Panasonic’s big problem

[pdk42]

We Asked 1,000 Photographers What Camera They Use in 2024

Surprising results of a survey we conducted to discover what cameras professional and amateur photographers are using in 2024 and why.

shotkit.com

 

[Pete_W]

I took a look at their survey and to be honest think it's quite unprofessional.

The available options seemed out of date and would be confusing for those taking the survey. For example, from the drop-down brand list, Panasonic was listed twice, and then in the model drop-down list there were no current models, e.g. S5II/x, S9, G9II, but two different versions of the older S5:



I didn't look at the other more popular brands/models but it they were similarly out of date and included duplicates then I wouldn't draw many conclusions from their survey results, and especially based on the survey size of 1,000 and where they posted the link.

Strangely, while the headline says "We Asked 1,000 Photographers What Camera They Use in 2024", the story was "updated" in February 6th 2024 so it could only be based on January 2024 responses or 2023, and at the bottom of the infographic it says "Copyright 2022". All looks a bit sloppy really.

 

[pdk42]

Thanks for that bit of fact checking Pete. As often is the case, headlines can be misleading. But I don’t think 4% out of kilter with more rigorous analyses of market share.

 

[Pete_W]

Thanks for that bit of fact checking Pete. As often is the case, headlines can be misleading. But I don’t think 4% out of kilter with more rigorous analyses of market share.

Yes, Panasonic is just over 4% of market share as a brand. Where this survey seems wrong is the relative positions of the big three - Canon, Sony and Nikon. The graph below is about 12 months old but I suspect not much has changed in terms of overall share:



It would be great to see some actual financials that show sales and profitability by brand but this information is closely guarded. It's well known that Fujifilm's position is largely due to the success of the Instax range. It would be nice if we could see a breakdown to show what they sell in terms of digital cameras.

Over the last 4-5 years it seems that Sony has been the most prolific in terms of number of bodies and lenses released so they're likely spending the most of all manufacturers. While they have overtaken Nikon, it seems that they have not made much of a dent in Canon's market share. That would concern me if I was the Sony CFO.

 

[Quentinquirelino]

PStrangely, while the headline says "We Asked 1,000 Photographers What Camera They Use in 2024", the story was "updated" in February 6th 2024 so it could only be based on January 2024 responses or 2023, and at the bottom of the infographic it says "Copyright 2022". All looks a bit sloppy really.

I haven't even looked deeper than that. For me it looks not very representative, so the survey is basically useless.

Yes, Panasonic is just over 4% of market share as a brand. ...

Even that doesn't tell something about Panasonic has to struggle I'm the current market situation or not. Especially because not every manufacturer is competing in every segment of the market. Also not every segment gives the same profits. For example Leica is probably the most profitable brand of all camera brands, but itg has very low market share. And it's not hard to assume, that also Panasonic makes good profits with Leica cameras.

Basically there is no public statistics that can tell something about the conditions of the camera business of some manufacturers. For Canon and Nikon, you can see it in the annual reports. Leica also give some small insights it there business reports, but less because there are not listed. But for every other, you may get only a sentence in there reports, because cameras are only a tiny part of there business.

 

[Lsake]

I suspect, based on amazons top sellers, that the a large amount of canon sales are still being made up by cheap disposable DSLRs. Although the R100 is creeping into the top sellers list, it’s still very much a cheap disposable camera.
Sony sell a fair amount of APSC cameras too, probably more in terms of sales volume than they do full frame mirrorless, but the APSC models have lower profit margin.
Panasonic don’t really offer products like this, even their cheaper MFT products have largely been withdrawn.
It looks like Sonys most popular full frame camera is the A7III and I suspect this is largely due to it being incredibly cheap for what it is. It’s often been called a loss leader. Market share is great… unless you’re not actually making any profit.

 

[Jonathan-Mac]

There are a number of good points here, especially that market share doesn't mean profitability, with the big three surely spending much more on development to maintain many different lines and much of it being down to cheap, low-margin cameras, especially for Canon.

So I wouldn't read too much into it.

 

[ConfrontingPhotography]

Personally I think Panasonic cameras are darn good, in particular I am a fan of the colors my S1R puts out and things like hi-res mode. I also love the sensor, it gets the most out of great lenses. That being said, Setting these cameras up and using them in dynamic shooting situations isn't easy. I think their design is all about being feature rich, with less thought going into ease of use or communicating the purpose and use of the features to the users. The S1R is the only still camera I have ever used that I feel like would benefit from having a camera assistant.

 

[pdk42]

I think their design is all about being feature rich, with less thought going into ease of use or communicating the purpose and use of the features to the users. The S1R is the only still camera I have ever used that I feel like would benefit from having a camera assistant.

I don't have too many problems configuring and using my S1R, but I'm a bit of a techy and spent years with Olympus menus!

 

[AlanC]

I think their design is all about being feature rich, with less thought going into ease of use or communicating the purpose and use of the features to the users.

I'd agree with the point about being feature rich, and supremely configurable with it so you can set the camera up to work how you want it but, after having owned multiple Sony cameras, not with the lack of ease of use. Sony's menu systems are terrible, with related functions spread over multiple sub-menus and sometimes oddly named and/or abbreviated. And then you have the whole custom button (C1, C2, etc) and dials (the exposure compensation dial isn't even labelled on the newer cameras in case you want to assign it to something else) to add to the confusion. Panasonic's cameras are far easier to set up and much nicer to use in comparison.

 

[Travis Butler]

I'd agree with the point about being feature rich, and supremely configurable with it so you can set the camera up to work how you want it but, after having owned multiple Sony cameras, not with the lack of ease of use. Sony's menu systems are terrible, with related functions spread over multiple sub-menus and sometimes oddly named and/or abbreviated. And then you have the whole custom button (C1, C2, etc) and dials (the exposure compensation dial isn't even labelled on the newer cameras in case you want to assign it to something else) to add to the confusion. Panasonic's cameras are far easier to set up and much nicer to use in comparison.

The point that they may be better than Sony doesn't mean they're good enough.

I'm a relative techie like pdk, and don't have too much trouble myself... but I'm pretty sure there are options I'm missing. And I hate to think what less techie people are going through.

The standard shouldn't be better than <x>; it should be good enough for an average person.