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Samsung GX-10.

It’s a relatively well-known fact that in the camera industry the big profits are in SLR systems rather than compact cameras, which is why all the camera companies have been falling over each other to get consumer-priced digital SLRs into the shops. With the DSLR market expanding by 39 percent in the last year (more than double the growth rate for compacts) and estimated to be worth $1.6 billion by the end of this year, competition has been fierce, and has already seen a couple of casualties; two big well-established camera brands, Konica-Minolta and Kyocera-Contax, have disappeared after decades in the industry.

Meanwhile several big electronics companies have muscled their way to the front, eager for a share of a lucrative market dominated by Canon and Nikon. Sony has already succeeded in claiming the third biggest DSLR market share ahead of Pentax and Olympus, based solely on the success of its outstanding debut model the Alpha A100, while Panasonic has used its partnership with Leica to good effect, making some nice high-end kit for the legendary German company, as well as a somewhat less well-received DSLR of its own.

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