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Has the Well of Digital SLR Innovation Run
Dry?
By
Chris Roberts
Fact of life:
when you're the dominant company in your
industry you no longer have to innovate.
It makes
sense - with the lion's share of the market,
why change anything? If it's not broken
don't fix it.
It's the
little guys who must be creative to get
noticed.
The
Olympus Edge
Many will
agree that Olympus is not exactly a "little
guy". But they are when it comes to the
digital SLR market.
Olympus
trails behind both Canon and Nikon in the
distribution and sales of digital Single
Lens Reflex cameras.
This makes
Olympus a company primed for innovation -
and that's exactly what they've done.
In March of
2006, Olympus released the EVOLT E330, a
camera that is one-of-a-kind: it's the only
digital SLR with a live preview mode on the
LCD.
This may not
sound like an innovation to you. After all,
every compact digital camera out there shows
you what picture you're about to take on the
LCD.
But it's not
standard on digital SLR cameras.
With any
other SLR you must look through the
viewfinder to compose a photo. You can only
use the LCD to review photos and change
menus.
That's it.
The live LCD
makes the EVOLT E330 a unique camera. It's
made even more so by a vibrating sensor that
clears itself of dust every time you turn
the camera on.
This feature
is also exclusive to Olympus cameras - if
dust gets on the sensor of your Canon or
Nikon, you have to clean it yourself (a
tricky operation) or have it cleaned
professionally.
Canon in
Comparison
Canon's new
camera release this year is the 30D.
Despite the
addition of some new features, this camera
is virtually identical to the 20D, released
in 2004.
While the 20D
broke a lot of ground for digital SLR
cameras, the 30D is wholly unremarkable.
It's a minor upgrade to a camera that sold
exceptionally well.
The 30D
doesn't have unique features like the
Olympus E330.
Does this
mean that everyone will go rushing out to
purchase Olympus cameras and drop Canon's
sales like a brick?
I doubt it.
Too many
photographers already have an investment in
Canon lenses, so a Canon digital SLR is the
natural choice, regardless of whether or not
the camera is innovative.
Still, it
seems a shame that a market leader can
establish a position and grind out products
with nothing new to offer.
Time will
tell whether this approach is successful.
Eventually Canon may have to adopt the new
technology pioneered by their competition.
While this
may only occur due to a loss of market
share, I hope that it doesn't have to come
to that.
As a digital
SLR enthusiast I enjoy innovation, since I
believe that digital SLR technology still
has some secrets that have yet to be
revealed.
What remains
to be seen is which company finds them
first.
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