The last few years have not been kind to the photography industry. With smartphone manufacturers flooding the market with easily accessible and relatively good quality cameras, the camera industry has struggled. Now, with COVID-19 hitting the mix, the tough times have become far worse.
In a recent video, Tony Northrup discusses some of the signs to watch out for in order to determine if a company is struggling. The common practice for most companies is to declare that nothing is wrong and that they are continuing as normal. Even if a company is planning on discontinuing a whole division of cameras, it's not often that they release an announcement to confirm that.
The Sony A mount is a good example of this. As far as what has been disclosed by Sony, this line of cameras will continue to receive support, and there is no reason to assume that it will be discontinued. The sentiment in the market, however, doesn't seem to agree.
The most worrying points for me are those that Northrup made about Nikon. As a company, they have been struggling, and a lot of the signs described in the video seem to fit what Nikon has been doing recently. Of course, I'm hoping that Nikon does recover, because as a company, they produce some of the best products on the market.
I like nikon but have no sentiments to the company. They just sell gear I use to shoot weddings. If they go, I could stay with that system for years still. Biy used gear if I need. I have all I need with gear. I think the govt or a buyout would happen though and they would continue. I believe they are the smallest of the mfr im the market.
I think june and july will be even harder than what was now, in terms of sales for all mfr
Nikon smallest manufacturer in the market? They're like third, behind Canon and Sony.
Edit: third in the CAMERA market. Other companies have other divisions obviously, Olympus makes a lot of medical imaging equip, Sony makes other electronics, Canon makes printers, etc etc. Nikon does make a lot of medical equipment (X-Ray, CT, microscopes), and a lot of lenses, measuring equipment, lithography machines, etc etc for industrial use. And I'm sure a not more.
Yeah, they're smaller than Canon and Sony and Fuji and Panasonic overall, but I don't think they're going anywhere anytime soon. If anyone, Ricoh will close their camera division and MAYBE Olympus, though I hope not. Ricoh would be a shame too but I've kinda accepted it at this point.
dont look at popularity. look at equity. money in the bank. nikon is small
Perhaps if you compare their photography business. But as a company, Fujifilm is larger, Panasonic is, even Ricoh. That's the reason many people believe Nikon is vulnerable.
their capital is far less then others. by a good margin. the others have some cash to sit on.
They said "in the market" - one would assume that means "photography market"
But its parent company is Mitsubishi which is a rather large corporation.
I do not own a camera company, nor do I own shares in a camera company. The question fails on its face.
However, any business which fails to adapt and then fails, deserves to fail.
What about smaller businesses that have adapted but don't make the same revenue as the giants and are now affected by COVID-19? Do they deserve it?
A lot of the speculation and uncertainty right now about these companies is largely due to COVID.
I didn't read it as including smaller businesses potentially failing because of COVID-19 social/political/economic ramifications. Small businesses are flexible and well adapted to their markets. Businesses are technically "open" when a state lifts safe-at-home. This makes them at default for mortgages if they cannot make the revenue to cover operational costs and loans. (Many businesses also do not open - or choose not as far as states are concerned - due to employee and community safety.) Banks have automatic mechanisms for penalties and legal action when this happens.
This type of "failure" is very different than consumers finding another company with better widgets and services.
1) TONS of small businesses have permanently closed because of COVID. Dury's in Nashville - the only camera store in the state of Tennessee aside from f/32 in Knoxville, closed their doors for good last week or the week prior specifically because of COVID. And Tennessee had very lax lockdown rules.
Which leads me to:
2) the issue is NOT places being open. Maybe for small businesses that's one issue. But Nikon or Canon or Sony haven't been losing tons of money during COVID because of lockdown. It's because unemployment is at an almost 100 year high. People don't have the money. And photographers can't work right now.
You're super simplifying something that is incredibly more complicated. Though, some of it, like what I've described, is very simple. No consumers having money = no sales. Closed doors or not.
As a person who ran a small business which failed to adapt and then made a considered decision to close down, I do not have any sympathy to your appeal to emotion.
Business principles are not subject to emotion.
Im sorry you lost your business. I hope in due time in the future you may once again have one. Stay safe
I didn't lose my business; I made a very careful and deliberate decision, predicated upon well-established risk principles.
I have no regrets. One moves forward.
Cool thanks for your terrible opinion.
The idea that you don't care about the failure of small businesses in general is awful, but especially small business camera stores. Pretty pathetic.
And they did not "fail to adapt."
WE HAD A DAMN EPIDEMIC SWEEP THE COUNTRY
It still is.
How do you adapt to that? Seriously, tell me. And then tell all the people out of work and businesses closing that it's their fault.
What a joke.
I do not care. Risk management is not predicated upon emotional biases.
A failure to adapt is the same as an inability to adapt.
adaptation has nothing to do with a damn global pandemic
sorry you failed to adapt but that ain't the reason all businesses fail, just so you know. And COVID closures have nothing to do with small businesses folding b/c they didn't adapt. That's like blaming a person for being unemployment right now after they lost their job due to the virus.
