After Olympus also Panasonic (Source: Bloomberg) reports more positive financial situation after years of losses:
The company doubled its profit forecast in October to 100 billion yen ($958 million) in the 12 months ending March 2014 as it benefits from an almost 17 percent weakening in the yen against the dollar this year and boosts car battery sales.
The camera business is a small part from the company. And as we read from previous forecasts reports Panasonic plans to focus more on the high-end camera business. Therefore the GH 4K 🙂
68 Responses
good new
Great news indeed 🙂
On another note.. seems like Olympus is becoming worse than Sony with the firmware updates. No E-M5 firmware update till now.
E-M5 is at 1.7, and has had plenty of firmware updates, so what you say is just bullshit.
Oh, they didn’t release a firmware update which adds a feature you’d like? Did they promise you that feature? is it on the feature list but it didn’t work?
The internet makes people who don’t know you talk to you in a manner that they would never be able to do face to face. Crawl back into the hole you came from.
Nawaf,you must be new here .Let me give you a heads up about house rules.
1. Never ever say anything negative about Olympus
2. No praise is too high for Olympus products, as good as FF goes down well.
3. Olympus are an honest stand up company who have never lied about their finances or made an untrue claim
4.If in doubt repeat rule 1
Nawaf made an incorrect statement, and perhaps got (unnecessarily) brutally butchered. But you, “olyshame”, *defends* obviously untrue statements with the pathetic claim that protesting against incorrect statements on Olympus is a hallmark of an Oly fanboy. That hits rock bottom of honesty. Of course, with your biased username, no-one in their right mind will take your viewpoints seriously anyway :-).
—
I have owned one Panasonic camera and several Olympus cameras. I have been happy with most of these. I am happy that Panasonic is doing well. I am also happy that Olympus is doing well. This is good for competition. Am I a fanboy? Not in my view. I enjoy honest criticism of any system. Including cameras I own myself. Wrt the E-M1, I suspect the SD cover/door is fragile, and I think the battery life is poor compared to e.g Nikons. I find the flash connector cover poor (easily falls off) and the extension cover below the flash connector horribly clumsy. I observe that some people criticize the video possibilities. I don’t do video, so for me that is not a problem. But I support improvements, and would thus enjoy such improvements in the camera as a product. It would have been good with improvements in the sensor of the E-M1 compared to that of the E-M5. But realistically, I suspect that there is relatively little room for improvement in current sensors — and that radically new technology is needed. The E-M1 of course has inferior imaging abilities compared to e.g the D800; after all the pixel density of a 16 Mpx m43 sensor is almost twice of that of the D800. But there is no doubt that the E-M1 can (and is) used for pro quality work. The most important factor in taking good pictures is the photographer.
So: m43 cameras are not perfect. But for me, they currently strike a good balance in image quality, user interface, luggability, etc. The format has brought back the fun of photographing to me. Others may weigh such things differently. I have no problem with that. What I can’t stand are hateboys, fanboys with halftruths, liars, etc. Of course, I find reports of mZuiko 12-40/2.8 cracking somewhat worrysome. But making general claims from 2 reported cases falls in the category of lies. I know of cases of Nikkor 24-70/2.8 breaking down after a few months. Only idiots and incompetents would seriously claim that as a proof of a poor lens.
Unfortunately, this is exactly the way that a fair number of Olympus fans behave. I happily use Panasonic and Olympus gear both doing a grand job. Sadly, I have seen an often downright abusive hardcore of Olympus users both here and elsewhere. In fact it is SO bad in the likes of DPreview that I would never consider taking part in a discussion there.
1. Never ever say anything negative about Olympus:
Saying anything negative about Olympus is an almost certain guarantee of being abused.
2. No praise is too high for Olympus products, as good as FF goes down well.
I have seen some truly foolish claims about the wonders of Olympus, a quick perusal of DPreview will demonstrate this .
3. Olympus are an honest stand up company who have never lied about their finances or made an untrue claim
Well considering they were involved in hundreds of millions of dollars cover up that went on for years.The apparent willingness to accept any posted claim from Olympus re finances is bordering on believing in Santa Clause. Look at all the joyful claims about Olympus imaging being back in the black , seriously!
