On the whole, 2013 took the camera market forwards and upwards. With most sources pointing to falling sales in the sector, it would be all too easy to write off the year as a disaster for the camera market, especially since compact cameras are coming under increasing pressure from snap-happy smartphones. And it’s true that 2013 has felt like a cold shower for some manufacturers. Still, with more pressure than ever to come up with new ways of keeping consumers interested, many camera-makers have dug deep and come up with a whole load of innovative new models that really bring something new to the table. It’s all about doing something different in the camera market these days. Competition and pressure can be real catalysts for creativity—and that’s no bad thing for the camera sector. In fact, it feels almost like each major brand is settling into its own personality with its own distinctive take on the future of the game. So let’s take a look back over the major trends from 2013 and at which particular models helped shape the market and drive it forwards.
Hybrid Cameras Bring Innovation To 2013Â
We’ve never hidden the fact that we’re big fans of hybrid cameras, whether they be mirrorless interchangeable lens models or expert compacts with fixed-focal-length lenses and large-format sensors. And this was the product sector to be in for 2013, with tough competition from all major brands. With non-stop innovation and a near-constant stream of product presentations, there was—and still is—everything to play for in this particular market sector, as manufacturers are freed from the constraints of the traditional SLR market, long dominated by Nikon and Canon.
Hybrid models promise SLR-style picture quality from a compact camera, although each brand has its own approach to delivering those results. Fujifilm, for example, has its X-Trans II sensor, which was introduced in January in the X100s and X20. With this onboard, both compacts deliver practically flawless image quality from 200 to 6400 ISO. The X-M1, on the other hand, was Fuji’s first DSLM to get built-in Wi-Fi, as well as a tilting LCD and controls that are simple, user-friendly and easy enough for beginners to pick up and use.
Fujifilm X100s
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Fujifilm X20
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Fujifilm X-M1
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Over at Nikon, the 1-series DSLMs have moved forward again. We haven’t been entirely convinced by these cameras since their arrival on the scene, as their breathtaking speediness and ability to stay one step ahead of the user is often let down by a rather chaotic approach to handling and controls. While this year saw the arrival of the updated J3 and S1, it was the Nikon 1 AW1 waterproof model that impressed us the most. This tough underwater lens-switcher is like a modern day descendent of the infamous Nikkonos. It’s also the first digital mirrorless interchangeable lens camera that can be used underwater with no need for bulky waterproof housing—and that’s no mean feat!
Nikon 1 AW1
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Olympus brought out a couple of real show-stoppers this year. First up, the Pen E-P5 was a great taste of things to come, sporting a touchscreen, Wi-Fi, twin thumb wheels and a stylish retro design. Then, a few months later, the OM-D E-M1 took things one step further, taking the brand’s micro four-thirds camera line into the realm of the professional, blurring the boundary a little more between the worlds of small-format and large-format sensors. The E-M1 could even win over users who previously swore by optical viewfinders thanks to its impressive EVF, crushing in its wake the stereotype that pro users inevitably need bulky cameras that weigh a ton. Note that the E-M1 isn’t set to replace the E-M5, so we could be see another impressive OM-D heading our way in 2014.
Olympus Pen E-P5
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Olympus OM-D E-M1
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Panasonic started out the year by updating its Lumix G range. Responsiveness has always been a watchword for Panasonic, and the firm’s cameras often prove impressively speedy in our lab tests, with fast shooting, a market-leading touchscreen experience and smooth, seamless operation. Maybe this technical prowess comes from Panasonic’s track record as electronics firm rather than a traditional camera-maker. In any case, that hasn’t held the firm back. Half way through the year, Panasonic took its Lumix rang in a new direction with a couple of premium models offering more stylish designs. In fact, the new arrivals are as pleasant to look at as they are to use! The GX7 and GM1 share the same basic DNA, using the same new sensor and electronics. Panasonic always knew how to make high-performance hybrids, but this year they got a whole lot more sexy thanks to the GX7′s Leica-style looks and the GM1′s pocket-sized build. In fact, the GM1 is barely any bigger than a classic compact camera!