It's almost as though you don't comprehend at all and your responses are driven by emotion.
See my previous response and stop wasting my time.
Just so you know, capital position and liquidity are pertinent to business interruption, and therefore to the corresponding risk calculus.
Just an FYI, the dominant factor in my personal risk calculus wasn't a failure of adaption; it was unmitigatable risk, driven by dominant clients.
But well done assuming.
I just joined stoppers, hoping for some intelligent discussion about photography. Seems it is more to do with juveniles trying to get the last word. Where is the photo discussion? That’s it for me with fstoppers.
It's not an airport, you are don't have to announce your departure.
Bye Felicia.
Oh, Usman, didn’t you write a review of the D6 just to add at the end you’ve never held one in your hands or actually used a Nikon body in your life? Yeah...
I have shot with most of the full-frame Nikon cameras released over the last few years. The only one I haven't shot with is the D6.
Also, I've never written a review for any Nikon camera so far.
There is an adaptor for Nikon F Mounts to Sony or other "quality" mirrorless body, isn't there? If so, my care factor is significantly less than it would have been 10 years ago. I still love my D850 & D500 combo though - they are pretty damn awesome cameras, and a few years left in them for my purposes anyway.
I worked my way from a Voigtänder Bessamatic (which I still own, btw) via Minolta (I loved the XM) and Nikon to Fujifilm X-series. It seems I may have the knack of being slightly ahead of the death spiral.
It is sad to see a well-liked company go the way of the dodo; but let's face it, it is the way of life.
Just another useless opinion from an so called influencer. Don't click on the click bait. Don't support these kind of people with views.
I totally agree.
Who the 30yo guy with the 60yo wig?
Thats wig guys think. He likes to poke and and pin mfr vs mfr for controversy.
He tries to reason and bring tiny irrelevant nonsense into this subject. Bottom line
Prices are too high, people lost jobs, no rent, no money, no sales. And this will last for at least the next 3 months (being optimistic) but for at least 6 months most likely.
June and July will be VERY hard months. More so than march April may.
Breaking out of the current level of technology is going to take quite a few years. Even if a company goes down, the gear does not.
They're trying to kill Pentax for decades and the dam thing still alive releasing a 2k lens in 2020 :)
And a third generation Ricoh GR. Keep 'em coming. Don't see why anyone roots for a camera company to fail. The competition + options are a GOOD THING for all consumers.
Clickbait at its finest
Not gonna watch this. Whenever I see Tony Northrup, I remember his defamatory video about photographer Steve McCurry.
Ughh not this guy again. Time and time again this guy's videos are demonstrably full of nothing but hot air
hm... I think he's playing it NLP style and tells everybody that he/she is an emotional person(hmmhm, yea and obviously is a very bad thing to have emotions.)
And I have to admit, I do have emotions, but I dont know if its my emotions or just the obvious situation he is in as an influencer, what makes me think he is ONLY arguing in his sole and very own favour.
So they all make sit like nice dogs, and do whatever tony says.
For me this soup shines as clear and bright as day:
The bigguns settled all their horses and dropped a load of money in Tonys backyard, so everybody goes
mirrorless for whatsoever reason.
That may be a fine thing for Mister Northrup, but he is hurting the reputation of all the photographers who love, like and know their gear, and would like to go on and do their business with what they have for several more years.
... its not about self-confidence ...
Its mostly about all those naggy people at shootings,
who come over to your equipment and say things like:
"Is this even a Sony or a Hasselblad? Are the pictures actually any good? Since I know this good lookin phototools guy from the ytube and he said, that this is bad only Mirrorless is good, goona do you do some EYE/AF shots of me and my girlfriend." *girlblowingbubblegumbubbles*
NO PRO, NO SEMI-PRO and for sure no ethusiast, would like to hear this if he comes to a photoshooting he may get reputation or money for, when he/she not so long ago invested a real fortune in loads of glass, light, camera, light-modifiers etc.
Sorry mister northrup. That aint cool.
M43 with zuiko glass still does good job at shooting food.
so does a PENTAX crop with some zeiss or D FA* glass.
And Hassy and PENTAX 645, will still be good for fashion photography, no matter what kinda tacky features, may drop out of a Sony FF MILC which actually doesnt automatically deliver cool shots without doing anything.
There were days, I remember... photogs used to talk about compositions, nice ideas and light.
But you are spreading VERY weird ideas what photography should be about, i tell you.
Even more funny about Pentax considering they release 1 big and expensive lens in a month (85mm f1, 4), a 21mm in less than 2 years, just refreshed the 16-50 f2, 8 for APS-C.
He's so used to the frenetic speed of new release of the holy 2005-2010 years when Canon released a new body every 3 months. He forgot that before those years, a product cycle was 10 to 20 years in the industry.
Shame on Fstoppers for posting this ridiculous video.