New York times:
TOKYO The single lens reflex camera has long been every digital photographer's dream. Now, though, such cameras are not only available but are becoming less expensive.
Like the film versions, digital single lens reflex or S.L.R. cameras have interchangeable lenses and the precision and functions that professional photographers and serious amateurs demand. And like cheaper compact digital cameras, S.L.R. digitals instantly display photos that can be sent to computers and edited with software.
The catch, though, has always been the price. With top-of-the line digital S.L.R. cameras costing as much as $10,000, only artists, photojournalists and the most avid hobbyists were likely to invest in them. But in the past year, Canon Inc., the Nikon Corporation and other camera makers have introduced cheaper, more accessible models to their digital S.L.R. lines, with the price tag on some models nearing $1,000.
Their efforts to turn a once exclusive camera into more of a mass-market item are emblematic of the broad transformation sweeping the industry. For years, sophisticated photographers held onto their analog cameras in the belief that no digital alternative could replicate the richness of film. But now, falling prices and better technology are prompting more film loyalists to add digital S.L.R. cameras to their collections.
In Japan, where about 90 percent of the world's cameras are made, unit shipments of digital cameras began outpacing their analog counterparts last year. The United States is expected to reach this point this year, according to the Photo Marketing Association International. And with digital camera sales growing about 25 percent a year, the steady erosion of the analog camera market, which peaked in 1996, is sure to continue.
The trend has created havoc for companies like the Eastman Kodak Company, which cut its second-quarter profit forecast by more than half, in part because of declining film sales. Fuji Photo Film, the world's second-largest filmmaker after Kodak, has emphasized its digital-camera technology. Another leading Japanese filmmaker, the Konica Corporation, merged with the camera maker Minolta in January, in hopes of remaining competitive.
Although they still run substantial analog film-camera businesses, Canon and Nikon, the world's two leading camera makers, both based here, have jumped headlong into the digital camp. Canon expects shipments of its digital cameras to double this year, to 8.5 million units, as analog film camera sales stall. The 20 percent profit margins it earns on compact digital cameras are more than twice as much as it makes selling cameras that use film, analysts say.
Digital S.L.R. cameras are even more profitable, analysts say, because the price of crucial components like imaging sensors have declined as sales have grown. Makers have also saved money by adapting existing film S.L.R. camera bodies for digital use. And, as consumers have grown sufficiently comfortable with digital camera technology, more are seeking the additional versatility and quality of an S.L.R. model.
Over all, global shipments of digital S.L.R. cameras are expected to double this year, to one million. To grab a piece of this growing pie, another Japanese manufacturer, the Olympus Optical Company, plans in October to release its E-1 digital S.L.R. camera, which is expected to sell for less than 100,000 yen ($847.17), making it the cheapest digital S.L.R. camera on the market.
The design is as much a draw as the price. In an S.L.R. camera whether film or digital mirrors enable the photographer to see the subject through the lens, rather than through a separate viewfinder that is slightly out of alignment with what the lens takes in. This through-the-lens view enables the photographer to aim more precisely than with a non-S.L.R. camera.
This and other innovations like longer lasting batteries and increased memory have made the digital S.L.R. camera indispensable to professional photographers.
Some magazines, with their glossy, color pages, still ask for film negatives. And many professionals say that photos taken with digital cameras, for all their improvements, are not as vivid as those taken with film, particularly when printed in larger sizes. But many publications, especially newspapers, focus on the speed of delivery and the ease of storage, which is why for many professional photographers, owning a digital S.L.R. camera has become a necessity.
"Nowadays, you have to feed pictures directly to your editors on deadline, so there's little time to develop film," said Tetsuo Sakuma, a freelance photographer in Tokyo who uses a Nikon D1 digital S.L.R. camera he bought two years ago for 600,000 yen. "I don't have a choice but to own a digital S.L.R. camera."
While Mr. Sakuma still has several analog cameras in his collection, some hobbyists are abandoning film altogether.
"I already have a compact digital camera that I carry all the time, but the prices for digital S.L.R. cameras are now more acceptable and the resolution is much better," said Jackson Lin, who was camera shopping during a recent visit to Tokyo from Taipei.
Still, while the market for analog film cameras is unlikely to grow, it will not disappear, said Hiroyasu Sato, an analyst at the Daiwa Institute of Research. "There will always be demand from film buffs, plus a lot of film cameras are already out there."
