日本相機大廠 是否還有機會再起
摘錄自：天下雜誌 經濟學人電子報 2014/3/28
2014-03-26 Web
only 作者：經濟學人
 |
| 圖片來源：flickr.com/photos/faceme/ |
無反光鏡數位相機，是日本相機產業數十年來最具革命性的想法；它絕非失敗之作，但也沒有襲捲攝影界。去除單眼數位相機的反光鏡之後，相機可以變得更輕、更小、更安靜，規格也只會小幅落後較為昂貴的大相機。
Epson在2004年推出無反光鏡相機，但2008年後開始普及，靠的是聯手開發了「微4/3」格式的Panasonic和Olympus。無反光鏡相機在技術上不同，也讓二級相機廠有機會挑戰Canon和Nikon在數位單眼業務上的長期主導權。
無反光鏡相機位於低階小型相機之上，入門級單眼相機之下，理當可以吸引想從隨拍相機升級的新手攝影者，以及想追求便攜性的嚴肅攝影者；可惜的是，即使獲得部分高階業餘人士、甚至少數職業攝影者的支持，主流消費者大多不願使用無反光鏡相機，至少是歐美是如此。
那不是因為他們對小型相機很滿意、無意升級至無反光鏡型號。事實上，他們的選擇反而是降級；自從民眾改用智慧型手機拍照，小型相機業務便嚴重受挫。過去幾年，智慧型手機的相機感光元件已不輸小型相機，更重要的是，相機在連線性能上完全不敵智慧型手機。
曾經，大眾攝影的目的是印出來製作家庭相簿，但現今的主要目的則是將照片上傳至Instagram、Twitter，甚至是Facebook；能立刻傳送至社群網路，自然有極大吸引力。在這方面，就算是最高檔的數位相機，還是比不上智慧型手機。
因此，無反光鏡相機被迫走向利基市場；它們的製造商並未陷於危機，但缺乏亮眼的銷售成績，也讓產業觀察者擔心，無反光鏡相機可能會失去研發資金。要是此事發生，將會衝擊無反光鏡相機為攝影產業帶來的革新。
Canon和Nikon都跨足了無反光鏡相機戰場，但也都沒有全心擁抱這種相機；在它們真心擁抱之前，無反光鏡相機仍舊會是利基產品。不過，無反光鏡相機所體現的諸多技術提升，有機會帶來一股Canon和Nikon非常需要的革新之潮；兩大相機廠推出更令人興奮的型號，可以為整個產業打入一劑強心針，而且全球各地的業餘攝影愛好者都能受惠。（黃維德譯）
©The Economist
Newspaper Limited 2014
The Economist
Difference Engine
Mirror, mirror
on the wall
By The Economist
From The Economist
Published: March 26, 2014
Mar 24th 2014,
17:35 by N.V. | LOS ANGELES
WHILE by no means
a flop, the most innovative idea to come out of the Japanese camera industry in
decades—the mirrorless digital camera—has not exactly taken the photographic
world by storm. By dispensing with the mirror in front of the shutter of a digital
single-lens reflex (SLR) camera—which redirects the image created by the lens
to an optical viewfinder above, before flipping briefly out of the way for a
picture to be taken—the mirrorless camera promised to be lighter, smaller and
quieter, with a specification only marginally less than its bulkier big brother
at the pricier end of the market.
It proved to be
all those things and more. And thanks to its ability to accomodate lenses of
different focal lengths, the mirrorless camera offered greater versatility and
better images in packages that were not all that larger than pocket-sized
compact cameras at the lower end of the market.
Introduced by
Epson in 2004, but popularised largely by Panasonic and Olympus from 2008
onwards with their jointly developed "Micro Four Thirds" format, the
mirrorless camera was heralded as the savior of the industry's struggling
second-tier of photographic firms—ie, all those below Canon and Nikon (the
latter two accounting for more than half of all camera sales between them). By
offering something technically different, the mirrorless camera provided
second-tier firms with something to challenge the duopoly's long domination of
the digital SLR business.
Sitting between
compact cameras at the low end of the market and entry-level SLRs at the high
end, the mirrorless format encompassed benefits of both, with few of either's
drawbacks. As such, the mirrorless camera was supposed to appeal to fledgling
photographers moving up from point-and-shoot cameras, as well as serious photographers
seeking something more portable to carry with them everywhere (on the principle
that the best camera is the one you have with you).
Unfortunately, the
shutterbugs who were supposed to flock to the new cameras found other ways of
taking pictures. A number of serious ("prosumer") amateurs and even a
few professional photographers have become staunch mirrorless fans, especially
now they provide almost as much control over shooting conditions as full-sized
digital SLRs. But more mainstream consumers have generally shied away from
them, at least in America and Europe, though less so in Japan.
This is not
because such people are happy with their pocket-sized point-and-shoot gadgets,
and see no reason to move up market to mirrorless models. If anything, they
have traded down. Indeed, the compact-camera business has been in free-fall
since people started relying on smartphones to take pictures instead. Compact
camera sales dropped more than 40% last year, according to IDC, a market
research firm.
