Also Panasonic will reduce compact camera investment by 60%. Focus on Mirrorless. | 43 Rumors.
Category Archives: Business
Canon does not void camera’s warranty for installing hacking tools
Dear Canon/Nikon/Panasonic Can I Use Custom Firmware With My Camera? | DIYPhotography.net.
Nikon and Panasonic do void the warranty, however. Canon voids only the software/firmware section but the remainder of the camera remains under warranty.
A commenter suggests that Canon’s decade of experience with the CHDK and Magic Lantern community leads them to understand the importance of, and the value added, by external software.
Canon has, so far, been the only camera company that understands the value that software applications bring to their brand by creating an ecosystem that expands the market for Canon cameras. I have spoken with other camera companies directly – and this year some of the others are finally starting to see that there is value in adding applications to cameras but do not yet have products to share.
Prior to this year, an engineer with one of the big companies said they would never allow 3rd party software to run on their products as it had the potential to harm the customer experience. To which I replied, “That must be why Apple prohibits software applications being added to the iPhone and iPad” … not.
Report suggests camera sales may have peaked
CIPA report on 2012 sales in Japan: Fewer Mirrorless cameras produced. | 43 Rumors.
The main finding is that actual camera sales in Japan in 2012 were significantly less than had been originally forecast for 2012.
From a comment, compact camera sales are down about 30% from 2011 to 2012. And “so far this year mirrorless sales are 81.5% of last year and DSLR sales are 76.8% of last year”.
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Olympus leaving the low end camera business
Makes sense: Olympus quits low end compact camera business. Focus on mirrorless and high end compact. | 43 Rumors.
Many of the camera makers have what seems like dozens of similar low end cameras up through super zooms. I have never understood why they felt they needed to subdivide the market into so many tiny niches. Seemed better to concentrate on a few products and make them great. Perhaps this is a first step in that direction and Olympus will now focus on mirrorless and high end cameras.