4.If in doubt repeat rule 1
That is sound advice if you do not enjoy being abused.
“The E-M1 of course has inferior imaging abilities compared to e.g the D800;”
That is exactly the kind of cover up gilding the Lilly posts that Olympus users make. The E-M1 does not even match the image quality of the lowest end cheapest Nikon,Sony, Pentax or Fuji APS models never mind FF.
The £1200 E-M1 compared to £280 Nikon D3200 and a £199 { with kit lens !] Sony A3000.
The link
http://www.dxomark.com/Cameras/Compare/Side-by-side/Sony-A3000-versus-Pentax-K-50-versus-Nikon-D3200___906_890_801
Rather, the internet makes people like you make unqualified statements that they’d be ashamed of when people could see them and hold them accountable.
When you are asking for focus-peaking and 24p for your E-M5, more power to you, through keep in mind that somehow, the GH3 never got focus peaking either, there might be a reason beyond the things you know.
When you are suggesting Olympus doesn’t release firmware updates, that flies in the face of reality.
When you are suggesting Olympus only releases bugfixes, that again flies in the face of reality.
So, instead of getting pissed at people for calling your statement for what it is, how about saying what you actually intend to say without all the ridiculous, over-the-top drama?
You could have ignored my so called statement altogether, but instead you prefer to offend others. Manners go a long way.
I don’t believe you work for Olympus or Panasonic and neither do I. If it hasn’t been confirmed by Olympus then we can assume it is possible.
Good call, because knowingly saying things that are not true is an example of good manners.
I’m sorry but if you don’t like being pointed at such things, then maybe just don’t do them, else, deal with it.
We all come from different cultures so what goes where you live might not be deemed as appropriate some place else. I would not use the word “bullshit” with strangers, but it would be fine with close friends.
There is a mature way to point things out. Others have done so.
“We all come from different cultures so what goes where you live might not be deemed as appropriate some place else.”
I’m not aware of any culture where knowingly telling untruths is considered appropriate, but am aware of many cultures where that would be considered telling lies and totally unacceptable behavior.
“I would not use the word “bullshit” with strangers, but it would be fine with close friends.”
Where I live it is considered an appropriate thing to say when people are knowingly telling untruths, it would be considered inappropriate otherwise, but as you say,that can well be different in your part of the world. To ensure you don’t feel offended next time, what is an appropriate way to call lies in your part of the world?
“There is a mature way to point things out. Others have done so.”
Telling untruths to make a point isn’t one of them, and neither is refusing to accept ones own mistake. Honestly, start looking at your own behavior instead of getting pissed at others.
Come on man, apologize for your bad manners or be quiet. Him saying something that you dont agree with doesnt justify you talking to him like a jerk.
You cant win this.
Hi Mr L, I believe there is some difference between disagreeing with something, and something being contradicted by easily observable facts.
@yaa perhaps avoiding the word “bull$hi1” would have been better. I’m not saying that you’re arrogant, generally I agree with your comments. This time perhaps you have chosen the wrong word and the (new? Welcome!) reader felt offended.
That said, I don’t expect other firmware updates for Em5.
About Em1, I wish Oly would add a colored focus peaking, like yellow or blue or red.
Just to come back on the topic: I wish the best to Panasonic as long as to Olympus. The system offers a wide choice of different cameras for everyone.
I for one can’t wait for the destruction/shut down/sell off of the Olympus camera division, just to see the rabid Olympus fanboy comments. Will be a good read with some coffee or Tea.
Sorry, but as insane as they are and their total disrespect for anything NOT Olympus, they don’t deserve anything.
Looking forward to that day with great anticipation.
Mr AllCaps, you’re simply showing a passion driven and narrow mind now. Just relax and think if it’s better to have more choices or not.
Remember it’s you who choose what suits better your needs, and noone will force you to buy something instead of something else.
Consider that competition is a good thing (let’s not waste time in semanthics, you know what I mean).
