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In Part 1 of Digital Camera Trends @ PMA 2007, the shift from megapixels to high-ISO was discussed, in Part 2, the evolution of optical zoom and the push for high-density zoom was discussed.

Within any market, there are two balancing trends: what the customer wants and what the manufacturer produces. This is commonly known as supply and demand. Just before PMA 2007, rumors and speculations swirled. Even though some rumors and speculation arise from anticipation of manufacturer strategy, most are fueled by what customers want.

There were lots of speculation about high-end Canon offerings. One speculation regarded the arrival of a follow-up to the Canon EOS 30D, presumably the 40D, and another with the follow up to Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II, presumably the 1Ds Mark III. Neither speculation was revealed to be true as Canon released the EOS 1D Mark III.

In hindsight, Canon’s PMA 2007 announcement is the most logical. The speculation was driven by consumers who wish for an even higher-end full-frame DSLR, the 1Ds Mark II, and by those who wish for a higher-resolution high-speed cropped-sensor DSLR, the Canon EOS 40D. It is certain that eventually both of these will come. However, Canon needed to produce neither now.

In terms of the 1Ds, which is the highest-end DSLR currently available. It has absolutely no competition. There are no higher resolution DSLR cameras. As such, the best is for Canon to continue sales of the 1Ds Mark II to maximize its profit from the R&D for that camera. In the meantime, Canon is probably developing a 1DsMark III for when it will be required due to competition. Technological evolution dictates that the longer they wait to produce one, the more capable it will be.

As for the 40D, there is some anxiety due to the fact that the lower-end Canon Digital Rebel XTi has a 10 megapixels sensor while the higher-end 30D has only an 8 megapixels sensor. Nevertheless the 30D is a higher-end digital SLR due to its 5 FPS continuous drive, larger viewfinder, more durable body and a larger feature set. The Rebel XTi also features a well-needed dust-reduction system which is absent from the 30D. No matter this apparent unfairness, the 30D’s only competition is the 10 megapixels Nikon D200 which costs substantially more but adds weather-sealing. As such, the 30D does not have any direct competition and is the lowest cost DSLR with 5 FPS continuous drive.

The Canon 1D Mark II, on the other hand, has competition in the form of the Nikon D2Xs. The Nikon D2Xs is a 12 megapixels 1.5X-crop DSLR with a 5 FPS continuous drive in 12 megapixels mode and a 8 FPS continuous drive in 8 megapixels 2X-crop mode. This made it the highest resolution 5 FPS digital camera and the only 8 FPS DSLR. To surpass this, Canon has to produce a faster DSLR. That is why they needed the 1D Mark III. Higher resolution was secondary since they already have a 12 megapixels DSLR, the Canon EOS 5D with its 3 FPS drive and they have the 16 megapixels 1Ds Mark II with its 4 FPS drive.

With the 1D Mark III, Canon can reclaim the spot for the fastest DSLR available. The 10 FPS drive is even faster than the D2Xs’ crop mode and the 10 megapixels resolution is not far from the Nikon’s full-resolution, but runs twice as fast. With the push for a higher-speed camera, Canon also produced the first DSLR with ISO 6400 capability. This feature is probably quite attractive to its target market which definitely includes most action photographers. Indoor action photographers are probably rejoicing the most.

In Part 1 of Digital Camera Trends @ PMA 2007, the shift from megapixels to high-ISO was discussed, showing that this year far more digital camera manufacturers are pushing the limits of high-ISO than megapixels. The second major trend at PMA 2007 is cameras competing in terms of optical zoom.

Zoom has always been a big selling point for digital cameras – second only to megapixels. For several years manufacturers exaggerated their numbers by counting digital as well as optical zoom. Luckily, those days are mostly behind us and most users now understand that it is only optical zoom that counts.

Its been a few years that the top ultra-zoom cameras use 12X optical zoom lenses, usually equivalent to 35mm to 420mm. This year both Sony and Olympus challenged this by introducing digital cameras with 15X and 18X optical zoom, respectively. Not only are these the longest zooms ever, they also start wider than most long zooms. Both the Sony Cybershot DSC-H7 and Sony Cybershot DSC-H9 have 31-465mm lenses. The Olympus SP-550UZ has a 28-504mm lens, thus providing a true wide-angle to super-telephoto lens. Last year, the only wide-angle ultra-zoom lens (28-300mm) was on the Fuji Finepix S6000fd and the Fuji Finepix S9000.

Despite optical zoom finally increasing after reaching 12X several years ago, the competition is not about zoom power this time. It is about zoom-density: packing the most optical zoom into the smallest digital camera. Until this year, in the ultra-compact category most cameras had 3X to 4X optical zoom and in the compact category most had 4X to 6X zoom. Most, but not all. Just over one year ago, Panasonic announced the compact Lumix DMC-TZ1 with its innovative folded-and-extending optics 10X optical zoom lens in a body 1.6″ thick.

