HDSLRs: The Ranks Continue to Swell

I have expanded the exhibit of cameras that was included in the inaugural issue of “Outfitting your H(d)SLR” to include the newest members of the class. The models have increased from two in the fall of 2008 to twelve today (including the Panasonic GH1 which is technically not a HDSLR.) That number will continue to grow as the interest in multi-media collateral for personal and business applications continues to grow. I have to admit that I was surprised that Sony released new DSLR models over the last several months without video capability.

But before we get to the chart, let’s look at a few statistics:

• Social networking continued to gain momentum in 2009 with nearly four out of five Internet users visiting a social networking site on a monthly basis

• During December 2009, 86.5 percent of the total U.S. Internet audience (up from 79% in April) viewed online video.

• During December, 134.4 million viewers watched more than 13 billion videos on YouTube.com (97.1 videos per viewer) versus 107 million viewers watching 6.8 million videos (64 videos per viewer) in April 2009.

• 44.9 million viewers watched 423.3 million videos on MySpace sites (9.4 videos per viewer) in December 2009 versus 49 million viewers watching 387 million videos (8 videos per viewer) in April 2009.

• The duration of the average online video was 4.1 minutes in December versus 3.5 minutes in April, 2009.
Source: Comscore Inc.  JN6F8B57VCJJ

What is clear is that the demand for video continues to grow.

In terms of the chart, I have included the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1 because although it is not a DSLR, there are aspects of the video implementation which are superior to some of the HDSLR offerings in the market, and its price (which includes a video optimized zoom lens) makes it competitive to some of those offerings as well.

(Click on chart to enlarge.)

As always I invite you to look through the current issue of “Outfitting Your H(d)SLR.” by clicking on the magazine embedded below.



Disclosure: No consideration has been received in connection with this blog entry, nor has any manufacturer and/or retailer offered any consideration. Consumers should check and evaluate the features on any equipment for themselves prior to purchase.