is making pictures (and not newer gimmicks, like video) and if they know how to use these cameras correctly (for example they dont have as good dynamic range as modern cameras), they dont need an upgrade. Like, ever. Until their camera breaks.