Two More SLRs

I have been arguing that this year is the year of the SLR – as companies like Nikon and Canon contend for top spot as the conversion from film to digital reaches and goes pass its peak. Also Sony, Samsung, Olympus, and even Pentax strive for survival. All the vendors are worried about the Windows phenomenon. With so many new SLR users coming on board, they may just move enmasse to one or maybe two quality vendors and leave some very good products with miniscule marketshare to starve. This is what Windows did – prematurely clipping Apple Mac and destroying IBM OS/2. And then camera dealers will treat those also rans with disdain and simply not stock them for the additional costs, bookkeeping, and other hassles.

Lets face it I have already heard such notions from not a few big shops. And the economic downturn in the US and Eastern parts of Canada will just add to the pressure on camera vendors. But the also-rans have some recourse since web sales are still very big – and the margins are such that they lower prices on selected premium bargain models and sell them through selected camera website or their own onsite store. But the latter move would be pretty desperate because one does not bite the channel that sells your product by undercutting it at your own web store.

So two new cameras provide some tea leaves to make speculation on what is happening in the market.

Nikon D300

The Nikon D300 has been getting rave reviews as a semi pro camera that could easily act as a substitute for the top of the line Nikon D3. What marks the D300 are specs like these:
12.2MPixel images
6 to 8frames per second continuous shooting
51 point very fast auto-focus
3″ 922,000 pixel TFT viewer
Liveview through sensor for picture taking rather than eyepiece
Magnesium body and weather sealed buttons and joints
And reviewers from Camera Labs through to PhotoLife (May 2008 issue) are heaping very high praise on the D300. And its $1800US price for body only is considerably less than the top of the line Nikon D3 which has same basic specs but a full-frame sensor and 6 -11 frames per second continuoius shooting mode plus more shooting controls. This camera comes awfully close to a full pro camera at less than half the price – talk about aggressive.

Olympus E-3

The Olympus E-3 is the new top of the line DSLR from one of the earlier and more innovative entrants into the digital SLR sweepstakes. And its specs are also impressive – the ones better than the Nikon D300 are in bold:
10MPixel images
1-5frames per second continuous shooting
49 point fast auto-focus
2.5″ 230,000 pixel TFT viewer
Liveview through sensor for picture taking rather than eyepiece
Viewer pivots and swivels
3 stop image stabilization on board
unique super-wave dust removal
Magnesium body and weather sealed buttons and joints
On basic camera feel and function most of the reviews I am seeing give the E-3 fairly high marks (see the may 2008 issue of PhotoLife for example). The E-3 has three key features that set it apart from the D300 – better dust removal technology, 3 stop image stabilization (Nikon and Canon are putting image stabilization on each of their lenses), and Liveview viewer that pivots and swivels(its fixed on the Nikon D300). But the E-3 gives up 2MPixels on image size and much less quality in its viewer(its 2.5″ versus 3″ and 230K versus 922K pixels for the Nikon D300). Here is the kicker – the E-3 body-only is $1700 versus the $1800 price for the Nikon D300.

Hmmm – will customers think that the E-3’s superior dust removal and 3stop image stabilization balances out less megapixels and notably poorer Liveview viewer assuming image-taking quality is the same?? Time will tell. But clearly some of the agressive marketing that I mentioned at the outset is starting to appear in the DSLR marketplace.