Sony increases earnings? Demand for Sony cameras fell by 27%!

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Canon may have some hard times with their small camera business (report here and here) but Sony is doing worse.

According to financial figures released yesterday, demand for Sony cameras, including interchangeable lens models, dropped by 27%, from 2.2M units to 1.6M units. Sony’s unit sales of digital cameras fell by 27% in the three months before September 2015 (compared to same quarter last year).

Sony is not making profit from the imaging business with their gadgets. Smartphone volumes also fell, from 9.9M in 2014 to 6.7M for June-September 2015.

At the end of the day, Sony is doing worse than Canon.

[via Amateur Photographer]

Canon EOS M3 firmware 1.0.1 update available (since July)

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Apologies for having missed this. As a true EOS M3 fan I shouldn’t have. Canon released EOS M3 firmware 1.0.1 back in July 2015. The firmware solves AF issues with the EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS STM lens.

Firmware Version 1.0.1 (Windows | Mac OS X) incorporates the following enhancement:

1. Improves the autofocus speed of an EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS STM attached to the EOS M3 (to mount the EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS STM to the EOS M3, the mount adapter EF-EOS M is required. The enhancement in the autofocus speed only applies when the lens is used with the EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS STM)

Firmware Version 1.0.1 is for cameras with firmware Version 1.0.0. If the camera’s firmware is already Version 1.0.1, it is not necessary to update the firmware.

When updating the firmware of the camera, please review the instructions thoroughly before you download the firmware.

Identification procedure:
If the 6th digit in the serial number of your camera is either 0, 1, or 2, then it is equipped with firmware Version 1.0.0 e.g.

xxxxx0xxxxxx, xxxxx1xxxxxx, xxxxx2xxxxxx

Cameras with serial numbers other than those listed above are equipped with firmware Version 1.0.1 or later.

Canon EOS M3: [shopcountry 29518]

EOS M3
Canon EOS M3

Canon publishes Q3 results – smartphones lower camera profits, but full-year forecast lifted

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Canon published the financial results for Q3 2015.

* Q3 operating profit falls 21% to 71.8 bln yen

* Steep fall had been flagged by Nikkei business daily

* Investments in new businesses also weighed on profit

* Full-year earnings forecast lifted on weaker yen

By Sophie Knight

TOKYO, Oct 27 (Reuters) – Japan’s Canon Inc said quarterly operating profit fell by a fifth as demand for digital cameras slumped and it spent more on developing new businesses, but it nudged up its full-year earnings estimates on a sharply weaker yen.

The consumer shift to smartphones for casual photo taking has pummelled demand for compact cameras, while the growing popularity of lighter mirrorless cameras has taken away market share from higher margin single-lens reflex cameras.

More at Reuters…

 

Canon develops video content analysis plug-in for network cameras

Canon
Four detection functions offered by multi-person tracking technology

Canon is investing heavily in new markets. Video surveillance is one of these markets. Canon press release:

Canon develops video content analysis plug-in for network cameras

Realizes coordination with Milestone Systems’video management software

TOKYO, October 9, 2015—Canon Inc. announced today the development of a plug-in that facilitates greater video-analysis efficiency in systems employing multiple network cameras through the combination of Canon’s video content analysis (VCA), which includes multi-person tracking technology currently under development, and Milestone Systems’1 XProtect® video management software2 (VMS). The plug-in was realized through Canon’s ongoing development of VCA, which makes possible the analyzing and application of data from video captured by network cameras to realize benefits in such fields as marketing and service.

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