Things are changing in the mirrorless universe. The Canon EOS R5 and EOS R6 are a market hit for Canon, in Japan and around the world. And that despise all the crap that had to be thrown at Canon after launch.

BCN Ranking reports that Canon is rapidly gaining market shares for mirrorless cameras in Japan. As you can see in the picture above, Canon’s market shares are raising steadily, and it’s because the huge success of the EOS R5 and EOS R6. I have no doubts that Canon will soon surpass Sony in mirrorless market shares.

There is more to learn from the BNC Report. You can see that Nikon struggles to grow market shares, that Panasonic is getting better (thanks to the S5), and the Sigma is not selling as much Sigma FPs as they likely wished.

• Nikon is struggling (a lot)
• Panasonic S5 finally moved up the market shares for Panasonic
• Sigma is falling after the initial FP sales

Machine translated from BCN’s report:

As of April, the decline in mirrorless interchangeable-lens cameras was greater than that of the interchangeable lens type as a whole, and the number of units sold was 19.7% year-on-year, a decrease of more than 80%. However, it recovered rapidly after July. In September, the number of units sold was 97.8% compared to the same month of the previous year, and the amount was 90.3%, approaching the same level as the previous year. In reaction to the last-minute purchase before the tax increase that occurred in September last year, the number of interchangeable lenses as a whole increased temporarily to 52.1% and the amount of money was 56.3%. In such an environment, full-size mirrorless cameras are doing very well.

The positive environment for cameras, such as the Go To Travel Campaign, has been set up, and new full-frame mirrorless interchangeable-lens cameras are being released one after another. Canon will release the EOS RP in April, the R5 in July, and the R6 in August. Nikon released the Z5 in August, and Panasonic released the LUMIX S5 in September. After October, Sony will release the α7C and α7S III, and Nikon will release the Z6II and Z7II. Consumers’ choices are expanding all at once, and the camera market is returning to its bustling atmosphere.

The manufacturer share has also changed. Until the summer of 2018, Sony maintained a nearly 100% share of the market. Nikon and Canon entered the market one after another in the fall of 2018. Panasonic entered the market in February 2019 and Sigma entered the market in October, and the full-size mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera market was launched in earnest. However, the structure in which Sony maintains a market share of 50% or more has not changed, and the situation of one-strong vs. others has continued.

This year, sales of new products introduced by Canon in particular increased, and the share of sales volume was 34.7%. It is just behind Sony, which has fallen to 43.9%. Nikon’s flagship product has not yet been released, and the momentum is the same as before. With the introduction of a low-priced model, Panasonic has finally gained a presence despite its single-digit share of 5.8%. Sigma, which temporarily overtook Nikon, has only one model in its lineup, so it has been overtaken by Panasonic and is content with 2.6%.