Over the past
couple of years, smartphones like Apple's iPhone and the numerous Android
equivalents have been incorporating camera sensors every bit as good as those
used in point-and-shoot cameras; Nokia's Lumia models match all but the best
compact cameras equipped with zoom lenses. More importantly, smartphones offer
something cameras have been unable to match: seamless connectivity.
Whereas popular
photography was once all about making prints for family albums, its main
purpose today is for uploading images to Instagram, Twitter or even Facebook.
Here, the ability to transmit pictures instantly to social networks with the
swipe of a finger has immense appeal. Smartphones do this better than even the
fanciest of digital cameras. And while camera-makers have rushed to add WiFi to
their latest models, the implementations have left much to be desired. Gadget
users today value instant connectivity above everything; certainly, far more
than picture quality, given the poor graphical resolution of the web generally.
That has left
mirrorless cameras squeezed between increasingly more sophisticated smartphones
that cost much less, and SLRs that cost not all that more. Indeed, with
entry-level SLRs priced as loss-leaders (to lock customers into a
manufacturer's system of camera mounts and lenses), mirrorless cameras are
being forced into market niches. By no measure are their makers (Panasonic,
Sony, Olympus, Fujifilm and Ricoh in Japan, plus Samsung in South Korea) on the
verge of collapse. All are part of large electronics groups. But lacking robust
sales, industry watchers fear they could be starved of research and development
funds. Were that to happen, the innovation they have brought to the
photographic world could falter.
That would,
indeed, be a pity. Mirrorless cameras embody a level of technical creativity
the camera industry has not seen in ages. Take the digital SLR, which crams a
number of decade-old developments between the lens and the image sensor. Among
other things, there is an image stabiliser, to correct for hand-shake; a
low-pass filter, to eliminate moiré fringes caused by repetitive pattens in
fabrics and the like; and a dust-reduction mechanism, to clean the sensor after
a lens has been changed.
Lodged in there as
well is a sophisticated phase-detection system for focusing the lens
automatically. This uses a secondary mirror (attached to the main one) along
with a dedicated sensor to measure the convergence of two light beams, plus a
servo motor to snap the lens into focus. This is an expensive piece of
machinery that requires precision assembly and skilled craftsmen for
installation and calibration. A good deal of a digital SLR's cost is wrapped up
in its phase-detection auto-focusing system.
To accommodate
these extra components, along with the mirror box for the optical viewfinder
and the auto-focusing mechanism, has traditionally required the
"flange-back" distance—the distance from where the back of the lens
mounts onto the camera to the sensor's imaging plane—to be fairly long. That is
why digital SLRs are bulkier than their analogue brethren and can never be as
slim as range-finder models, let alone compact cameras.
However,
dispensing with the digital SLR's mirror assembly eliminates not only the
optical viewfinder and its chunky pentaprism, but also the expensive
auto-focusing mechanism. With the mirror removed, the flange-back distance can
be reduced significantly. In the process, the camera body becomes more compact,
lighter and cheaper to build. Lenses are then more compact, lighter and cheaper
as well.
With the optical
viewfinder gone, mirrorless cameras have to rely on either an LCD display on
the back of the camera body for taking pictures with arms outstretched, or an
electronic viewfinder for eye-level shooting. Electronic viewfinders use a
small LCD inside the camera to display the image falling on the sensor. Being
electronic, it can overlay all sorts of information on the viewfinder screen
for the photographer to see at a glance. Optical viewfinders offer little more
than the basics—ie, film speed, shutter speed, aperture and possibly battery
life.
To keep costs
down, mirrorless cameras initially adopted the much cheaper contrast-detection
method for automatic focusing used in compact cameras. Relying on the main
sensor to do all the donkey work, this needs no costly additional components.
But the focusing process—involving repeatedly testing a small part of the
image, to measure its sharpness, coupled with incremental focusing
adjustments—requires a lot of computation. As a result, focusing can be a bit
too slow for action photography (eg, sports, birdwatching, etc). To overcome
this, recent mirrorless cameras use a separate sensor to perform both contrast-
and phase-detection calculations, and can focus as fast as all but the best
SLRs. Mirrorless cameras with hybrid auto-focusing are now the norm.
As for sensor
size, mirrorless cameras started off using mostly the Micro Four Thirds format
pioneered by Panasonic and Olympus, with a sensor area 30% less than the
standard APS-C sensor used in digital SLR cameras, but nine times greater than
those used in compact cameras and smartphones. While Panasonic and Olympus have
stuck with their Mirco Four Thirds sensor size, most mirrorless makers have now
migrated to the bigger APS-C sensor. With its top of the range Alpha 7 and 7R,
Sony now sells mirrorless cameras with full-frame sensors (ie, the size of 35mm
film). The only other mirrorless camera-maker to do so is Leica, though it charges
twice as much.
Both Canon and
Nikon have ventured into the mirrorless arena, but neither has embraced the
format whole-heartedly. Until they do so, mirrorless cameras will remain niche
products. Yet, the many technological improvement they embody could unleash a
wave of innovation that both Canon and Nikon sorely need. More exciting models
from the camera world's two leading makers would give the whole industry a shot
in the arm, and bring benefits to shutterbugs everywhere.
©The Economist
Newspaper Limited 2014
