Not Good

[PhotoJim58]

Camera Shipments Plunge to New Low as Sales Hit New High

 

[klimos]

That's how all electronics market looks like. PlayStation 5, automotive industry. Only GPUs got a little bit easier to get recently, but that's due to cryptocurrency crash. I've been waiting a month for my R6 to be delivered when I ordered it before Christmas last year. Together with it I purchased a RF 24-105 f/4L (not a kit, separate lens) and my ordered was cancelled by Amazon after half year because of stock issues. I got it from another reseller in June, but meanwhile price went up from €1199 to €1499.

 

[Kwazy]

Got my R6 the following day after ordering it from Amazon (3rd party merchant tho, not the company itself). Didn't think that was anything special, but sounds like it's not the norm anymore for cameras? Maybe it'll get as bad as with cars, and anyone who upraged might be able to sell their old camera for more than they had paid for it originally!

 

[Jake Shoots Birds]

I see this differently. Shipments of all electronics are at a new low, but the idea that purchases are at a new high means that the new tech is seen as valid across the user base so we can likely expect to see investment continue and improvements escalate.

 

[Kwazy]

the idea that purchases are at a new high means that the new tech is seen as valid across the user base

That's a take worth considering, but I'd be careful with assumptions like that. The reasons for an increase in demand (if there is indeed one, and not just an illusion of one due to supply issues) could have their origins elsewhere. For example, I've read that PlayStations are selling out in record time too, and I doubt that tech is all that revolutionary. Perhaps people are frustrated with the pandemic/politics/inflation/stagnation, pick your scenario, and need an outlet.

But to your point, mirrorless does seem like the next evolutionary step and a valid replacement for SLR. If I were a pro photographer, now would certainly be a good time to consider switching platforms.

 

[Jake Shoots Birds]

That's a take worth considering, but I'd be careful with assumptions like that. The reasons for an increase in demand (if there is indeed one, and not just an illusion of one due to supply issues) could have their origins elsewhere. For example, I've read that PlayStations are selling out in record time too, and I doubt that tech is all that revolutionary. Perhaps people are frustrated with the pandemic/politics/inflation/stagnation, pick your scenario, and need an outlet.

But to your point, mirrorless does seem like the next evolutionary step and a valid replacement for SLR. If I were a pro photographer, now would certainly be a good time to consider switching platforms.

Note the headline of the OP. It does not say "demand", it explicitly states "sales". This is expected as photographers abandon the DSLR and adopt the mirrorless - and not just pros but serious amateurs and portrait and wildlife photographers particularly. Will it continue at this rate? Not a chance, particularly given the advances in phone cameras. But as tech improves and new models provide functions that the first two waves didn't have then some percentage will upgrade. In the meantime lenses and accessories will be released.

And sure, the pandemic caused some of this. Guitar sales soared in that same time. People were using being home as an excuse to find a creative outlet. But I know about guitars and no one is happy with just one.

 

[dougsmit]

I see one other thing that may be playing. Some people I know have reduced their stock/investment holdings avoiding the losses that get worse everyday. Some people will need to spend less to keep from running out but older people with $10million portfolios not comfortable with taking all the cruises of their old lifestyle are ordering new toys. You can't get cars any better than R7's. To me, the odd thing is the number of posts we see on Facebook groups from people who have or are considering an R7 but do not know terms like 'crop sensor' or 'full frame'. Once the entry level fancy camera was a Digital Rebel ($1000 with a lens) costing in buying power about the same as one of the new RF-S kits. We have people with R5's that don't know how to use them. I suspect there are and will continue to be people who don't understand little details like you have to tell the camera if you want it to find animal eyes. If Covid induced changes in all our lives went away, there would be changes caused by economic factors. If there were infinite bins of chips available to Canon, they might be able to make more cameras but that is not the world we now have. People have money (unless they invested poorly) including funds from vacations they did not take in 2020. Some of this money is driving them to spend $2000 on a camera that they will use like a $200 snapper. I expect Canon to continue raising prices because it is obvious that the current demand and current prices are not in line. Three days ago, Amazon US raised their R7 prices by $300 and the site said they had 6 to sell. Today it says they have 4. I have no idea how this relates to the true situation. This whole thing would be fun to watch if I were in the group that already had their camera or the group that had decided that they need no more toys. Pros who plan to recoup expenditures by raising their prices don't care. At what level will amateurs decide they aren't playing? There are probably quite a number people today with an R7 in their hand for each one that really understood what it was and why they might want it. This is the hobby as we know it. I saw the same thing in 1966 when I bought a Leica M2 with collapsible Summicron used for $150 because the doctor who bought it new and took it to Europe did not know what 'collapsible' meant. People who join RPShooters are probably a power of ten more aware of the questions here than the people with money who are getting ready to need a camera for the trip that starts tomorrow. I wish there were a way to help them.

 

[Kwazy]

the doctor who bought it new and took it to Europe did not know what 'collapsible' meant

There was also "forgetting to take the lens cap off" and "loading the film incorrectly."