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Olympus, camera companies and the tale of sharing
  • Setsuya Kataoka : We believe that one of the failures of camera manufacturers is that they compared the image quality of smartphones and cameras. But this was not the real comparison point for the smartphone. They have transformed not only the way of taking pictures but also sharing the photos and the so-called digital workflow – they have a better digital workflow. But since we have been continuously communicating “image quality, image quality” we are not able to grasp the actual market needs. This was the failure of camera manufacturers in general. As long as we continue to say that IQ is better, we probably won’t be able to stop current market decline. Therefore we will have to find a way not to compete but to co-exist with the smartphone industry.

    Via: http://www.mirrorlessons.com/2016/09/28/interview-with-setsuya-kataoka-of-olympus/

    Most funny is that this exact idea is most popular among various self proclaimed experts for years (!).

    Camera companies added NFC, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and all for nothing Yes, experts are able to make their glitchy proprietary apps to work more or less reliably, but most normal people either ignore or rarely use this functions.

    Actual issue is global and widespread.

    Smartphone is always with you, it is easy to take photo, and it is easy to share photo. In any system were barrier and resistance are low you have huge pile of crap (crap not because of camera quality!).
    And companies love it, as all this time you use their apps, social networks and watch advertisements and paid content.

    Camera is tool to make photos and videos that you are proud to store and share. It is not free. As any tool it requires skill and time to master. As any tool it requires to actually having it with you, protecting from damage and caring. It requires some expenses and skill in editing software, selecting and sorting approach and such. And yes, it can have hurdles on your way of sharing. And hurdles play positive role, even if it sounds strange at first. But ALL of this add up resistance for casual consumers.

    Ideal camera for instant market revival (c) VK :

    Very small camera with FF sensor and tiny pancake ultrazoom for $99 price with build in neural network Quantum OS (c) Microsoft.
    Camera upon natural language request (and, may be, on outdated models only - pressing one button) must be able to drive you towards place (sponsored by Uber (tm) ), guide your body to proper spot, set all necessary pose, zoom and focus, adjust all exposition via direct brain access and processing and take this amazing once in lifetime experience photo with infinite dynamic range.
    Quantum OS having constant connection to global cloud ($299 per year only!) must instantly share this 500Mpixel masterpiece with all your friends and post it in all of your 15 social networks accounts. Cool.

    Btw, I got sample of such photo, in low res only, sorry:

    image

  • 1 Reply sorted by
  • Agree with Vitaliy.

    Sharing features won't save camera companies