Assignment

[Rapunzelwannabe]

Hi everyone.

I'm a final year university student and am doing a strategic business review of the digital camera market in the UK.

I was wondering if anyone has any idea where I can find any information about the market size, growth rates and trends and also how this market would be segmented in terms of consumers.

I'm doing a PESTLE analysis on the UK market then concentrating on Canon and am doing a competitive analysis for them followed by a critical review of their positioning and management of the marketing mix in this sector. I need to identify the options that they have to move forward.

I have already done a fair bit of work on this but any extra recommended resources would be more than welcome - especially as I have no idea about digital cameras!

I'm not looking for people to do my assignment for me as it is nearly complete but most of my information is from academic journals or online articles and I would like to get clarification that I am understanding the market correctly. I think the best people to ask is the camera users themselves. For example:

I have segmented the market by consumer and have done this with the following categories:

Amateurs - use compact cameras or compact system cameras
Keen amateurs - use Bridge cameras
Professionals use - DSLR's

I would like to know if camera users agree with this and (in your opinions) is there other terminology that you believe would fit this better e.g. Pro consumers?

Many thanks in advance

[tonylong]

Here in POTN there are many "amateur enthusiasts" who use DSLRs, Canon of course, but then a growing number who are shooting with the smaller/lighter "4:3" system, but maybe you aren't looking at those. Plenty of Canon DSLRs here in the hands of enthusiasts!

[Veemac]

An internet forum is a difficult place to get a valid cross-section because people who join such discussion forums are usually more than casual users in the first place. With that said, I think you'll find by perusing the forums here that many "amateurs" and "keen enthusiasts" not only use DSLRs, but have quite extensive (and expensive!) kits, often costing into the thousands, or tens of thousands of dollars. As a matter of fact, I'd venture a guess that the number of amateurs/keen enthusiasts using DSLRs outnumber paid professionals by a quite significant margin (100:1 or better, if I had to hazard a guess.)

It's all quite nebulous because it's difficult in the first place to pigeonhole people into neat categories such as "amateur" "keen enthusiast" and "professional". As a matter of fact, there have been many very extensive discussions here in the past about what constitutes a "professional" in the first place, and there are many opinions but no hard and fast answers.

There are "amateurs"/casual photographers who most often use their cell phone or P&S cameras to shoot pictures of their friends duckfacing (Google it) at parties - but there are also "amateurs" who wish to preserve high-quality memories of their families/children, for example, and thus resort to DSLR kits. There are "keen enthusiasts" who are quite content using P&S or bridge cameras, but there are also some (such as birders, wildlife photographers, sports fans) who use very specialized and costly DSLR cameras, lenses and associated accessories to document their passions.

I'd say it's a correct assumption that the vast majority of professionals use DSLRs, but if you're going to consider a "professional" as a person who gets paid to take pictures, there are also "momtographers" and GWACs (Guy With A Camera) who get paid to shoot portraits, weddings, newborns, etc. with point and shoot or bridge cameras (whether or not those can truly be considered "professionals" is an entirely different subject and has been the topic of many heated debates here).

You mentioned "pro consumers" - the word "prosumer" is often bandied about, and in terms of Canon cameras it generally denotes the line of cameras that lie between entry-level (e.g. Canon Rebel series) and professional cameras (e.g., 1-series and/or 5-series) which have more advanced technology and more sophisticated levels of user customization available. In terms of the Canon product line, it breaks down more or less as such:

Entry-level: Rebel XT/T1i/T2i/T3/T3i, et. al.

Prosumer: 20D/30D/40D/50D/60D/7D.

Professional: 1D series (Mk I, II, III, IV), 1Ds series (Mk I, II, III), 5D series (Mk I, Mk II).

The product lines ascend in features/technology (and price) as they move up the hierarchy - but it again defies neat categorization, as there are many amateurs/enthusiasts/prosumers who own and shoot with "professional" level gear. With that said, I'd say it's more common to see an amateur shooting with pro-level gear than it is to see a professional shooting with an entry-level kit.

All the above is just my opinion, but I'd hope that many here feel I'm at least somewhat close to the mark.

[tonylong]

Heh! The 5D was designed to be a full-frame camera with a prosumer body...although the 5D2 did add video and other "features" you could still say that it's a prosumer body, even though plenty of pros do certainly use it!

[Veemac]

Heh! The 5D was designed to be a full-frame camera with a prosumer body...although the 5D2 did add video and other "features" you could still say that it's a prosumer body, even though plenty of pros do certainly use it!
You're right, Tony - the 5D does blur the "prosumer"/"pro" line. The 1Ds line is actually the flagship "pro" full-frame body, but the 5D/5Dii seems to have ended up being more popular/prevalent with pros and amateurs/prosumers alike.