Panasonic GM1
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Panasonic Lumix GX7
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Pentax—or rather Ricoh—gave us the sublime GR expert compact complete with APS-C filter, no low-pass filter and a 28 mm fixed-focal-length lens. This camera was a real hit for us. As well as taking top-quality pictures, its controls, options and layout really won us over. The GR is a demanding camera that’s not for novices, but it’s packed with options for adjusting all kinds of settings and has loads of customisable controls. It brings to mind the good old days of those slightly austere-looking 35 mm film cameras that took both passion and patience to master. It’s worth persevering, though, as once mastered the GR will really give its all.
Ricoh GR
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Samsung has been busy this year too. Although the firm is a key contributor to the decline of the compact camera market with its ever-growing smartphone range, Samsung also happens to makes some very good-quality DSLMs. The NX2000 and NX300 are great examples of that. In fact, their main downside is that they’re too little-known and so often overlooked by shoppers. Alongside classic DLSMs, Samsung is still trying out new hybrid combinations to bridge the gap between cameras and smartphones, using features like touchscreens and Android. The latest crossover camera is the Galaxy NX lens-switching model, currently going it alone in the market with its APS-C sensor, huge touchscreen, tiny microSD card slot and Android OS.
Samsung NX300
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Samsung NX2000
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Samsung Galaxy NX
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Sony’s NEX range seems to have been somewhat sidelined in 2013, overshadowed by the firm’s latest “Alpha” cameras, the A7 and A7R. In fact, Sony will go down in history as the first camera-maker to out a mirrorless interchangeable lens compact with a full-frame sensor and without a totally overblown price tag (they’re expensive, but still cheaper than a Leica). The Alpha 7R has imposed itself as the new leader of our test lab with its outstanding picture quality. You’ll have to look to much higher-end models such as medium-format cameras to find finer, sharper detail than this. Sony has really excelled with its new Alphas, and we can’t wait to see what the firm has in store for 2014.
Sony Alpha 7
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Sony Alpha 7R
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SLRs: Slow But Sure Progression
In the general consumer market, Canon reaffirmed its position as a heavyweight SLR-maker with the EOS 70D, offering great performances and ease of use, not to mention Wi-Fi, touchscreen controls, a full swivel screen and Dual Pixel AF technology for a faster, smoother autofocus in Live View mode and in video mode—a significant and much awaited improvement. The EOS 100D, on the other hand, is clearly a rival for DSLMs, proving that it’s possible to make a fully fledged SLR that’s compact and still has room for an optical viewfinder. Nikon’s releases have been more of a mixed bag this year. We all know that the firm is capable of making very good SLRs—there’s no doubt about that. And Nikon confirmed this once again this year … but without much energy or enthusiasm. Everything stayed a little too serious and a little too cautious, with minor improvements here and there rather than anything game-changing. Anyone hungry for cutting-edge technology could be left wanting more. Only the D5300, unveiled towards the end of the year, gave a gentle nod to modernity with built-in Wi-Fi and a GPS.
Canon EOS 70D
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Canon EOS 100D
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Nikon D5300
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But aren’t we forgetting someone? In case you had forgotten, Pentax is still making SLRs. This last-minute outsider treated us to the very impressive K-3 in 2013. This expert-level SLR has a weatherproof finish and rocks a style all of its own. This SLR has all it needs to take on the Canon EOS 70D and Nikon D7100 with its head held high. After a spell of weakness and lethargy following a take-over by Hoya in 2006, the RD team seems to have found a new sense of stability and serenity since Ricoh took over the Pentax imaging business in 2011. Let’s hope that’s a sign of good things to come in 2014!
