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Posts Tagged ‘mostly’

CIPA’s October report shows camera market has mostly recovered from its COVID-19 downturn

03 Dec
Top: Panasonic S1 (left) Canon EOS R (right) Bottom: Sony a7 III (left), Nikon Z6 (right)

It’s been a rather tumultuous year for camera sales atop a market already in decline, but the latest report from Camera & Imaging Products Association (CIPA) shows the market is back in business and nearly recovered from the COVID-19 downturn.

CIPA, an industry association that aggregates shipment and sales information from the leading camera manufacturers, has shared its October numbers, which show the September recovery of shipments wasn’t a fluke. According to the October report, total digital camera sales – which include both fixed-lens cameras and interchangeable lens cameras – saw a total of 1.13 million units shipped. That’s still 22.8% fewer units shipped compared to October 2019, but that’s a far better shipment rate than the past six months, which have seen shipments hover around 50% of what they were in 2019 in the same months.

A line graph showing the month-by-month shipment numbers of digital cameras — including compact, fixed-lens, DSLR and mirrorless — for the past three years. Click to enlarge.

And the numbers look even better for interchangeable lens cameras. CIPA’s report says a total of 754K units were shipped, a decrease of just 13.6% compared to October 2019. Despite shipping fewer units, the monetary value of those shipments is up half a percentage point year-over-year (YoY) as well, showing the cameras being sold are more expensive models.

Interestingly, the increase in value from those shipments can be attributed only to mirrorless cameras. Globally, the monetary value of DSLR sales is down 22% YoY for October, aligned with overall unit shipments, while the monetary value of mirrorless shipments is up 11.9% YoY for October. In other words, the average revenue from global DSLR sales has more or less stayed the same while increasing for mirrorless camera sales. This backs up statements from multiple manufacturers – most notably Canon and Nikon in their investor reports – that higher-end, full-frame mirrorless models are selling better and will be the focus of their product lines.

A line graph showing the month-by-month shipment numbers of interchangeable lens cameras for the past three years. Click to enlarge.

The October report also confirms DSLR camera sales are on a far faster decline than mirrorless cameras, at least in most regions. Global DSLR shipments were at 338K units, down 21% YoY for October, while mirrorless camera shipments were 416K units, down just 6.4% YoY for October.

Where it gets interesting is when you look at shipments by region. The increase in monetary value of mirrorless camera shipments comes almost entirely down to China, which saw a 53.8% increase in value YoY for October. Also, Europe stands as an outlier in the DSLR market; according to CIPA’s report, while DSLR sales are down in volume and value to the United States, they’re only slightly down in volume and up substantially (30.5% YoY for October) in Europe. This could simply be due to the stock being sent to the respective regions (budget DSLRs vs higher-end DSLRs), but it’s an interesting discrepancy nonetheless.

A full breakdown of production and shipments of cameras aggregated by CIPA. Click to enlarge and click here for the PDF version.

The ratio between DSLR and mirrorless shipments to different region varies quite a bit as well. In Europe, DSLR and mirrorless shipments in terms of volume are roughly even, but in terms of value, mirrorless is nearly double. The United States, on the other hand, saw roughly 35K more DSLRs shipped to its shores compared to mirrorless cameras, but mirrorless still has double the value of those DSLRs.

It remains to be seen if volume and value return to their 2019 numbers over the holiday seasons, but things are looking up for an industry that’s seen a devastating decline.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Canon releases mostly minor firmware updates for five cameras and its RF 50mm F1.2 lens

20 Nov

Canon has released a barrage of firmware updates for a number of its mirrorless cameras and a single RF lens, bringing new and improved features, as well as the usual bug fixes. None of the updates offer major improvements in autofocus or other areas, but they all take care of a few ‘phenomena’ and offer support for newer Canon lenses.

Canon RF 50mm F1.2 L USM

We’ll go ahead and get the most minor firmware update out of the way first. The Canon RF 50mm F1.2 L USM lens has received a version 1.0.5 firmware update that ‘Reduces image noise when performing high sensitivity shooting with the RF50mm F1.2 L USM lens attached to the EOS C70 camera.’ How exactly a firmware update for a lens addresses noise issues is a bit intriguing, but it never hurts to have the latest update anyway. You can download firmware version 1.0.5 for the Canon RF 50mm F1.2 L USM lens on Canon’s website.