[Rapunzelwannabe]

Thanks for your replies :)

[Rapunzelwannabe]

An internet forum is a difficult place to get a valid cross-section because people who join such discussion forums are usually more than casual users in the first place. With that said, I think you'll find by perusing the forums here that many "amateurs" and "keen enthusiasts" not only use DSLRs, but have quite extensive (and expensive!) kits, often costing into the thousands, or tens of thousands of dollars. As a matter of fact, I'd venture a guess that the number of amateurs/keen enthusiasts using DSLRs outnumber paid professionals by a quite significant margin (100:1 or better, if I had to hazard a guess.)

It's all quite nebulous because it's difficult in the first place to pigeonhole people into neat categories such as "amateur" "keen enthusiast" and "professional". As a matter of fact, there have been many very extensive discussions here in the past about what constitutes a "professional" in the first place, and there are many opinions but no hard and fast answers.

There are "amateurs"/casual photographers who most often use their cell phone or P&S cameras to shoot pictures of their friends duckfacing (Google it) at parties - but there are also "amateurs" who wish to preserve high-quality memories of their families/children, for example, and thus resort to DSLR kits. There are "keen enthusiasts" who are quite content using P&S or bridge cameras, but there are also some (such as birders, wildlife photographers, sports fans) who use very specialized and costly DSLR cameras, lenses and associated accessories to document their passions.

I'd say it's a correct assumption that the vast majority of professionals use DSLRs, but if you're going to consider a "professional" as a person who gets paid to take pictures, there are also "momtographers" and GWACs (Guy With A Camera) who get paid to shoot portraits, weddings, newborns, etc. with point and shoot or bridge cameras (whether or not those can truly be considered "professionals" is an entirely different subject and has been the topic of many heated debates here).

You mentioned "pro consumers" - the word "prosumer" is often bandied about, and in terms of Canon cameras it generally denotes the line of cameras that lie between entry-level (e.g. Canon Rebel series) and professional cameras (e.g., 1-series and/or 5-series) which have more advanced technology and more sophisticated levels of user customization available. In terms of the Canon product line, it breaks down more or less as such:

Entry-level: Rebel XT/T1i/T2i/T3/T3i, et. al.

Prosumer: 20D/30D/40D/50D/60D/7D.

Professional: 1D series (Mk I, II, III, IV), 1Ds series (Mk I, II, III), 5D series (Mk I, Mk II).

The product lines ascend in features/technology (and price) as they move up the hierarchy - but it again defies neat categorization, as there are many amateurs/enthusiasts/prosumers who own and shoot with "professional" level gear. With that said, I'd say it's more common to see an amateur shooting with pro-level gear than it is to see a professional shooting with an entry-level kit.

All the above is just my opinion, but I'd hope that many here feel I'm at least somewhat close to the mark.

This is really useful information Mac so thank you very much. I'm going to use it in my assignment and I will quote you.

This bit is very very useful:

Entry-level: Rebel XT/T1i/T2i/T3/T3i, et. al.

Prosumer: 20D/30D/40D/50D/60D/7D.

Professional: 1D series (Mk I, II, III, IV), 1Ds series (Mk I, II, III), 5D series (Mk I, Mk II).
The product lines ascend in features/technology (and price) as they move up the hierarchy - but it again defies neat categorization, as there are many amateurs/enthusiasts/prosumers who own and shoot with "professional" level gear. With that said, I'd say it's more common to see an amateur shooting with pro-level gear than it is to see a professional shooting with an entry-level kit.

I need to try and establish what the average lifecycle of a camera is. Do you have any examples? E.g is the XT still around or has this been replaced with a newer version?

Thank you so much for your help.

[tonylong]

Heh! First off, although the 5D line is widely used professionally, it was designed to be a (groundbreaking) full-frame camera in a prosumer body. The body of the 5D "Classic" was essentially a bigger version of the 30D body. The 5DII certainly brought upgraded features, but comes no where close to the "pro" 1D series.

Not to nitpick, but since you are approaching this from "the outside looking in" I just figured you should get your facts together!

As to "lifecycle", well, for us users, the lifecycle for some is the time between releases, because some people like to upgrade to the newest model for various reasons. So, you will note that there are more "Rebel"/X...D models out than xxD models, and more xxD models than 1D/1Ds releases. Also, the 5D is a bit "special" -- the original 5D was released shortly before the 30D and took, well, maybe 3 years before the 5D3 was released, and now, maybe 3 or so years later the 5D3 is about to be released.

So, though, does that determine the "lifespan"? Well only that between upgrades, but that does not tell the story of the useful lifespan of these cameras! I still have and use the trusty ol' 30D and the original 5D "Classic", they are both quite useful, they take as good shots as they did 5 years ago. And, my daughter still uses her 400D. And, there are people here with functioning cameras older than ours.

So basically the "functional lifespan" of a body is, well, until it stops working and is not worth repairing, and that could be, well, however long.

One data point is in "estimated shutter activations". There is a non-official list of such estimations for various bodies. In the list, the 1Dx bodies have the highest estimates, then the 5D bodies and maybe the 7D bodies, not sure of that, then the xxD bodies and the Rebel bodies. I haven't looked at such a list in a long time, though, so don't have the figures. Also, it should be noted that those are estimates, not guarantees -- some bodies outlast them, others will fail before the estimate.