The battle of the digital camera heavyweights has dated back prior to even the early stages of the emergent digital generation. However, for most of the digital age’s infancy, Nikon either chose or were forced to limit themselves to strictly “skirmishing” with established market leader, Canon. Canon had maintained its steady lead as the market leader through a strong product offering, a sterling reputation and shrewd marketing. In 2008 however, Nikon unfurled an impressive and full-fledged campaign to penetrate Canon’s lead and possibly dethrone the reigning champ. That campaign was astonishingly effective.
For 2 years Canon had an unchallenged Full Frame performer in the Canon 5D as the “affordable” or “budget” full frame camera. In 2008, Nikon unleashed the D700, a contender that took the digital photography world by storm. Matching the 5D’s resolution of 12 megapixels, the D700 offered a complete range of significant improvements over the 5D in the shape of a superior Auto Focus system, increased ISO range and performance, and weather sealing. Nikon had delivered a camera that pushed low light performance into a realm never before considered possible. It was the buzz on every digital photography reviewer’s lips and consumers gobbled it up. Canon user’s either sold out and switched brands or purchased a D700 to accompany their own Canon products. Nikon had pulled the ultimate coup.
The D700 wasn’t all that went right for Nikon in 2008, on the heels of the D700′s success came a new offering in the Nikon D90. The D90 offered something for the everyday man and woman and then some. The D90 featured a new and exciting feature, HD video recording with 35mm lenses. Its APS-C sensor featured an impressive ISO range, a respectable FPS burst speed and a decent AF system. It was quickly accepted and sold as the best midrange DSLR camera offering and its swifts sales propelled Nikon forward.
The close of 2008 told an interesting tale. Nikon had pushed Canon; they had pushed them hard and the numbers told the truth. Canon and Nikon were in a virtual dead heat (Canon did have the slight nod which allowed them to retain their status as Market Leader) but the significance was huge. After trailing Canon by a sizeable portion for decades, Nikon had finally caught up! In 2008 they had unleashed both barrels on Canon and had seen the kind of results they were targetting.
2009 clearly has been a reloading year for Nikon and it has been the year that Canon has furiously fought back. The Canon 5d MKII (technically released in 2008) was an incredible seller for them throughout 2009 and as recently as the time of this article some dealers are still having difficulty keeping enough of them in stock. The new Canon 1Ti is challenging the D90 for its position as a best seller among mid range DSLR models and the newly announced 7D has exploded all over the digital photography world as the king of APS-C. 2009 will see Canon reclaim at least some of their lead from 2007 (albeit probably not all of their prior lead). At the end of the year Canon is going to have put some separation between Nikon in market share.
For Nikon, coming off the heady success of 2008 this year has seemed like a bit of a letdown with only mildly exciting new camera offerings in the D5000, D3000 and the updated D300s. For the true enthusiast it might be dejecting to think of the company as losing ground again in 2009. However, to the shrewd opportunist its clear that Nikon is preparing for another strong offensive in 2010. No digital camera company can sustain that kind of extended market growth and new product offerings year after year, the research and development cost is just too high. A staggered cycle must be developed and that appears to be exactly what Nikon is articulating. In 2010 Nikon will unleash its newest offerings which likely will include a successor to the popular D700 and a challenger to the Canon 7D. Canon will likely not have any major new offerings in 2010 other than possibly some new products (no more than 2) in the low end of the DSLR market and their successor to the expensive professional 1Ds MKIII model. If there’s a chance for Nikon to overtake Canon it will be in 2010. It will be interesting to see how the game plays out.
