One of our SAR readers sent me this eBay auction link. We cannot fogure out what this thing is. You have any idea?

Lensvid collected all the 2018 CIPA data to give us a detailed view of the camera market:

The bottom line is very bad though. We are below 20 million units per year and mirrorless cameras don’t gain as much traction as you might think (2% increase per year vs. 12% decrease in DSLR). For the first time, interchangeable lens cameras surpassed the sales of compact cameras (not surprising, to be honest). If you look at the entire decade you see an unbelievable drop of 84% from 2010 to 2018 in the number of cameras sold/made per year.

The lens market is also going down (except interestingly in the Americas where you have a small increase). Maybe the most important thing and something that we have been looking at for the first time is prices (it isn’t a direct number – CIPA gives the number of cameras/lenses and the amount of money these products were sold for – but it is not clear sold to whom – since the manufacturers do not sell directly to people and there are sometimes a lot of middle man in between).

Anyway – for what it is worth we see a trend which we already know of in the numbers – in 2018 fewer cameras were sold but for more money, it is even more obvious in lenses – the companies reported more money coming in from lenses in 2018 than in 2017 despite selling fewer lenses so you can do the math on what this means for lens camera/lens pricing and what will probably happen if the market will continue to shrink in 2019…

Click on this image to see the full size infographic:

Full article on Lensvid.com!

The only slightly good news is that Sony is one of the few camera manufacturers still making profit in this business…

The Japanese Mapcamera store published their 2019 bestsellers. I know this is just one of a multitude of stores available on the world. So this isn’t a scientific test. But I was expecting the new Nikon and Canon FF mirrorless to outsell Sony and as you can see at least according to this store this isn’t happening.

Sony A6400 What YouTubers Really Think About this Camera?

Samsung plans to surpass the Sony sensor production (MirrorlessRumors).
Nikon Nikkor 35mm f/2.8 (Phillip Reeve)
Tilta Sony A7/A9 Camera Cage ES-T17-A V2 Review (Newsshooter).
Sony Develops the World’s First CMOS Image Sensor Capable of Multiple Sensor Connection to a Single MIPI Input Port for Sensing Applications (Opli).
August Pross: What is Photography? (Explora).

Personal photos and tests from SAR Admin Andrea on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and 500px.

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“Abandon hope all ye who enter here” is the supposed inscription at the entrance to Hell (Divina Commedia – Dante Alighieri). And all camera manufacturers must feel the same right now:

The latest CIPA data certifies that camera unit shipments fell 22% this year. And the forecast is that it will shrunk further this year by 13%. Within their latest financial results Canon stated they expect two more years of market shrinking until market stabilizes.

I think Sony’s strategy is the same as all other manufacturers: Slow down the release cycle and reduce the camera models. I don’t think there is a camera technology yet that can make the market bring back to growth again. Most people are simply happy with their smartphones.

Che Abu Bakar
Victorian Rhapsody
Inframe I Lauren (Jakarta, Indonesia)
Gear | Sony A9 | Metabones Canon EF to E mount Mark V I Lens Canon EF 85mm f1.2 | 1/5000 f1.3 ISO 100

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A couple of months ago Sony stated that they have no interest yet in going medium format. But the day they decide to do it I hope they will do something very similar to what Fuj is planning to do. Fujirumors spotted these prototype images showing a sort of Sony RX0 box camera that can be extended with grip and EVF.

I think Fuji should go a step further and also make a removable digital back that would allow to attach different sensors. You could add cheaper Full Frame backs or use a Black and White medium format sensor and so forth.  Just like a regular Phase One or Hasselblad digital medium format camera.

I think Sony should do this using their larger 55×44 medium format sensors. But I know this is going to be a very expensive camera :(