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 The role of film negatives in a camera has been replaced by mediums to store photo files like XD-cards, for example.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