While you might think that the film, video, and photography industries might be in complete panic mode due to the rise of AI technology, recent reports from the Japan-based Camera & Imaging Products Association (CIPA) indicate that worldwide digital camera sales are at the highest they’ve been in the past three years.
This seems to indicate that things might not be as doom and gloom as our Facebook comment sections would have you believe (that being said, who actually knows where things will go from here). Regardless of our personal thoughts though, we have some hard data to share that might give a few indications about the state of the photo and video industry.
Worldwide Camera Sales Are Up
The big headline here is simply that CIPA has shared results that show that the period from January through May was at some of the highest levels seen in the past three years. And, as shared by other sources like DPReview, these numbers also indicate that the total interchangeable lens camera shipments over this period have increased by 10 percent compared to last year, and almost 12 percent compared to two years ago.
So, it certainly seems like more people are buying digital cameras than before. Which obviously could be interpreted as a sign that the overall industry is growing. However, it is still to be seen if these camera sales are more hobbyist or photographers only, or indicative of the state of the film and video industry which we focus on.
The State of the Video Industry
Removing AI from the conversation for right now, we have seen a few trends over the past year. One is that major camera manufacturers like Canon, Panasonic, and many more appear to be focusing on providing more affordable cameras for more diverse types of content creators.
Cameras like the Canon R100 and the just-announced Panasonic FZ80D are pointing towards easier entry points for newbies to dive into the world of content creation. We’ve also however seen some pretty noteworthy new cinema cameras come out from the likes of Blackmagic, Sony, Canon, and more which also indicate that there are more high-end shooters looking for even better options for shooting high-quality footage either solo or with small crews.
What Does the Future Hold?
We don’t know exactly what the future might hold, but overall it does seem to be a good thing that more people are buying cameras over the past couple of years—especially since we did see a bit of a lull during the pandemic and shortly after. And, if it weren’t for AI dominating a lot of conversations about the future of film and video, it would appear like things are set to only grow from here.
Author: Jourdan Aldredge
This article comes from No Film School and can be read on the original site.
