Is it time for the "CEO" of Canon's DSLR division to resign?

[Harv]

I read most posts on this forum and have done so for a long, long time.  I don't very often offer a comment, but I think this time I will.

Whenever I read a post such as this that is put up by someone who thinks they are smarter than the folks at Canon, I cringe.  I wonder how many of these self proclaimed experts actually have marketing background.  Or any marketing knowledge of any kind.  I would guess somewhere between zero and none.

When the folks at Canon introduce a new product, I can assure you that they have done extensive market research and have matched the product to the market segment they want to address.  Some of us may not be the target market for the current new product release.  The fact that so many of use have an extensive collection of Canon products indicates that they hit the mark when they brought out the products for which we were targeted.

Frankly, in my opinion, Canon's CEO should get a nice bonus.  And so should his marketing director.

Okay..... that's enough of a rant for today.

        

[distant.star]

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I have to echo the support for the 5D3 that many responses have elucidated. As a photography tool, the 5D3 appears to me the perfect response to what photographers asked for in response to the 5D2 shortcomings. As someone else has said, it's pretty nearly as perfect a DSLR as there is today, and it can effectively handle just about anything. It is the ideal camera for what I do. My nit is the price -- they priced it for people in business, and I'm not going to ever pay that price. I missed the Adorama sale last weekend, but it's apparent now the camera can be sold for $2750, and I'll buy one at that price. That will surely happen before the year is over.

So, I guess I disagree with the OP's premise. No camera company division leader would ever need to step down with a 5D3 on his resume. He's probably getting a big bonus. Now, this 6D, that's a different story; looks like a bonehead move to me. We all make mistakes.

[LetTheRightLensIn]

Hey Dilbert you need to get out of your cubicle more.

The CEO will be judged on the sales of the cameras and lenses, not on their specs.
Judging by Adorama's latest sale on E-Bay there is demand for the 5D3, once the price drops some.
If the CEO has milked the early adopters and maximized the revenue for the company then he will have done his job.

If the profits are down, then its time to change the CEO.

There are also future sales to consider and slowly eroding customer loyalty. Plus, Canon could have easily been so far ahead.

Anyway they can do what they will do get to get money and get away with it, but that doesn't mean the user base can't whine about it, if they go into sit back and milk it for all it's worth and cripple as much as possible and still just manage to sell to target. If they don't like the whines and want a thrilled user base then they need to change.

[V8Beast]

On the other side, Nikon guys compare the (street) price of the d800 and the (announcement) price of the d600, and many of them say that the difference (400-500 dollar / eur) is too little.

Very good point. If you're a Nikon shooter, I don't see why anyone would buy a D600 over a D800.

[V8Beast]

Yes, dilbert, the CEO of Canon's DSLR division should resign because you said so. Now if only Megan Fox would jump in the sack with me because I said so

[bornshooter]

another stupid post please remove this post and the user thankyou.

[bchernicoff]

I love my 5D Mk III, but for the price it should have been something more.
-Canon had touch screen technology ready a few months later in the T4i... I would love pinchy/zoomy/swipey navigation through my shots.
-Build cost estimates for the Nexus 7 tablet show the Wifi/BlueTooth/GPS chip as costing $11...come on Canon, this the new 5D, INCLUDE IT!
-USB 3.0?
-SD-UHS?
-Interval shooting?

Besides pros, the market for the 5D MK III is well-healed enthusiasts like myself. We live and work in the gadget age and expect high-end gear in 2012 to have all the bells and whistles. The 5D Mk III met my requirement of 5D MK II IQ and 7D speed, so I preordered it immediately. However, I really hoped it would be something next-level. Canon missed an opportunity to have another wild hit and I think that is where better leadership could help.

[Mark1]

These threads are just getting more and more hilarious to be honest.

What a shame...

[bdunbar79]

The revealing of the 6D has got to be one of the biggest anticlimaxes in Canon's recent DSLR history. Never has a camera wasted so much potential to score well. If Canon were alone and the only manufacturer producing a cheaper DSLR then it would probably be doing better amongst the Internet forums but unfortunately for Canon, there is the Nikon D600, alongside which the 6D appears as a "huh?"

The 5D Mark III also suffered a lot, primarily because of the rise in price without a commensurate rise in IQ. Again, if you took away the Nikon D800, it doesn't appear too bad but again, there is nothing exciting about it.

Now that all of Canon's cards are on the table for this year, you're left wondering what were they thinking? That Nikon and Sony would just stand by and not enter the market? Or did Canon simply underestimate what they've been able to do in CMOS sensor development?

The 1DX is out there by itself. It is a remarkable piece of equipment, tailor made for its target audience. And perhaps that's where Canon's problem is: it doesn't really know who the audience is for the 5D3 and 6D. Why wouldn't it know that? Because so many people bought the 5D Mark II, it became impossible for Canon to understand all the details of who was using it, how and why.

Thus the success of the 5D Mark II may have actually killed Canon in multiple ways. First they've become complacent because they've thought they could just tweak it a little here and a little there, increase the price and everyone would fall over themselves in love. That hasn't happened, in part because of the price and in part because it was just tweaking. In the second, as above, the camera has had such wide appeal that it became impossible for them to fully grasp why it succeeded and thus they didn't know how to repeat that success. This is likely just an accident of history as much as anything else. Thirdly, in not knowing who to listen to or why the 5D Mark II was such a success, they've ended up listening to the wrong folks about what camera Canon would need to succeed.

Thus given what the 5D3 and 6D have revealed to be, I think that the only option for Canon is remove the people who made the final decisions about which features should be in/out and the price for the camera. I think it is more than evident that they targets for both cameras simply wasn't high enough and thus Canon has underperformed.

Whole point of the 6D was to update the 5D Mark II for entry-level FF.  No, that was actually a really smart business decision.  You have to put yourself in others' shoes before making comments like that.  If you have a 5D3 or 1DX is the 6D for you?  Of course not!  Then again, if you have a 5D3 and 1DX, why in the hell are you complaining?  It's your problem if you're not happy with your gear.  Shut up and go shoot.   

[K-amps]

People just wanna be heard... once they are, most of them will forgive the CEO. 

[distant.star]

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If stupidity were the criteria for removal, 99% of us would be gone!

Big Brain would pretty much be here all by himself. What fun would that be?

another stupid post please remove this post and the user thankyou.

[distant.star]

Besides pros, the market for the 5D MK III is well-healed enthusiasts like myself.

What was your affliction? Glad to hear you're all better.

[bdunbar79]

Here's the level of intellect of this thread:

[AprilForever]

You should read Thom Hogan's thoughts on whether the Japanese marketing strategy is very in tine to American buyers...

[Zlatko]

I wonder how many of these self proclaimed experts actually have marketing background.  Or any marketing knowledge of any kind.  I would guess somewhere between zero and none.

Sometimes I wonder how many of them have a photography background.

Rather than being "nothing exciting" as the OP writes, the 5D III shows Canon being extremely responsive to its professional users. It is as if they took the key points on many of our wishlists and actually built them. The delivered our "wish" DSLR — in essence, a smaller-bodied and less expensive version of their brick-sized 1D, with almost no compromises.  As such, the 5D III represents a price-break for some photographers.