At PMA 2007, the zoom-density battle was intensified. Casio announced the Hi-Zoom EX-V7 with a 7X optical zoom (38-266mm equivalent) packed into a 1″ thick body. Per thickness, that is denser than the Panasonic TZ1. Even denser than the Casio EX-V7 is the Olympus FE-240 which packs a 5X optical zoom (38-190mm equivalent) lens in a body 0.6″ thick. They also introduced the Olympus Stylus 780 with a 5X optical zoom (36-180mm equivalent) in a 0.9″ thick weather-proof body. Olympus engineers must have worked really hard to realize all those new lenses. Sony showed the Cybershot DSC-T100 with a 5X zoom in a 7/8″ thick body. Although that is quite dense for a zoom, it does not beat the Olympus FE-240 for zoom-density.

There were also several new wide-angle lenses, particularly among small digital cameras. Last year there were the Canon Powershot SD800 IS and the Olympus FE-200, both with wide-angle lenses starting at 28mm. This year Panasonic added the Lumix DMC-FX30 with a 3.6X optical zoom starting at 28mm in a 0.87″ thick body. They also introduced the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3 which has a highly versatile 28-280mm equivalent 10X optical zoom lens in a 1.47″ thick body. Based on its size and zoom range alone, the TZ3 is certain to become a very popular digital camera.

For more insights on Digital Camera Trends @ PMA 2007, stay tuned for part 3…

Well, PMA 2007 has come and gone, after dozens of pre-conference announcements and a few more during the show. Although PMA is the second most important conference in photography, nothing revolutionary was announced. There were lots of pre-PMA rumors, some founded, some not. Most new digital cameras announced during PMA 2007 were evolution models based on previous generations.

This year, there has been a slight shift in the direction of digital camera evolution. During previous years, the megapixels race dominated digital camera announcements. That race is not over yet, as Sony proved by revealing its compact 12 megapixels Cybershot DSC-W200. However, the race has definitely slowed down, higher resolution is no longer the biggest selling factor for consumers. There are 3 reasons for this:

1. Technology: To make a higher resolution sensor without increasing its size, and therefore the size and cost of the entire camera, requires costly research and development.
2. Physics: There is a physical limit to the resolution of light going a lens aperture. The limit is due to a phenomenon called diffraction. In other words, larger sensors will eventually be required to take advantage of high resolution sensors at reasonable apertures.
3. Need: While professional photographers frequently make very large prints where increased resolutions are necessary, consumers seldom print at such sizes.

I’m certain that if it were not for the first two items, the megapixels race would still be raging. After all, marketing is able to create needs. Specifically, the need to have more megapixels than before.

The major race this year among consumer digital cameras is the light-sensitivity race. It was started by Fuji two years ago when they launched their Fuji Finepix F10, but nearly everyone is in it now. The trouble with this race is that it is a dirty race where the measure of achievement is very different from the measures of marketing. The F10’s claim to fame was its full-resolution ISO 1600 performance. The Fuji Finepix F30 soon followed with an exceptionally good IS0 3200. Remember, these are not SLRs, these cameras are roughly 1″ thick.

Soon after the Fuji F10 became a success, most manufacturers presented compact digital cameras with high-ISO specifications. This quickly became an important race because it is based on an actual need. There is a tangible benefit to capturing low-noise images at high-ISO. Indoor images, street photography, action shots and parties are all great occasions to use high ISO.

The problem with most compact digital cameras is that they either produce excessively noisy images or excessively soft images at high-ISO. Up to now, only Fuji has demonstrated its capacity to do better. Counting megapixels is easy, so is counting ISO but not all ISO are created equal.

Around PMA 2007, several camera makers pushed the limits of high-ISO by announcing cameras with unbelievably high ISO settings. Particulary, Olympus presented the FE-250 which goes up to ISO 10,000 (yes, ten thousand!) and several models going at least to ISO 3200. Kodak also announced new compact cameras featuring ISO 8,000. This reminds me of when scanners were specified using interpolated DPI, one company had a 99,999 DPI scanner on sale!

Indeed, most cameras this year have ISO 3200 settings. This includes Sony’s ultra-compact Cybershot DSC-T100, its compact 12 megapixels W200, and its flagship Cybershot DSC-H9. Looking at ISO numbers alone, it appears Canon and Panasonic are the most tame makers. New Canon compact cameras like the Powershot A570 IS feature a maximum ISO of 1600. Panasonic, famous for its noisy sensors, has a few ultra-compact cameras with a maximum ISO of 1250.

For more insights on Digital Camera Trends @ PMA 2007, stay tuned for part 2…

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