First 35mm Still Camera Article

"It's certainly where the dimensions is, people gravitate to forget that," said Gary Pageau, associate publisher with the Photo Marketing Association (PMA).

"Traditional cameras are declining in unit sales in the United States," said Gary Briddon, vp, gmm of undertaking occurrence at Kodak customer imaging. "Approximately 10 million units will be sold this year and that's on a jumbo installed base, there's something like 40 million old cameras in use."

According to PMA, almost million digital cameras were sold in 2002 and million conventional units sold through to consumers. That compares to million solemn cameras sold the year before and million digital units.

The scales are about to be balanced as 2003 is expected to be the first year in which digital and accepted cameras sell in near-equal numbers. PMA anticipates digital will embrace a slight edge, however, with million units compared to million film cameras, making this the first year digital outsells habitual units. Film sales are likewise declining and were down 1% last year, according to PMA. But those numbers are bolstered moderately a bit by the still-brawny growth in one-time-use cameras (OTUC), the one bright spot in this category. Excluding OTUC sales, the film section declined 12% in 2001, 9% in 2002 and is estimated to decline 8% this year. OTUC is expected to show continued health in 2003 as consumers increasingly show a preference for these units. According to PMA, 9% of . consumers said they use OTUC for all their graphic needs.

But given the uninterrupted decline in the section, it's no wonder that film manufacturers are anxious to not only figure out a way to profit from the shift to digital, but to uphold film sales as well.

"We are very upbeat and irrefutable about the pearly halide film dealings," said Stephan Aps, offshoot manager for brand and private label film at Agfa. "We see it as a great opportunity for some of our new films."

Specifically, Agfa announced a premium piercing-speed film last fall called extremist. Kodak also anew announced its excited Definition 400-speed film, meant to capitalize on the growing shift to alpine-speed films.

"We have not forgotten about silver halide in terms of continuing variation," said Kodak's Briddon. "mountain half of all Kodak film sold is in the 400 and 800 speeds, which used to be film for more liberal consumers." Thanks to burly marketing efforts and improvements in quality, consumers have been poignant up in film speed in the last few years, that's good news for retailers, he said. "It's higher revenue and higher margin for the same roll of film."

SLR cameras are also enjoying a brief surge in popularity with consumers superficially trading up to more complex film units. The category hardest hit on the hardware side is the point-and-emit models in the $299 to $399 price range, according to PMA's Pageau. "In that price range people can get a befitting digital camera, and they want to buy what they imagine is going to be around for a while."

And sales associates are typically more inclined to steer consumers to the digital models when given a chance. Retailers-be they CE, specialty or discount sphere stores-are posting heady growth in the digital category and often base future financial estimates on the continued substance of digital imaging.

"confident, a digital camera is more fun to sell for a sales clerk," said Briddon. "But from a guidance standpoint, that transaction isn't necessarily the best one for the consumer." Or for the retailer, depending on how durable a photofinishing business they might have.

Undoubtedly, most of the excitement and attention at the annual PMA pact and work show March 2 to proceed 5 in Las Vegas will be on digital: cameras, printers, kiosks, minilabs and services. New film cameras will most certainly be introduced, and tenet continues to inflate its Elph line in the APS format. "There were three billion APS exposures cosmic last year," points out Pageau. "Nobody wants to walk away from that."

And even though camera sales are declining, the number of cameras still in use has not declined as rapidly as the number of traditional cameras being sold. In fact, the growing celebrity of digital cameras may really help keep film sales from declining more dramatically. "When you buy a digital camera, you don't stop using your film camera; you don't heave it away," said Tom Edwards, senior industry analyst with the NPD Group. "Some customer surveys indicate that digital cameras have spurred interest in film cameras."

"There's a halo effect with new cameras," agreed Pageau. "When people buy new, they simmer a lot more film. Actually the move to digitalis good for everybody." And according to Briddon, "There's never been more pictures being snapped as there is today. It's a towering growth attention, but you have to be on your toes."

"We see a lot of population using both types of media at the same time," said Aps. "Lots of family seem excited about digital cameras, but the folk is minute compared to 35mm. There is enough interest in the category to help it along."