What if company X develop something really new? It might start a trend or at least push other companies to work on a similar feature or on an alternative feature. And the system grows.
Indeed
http://www.43rumors.com/double-olympus-12-40mm-lens-review/#comment-2835193
Actually, I read your comment with a nice Earl Grey and a slight smile tugging at my lips.
Oh, I’m sure that is what ticked him off. It wasn’t intended to be offensive (I’d have used words like liar or such in that case) but it wasn’t exactly intended to be nice either.
I find the kind of entitlement to things never promised, and stating factually incorrect things that paint a bad picture as a way of dramatizing a request to be repulsive, and indeed respond badly to it.
Oh.. and yes, at times I am arrogant for sure, I’ll be the first one to admit that.
So, also, those of us with said camera can also attest to the fact that several firmware updates for the E-M5 have been released, and do (sometimes) add features/fixes.
Also, keep in mind that no all features can be added with software. The video functions on the E-M5 depend on the capabilities of the image processor, since the video codecs are designed in hardware. Some added video features might be possible through software updates, but since Olympus has chosen to make those part of its Truepic ASIC, that hardware may be the limiting factor, and the added video modes would have to first be supported by the ASIC.
@yaa
agree with your sentiments. I have an E-M5 and have received quite a few updates whereas the OP clearly is just talking out their backside.
Then you get the other nut jobs with outright insane expectations. They expect a free headjob every three months for the next ten years otherwise they feel like the world owes them something. They bought the camera with its current feature set but now expect 4k video, twice the IQ and a personal visit from the CEO to pat them on the head.
Not you too boo 🙁
Please reread what I wrote before jumping to conclusions. I wish I were that talented as to be able to talk out of my backside. That would be some trick!
Mawaf, you literally said: “No E-M5 firmware update till now.”
Thats also why you get the responses you do, as its simply incorrect and paints a needlessly negative picture.
Below you explain what you wanted to say, fine, totally agree with it being desirable for Olympus to add focus peaking and support for different framerates for video.
You assumed I meant since it first came out. If your reply wasn’t plain out rude I would have explained that to you.
“No E-M5 firmware update till now.”
Thats not something I assumed, but literally what you said.
If you seriously feel offended by the word bullshit, I’m sorry as it was not intended to be offensive, but it wasn’t intended as ‘nice’ either, it was intended to wake you up to your behavior, and to correct the misinformation that resulted from your exaggeration.
There you go again. I didn’t say it was “never” updated. There was a rumor going on about an update coming a few months back. Many here were waiting and hoping for focus peaking. Back when I had a Nex5 there was no focus peaking, it was added later to it. So there is always a possibility for it.
This isn’t the New York Times, but a rumors site and a discussion is more than welcomed. Everyone can have an opinion here, if you agree or disagree with it is up to you. You are not entitled to wake anyone up from anything.
“No E-M5 firmware update till now.”
Sorry but that doesn’t say ‘no firmware update since the last rumor’, or ‘no firmware update since July 2013’, it says no firmware update till now, and reading it as anything else requires making assumptions about what you really meant.
Instead of telling people to read better or that they are making assumptions, how about considering that your initial statement was simply saying something else then you intended to say?
And another thing, just like you are totally entitled to point out your opinion on my use of the word BS, I’m totally entitled to point out my opinion on your behavior.
No E-M5 firmware updates? Latest E-M5 firmware update was v1.7, added support for VF-4.
Let me elaborate guys before I get slaughtered 😉
I’m not talking about bug fixes. What I’m talking about is focus peaking and 24p for video lovers. Improving on a very capable camera.
Nawaf peace 🙂 Only pointing out the E-M5 did indeed have a lot of firmware updates since its initial release.
As to video modes. I think there must be some basic limitation in olympus image processing platform, that prevents them from adding more video modes. After all, this must be hurting sales, and if it was simply a matter of adding a few lines of code and linking in a new video library to the firmware, I think they would have done it already.
Niels, peace accepted 😛 btw I never said they didn’t release any firmware updates. Just that nothing was released since the last one.
