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| Casual snapshot made on my early morning walk. Lumix GH3 with Lumix 14-140mm lens. |
The Future of Cameras, Part 1 of 4
Declining Camera Sales The total number of cameras sold each year has been declining for several years. I read recent reports that the decline has now started to affect interchangeable lens cameras (ILC) as well as compacts. Despite or perhaps because of this manufacturers are pushing onto the market cameras which feature a multitude of different types, styles, specifications, sizes, sensor sizes and technologies. To a somewhat jaded consumer like myself it looks as though they are blindfolded, throwing out lots of different product variations in all directions hoping that one of them appeals to enough willing consumers to make it viable.
Getting the Cart before the Horse I read a lot of analysis and discussion on websites and user forums about cameras. All manner of things are discussed, such as size, pixels, control layouts, styling and much more.
But it seems to me there is little to be gained by these discussions if we are unaware of the intended user and that user's requirements for a camera.
I am just a consumer with no inside knowlege of any camera maker or vendor. But it seems to me that over the last few years many new product releases advertise a selling point which has nothing to do with the likely requirements of many actual users. Like, it comes in 100 color combinations, or it's really, really small, or it has some ridiculously large number of pixels in there somewhere. I will return to this in Part 2 of this little series.
Groups of Camera Users This is a simplification, of course, but I think it provides a useful basis for thinking about the kinds of cameras which people might want to buy and keep on using.
I propose that there are four main groups of people who make photographs and three groups who use cameras.
Those who use smartphones
These are mostly snapshooters. Here we find people who don't want to be bothered with apertures, shutter speeds and all that technical stuff. They have better things to do. These people make photos in opportunistic fashion. Pictures are incidentalto the day's events. This is by far the largest number of people who make photos of some kind. They use smartphones in a casual way and rely on the automaticfunctions of the device.
Having said all that I know that some professional photographers use smartphones sometimes. Fine, but the smartphone is not their main tool of work.
People who use cameras
Camera users relate to the capture process in a different way from smartphone users. Their picture taking is premeditated. Making photographs is integral to the day's events. It is one of the events.
I identify three groups of camera users. These are Aspirational Snapshooters, Enthusiast/Experts and Professionals.
Aspirational Snapshooters still have their camera set to the [green camera symbol] or similar automatic mode on the dial. But they have aspirations. They want to learn more about using a camera on one of the "expert" modes. Maybe they plan to attend a photography course some time soon. Manybe they aspire to better results, getting published or winning a photo competition. These users will often select a DSLR or advanced compact bristling with buttons and dials which for the moment remain underutilised. Maybe their self esteem is boosted by using an advanced camera. My point is this group will select a somewhat advanced camera model not a simplified model which can only be used in point and shoot mode.
The Enthusiast/Expert group is fairly self explanatory. These people are interested in the process of making photographs and like to work diligently to improve both their competence in the process of image capture and the quality of their results.
Professionals have to make money from their photography so as a group they tend to be more pragmatic about equipment choices than the other user groups. They are little affected by marketing hype and more interested in using equipment which reliably gets the job done.
Each of the user groups is likely to use cameras in a deliberativefashion, thinking about the process of camera work as a means to the imaging outcome. Professionals and Experts do and Aspirational Snapshooters would like to engagewith the camera, to turn it off automatic mode and take control of the capture process.
Next, the user experience.
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