Pentax K-3
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Is it the pressure of the economic crisis or is some kind of uprising brewing in the world of digital photography? Either way, something has prompted product designers to start thinking outside the box and breaking down the barriers between long-established product categories in the search for new ways of doing things. A taste for hybridisation and experimentation brought a breath of fresh air to the bridge market in 2013, paving the way for a new category of more advanced, higher-end and higher-quality cameras. That said, the race for the most powerful zoom lens is still well and truly on the agenda in the bridge camera world—Panasonic’s Lumix FZ72 with its 60x lens (20-1200 mm) is proof enough of that! But this year, it was Sony and Olympus that really rocked the bridge world.
Sony Cyber-shot RX10
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Olympus Stylus 1
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The move towards higher-end bridges was seen with two models boasting f/2.8 constant aperture zoom lenses. The Sony RX10 uses the excellent 1″ 20-Megapixel sensor used in the RX100 Mk II and the Bionz X processor from the Alpha 7/7R, packing them into a compact camera body for versatile pro-style shooting. The Olympus Stylus 1 looks almost ridiculously small next to Sony’s bridge but it’s still a top-quality model, inheriting the best of the OM-D E-M5 and getting a brand new, highly compact 28-300 mm f/2.8 lens.Â
Compacts Play Catch-Up With Wi-Fi And Touchscreens
The compact camera market has taken a real hammering from smartphones as mobile phone picture quality continues to improve. As a result, camera-makers are trying to come up with ways to stay in the game, especially when faced with mobile phones that pack in as many pixels as a medium-format SLR (Nokia Lumia 1020), that have the same sized sensors (Sony Xperia Z1) or which come with an optical zoom lens (Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom). And their tactics mainly involve playing the enemy at its own game.
This year, touchscreens have cropped up in almost all camera-makers’ ranges, and have been used with varying degrees of success. While some have gone for full-on, smartphone-worthy multipoint touchscreens, others have stuck with basic single-touchpoint screens that can only recognise one finger at once. Similarly, some manufacturers have got straight in for the kill with capacitive touchscreens, while others have stuck with more basic resistive screens. Some screens and interfaces have proven visually impressive whereas others have been pretty awful. On the whole, Panasonic comes out on top here, but only by a whisker. Plus, Panasonic leaves everyone trailing way behind on Wi-Fi, offering seamless connectivity with no lag and almost always including NFC for quick and easy set-up with compatible devices (although Sony is catching up on that front). What’s more, the Panasonic Image App is more rich in features and options than any other Wi-Fi camera apps currently on the market. As well as offering quick and easy uploads to social networks or e-mail, it more or less turns your smartphone into proper wireless remote. Panasonic’s app is also more effectively designed.
In-camera GPS functions haven’t really advanced this year—quite the opposite in fact. Many manufacturers now prefer relying on connecting to a smartphone over Wi-Fi for geotagging shots with the phone’s GPS rather than bothering to build a chip directly into the camera. Still, in theory, ditching the GPS should help save battery life.
One field in which compacts are still leading the way on smartphones is in zoom power and quality. Once the preserve of bridges, 20x or 30x optical zoom lenses are now increasingly being seen in pocket-sized cameras. The battle for the highest zoom power has therefore spread from the bridge world to the compact camera market too. But if there’s one thing on which compacts are still far from able to rival smartphones, it’s on photographic apps and add-ons. It’s a real desert out there at the moment for compact camera users, and the handful of creative filters that come in the average compact aren’t enough to make up for the world of opportunities you get with a smartphone app store (e.g. Instagram, Vine, Hipstamatic, etc.).
For compacts as SLRs, 2013 has seen slow but sure progress from 2012. Finally, we’d like to end our overview of 2013 in cameras with a shout out to Sony and its QX10 and QX100 clip-on smartphone camera modules. In a market that’s doing a lot of soul-searching, these camera add-ons may look strange, but at least Sony is trying to do something different.
2013: The Year In Cameras
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