I get the limitations associated with video that you refer to. I’m not a video guy, but I’m sure others would appreciate any additions.
On the other hand, focus peaking would make my life and other manual lens users a breeze.
Yes. With manual focus you sure need all the help you can get from the camera. Focus peaking is very nice, but i sure miss the split prism thing in the old SLR viewfinders.
If you don’t know it already, you might want to google the E-M5 keyline artfilter pseudo focus peaking hack.
What, out of curiousity, are you suggesting they add via a firmware update?
focus peaking would be nice.
Why do you need firmware updates when you can just buy a whole new camera?
Exactly lol
Why do you buy different food when you can eat only rice and nothing ellse for as long as you live?
Hope that Pany can stay in still imaging with just a few hundred thousand in sales. Doubt that GHx will make a lot of difference to the bottom line.
Also, a GH4K won’t sell many m43 lenses as manual 3rd party lenses are usually used for video. Lenses is where you make your profit.
Panasonic does very well in selling lenses… The 20mm and the 25mm have always been the leaders in M43 lenses.
And being that both Olympus and Panasonic cameras use them, they won’t lose any ground.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/photo/7161083011/ref=pd_zg_hrsr_p_1_4_last
Funny, for a lens that was talked about as being “Slow”, it’s the number one lens in Mirrorless at Amazon.
HA.
amazon is not the world
It is very good indeed to see both Pany and Oly in better financial health.
However given the low GHx sales in recent year inspite of price reductions I fail to see why Pany is continuing to put so many resources into promoting the same? Surely their best bet now going forward is with the GM1 and GX7 series.
The dramatic size increase of the GH3 over the GH2 was really off-putting to quite a few users. Yes, the ergonomics and external controls are excellent, but at price in terms of compactness and portability. You can bet unit sales took a hit because of that.
Oly did it right when they released the EM1 with only a marginal size increase over the a-bit-too-small EM5. It seems sized just right, Goldilocks. 😉
Had the GH3 been closer in size to the GH2, I’d have bought that instead of the GX7. But as it is, I’m really liking the compactness of the GX7 vs. the GH2 and carry it much more than the GH2… so there ya go! 😉 Too bad there’s no multi-aspect-ratio sensor and fully articulated screen. Oh well, stiffed by Santy Clause again… 😉
Well, we know that Panasonic was aiming at video users more than stills, hence the AA filter, weather sealing and everything else pertaining to video use. If you were to fit all of that in the size of a E-M1, I’m sure there would be overheating issues.
Panasonic is going full steam ahead, making the GH series a video first kit, hence the size.
don’t like the size, there’s the G6 or the GX7.
After owning the GX7, GX1, G5, I prefer the VF in the middle, and i also find myself using the flip out screen a lot. I want the G6, but I’m going to wait and see what Fuji does. I might even sell my 6D if the Fuji is what i want. I should also be able to get a G6 for a good price by then. A Fuji/Panasonic combo.
lol what?
Sticking an aa filter and weather sealing in an E-M1 body would make it overheat?
No, I really meant the necessary video tech. I don’t think the E-M1 at that size can handle the video capabilities of the GH3.
That is quite possible indeed.
Then why didn’t they do it?
Why didn’t they do it for the E-P5? -The E-M5?
2 cameras from Olympus came out since the GH3… None of them come close to the video capabilities of the GH3.
The E-M5 is touted as a Pro camera…. What happen to video?
I meant to say, it is quite possible indeed that the size causes limits because of heat problems.
Professional companies wanted a larger body with more external controls. Since they likely accounted for the majority of GH2 sales and GH3 sales, Panasonic did what was right for their own business. The G6 is as much a successor to the GH2 as made sense without costing a lot.
+10
Of Course.
For me, the only problem with the G6, if indeed it’s some sort of GH2 replacement… it isn’t… is that Panasonic left out GH-series features that are indispensable. Constant Preview in M mode to name one. Since I shoot in M mode almost exclusively, the omission of Constant Preview pushed me to the GX7, even though I prefer the centered EVF and fully articulated screen.
Unfortunately, it’s always a game of trade-offs.
