Tech CP+ Camera & Photo Imaging Show 2023

This week, CP+ Camera & Photo Imaging Show, Asia's largest photo and video equipment show, will be held in Yokohama (23-26 February). The event is held in person for the first time in four years.



According to Nikkei, digital cameras have made a stunning comeback as models equipped with artificial intelligence, and other advanced features draw photographers who want something more than a smartphone.

Worldwide, the average digital camera price in 2022 came to 85,000 yen ($623), according to the Camera and Imaging Products Association (CIPA), a Japanese trade group -- more than double the figure from three years ago. Smartphones, which made taking a photo as easy as a tap of the screen, became the bane of low-end digital cameras. But the past two years have seen big recoveries in global digital camera shipments, creating a tailwind for Canon, Nikon and other Japanese brands pushing high-end models.

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The new Canon, Sony, and Fujifilm models arrive as the digital camera market recovers from a steep decline. Global digital camera shipments totalled roughly 2.16 trillion JPY and 120 million units in 2008. By 2020, the figures had dropped by 93% and 81%.

But shipments jumped around 40% by value in 2022, according to CIPA, marking a second year of major gains as the global economy recovered from the coronavirus pandemic. The average price of digital cameras has increased sixfold in the roughly 10 years since manufacturers began focusing on high-end models.

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And there seems to be a new interest in photography beyond smartphone snaps:

Younger generations are growing more interested in photography from interacting with lots of pictures on social media, while older fans familiar with single-lens reflex cameras are interested in new technologies behind mirrorless cameras. The spread of smartphones has made photography an everyday activity, leading to a surge in skilled photographers that are gravitating toward [interchangeable lens cameras].

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Paywall alert:

I started taking pictures when I was 7 years old and have always loved cameras. In 1970 while stationed in Fukuoka , I bought a Yashica camera that amazed me by taking perfect night time pictures. After about 3 years of heavy use , it gave up the ghost.