TOKYO The single lens reflex camera has long been every digital photographer's dream. Now, though, such cameras are not only available but are becoming less expensive.
Like the film versions, digital single lens reflex or S.L.R. cameras have interchangeable lenses and the precision and functions that professional photographers and serious amateurs demand. And like cheaper compact digital cameras, S.L.R. digitals instantly display photos that can be sent to computers and edited with software.
The catch, though, has always been the price. With top-of-the line digital S.L.R. cameras costing as much as $10,000, only artists, photojournalists and the most avid hobbyists were likely to invest in them. But in the past year, Canon Inc., the Nikon Corporation and other camera makers have introduced cheaper, more accessible models to their digital S.L.R. lines, with the price tag on some models nearing $1,000.
Their efforts to turn a once exclusive camera into more of a mass-market item are emblematic of the broad transformation sweeping the industry. For years, sophisticated photographers held onto their analog cameras in the belief that no digital alternative could replicate the richness of film. But now, falling prices and better technology are prompting more film loyalists to add digital S.L.R. cameras to their collections.
In Japan, where about 90 percent of the world's cameras are made, unit shipments of digital cameras began outpacing their analog counterparts last year. The United States is expected to reach this point this year, according to the Photo Marketing Association International. And with digital camera sales growing about 25 percent a year, the steady erosion of the analog camera market, which peaked in 1996, is sure to continue.
The trend has created havoc for companies like the Eastman Kodak Company, which cut its second-quarter profit forecast by more than half, in part because of declining film sales. Fuji Photo Film, the world's second-largest filmmaker after Kodak, has emphasized its digital-camera technology. Another leading Japanese filmmaker, the Konica Corporation, merged with the camera maker Minolta in January, in hopes of remaining competitive.
Although they still run substantial analog film-camera businesses, Canon and Nikon, the world's two leading camera makers, both based here, have jumped headlong into the digital camp. Canon expects shipments of its digital cameras to double this year, to 8.5 million units, as analog film camera sales stall. The 20 percent profit margins it earns on compact digital cameras are more than twice as much as it makes selling cameras that use film, analysts say.
Digital S.L.R. cameras are even more profitable, analysts say, because the price of crucial components like imaging sensors have declined as sales have grown. Makers have also saved money by adapting existing film S.L.R. camera bodies for digital use. And, as consumers have grown sufficiently comfortable with digital camera technology, more are seeking the additional versatility and quality of an S.L.R. model.
Over all, global shipments of digital S.L.R. cameras are expected to double this year, to one million. To grab a piece of this growing pie, another Japanese manufacturer, the Olympus Optical Company, plans in October to release its E-1 digital S.L.R. camera, which is expected to sell for less than 100,000 yen ($847.17), making it the cheapest digital S.L.R. camera on the market.
The design is as much a draw as the price. In an S.L.R. camera whether film or digital mirrors enable the photographer to see the subject through the lens, rather than through a separate viewfinder that is slightly out of alignment with what the lens takes in. This through-the-lens view enables the photographer to aim more precisely than with a non-S.L.R. camera.
This and other innovations like longer lasting batteries and increased memory have made the digital S.L.R. camera indispensable to professional photographers.
Some magazines, with their glossy, color pages, still ask for film negatives. And many professionals say that photos taken with digital cameras, for all their improvements, are not as vivid as those taken with film, particularly when printed in larger sizes. But many publications, especially newspapers, focus on the speed of delivery and the ease of storage, which is why for many professional photographers, owning a digital S.L.R. camera has become a necessity.
"Nowadays, you have to feed pictures directly to your editors on deadline, so there's little time to develop film," said Tetsuo Sakuma, a freelance photographer in Tokyo who uses a Nikon D1 digital S.L.R. camera he bought two years ago for 600,000 yen. "I don't have a choice but to own a digital S.L.R. camera."
While Mr. Sakuma still has several analog cameras in his collection, some hobbyists are abandoning film altogether.
"I already have a compact digital camera that I carry all the time, but the prices for digital S.L.R. cameras are now more acceptable and the resolution is much better," said Jackson Lin, who was camera shopping during a recent visit to Tokyo from Taipei.
Still, while the market for analog film cameras is unlikely to grow, it will not disappear, said Hiroyasu Sato, an analyst at the Daiwa Institute of Research. "There will always be demand from film buffs, plus a lot of film cameras are already out there."