It’s Monday. That means the New York Times business section runs metrics in their _Most Wanted_ column. One of today’s metrics is on digital camera sales. Here’s what they listed with the source quoted as NPD Group/NPD Techworld:

|(((((. Rank |(((((. Company |(((((. Unit Share |
|=. 1|=. Kodak|=. 18.5%|
|=. 2|=. Canon|=. 18.1%|
|=. 3|=. Sony|=. 15.2%|
|=. 4|=. Olympus|=. 9.2%|
|=. 5|=. Nikon|=. 8.9%|

I’ve seen similar data to these in previous issues of the NYT. It’s interesting that Kodak is the leader in this study. Perhaps these data are for US sales only… however, no information is given on the geography of the sales?? (I tried to find a link to this section in the NYT, but couldn’t find it using their online search).

“This”:http://216.239.57.104/search?q=cache:N46-x4eg0BwJ:http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/ptech/12/16/digital.cameras.reut/+digital%20camera%20sales%202004&hl=en&start=1&ie=UTF-8 article is more in line with what I’ve read about world-wide market share (I had to link to the Google-cashed version, since the original link no longer works). The source for this article is InfoTrends/CAP Ventures.

bq. The top five worldwide market leaders in digital camera sales in 2004 are, in rank order, Canon Inc., Sony Corp., Olympus Corp., Eastman Kodak Co. and Fuji Photo Film Co., the firm said.

Getting back to how the NYT came up with their sales data, “this”:http://216.239.57.104/search?q=cache:WqpIsTEBMNAJ:http://news.com.com/Kodak+catches+up+with+Sony+in+camera+sales/2100-1041_3-5460051.html+digital%20camera%20sales%202004&hl=en&start=1&ie=UTF-8 article breaks down US sales of digital cameras.

bq.. The research firm’s survey of third-quarter U.S. camera sales, released on Friday, found that Sony sold 1 million units to command 20 percent of the market. Kodak shifted only 10,000 fewer, to grab 19.8 percent of the market.

Canon was third, moving 800,000 units for a 16 percent market share, followed by Olympus, with sales of 600,000 and market share of 12 percent.

p. The moral of the story is that a lot of publications quote data on sales and other figures without giving you enough information. In fact, they give you just enough information to be misinformed. In this case, the NYT was sloppy in their reporting, since they did not qualify their data as being geographically specific.

Digital cameras are cool. And they are on Moore’s curve. The way I figure it, you’ve got to own four if you are really, really into it. Disclaimer… I only own one, and it is so "old" that it’s not even on this list. The four are: a cellphone, a small "real" one, a prosumer model and a body-is-basically-free-the-lenses-are-not DSLR.

Why four? You’re always going to have your cellphone. The small "real" one when you think you might take some shots or want some decent video. The prosumer when you’ll probably take some shots. The DSLR… ok, you’re really, really, really into it (or spending money).

• The cellphone - I don’t think it matters much, since they all seem to suck. So the purchasing decision should be made on how good a phone it is, not on how good a camera it is. Next year they’ll be some good ones, and very soon it will be your most important camera… you take the most shots with the one you have.
• The small one - Canon SD300. I’ve never gone wrong with Canon. You can even get a water-tight case for it. 640×460 30fps video. Sure, no problemo. ‘Nough said.
• The Prosumer - Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ20. 12x image-stabled-DPReviewed-at-highly-recommended wonder. Just get it.
• The DSLR - Three out of four ain’t bad. I really don’t know which DSLR is "it" right now, but I do know it’s made by either Canon or Nikon, so I get partial credit.

Now get out there and shoot!