Ah Nikon maintaing the lead in Digital SLR sales..

But is that a good thing? Too many entry level models in the Nikon range recently, where are the serious cameras for professionals and advanced amateurs? The D200s with better noise control, the D3x that can top the 1D MKIII.

If you look at it from an optimists point of view its all good though, as more sales = more money = better R&D for better products.

So it could all turn out well in the end.

Nikon has led Canon in its share of the DSLR market in Japan for the past six months, according to latest sales figures.

‘Nikon nudged Canon from its pedestal in December with the introduction of the D80 in October,’ reports Japanese trade publication PEN News Weekly.

‘Since then it also launched the D40 and D40x and has been maintaining the lead for six months, with a 48% market share in May, while Canon ended up second with a 35% market share,’ adds the report which was based on figures released by market research firm BCN.

The statistics reveal a turnaround on a year ago when Canon held a 53% market share in Japan, leaving Nikon behind with 33% in June 2006.

The figures show that Sony’s market share dropped to 2.6% in May this year, from the near 20% share it held in July 2006.

Pentax’s share also fell compared to last summer, from 13% in July 2006 to 7% in May this year – putting Pentax in third place behind Nikon and Canon.

Olympus share has picked up since March – rising to 6.1% in May, a growth attributed to the launch of the Olympus E-410 digital SLR.

The figures were compiled from sales data received from 2,200 stores across Japan, including ‘large electronic home appliance merchandisers’, says PEN.

Source: Amateur Photographer

Canon has launched a new section of their site showing how the high grade lenses are manufactured in Japan (In this case it’s the EF 500mm F4L IS USM lens)

It’s a lengthy process.

You can see how the Raw materials are processed, the lenses machined and the final lens assembly process.

You can see the whole show here:

Canon Camera Museum – Virtual Lens Plant.

Some guy recently tested the current crop of SLR cameras with ‘dust removal’ systems to see how effective they actually are.

Sensor cleaning is becoming a standard feature on modern digital SLR cameras. While the manufacturers may use different techniques to get rid of the dust from the image sensor, they all promise clean, dust free images. Do they all work equally well? Can we throw our air blower away? We have tested the four different types of sensor cleaning technologies to see which one will most likely to fulfill the expectations.

I was quite surprised with the results, and how badly they all performed. It turns out they are all pretty much useless when it comes to cleaning/dust removal. Only the Olympus fared reasonably.

Here is our ranking according to effectiveness:

1. Olympus: good
2. Canon: poor (we are disappointed)
3. Pentax and Sony: useless (we are very disappointed)

If you are looking for a camera, have the dust removal as an expectation only at the end of your list. If sensor cleaning / dust removal is a must, the choices are limited to Olympus and Panasonic cameras.

Read the full test here:

Review: Dust removal systems / sensor cleaning

Seen as though this is quite important I better let you know just in case you missed it, which is unlikely as it’s been all over the place.

But better safe than sorry!

We have discovered that, in a very small number of PowerShot A530 and PowerShot A540 digital cameras, the area around the battery cover on the bottom of the camera may become hot. We would like to convey the details of this phenomenon and our service policy.

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused to customers who use these products. We spare no effort in our quality management to make sure our customers can use our products with confidence. We hope our efforts will earn your understanding.

Phenomenon
We have discovered that in cameras where the opening/closing spring on the inside of the battery cover (see images below) sticks out beyond its regular position, if a battery is put into these cameras and the battery cover is closed, it causes a short-circuit and the following phenomena occur:

1) The bottom of the camera becomes extremely hot near the battery cover.

2) Batteries that are loaded are depleted quickly.

3) The number of shots that can be taken becomes extremely small.

Affected Cameras
PowerShot A530, PowerShot A540 Digital Cameras

Please check the first two numbers from the left in the serial number listed on the bottom of the camera.

The serial number: Cameras with “21″, “22″, “23″, “24″, as the first two numbers from the left.

For cameras with the serial numbers listed above, please open the battery cover and check the hinge part.

Cameras in which the opening/closing spring sticks out like in the ones shown in the images below are affected by this malfunction.

After my problems with my own Canon Powershot A70 I have to say Canon consumer cameras don’t seem reliable at ALL.

I’ll have to think twice about the Canon Powershot A710 IS after all..

Source: Canon USA

Seems like Canon is doing very well here in Malaysia.

Canon Marketing Malaysia has seen a 70% surge in profits so far this year over 2005, recording its highest profits since its incorporation 19 years ago.

In a statement on Dec 22, Canon Malaysia said its performance was achieved against a backdrop of rising unit sales of Canon products and more efficient operations.

It did not reveal the profit amount, nor the specific financial period.

“Although there was only 5% revenue growth due to declining price points, Canon notched a signification growth of 30% in unit sales in five of our primary consumer and business products as well as hikes in market shares,” said its president and chief executive officer Liew Sip Chon (pic ) .

“This was supported by the steady demand for consumer products and businesses, from SMEs to the public sector, pouring in more investment into technology in their pursuit for efficiency and more effective processes.

Pretty big growth!

Source: The Edge