http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-07-08/nikon-plans-new-concept-slr-camera-as-early-as-this-year-kimura-says.html Actually, I won't be surprised if Nikon, Canon, etc. start following Apple's lead and have "accidental" leaks ahead of planned official announcement dates. ; So we may see it soon.
No surprise there. ; After Oly & Panny ended up selling far more than anyone expected...I'm sure Nikon and Canon had their attention perked up a bit, but still felt secure. ; But then Sony introduced their version, and it too has been a smash seller...now Nikon & Canon have all the alarm bells and red lights going off at headquarters. ; Time to get on the boat before it leaves. Of course, Nikon & Canon's versions don't have to do anything at all special - no cool designs, no special materials, no better IQ abilities, no special performance gains...simply by having a 'Nikon' or 'Canon' printed on the front, they'll outsell the others. ; Those two really have to shoot themselves in the foot dozens of times before it'll knock either of them off the sales throne...just too well established. ; Look at Toyota - they've shot themselves in the foot at least 8 times this year, and though sales are down, they're still #1 in the US and the world. ; Or look at GM - they've shot themselves in the foot, what...a thousand times?...yet they're still hanging on to #2 in the US. At this point, I think Canon could stuff a fixed focus 3mp cellphone camera sensor and lens in a sardine can and punch a hole through for a viewfinder, and it would get onto the top 100 sales charts. ; Oly, Panny, and Sony need to suck up all the sales they can now before the big two join in, because no matter how good or even better their products are compared to C&N, they'll still see their sales plummet when those two join the party. (on a side note, Oly & Panny sales in Japan took a massive hit from Sony's NEX introduction - it took more than 38% of MIL sales in its debut month...probably a precursor of the type of impact Canon or Nikon will have when they hit the market).
I think you're right Justin. http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=1&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fbcnranking.jp%2Fnews%2F1007%2F100708_17586.html&sl=ja&tl=en What is still surprising to me is that the D90 is the #1 dSLR in Japan. ; Still, even as it's EOL is around the riverbend. Nikon just unseated Canon at the top, and Hoya (they own Pentax) knocked Sony from #4 down to #6. ; That one is of interest to me.
All interesting little stats. ; Though the big grain of salt with which all that has to be taken is that those are stats for Japan's market in 2010 so far. ; All of the ranks and positions mean a little less overall as they only apply to that 6 month period, and then there's the very big differences between the Japanese market and much of the rest of the world. ; What Japan buys doesn't necessarily say what Europe or US buys...NEX could be much more successful there than elsewhere, and Pentax could be a bigger hit there than elsewhere. ; Plus, that's only looking at DSLR vs mirrorless market, leaving out P&S. ; There's more secrecy in actual sales figures from camera manufacturers than there are in the U.S. nuclear weapons program! Personally, I could care less who's #1 or #46...I buy what I like the best and what does what I need...and the only hope I have is that any of those manufacturers don't die away, for the sake of continued support and lenses for current users. ; At least so far, I can't really see any likelihood of Canon, Nikon, Sony, or Panasonic disappearing...Samsung is an unknown - massive company, but small presence in cameras. ; Oly for me is a bit unknown, because while micro-4/3 is doing well, their DSLR business has been stagnant and unupdated and their P&S market is vestigial. ; Pentax seems to be doing well in DSLRs, but Hoya still isn't at the size or level of the massive conglomerate behemoths, so though I don't see them disappearing, I could see them getting bought out, merged, or live on as a niche market strictly in DSLRs. I'll always hope for someone other than Canon & Nikon to be out there though - I don't see any good coming from 1 or 2 massive companies owning the market - it tends to stagnate creative development, fix prices and profits artifically, and increase prices of used equipment on the second hand market. ; And try as I might, I just never seem to have any desire to own whatever is the best-selling and most desired thing on the planet! ; I have some kind of allergy against the Big Numero Uno...from sports teams to cars to watches to cameras to cellphones to computers...I just don't ever buy the hottest trend or support the most popular...I'm a real supporter of the underdog, the slightly different way of doing things, the one who goes against the trend. ; It's got to be some kind of disorder or syndrome!