Canon EOS R and RP

We’ve grouped these two updates together, because they offer the exact same changes, according to Canon’s changelog. Firmware version 1.6.0 for the EOS RP and firmware version 1.8.0 for the EOS R improves color balance when shooting with the Canon RF 50mm F1.8 STM lens and adds support for Canon’s newer RF 70–200mm F2.8 L IS USM and RF 100–500mm F4.5–7.1 L IS USM lenses. You can download firmware version 1.6.0 for the EOS RP and firmware version 1.8.0 for the EOS R on Canon’s respective product pages.

Canon EOS R5 and R6

As with the EOS RP and R firmware updates, the latest updates for Canon’s EOS R5 and R6 cameras are identical to one another based on the changelogs. Firmware version 1.2.0 for both cameras addresses the following changes and improvements:

  • When using high-speed or low-speed continuous shooting modes, in Drive Mode with [High Speed Display: OFF], the visibility of the subject within the frame has been improved when shooting moving objects.*
    *During continuous shooting black frames will be inserted between frames in the viewfinder and live view. This will improve the visibility of moving subjects in live view and in the viewfinder.
  • Adds the [Auto] setting to the [Viewfinder brightness] menu that will brighten and dim based on ambient light conditions.
  • Enables 2nd curtain shooting sync during radio transmission wireless flash shooting when the Speedlite EL-1 flash is attached to the camera.
  • Enables manual flash output (excluding high-speed sync and optical transmission wireless flash shooting) to be selected and set up to 1/8192 from the camera menu screen when the Speedlite EL-1 flash is attached to the camera.
  • Improves compatibility of HEIF images recorded in the camera with MIAF (Multi-Image Application Format) standards.
  • Adds support for AF and release during zoom operations for some RF and EF lenses.

You can download firmware version 1.2.0 for the EOS R5 and EOS R6 cameras on Canon’s respective product pages.

Canon 1D X Mark III

Lastly, Canon has updated its flagship DSLR, the EOS 1D X Mark III. Firmware version 1.3.0 addresses the following changes and improvements:

  • Enables 2nd curtain shooting sync during radio transmission wireless flash shooting when the Speedlite EL-1 flash is attached to the camera.
  • Enables manual flash output (excluding high-speed sync and optical transmission wireless flash shooting) to be selected and set up to 1/8192 from the camera menu screen when the Speedlite EL-1 flash is attached to the camera.
  • Improves compatibility of HEIF images recorded in the camera with MIAF (Multi-Image Application Format) standards.
  • Fixes the phenomenon that may result in the occurrence of time-out under certain conditions during FTP transfer.

You can download firmware version 1.3.0 for the EOS 1D X Mark III on Canon’s product page.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Nikon releases new firmware for nine cameras, mostly AF-P lens support

04 Mar

Nine Nikon DSLR models are getting new firmware to fix a few issues users have been encountering, particularly when using AF-P lenses. Updated models include the D4, D4s, Df, D800, D800E, D810, D810A, D7100, and D7200.

The whole lot of them received these fixes:

Added the following supports for AF-P lenses:

  • If the standby timer expires after focusing, the focus position will no longer change when the timer is reactivated.
  • When focus is adjusted by rotating the lens focus ring, the focus indicator in the viewfinder (and in live view, the focus point in the monitor) now flash to indicate when infinity or the minimum focus distance is reached.

The D4, D4s, Df, D800 and D800E received the following fixes:

Added support for AF-P DX lenses.

And the D4, Df, D800 and D800E also benefit from:

When photos were taken using Camera Control Pro 2 after Custom Setting d10 (Exposure delay mode) was enabled in the CUSTOM SETTING MENU, the software would sometimes mistakenly display a message stating that no photo could be taken.

Finally, the Nikon D810 and D810A received fixes to their microphone operation and multiple exposure modes, while the D7100 and D7200 get updates that fix an issue of incorrect exposures when E-type lenses are used in live view mode.

For more information on all of these updates, or if you want to get your Nikon DSLR up to the latest firmware version, visit the Nikon firmware download web page.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Editorial: Why I want a Leica Q (in which I mostly don’t talk about the Leica Q)

11 Jun

The Leica Q offers classic M-series styling in combination with a thoroughly modern feature set including a full-frame 24MP sensor and a 28mm F1.7 lens. After a bruising experience with previous digital Leicas, DPReview’s Editor Barnaby Britton has been very impressed by the Q. Click through to read why

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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