'Mirrorless' rockets, segments diversify

The popularity of mirrorless cameras continued to increase in the first quarter of this year, leading the upward trend since they first appeared in 2009. According to Sony Korea, sales of mirrorless cameras held more than 40 percent share in the lens-interchangeable product market in Korea as of 2012, winning more than 10 percent of market share from DSLR cameras on year-end.

"Female customers have led the popularity for mirrorless models so far,” said a press representative at Sony Korea, a leading manufacturer of the hi-tech products in Korea. “We also released flagship-class NEX-7 to diversify the mirrorless segment and will continue to satisfy different customers’ needs.”

Industry watchers expect that the share is likely to increase to over 50 percent, surpassing that of DSLRs.

However, major camera producers including Canon, Sony, and Nikon echoed the view that mirrorless cameras are not likely to completely absorb compact and DSLR segments sooner or later because they are in a complementary relationship with different merits.

Compact cameras are diversifying into budget models and luxurious ones.

Owners of camera outlets in Hoehyeon- dong, central Seoul, where numbers of camera stores are based, said so-called “high-end” compact cameras including Sony’s RX series are popular to customers, though some of them cost over one million won ($885).

For the DSLR segment, companies introduced a two-track strategy. Leading DSLR manufacturers Canon and Nikon recently released professional-class DSLRs 6D and D600, respectively, at relatively reasonable prices around some 2.5 million won to attract more customers in the top-tier segment.

Entry-class DSLR cameras are changing, too. “We are developing products that are lighter and easier to use, like 100D, for customers who have been reluctant to use a DSLR camera because it is heavy and hard to use,” said public relations representative at Canon Korea Consumer Imaging.