GH4K is for video shooters .
How about still images ?
A super sensor is needed for Lumix photographers .
Although GX7 & GM1 are quite impressive products , Pana need to do a lot in it’s sensor development in order to stay relevant .
Fwiw I tried the GX7 twice and never did bond with it. The GM1 is a keeper as it essentially replaces small sensor cameras and is a great take anywhere shooter that I can pop a fast prime on should I need it. I have bonded with the GH3 as well, mostly due to the larger size. I loved aspects of my EM5 but the ergos were somewhat problematic. I needed the grip to shoot it comfortably for long periods. The GH3 fits as-is, and has stellar battery life. Plus I can put it on sticks and capture video for 2 hours non-stop. I’ll take the larger body size to get those capabilities. Plus I think it balances better with larger lenses (eg 35-100/2.8) and is still way smaller/lighter than my wife’s 6D setup.
Secs can be absolute, ergonomics, not so much. I’m glad they made the GH3 bigger than the GH2 as I find it more comfortable to use. The GM1 is tiny but I am willing to deal with “usable enough” due to the portability. The middle ground ends up being kind of no mans land for me, but ymmv.
Has anyone actually read the link? It says that Panasonic is shedding its consumer product businesses in favor of business to business enterprises (for example, selling car batteries to Toyota).
The link says that Panasonic debt is trending better because Panasonic is shrinking unprofitable consumer lines, such as televisions and telephones. It is exiting unprofitable lines of business in order to make their debt more attractive. How can unprofitable consumer camera lines not also be in the sites for slashing?
See Panasonic’s own rosy forecasts from a year ago predicting a minor increase in camera sales:
http://panasonic.net/ir/release/2011/2011_full/financial_results_note_e.pdf
The point is, forecasts in profits are not the same as realized profits.
Finally, the link says the chief factor in any gain in bond rating, apart from shrinking unprofitable consumer lines, is the decline in the yen vs. other currencies. Other currencies are trying to devalue themselves as well, racing to the bottom. This is not a long term strategy.
I recently bought a GX7. I want these boys to stay around. But if anything, with the financial analysts cheering shedding unprofitable lines, this put more of a bullseye on the camera business.
+1
Good catch. Thanks.
This appears to be about overall profitability for Panasonic, not the just imaging business. So in all probability the imaging business is still not profitable, unlike the previous news regarding the expected profitability for Olympus’s imaging division.
Hahaha cool story bro!
However, they “Hope” not “Will” get out of the red.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-12-18/olympus-expects-camera-unit-to-return-to-profit-next-year.html
Olympus camera division only made up 14% of profit this year.
Also, Panasonic is getting out of the TV business, so that’s big. And they have very tight relationships with other companies. They don’t borrow from other companies like Olympus does, they make deals. They have Toyota, Leica and Fuji in their corner. Olympus has Sony, who just want Olympus tech. That’s not a good look.
Profit? Your link says the Olympus camera division LOST money last year. Pretty sure a loss does not equal profit.
Another Panny fanboy upset with the reality in the marketplace. According to the latest sales number for 2013 in Japan, Panasonic lost market share this year, so one can be certain that their imaging business is making losses, probably more than in 2012.
Fact mirrorless sales are down worldwide ,they are in fact down by a slightly larger margin than DSLR sales. Olympus imaging loses money hand over fist.Only the dumbest innumerate could possibly believe that Olympus imaging will be in profit next year.
Luckily enough there are a few just such people posting here.Hi CC [ by the way CC stands for Can’t Count}Olympus has a lower share of the interchangeable camera market than it did in its DSLR heyday. mFT has been a financial disaster for Olympus and Panasonic. The way things are going it could be only a matter of time till mFT cameras only get released in Japan like that Canon piece of crap EOS M2.
America mirrorless sales down a huge 47% on last year ,Europe mirrorless sales down 28% ,down in Asia down everywhere except Japan. In Japan mirrorless sales went up 12.8% yahoo!!!! oh wait DSLR sales in Japan went up 39%.
