Interview with Chuck Westfall
CNET sat down with Chuck Westfall to discuss the future at Canon. Nothing overly exciting, but worth a read if you haven’t’ already.
My favourite question and response.
Nikon has been making market share gains in the last year. How does that change things for Canon in terms of pricing, marketing strategy, or product development?
Westfall: I’ll say this: It’s been very good for Canon as well as the rest of the industry and customers especially to have a very vigorous competition between the two companies. It works out to better products and very competitive pricing. We’re in this business to stay. We don’t back down from challenges. Our situation is pretty good. We are very well positioned in terms of our investment in R&D to be able to continue developing new products and technology to keep us at our No. 1 level. Based on the market research we’ve seen, although it is true that Nikon made some gains on us last year, we still ended up in the No. 1 position in units and dollars for both the SLR and compact camera categories.
Read More: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13580_3-10213645-39.html
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Worked great for me, and a very interesting article. Thanks for the post
Thanks for the link. I found it very interesting that someone at Canon was willing and able to discuss the issues. Of course, they are not going to make comittments, but there was enough information to give a general feeling as to where we might be going in the next couple of years.
hey.. how come you aren’t tweeting your new blog posts?
From what I can make of the article, it seems Canon is still contented to remain in No. 1 and waiting for competitors to outsell them. They aren’t committing to anything (yet).
Hopefully Canon marketing chooses to engage as in the article.
http://techdirt.com/articles/20090405/1317294387.shtml
Man chuck westfall looks like a real square.
You would think Chuck would have a nicer headshot since he works at “Canon”
I thought canon lenses were sharp? Or is that a soft focus filter from the 80’s?
looks like it was done with 135mm f/2.8 soft focus set at 2.
And it seems 15MP 50D is not a limit there (and that is 40MP FF equivalent!). Anyone fancy 60MP FF? It may be cool if they come up better lenses, right now the best bet is getting primes.
I don’t get how people hang on the word of Chuck Westfall, like he is a mouthpiece for Canon?
Chuck Westfall is a salesman who works at Canon USA.
Canon USA are basically just a distributor (although a rather large one).
They have nothing to do with Canon Japan really.
Only Canon Japan know what Canon is doing and will do.
I’m sure Chuck would go to the sales conferences and receive the sales advisories and have buddies in Japan and the like, but in reality he would know very little about what Canon will do in the future.
I think that Canon took the DSLR market by storm and left everyone in
their wake for years, predominantly because of their sensor technology and so become a bit complacent.
Nikon realised that they were a bit in the cr*p if they let this carry on
any longer (remember, it’s not just about bodies, they make massive profits
on lenses and accessories). So, they planned their strategy on how to get
back market share, and got it pretty much spot on with their body line-up
(D3, D700, D300). They obviously done their homework and found out exactly
what photographers wanted out of their bodies (and not only high ISO
performance, but other important features as well).
So, now all Canon has to do is find out what photographers actually want
from their bodies, not what they think they want, bring those products to
market and they will be back in the game (afterall, I don’t think that
anyone doubts Canon’s technical/engineering capabilities, just their
Sales/Marketing Departments who have their heads buried in the sand.
For me and many others, it’s the physical product that counts. I could see a million ad’s, but if the product isn’t particularly exiting, then there is no reason to buy. In the internet era, this is more important than it has ever been. Combine this with the fact that we are in global recession, there are a lot of people who are not as willing to part with their money as easily. This means that to get people to part with their money, the product needs to be something that is so desirable, that they can’t resist.
Canon’s main downfall is that they restrict all pro features to their 1 series. With Nikon offering features such as high-end AF system, 100% viewfinders, etc. on ‘non’-pro’ bodies, Canon need to rethink what features they offer in non-pro bodies.
Although I have no proof, I can guarentee that more ‘L’ lenses are sold to amateurs than to pros. Take a look around when you go to a zoo or airshow for example at how many amateurs there are with white lenses out there. Take a look at the people with **D bodies at nature reserves attached to 400/500/600 lenses (even this guy admits to using a 10D on Canon’s own website http://cpn.canon-europe.com/content/technical/how_did_you_do_that_thorsten_milse.do). These white lenses are quite often weather sealed lenses, but many people don’t get the full benefit because their bodies aren’t weather sealed, but why shouldn’t they be weather sealed?
I can’t understand why people say that Canon should make a 3D with a 98% viewfinder, or 20 point AF system. But why cut yourself short? Why not ask for full AF system, 100% viewfinder, etc? Afterall, Nikon offer this on consumer bodies.
So, basically, if Canon aren’t willing to put 1 series features in so-called prosumer models (whatever that means!), at least produce a smaller bodied 1D and call it a 3D or something. Actually, why not just put the 1Di that was mentioned on this site into production.
Have Nikon started putting ‘pro’ features on ‘non-pro’ bodies, or have they simply redined what ‘pro body’ means, or have they even just defined what bodies ‘pros’ are using these days? Many pros use the smaller type body for numerous reasons (IQ is no longer the defining differentiator that it once may have been). So they’re simply extending ‘pro’ features to those pros using smaller hardware.
Having said that, the whole ‘pro’ thing is a little overworked. I’ve seen pretty average photos from some pros and outstanding photos from amateurs. Go figure! :/
As to amateurs using white L 400+ lenses, aren’t these the only ones Canon makes?
‘redined’ = ‘redefined’! Sorry for that!
Some buy the pink point and shoot cameras because they are so cute, and some buy ugly ones because they perform better.
Never judge a persons knowledge and ability by his looks or photo.
canon wants to remain #1, he has no news about further FF efforts, IQ is canon’s first priority, and they’re going to be watching and adapting to the market very closely…
pinch me. so he said nothing, outside of canon’s buying an oled factory.
i want my 10 minutes back =/
This is what canon should do. Copy everything nikon is doing exactly and take it a bit further.
That’s what ugly people say
By the way, that OLED stuff looks cool, I wish a 3″ OLED Screen mounted on my next canon body :-)
Agreed. Not a single news in the interview.
Reading FakeChuck response to the interview was much more fun.
Score one for you!!
I guess he will be the right person to ask about canon’s reasons for disabling manual controls in 5D II
I’m on my soap box again, but your observation BigT about xxD cameras and super telephoto lenses is accurate b/c of the 1.6x fov crop. Who can ever get enough reach? (Rhetorical question because it’s true). So, yes. Better autofocus, full weather sealing, 100% viewfinder, better white balance, low-noise, high iso, fast shutter, etc are all needed in a 1.6 or 1.3x camera. And yes, this should be able to be done for under 3K. Just like Omg said: copy everything Nikon is doing and take it further. Why the hell not? When your technology is on par with the other guys, people can focus on what is important–lenses!!! Now about those lenses Canon… http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/cameras/5DIIreview.shtml … B+ isn’t good enough gents.
I find the comment from Westfall about megapixels interesting and disappointing. It doesn’t look like Canon is going to stop trying to jam more sensor sites onto their sensors. They should realise that this is not what users necessarily want. The last thing I need in the future is a DSLR that produces images so large I can’t process them or which has sensor sites the size of point and shoot cameras.
yes, actually, the fake juck westfall makes more sense than the real one :(
He’s saying he *looks* like a square, not that he is one. But if he looked like a model he wouldn’t have time to sit around informing us :)
What Canon needs to do is get there AF in check. That’s the biggest issue. It’s not just the 1dmIII it all of the body’s. I just keep reading how everyone is switching to Nikon(d700,d3,etc) and the reason for Switching is AF. The forum I’m referring to is at http://www.digitalweddingforum.com.
In video mode autofocus really work?