The cameras being made now, and the market that shrank around them.
03Section
CIPA shipment data from the 2012 peak through the contraction — interchangeable-lens, compact, lens-only, and the used market.
Pieces 05Code 03Set in Spline Sans Mono
03.1 · Lead piece
DSLR versus mirrorless is an engineering argument. CIPA's shipment data frames a different one.
Shipment volumes have fallen by more than half since the mid-2010s. Average selling prices have nearly doubled over the same span. Those two facts are not a contradiction.
CIPA data declared the category finished. The numbers were right — and then a different set of numbers arrived.
Map Camera's used-body rankings show discontinued DSLRs dominating secondary sales — which tells you something about the installed base.
Interchangeable-lens shipments and body shipments have not moved in lockstep since the mirrorless pivot — and the gap is the signal worth watching.