In its best market [japan} mirrorless makes up just 36% of the interchangeable lens market and that is a s good as it gets. Another thing all the folk claiming how much the E-M1 has sold might want to wonder why it is in 57th place amongst top selling interchangeable lens cameras in Japan. That is 47 places behind the 70D, 40 spots behind the 6D 27 spots behind the D800
http://dslrphoto.com/dslr/space.php?do=jranking
The worldwide mirroless market makes up aprox 18% of the total of interchangeable lens cameras. With the remaining 82% being DSLR’s. Mirrorless peaked two years ago and is now in actual decline { faster than DSLR sales are declining ]. The mirrorless market is shared between Sony,Olympus,Panasonic,Fuji,Pentax and the embarrassing efforts from Nikon & Canon. Then we have the rise of the large sensor compact it is mFT that needs to worry not FF.
Well it turned out the Bloomberg story on Olympus was mostly nonsense – regurgitating profit forecasts made by the company several months ago. Actually Olympus is telling analysts that it will miss this years sales forecast of 660k units, with sales around 600k (first half 250k). And they also said they dont expect the camera division to return to profit next year (or possibly even the year after.)
And as someone has already mentioned, the Bloomberg story on Panasonic gives little to cheer about re mirrorless cameras. It is mostly about how the company is investing less or closing unprofitable businesses with doesnt bode particular well for cameras. Still I think Panasonic will stay in the business because of the potential it sees in 4k.
Well here we go again prices and size going way up and quality basically staying the same. Welcome to the new world of MFT.
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2013/12/29/business/29reuters-japan-cameras.html?hp&_r=0
Japan Mid-Tier Camera Makers Face Shakeout as Smartphones Shatter Mirrorless Hopes
TOKYO — Panasonic Corp and Japan’s other mid-tier camera makers have a battle on their hands to win over a smartphone “selfie” generation to mirrorless cameras that held such promise when they were launched around five years ago.
Panasonic, like peers Fujifilm Holdings and Olympus Corp, has been losing money on its cameras since mobile phones that take high-quality photos ate into the compact camera business. This year, compact camera sales are likely to fall more than 40 percent to fewer than 59 million, according to industry researcher IDC.
Meanwhile, sales of mirrorless cameras – seen as a promising format between low-end compacts and high-end single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras – are sputtering as buyers put connectivity above picture quality.
A 40 percent drop in Panasonic’s overall camera sales in April-September left the imaging division vulnerable as the company’s mid-term plan to March 2016 demands unprofitable businesses turn themselves around or face the axe.
“If you look mid-to-long term, digital camera makers are slipping and the market is becoming an oligopoly,” said Credit Suisse imaging analyst Yu Yoshida.
Panasonic held 3.1 percent of the camera market in July-September, down from 3.8 percent a year earlier, according to IDC. Canon Inc, Nikon Corp and Sony Corp controlled over 60 percent between them.
“Only those who have a strong brand and are competitive on price will last – and only Canon, Nikon and Sony fulfil that criteria,” added Yoshida.
Canon and Nikon dominate the SLR camera market, while Sony could survive any shakeout thanks to its strength in making sensors for a number of camera manufacturers as well as collaboration with its smartphone division.
SPUTTERING MIRRORLESS
Panasonic, Fujifilm and Olympus are trying to fend off the smartphone threat by cutting compacts, targeting niche markets such as deep-sea diving, and launching the higher-margin mirrorless models.
The mirrorless format promised mid-tier makers an area of growth as the dominance of Canon and Nikon all but shut them out of SLRs, where Sony is a distant third. Neither Panasonic nor Fujifilm makes SLRs, and Olympus stopped developing them this year.
Mirrorless cameras such as Panasonic’s Lumix GM eliminate the internal mirrors that optical viewfinders depend on, so users compose images via electronic viewfinders or liquid crystal displays. This allows the camera to be smaller than an SLR, while offering better quality than compacts or smartphones due to larger sensors and interchangeable lenses.
