Staying put with compact

Camera brands are wont to let go of compact models despite the need to tap newer markets, in the wake of phone cameras

Could another Kodak moment be lurking around the corner for the digital camera industry? The term, now more reminiscent of the world's most iconic photography company's death-spiral than any happy nostalgia, could catch the post-Kodak era camera-makers by surprise. Compact cameras everywhere, so far the largest volume sellers, are facing an existential crisis because of advanced imaging in smartphones. DSLRs, owing to their bulk, technicalities and high price, do not cater to a fresh camera buyer. In India, the problem is more acute than in most other markets.

Camera makers are out to create a new set of audiences to survive - the hobbyist photographer and the pro looking for a handy second camera. For this market, they are either backing high-end compact cameras, or launching mirrorless cameras, without the mirror-box of a DSLR (decreasing distance between sensor and lenses), but with the same image sensor size and versatility of interchangeable lenses of one. It mimics the quality of a DSLR but can be as compact as an entry-level point-and-shoot.

Phones have already begun chipping away at their bestseller segment in India, since the last two years (compact camera sales declined by 5- 1 per cent). From the unmatched high-res 41 megapixels of the Nokia 808 PureView's camera to the 5 megapixels in a feature-phone camera, people have enough choice to satisfy their daily and street photography needs. But hobby photography and DSLR use which have found strong clienteles in Western and South-east Asian markets, are just picking up in India. Albeit interchangeable lenses camera segment has grown from just 25,000 units in 2009 to 3,00,000 last year.

It has led even the pioneer of mirrorless cameras, Olympus, to play it safe in India. It recently launched a slew of high-end compact cameras that borrow from its 'micro four-thirds' mirrorless cameras. Features such as compact but evolved lenses, fast auto-focus, 5-axis image stability are all replicated in its latest Stylus additions. Its compact camera range starts from around Rs 5,000 to Rs 32,000. Its mirrorless cameras begin at Rs 42,000, namely its PEN series.

Though Kazuhiro Watanabe, Executive Managing Director, Olympus Corporation of Asia Pacific, based out of Hong Kong insists, "Six months ago, we had introduced mirrorless cameras such as the OMD and Pen series. Those are very important for us. But we don't have any new ones at this time of the year, hence we are launching compact cameras in the meanwhile."

Even though Olympus says it would like to become leaders in the mirrorless segment in India, full-blown marketing plans are still some time away. "It will have to start with educating the consumer on the advantages of mirrorless cameras - how it can produce award-winning photographs but be compact," points out Kinya Yoshimura, deputy general manager, marketing, Olympus Imaging India. "In terms of unit, compact cameras are bigger, but in the future mirrorless cameras will become more and more important for us and the industry as well," says Watanabe.

But compact cameras will be very much around. Olympus started importing its cameras directly last year (third-party importers sold them in India earlier), but the three top players - Canon, Nikon and Sony - have had many years to wedge strong footholds. Of a 2.5 million unit- Rs 2000-crore compact camera market, Sony leads with 34 per cent (35 per cent in value), Nikon, 25 per cent (24 per cent in value) and Canon at 22 per cent (24 per cent in value) according to industry estimates. Olympus' claims a 3 per cent in volumes. For Canon, it is high-end compact cameras that will rule its sales.

Alok Bharadwaj, Executive Vice President, Canon India, says, "Our compact cameras span three segments of entry, lifestyle and special. We are looking at bringing in consumers straight from their phone-photography days to our two higher-end segments." These start at Rs 10,000-15,000.

Hiroshi Takashina, managing director, Nikon India, says "the quality of a compact camera cannot be replicated by a phone, be it night photography, zoom. As for mirrorless, the variation in demand led us to introduce Nikon 1, even though we have over 20 different Coolpix compact cameras."

But experts point out mirrorless cameras, which not only have a sleeker camera body but have sleek lenses too, apart from the ability to support DSLR lenses (with a mount), has been suffering from the dillydallies of the camera majors, who downplay their own models either by holding back technical features or by underplaying their marketing as they have much to lose if DSLR shares are cannibalised. In India, the DSLR market is pegged at Rs 2,000 crore as well, with an average camera selling for Rs 45,000 and above and the rest coming from lenses and accessories. Nikon has around 50 per cent, Canon 45 per cent and the rest bring in 5 per cent of the volume market share.

To stave off the onslaught of phone cameras, camera manufacturers might just go over to the other side - tying up with phone manufacturers to supply camera technology. We have seen Carl Zeiss lenses used in Nokia phones. Watanabe hints at it but guardedly.