Digital Cameras: Between Competition and Market Opportunities

Digital Cameras: Between Competition and Market Opportunities

E.A. Joseph Renyut
Contributor
Jakarta

Technology, particularly the technology of photography, has
undergone very rapid progress, especially recently, with the
presence of digital cameras in the market.

In the past, a camera was the size of a sewing machine and the
pictures produced were not very sharp. Today, a wallet-sized
digital camera can take pictures with a very high resolution and
be in a size as big as a newspaper.

Following the era of computerization, the era of
digitalization is here and will stay with us for some time into
future. As a result, cameras are also digitalized, a fact that
has also transformed people's mindset. The way people keep
printed photographs, film negatives and use expensive photography
equipment will soon be history.

When digital cameras were first introduced, many professional
photographers displayed some disdain. This was understandable
given the limitations of early digital camera technology. Today,
however, many of these professional photographers are warming to
sophisticated digital cameras. As you may be aware, digital
cameras are increasing sophisticated and popular, while prices
have become increasingly more affordable as well.

The development of the sales of digital cameras has shown a
fantastic jump all over the world, including Indonesia, of
course. The role of film negatives in a camera has been replaced
by mediums to store photo files like XD-cards, for example.
Pictures recorded by the sensor of a digital camera can be
directly transferred to this medium and can be erased or stored
for a certain period of time, depending on the material.

Research conducted by Info Trends/CAP Ventures shows that
sales of digital cameras worldwide in 2004 was worth around US$24
billion, and are expected to rise to some $31 billion in 2009.
The big three regions on the list of countries recording the
highest sales volume were Europe, the United States and Japan. At
present the market leaders in the digital camera business are
Canon, Sony, Olympus, Kodak and Fuji.

Meanwhile, the digital camera market in Asia and the rest of
the world has also shown outstanding growth. The market share of
these regions was around 10 percent in 2004 and is expected to
rise to 33 percent in 2009.

Sensor resolution, which is considered the yardstick for
advances in digital camera technology, has developed even
further. Usually, the more megapixels a camera has, the higher
the price, even though numbers of megapixels does not necessarily
guarantee good quality. In addition, the other things to consider
in a digital camera are its optical zooming function, an
auxiliary facility for low light, which is helpful when you take
pictures in poor light conditions, and memory storage capacity. A
number of digital camera manufacturers are developing digital
cameras with 7 to 8 megapixels this year.

Indeed, manufacturers of these and other brands of digital
cameras are now competing to develop their products. The
technology continues to be improved while the features just get
better. Also, these cameras are provided with various facilities
to expedite their operations. Take, Kodak, for example. After
successfully marketing its cameras for beginners with resolutions
of between 2 and 6.1 megapixels, it is now eyeing the premium
market. Casio, a newcomer in the digital camera world, has also
launched new products, which are stylish and speedy. Olympus has
marketed its SLR (Single Lens Reflection) Pro E-1 Series,
intended for professionals. Meanwhile, Sony boasts the
superiority of its DSC-HI series, which integrates high
resolution and ultra zooming.

What about Fuji? This Japanese manufacturer has brought out
its FinePixF700 digital cameras produced with fourth-generation
CCD (charge couple device) technology, better known as 4th
Generation Super CCD SR. Last year this type earned a citation
from the Digital Imaging Marketing Association in Germany as an
innovative product. This Super CCD SR technology enables the
production of perfect pictures, the printing of which will show
every detail of the object captured by the camera.

When PT Modern Photo Tbk saw a market opportunity opening up
for digital cameras, it, through its subsidiary, PT Honoris
Industry, produced its own digital cameras, which are called MPix
Kamera digital 3 megapixels and sell for Rp 670,000. Its initial
production run of 10,000 cameras, introduced in February 2005,
sold out right after they were launched.

Some people believe that the quality of an object that you
capture with your digital camera and that can be viewed on the
LCD screen of your digital camera or on your computer monitor
shows the quality of the end result of a photograph-taking
session. In fact, many people - including me - are of the
opinion that the end result of a photograph-taking session cannot
be judged until you have the pictures printed on photo paper,
using the right photo printer, not just an ordinary computer
printer.

The quality of a photograph taken with a digital camera does
not depend on the camera alone but also on the digital photo
printer used, the photo paper on which the pictures are printed
and the chemicals used. As for photo printers of good quality,
they are, among others, Fuji of frontier 340 or 350 type.

Recognizing that the results of photo printing must be as good
in quality as the result of photo recording made with a digital
camera, Fuji Photo Film has provided the best solution by
introducing its "total solution." This particular provider makes
and supplies digital cameras with all necessary equipment,
including photo printer, photo paper and chemicals for photo
printing purposes. In this way, Fuji Photo Film believes that the
quality of the pictures printed will be the same as that of the
recording of the objects made with a digital camera.

The question worth posing now is whether digital cameras,
which are more sophisticated, more easily operated and cheaper
than conventional or analog cameras, will replace these analog
cameras. The answer must obviously be in the affirmative. Slowly
but surely, conventional cameras will give way to digital ones. I
personally believe, however, that in the case of Indonesia,
conventional cameras will still be quite popular in the market
until the next decade.

The purchasing power of most Indonesians is still low. Digital
cameras are still too expensive for them. At present, Modern
still produces Fuji conventional cameras priced at Rp 120,000
along with 2 rolls of ASA 400 36-expose film negatives and
batteries. Meanwhile, for many Indonesians, digital cameras are
still too complicated to operate. Another reason why conventional
cameras will still enjoy a good place in the market is that
conventional or analog photo printing services are found almost
everywhere across the country. Modern, for example, operates
about 2,000 analog photo printing machines across the
archipelago.

Meanwhile, in their pursuit of good quality and an excellent
artistic aspect, many professional photographers stick to their
conventional cameras. It's true that technologically speaking,
digital cameras still have their weaknesses, for example, in
terms of their resolution, "their depth" is not sufficient and
the recording pause process is less slower than that of
conventional cameras.

-The writer is chief of Modern Group Public Relations