Christmas Wong Kresten: Photographers Gallery

Friday, March 18, 2011

Photographers Gallery

Nikon digital camera at PMA 2009 Show : If there is one brand that has been performing superbly for the last year and a half, and even more important, has succeeded in standing out, it's Nikon. With an unparalleled battle concerning market share and a succession of new product launches, one success beaten by the other, Nikon has reached an extremely comfortable position. The introductions of the Nikon D3 and D300 digital SLR cameras

were the start, and if you have followed last year’s developments, you will know how many Nikon imaging products succeeded after these two. Canon had to accept a big blow, which also had its effect in the professional world.

Nikon D3x digital SLR camera
Media offices and a large amount of professionals have switched over to Nikon cameras. That, and the giant sales figures of various Nikon imaging products, has largely influenced the market share of both brands. Naturally, a lot of interest went to Nikon's top product of the Nikon DSLR series; the Nikon D3x. It's an unparalleled high quality digital SLR for the professional, which has become a standard to serve as reference for the current generation of professional DSLR cameras. I will admit that the differences at the top gradually become smaller, but the recommended selling prices show larger differences. If you can afford the Nikon D3x, you will obtain a high quality tool that will pay for itself, depending on assignments and field of specialism.

Nikon Digital SLR cameras

Although the attention is drawn to the professional D3x, also the remaining Nikon DSLRs such as the D3, D700 and D90 can't complain about the amount of attention they are receiving. Nikon did not surprise at the PMA 2009 by introductions, but from experience we know Nikon is always quite stubborn in handling product launches. There's no logic to follow for the Western world in any case. One of the latest toys is the Nikon 50mm f/1.4 lens, a beautiful lens to use with the Nikon D700 DSLR for example.

Nikon Coolpix digital cameras
The Nikon Coolpix compact camera line-up is not yet that successful for Nikon, however, or at least; that has been the situation in the past few years. It gives you the feeling that the Coolpix and the Nikon DSLR are worlds apart. The contrast could hardly be larger. Where innovations and high quality techniques have been successfully integrated, Nikon doesn't seem to be able to stand out with the Nikon Coolpix series. The market share is meager and I can understand that. As a consumer, you'd generally purchase a Nikon compact camera with certain expectations of it. You purchase a Nikon for its quality, the expectations are high. However, if we take a look at the Nikon Coolpix assortment, we don't see that many cameras that stand out from the crowd.

New Nikon cameras
Take for example a camera like the Panasonic LUMIX DMC-LX3. It may not be a digital camera that processes high sales figures, but it is definitely a camera that knows how to stand out. A camera that is described many times with words like high quality, lens etc. I'd like to see this camera return in the P-series. And what's more, I do miss a compact megazoom camera with 10x optical zoom in the Nikon Coolpix camera line. A camera such as, again: the Panasonic LUMIX DMC-TZ7. These are examples of rivals that do know how to differentiate, in which the Coolpix stays behind.