"Still we're seeing double digit growth even in the economy we have now, so it's a very strong category. I think you're going to see a lot of cameras sold this Christmas especially in the point and shoot category... three megapixel, four megapixels. They're beginning to get to a point now where the customer can go out and buy a camera and it doesn't matter whether it's film or digital. It's just a matter of which one I want. The print quality is going to be there, the ease of use is there. So, it's gotten to a point where it's very easy to use so it's much more of a mass market product now than when it first came out."
The LCD screens on the cameras that let you see the photos you've snapped right away are the big selling points. For everyday snapshot sized pictures... a 2 megapixel camera will do...
"Well 2 megapixel is good enough to give you a fairly good 8 by 10 print, which is what most people want. It gives you an excellent 4 by 6. So if all I'm doing is 4 by 6 and 8 by 10s, it's there. If you want a little more you can go up to 3 megapixels. But also we're seeing the 3 megapixel price points very competitively in the 299 range."
If you plan to crop or do much enlarging that's the way to go. One of the big trends among all the manufacturers is to make digital cameras smaller so they easily fit into a pocket or handbag. Bloomberg Boot Camp, I'm Fred Fishkin.