More New Cameras...

I have been saying this for a while, but, I have never published it. I believe that the digital camera industry is its own worst enemy.

The first rule of manufacturing seems to have elluded digital camera makers. Three or four times per year camera makers rollout new models with very few, if any, major advancements. They keep producing new models with slightly different body shapes, cosmetic treatments, and sometimes new features or higher pixel counts, but mostly just new models to stay a step ahead of the competition.

The consumer often sees new cameras pop up and wonders if they bought their last camera too soon. "Should I have waited?" Second-guessing their purchases, buyers voice concern over the endless parade of cameras and some make no decision to buy at all. The latter might be the "wait until they work out the bugs" mentality.

Now, about that first rule of manufacturing. When a company invests time and money in a new product, the general rule is that the upfront cost is recovered from the sale of the product in due time. Profit increases as the product enjoys a healthy lifespan. The longer the product is manufactured, the lower its cost. This is the cardinal rule of manufacturing. Make more of something and the cost of manufacture goes down. The longer you produce it, the cheaper it costs.

Now, look at the camera makers of today and how they produce digital cameras. Point and shoot digitals are a losing proposition. Having quarterly rollouts kills profitability and there is little gain for a consumer who waits for the next wave of products since not enough real benefit is seen when the new cameras are on the table. When most people can print nice 8x10 images from a four mega-pixel camera, why do they need a ten mega-pixel model? Why invest in a new camera every year when the one they have is still doing fine?

The only profitable digital cameras on the market are really digital SLRs. WHY? Because product life is much longer and the cameras are high enough in price that manufacturers can recover their investments and make a healthy sum during their manufacturing run.

With manufacturers falling to the wayside and some totally changing tactics to stay competitive, I would wonder why a consortium of makers cannot sit together and draft a resolution that says let's all slow down and make this whole thing profitable.

Sony, a year ago, said that they would never produce a digital SLR camera. In a matter of a few months they bought what remained of the Minolta DSLR business and rights to their lenses and are now entering the DSLR race. In fact, they now have a very high-quality DSLR that is destined to capture a large percentage of the market and settle the fears of Minolta owners who love their 7D and 5D cameras. Sony's about-face is one of the best moves they have made in recent years. They saw the writing on the wall and planned accordingly.

My advice to the industry... slow down! Make more money on less investment by increasing the life-cycles of your cameras and you will finally profit from the low-end models that have been changing like the wind. Keep your digital SLRs going and follow Pentax' lead in making easy-to-use models that perform well and don't change too drastically from one model to the next.

Japanese people and manufacturers, as a long-standing tradition, have been pragmatists. They have been successful by being predictable. Run the digital camera business the way you have always run your film camera businesses and you will make far more money over the long haul.

Late this summer or early fall, I hope to grab the Pentax ten mega-pixel DSLR when it hits. I am certain that they are taking their time and working to release a fantastic camera that will be in their fleet for a long time (by today's standards). My investment in Pentax glass will not go to waste.

Meanwhile, I have to admit I am tempted over Sony's new baby. That camera looks awesome! Congratulations, Sony. Once again, you have shown the world that you mean business.