Smartphone tsunami now threatens professional cameras
Smartphones killed off integrated cameras, better known as “point-and-click”, many years ago. Back in 2010, three years after the first iPhone appeared and two years after the advent of Android, the total camera market peaked at 121-million units, with integrated cameras making up 92% of the market.
Then came the combined onslaught of iPhone and Android, and the constant evolution of smartphone camera technology. In 2020, the camera market dropped below the 10million mark, according to the Camera & Imaging Products Association. Last year, it went down to the basement, at 8.3million.
Little wonder: the camera capabilities of the average smartphone are already far beyond those of the basic “mik-en-druk”, as we call them in SA.
Digital camera leaders Nikon and Canon have all but abandoned the segment, focusing on high-margin interchangeable lens cameras. The good news, for them, is that sales in these categories were fairly stable, while lens sales ticked up about 6% last year.
The bad news, for them, is that the same tsunami that swept away integrated cameras may well be about to swamp them.
The inexorable advance in smartphone camera technology is coming for interchangeable lenses.
Last month’s launch of the Samsung Galaxy S22 range brought the threat neatly into focus. The flagship S22 Ultra boasts a decent-enough camera by any definition, with the rear hosting a 108MP wide-angle lens, a 12MP ultra-wide and two 10MP telephoto lenses.
Apart from 10-times optical zoom, the device also offers 100-times digital zoom. This has always been a poor replica of the capabilities of interchangeable zoom lenses on standalone cameras, but the combination of multiple telephoto lenses and super-resolution technology driven by artificial intelligence (AI) marks the beginning of a shift from imitation to competition.
If the likes of Nikon and Canon want a sharper focus on what this shift represents, they need go no further than the “more” button on the S22 Ultra’s camera settings.
There, under the “pro” menu, lurk separate sub-menus for each of the four lenses, with each sub-menu offering automatic and manual focus options. The latter hosts a seemingly infinite number of combinations of white balance, ISO, speed and exposure values.
A separate menu includes choices of contrast, flash, tracking autofocus and shooting methods.
That’s just for stills. Moving on to the pro video menu, a similar dizzying array of settings is on offer, along with aspect ratio, definition choices, zoom and microphone settings. The latter allows the focus of sound to be shifted from front to rear to “omni” surround sound.
A new autoframing feature tracks up to 10 people and automatically adjusts the camera’s focus to their position, while an AI stereo depth map enhances traditional portrait mode to bring out tiny details in the subject matter.
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The functionality of the S22 Ultra is so extensive only a high-end professional interchangeable-lens camera can match the experience.
Low-light photography also comes into its own. The most advanced lenses yet on a smartphone, combined with updated AI capabilities, allow the S22 to shoot clear pictures in near darkness. It also allows shooting in 8K video a capability that pushes the price of the best interchangeable lens cameras to around the R100,000 mark.
Of course, that price difference also means the difference between an amateur and a serious, professional photographer.
For now, one can tell the difference. While more and more pros are discovering that a smartphone will meet their everyday needs, specialised needs still need specialised cameras. For now.
The inexorable advance in smartphone camera technology is coming for interchangeable lenses