Canon IXUS 240 HS
Canon PowerShot SX240 HS
Nikon D800
Samsung DV300F
Olympus OM-D E-M5
Nikon Coolpix P510
Canon PowerShot SX260 HS
Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ30
Nikon Coolpix S9300
20 New Canon Digital Compact Cameras in 2004!
Canon Japan have today said in a statement to Reuters that they plan to introduce no less than 20 new digital cameras during 2004, in a bid to capture 25% of the market. Canon anticipates shipping “at least” 12.5 million compact digital cameras in 2004, a jump of nearly 50 percent from the 8.5 million it estimates for the current year. Those figures do not include Digital SLR sales.
“Takashi Oshiyama, head of Canon’s digital imaging business group, told Reuters in an interview that his firm’s long history building cameras would give it the upper hand against its rivals, many of which have only been making cameras for a few years.
“We have a 67-year history making cameras and there is still lots of technology gathered over that time stored away in the shed,” Oshiyama said at Canon’s headquarters in Tokyo.”
I’m not exactly sure what Canon have locked away in the shed (!), but 2004 is certainly building up to be an exciting and eventful year for digital cameras.
Website: Canon Japan - 2004 Digital Compact Cameras
Canon IXUS 240 HS Review
Canon PowerShot SX240 HS Review
Nikon D800 Review
Samsung DV300F Review
Olympus OM-D E-M5 Review
Nikon Coolpix P510
Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ30
Canon PowerShot SX260 HS
Fujifilm X-Pro1
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX200V
#1 SeanB
Looks like Canon are trying to be the digital camera equivalent of Nokia in the mobile phone business. The digital compact camera market is one of the most rapidly growing area's in consumer products, and Canon is well placed to dominate it. It's existing range is already at the forefront of the market, and 20 new models next year will keep them highly competitive.
I wonder if we will see any genuine innovations, or just more pixels for less pounds in a smaller body. For most consumer needs, 3 Megapixels is ample for good prints upto 10x8, so just cramming more pixels into a camera doesn't really add any value.
Maybe an Ixus with built in MP3 player? That would be nifty. Or an FM radio come to think of it.
I expect to see the 6 Mpixel sensor from the 300D/10D appear in the G series, a G6 I suppose, for about £500. And then to follow in the S series (S60?) and the A series (A100?).
This article only mentions 'compact' cameras, but I would guess there will also be 3 or 4 new digital SLR models. The revised 1D is widely anticipated. I would also expect the 10D to either be replaced, or a pro model come in around the £1500 mark, probably with something like an 8 Megapixel sensor. The 1Ds might get an update, although there is not much to improve on this brilliant camera.
The 10D sensor will be 2 years old next Spring, so I expect the Canon boffins to have an improved device on the market shortly. Also, I think the 1Ds will eventually get more pixels on the full frame sensor, maybe upto 15 Megapixels. This would be a real challenger to Medium Format film cameras and open up the MF market to Canon.
This is just speculation, but there is no doubt digital camera technology is evolving very quickly indeed, so it is more a question of when rather than if.
2004 should be very interesting, roll on the PMA show in February which should see the next major announcements.
Sean
9:25 pm - Thursday, December 18, 2003
#2 Mark Goldstein
I hope Canon don't let their standards slip like Nokia and create crap products. The display on my Nokia phone gradually faded away over a period of a couple of months and then disappeared altogether. I've now switched to Samsung...
PMA takes place on 15/16/17 February. Last year most of the major announcements were made in the week leading up to the show, so we should expect new products to be announced at the start of February. Epson and Nikon have already pre-empted PMA 2004 with their scanner/printer and D70 announcements.
11:33 am - Friday, December 19, 2003