“SLRs are heavy and noisy, whereas mirrorless are small and quiet. While some people say SLRs still have better image quality, mirrorless (cameras) have improved to the point where they’re equivalent, if not superior,” said Hiroshi Tanaka, director of Fujifilm’s optical division.
Critics grumble that LCD screens can never compete with the clarity of an optical viewfinder, and that picture-taking speeds are too slow for fast-action subjects such as sports.
Nevertheless, the mirrorless format has been a hit in Japan since Panasonic launched the first domestically produced model in 2008, the G1. They made up 36 percent of Japan’s interchangeable lens camera shipments in January-October, according to researcher CIPA.
But the format is yet to catch on in the United States and Europe, where shipments made up just 10.5 percent and 11.2 percent of all interchangeable camera shipments, respectively, and where consumers tend to equate image quality with size and heft.
Sales, which globally are less than a quarter of those of SLRs, fell by a fifth in the three weeks to December 14 in the United States, which included the busy ‘Black Friday’ shopping week, while SLR sales rose 1 percent, according to NPD, another industry researcher.
“I would focus on the detachable lens market proper, excluding mirrorless, and focus on connectivity,” said Ben Arnold, director of imaging analysis at NPD. “How do you bridge that gap between high photo-capture quality and high-quality camera devices and the cloud where every amateur photographer’s images live?”
SMARTPHONE COMPROMISE
Panasonic, Olympus and Fujifilm do not yet have a definitive answer.
Consumers don’t want to connect cameras to phones, analysts say; they want a single interface that can instantly upload photographs to social networking sites such as Facebook Inc and Twitter Inc.
Sony’s compromise is its two QX lenses released this quarter. These come with their own sensors and processors, and clip onto smartphones through which the user operates them wirelessly. They are pocket-sized and produce photographs of a quality rivalling that of a compact camera.
“There was a lot of internal disagreement over the product. It’s the kind of product you either love or hate,” said Shigeki Ishizuka, president of Sony’s digital imaging business.
But Sony appears to have connected with consumers as demand soon outstripped production. Some are even using the lenses in a way Sony didn’t intend: placed at a distance while they press the shutter on their smartphone to take self-portraits, or selfies.
“We had no idea how much the QX would sell initially when we put it out. We didn’t set any targets,” said Ishizuka.
It is little surprise Sony was the camera maker to break the mould as it is the only one to also have a profitable smartphone division.
“There are so many consumers that were hungry for Sony to do this,” said Chris Chute, IDC’s digital imaging research director. “They’ve (waited for Sony) to come out with something really innovative, almost like the Walkman (portable music player).”
(Editing by Christopher Cushing and Edmund Klamann)
And…?
I don’t see the purpose of this article. And honestly I don’t trust it either.
Sony QX selling that much?! I saw it discounted a couple of months after their release.
And I have never seen anyone using it: I spend a lot of time in Venice and I have an idea of what tourists use to take photos.
Smartphone replacing mirrorless? Mmm no, not yet. Smartphone have a nice IQ, especially when the content (photo/video) is simply shared on Facebook, Instagram, Vine and so on.
A friend of mine called me and was surprised becaused she wanted to do an exhibition with photos taken with her iPhone, but they looked bad when printed 40 cms width. Wow, really?! (Sarcasm)
It is true that most of pictures (dis)appear in social networks, and we don’t need a Phase One to do a twit or post a 1024 x 1024 pixels photo on Instagram, but I don’t see it as the downfall of mirrorless cameras.
I own an iPhone4 and an iPad Mini: the only times I take pics with them is when I want to play with Hipstamatic.
I have an account on Instagram as well as on Flickr, and I simply use smartphone and tablet to upload my photos, and with latest (mirrorless) models you can use wifi to transfer files directly from the camera, if you need.
Perhaps in 5-10 years we’ll have super smartphones, with improved image sensors, but I believe (hope) also mirrorless cameras will improve.
And I don’t want to see dumb faces on people when I talk about aperture or ISO..
Unless you have shares in Panasonic and Olympus, why would you care about their financial health?
The Panasonic and Olympus fanboys fighting on that point (my company is better than yours) have crossed the point of bearable stupidity.