Last week I told you that there is a worldwide hype and increase of sales of cheap digital cameras. So I checked the Amazon US rankings to see what’s selling hot. And I found plentiful of cameras I never heard of before:
Camkory:
The Camkory 44MP camera for kids is on top. They sell in a variety of colors for $39 only. This is bought by parents that want their kids to take pics without them owning a real smartphone.
Kodak: Kodak FZ45 and Kodak FZ55 are also selling hot. They are hyped through social networks. Apparently because they are cheap and produce and “old look” image. Guys, ask your neighbor influence why this garbage is viral on TikTok :)
Dylanto:
There are also Dylanto Instant cameras for kids. They don’t use Fuji instant paper, they print on paper in crappy low quality and that’s it!
Oiadek:
Oiadek offers a super cheap vlogger camera. I guess this is also made for kids that dream to become Yotubers (what a sad world).
Canon:
You have to scroll way down to find the first more “serious” camera. And it’s the Canon Rebel T7 DSLR camera!
Sony:
The first Sony camera in the top 100 is the Sony ZV-E10. And it’s also the best selling mirrorless system camera.
The wrap up:
Sub $100 camera lead the ranking
Kodak is doing extremely well with a ton of different models on top. Note that these are all from chinese manufacturers who licensed the “Kodak” brand name.
I know this sounds crazy and maybe even “clickbaity”. But Michael Leidel brought a list of arguments why this might be happening within the next years. In very short:
The E-mount lens system is saturated
According to him, we are now close to a point where it becomes difficult to sell new lenses because we already have a ton of excellent lenses for all kinds of photographers. And even though the new generation lenses that are coming out now have actually improved in terms of image quality, af performance and size, we cannot expect this situation to remain that way for much longer.
And relying “only” on camera sales is not enough to keep a system profitable. To be clear, the author states that eventually this will happen to all systems. Canon, Nikon, and so on. But Sony is already at that tipping point, thanks to its much longer history.
What is the solution, according to him? Launch a completely new mount system, for which people have to buy a completely new set of lenses from scratch.
Now, what kind of editing system is needed has not been speculated by the author of the video. I can add my personal option: I see only two possibilities:
Switch to a new medium format system
Keep the E-mount but launch a new Full Frame camera with curved sensor technology.
A quick elaboration on my two “solutions”:
Going Medium Format:
The question is whether Sony should use the same “small” medium format used by Fujifilm GFX and Hasselblad XD cameras or opt for the larger format used by Phase One and Hasselblad digital backs. The “small” format is probably too close to full frame to offer any real advantage, while the larger medium format sensor has the disadvantage of having to handle extremely large lenses.
Curved sensor:
This would be the best solution to continue using the “sweet spot”: full frame sensors. Lenses would suddenly become a third smaller because they would no longer have to correct for angular distortions. A kind of medium format quality could be achieved without the disadvantages of larger cameras and their much larger lenses. The real challenge is production costs and yield. I don’t know how difficult it is to mass produce such a complex design.
Reality check: Sony E-mount is here to stay!
Sometimes it is fun to think about the possible big changes that might occur in the future. But in this rapidly changing world, it is impossible to make serious predictions about what the world will be like even in 3-4 years from now. Maybe artificial intelligence will kill photography anyway :)
My bet is that E-mount will be alive and kicking for a long time. Mainly because of the following reasons:
it’s integrated into a variety of different areas (vlogging, professional broadcasting, cine gear and so forth)
it’s an open mount system that welcomes innovation from third party manufacturers
Sony is the king in the sensor tech. This will make sure Sony cameras will be always top in class (like the Sony A9III)
So what is your opinion? What should Sony do to make sure that the camera industry will be doing well in 5-10 years?
Browsing CNN front page I see that AP correspondent in this case, whose photo was published by CNN, is using the Sony A9III to take historic photos of Biden and Zelensky at the Normandy landing celebration. CNN always leave all the EXIF information intact so you can see that this was taken with A9III and judging from 94mm at F2.8 probably 70-200/2.8 lens, ISO2000 does not look too bad either. https://dynaimage.cdn.cnn.com/cnn/digital-images/org/c70471ca-9199-4156-93f1-8cbf85a32a20.jpg The fact that they are using A9III rather than A1 or Canon R3 is telling that global shutter is really appealing to these news guys, and 24MP is plenty for them.
NOTE: No political comments allowed. We are here to talk about gear ok?
