SPECIAL FEATURE
As we've noted over the last couple of years when presenting our annual awards, the camera industry took a real beating during the Covid-19 pandemic and the various knock-on effects. It was already dealing with some big challenges even before the world went into lockdown and most of the major economies suffered as a result. The global shortage of semiconductors had a big effect on camera production through 2021 and ’22, putting significant pressure on manufacturers’ balance sheets as new models were delayed and existing ones in short supply. Sales inevitably declined and the resulting rationalisation of resources saw a greater emphasis on higher-end, higher-value models.
Apart from the greater revenues earned from these products, they're also the flagbearers of a brand and play a critical role in maintaining both awareness and reputation. Of course, the ever more photo-capable smartphone had already decimated the lower end of the camera market, but the comparatively long absence of any new budget-priced cameras of any real note – especially in the mirrorless ILC sector – has possibly only served to exacerbate this situation. The smartphone manufacturers now heavily promote the photo and video capabilities of their products, and are using all the latest imaging technologies to enhance these capabilities. A similarly priced, but now ageing mirrorless camera hasn't been likely to cut the mustard, even if we all know that it's still a superior device for photography and video-making. Even for the committed camera user, it's been slimpickings recently for anybody on a tighter budget with nothing available at under $1000 that isn't at least a few years old. Additionally, the rationalisation of model lineups as seen mostly the lower-priced camera bodies axed with no replacements.
The good news is that camera (and lens) production figures have remained largely steady during 2023, and this year has seen a healthy number of new product launches. Importantly too, while the emphasis has still been on higher-end models, there's been a welcome return of new entry-level models… albeit only from one manufacturer. Canon has had a busy year, but the real highlights have to be the entry-level additions to the EOS R system – the RF mount EOS R8 and the RF-S mount EOS R50 and R100. Beyond making some of the latest ILC technologies and features available at more affordable prices, these cameras are essential to the health of the industry as a whole. Canon already knows this from long experience, but especially with its DSLRs, having pioneered the first truly affordable model (with the EOS 300D in 2003) and subsequently very successfully balanced performance and price with a long line of increasingly better value-for-money cameras. The competition that this stimulated has created the market that we have today and which, in the mirrorless
