The Round Blog

Canon Round Table

The relation between Canon and 1000 Heads here in London seems to be working very well. The first produces cameras, while the second is the company that manages their word of mouth communication. In the last year I have been lucky enough to be invited to three different events as a guest blogger/photographer and I have been able to make the most out of them. Canon brought on board Lisa Freeman, new media consultant, and Mike Burnhill, product specialist.
One year ago I was one of the lucky ones who had the possibility to try the 5dMkII around London for a day. Fabiana bought me the same camera in February this year and I simply love it. Few months ago I was invited to the Canon Pro Photo Solutions, where I was given two lenses to road test, the 85mm f/1.2 L and the 70-300 DO IS USM and finally the last week I was invited for a round table with Canon.
Having a round table with bloggers and people very active on twitter is not an easy task. The quantity of questions I was able to gather from my followers was quite staggering and few of them did need some very difficult answers. The result was that Mike Burnhill, the Canon product specialist, found himself in few difficult corners while answering my questions. And by the way, yes I was the one who snowed him under with questions, and generally the worst ones. All in all I was satisfied, as Canon customer, by the answers from the day, even if there are few points that are clearly foggy, points that Canon should consider explaining to the public, as it is clear that their customers are very unhappy about them and they cannot understand them.
The evening started with the presentation of the DSLR models currently available from Canon: 1000D, 450D, 500D, 50D, 7D, 5D MK II, 1D MK IV and 1Ds MK III. Here the battle over the prices started.

Cameras and price failures
One of the recurring note about some of the cameras presented (500D, 50D, 7D, 5D MK II and the 1D MK IV) is that the pricing in Europe is really bad. The entry price is way too high and it has ruined Canon's market in the past already. I feel that the damages are much higher, especially in the UK where the prices has gone skyrocketing high: customers are losing interest in the brand because they do not understand. They do not understand why in America prices are up to 1/3 lower, and the feedbacks from Canon are so weak that the silence would be better.
I am honestly a Canon supporter, but I am the first one not to accept speculations on "manual translation costs" or things like this.
Between the prices and this mixed communication, Canon is losing grip with the core people that buy the name. I understand that the market of the consumer is not as effected as the professional one, but if you start losing the fast horses the race is lost. Is Getty Images who is passing from Canon to Nikon?
I would honestly suggest Canon to be more transparent on their pricing: the market is global and seeing a camera priced £1800 in UK and $1800 in USA is an offence and I know more than one people who are seriously considering leaving Canon because of these continuous prices marketing failure.

Cameras: the kudos
Holding the 7D in my hands gave me a great feeling. Canon redesigned the button placement and the camera simply fits into my hands perfectly. I think Canon did a Fantastic job with it and I bet that the future products will be easier to use thanks to this redesign. Moreover the viewfinder is large and bright, almost like the one in my 5D MK II.
The 1D MK IV, as was underlined by Benjamin Ellis in one of his twits, is something to drool on. The focussing system is really good (something many people complain on the 5D MK II) and the camera feels solid and reliable.

Lenses: another price failure
I know I am focusing quite a lot on the pricing, but in these year of economical crisis Canon moved all its lenses up to 50% in UK. I understand that the Sterling has lost a lot of power, but still the pricing is stupid and people cannot accept to pay so much more for the same product. My 70-200 went from £1000 to £1600. Is this due to the manual translation as well?

Video: new firmware for the 5D MK II
Good news for the owners of the 5D Mk II: in the coming months we will finally see the introduction, with a new firmware, of the 24fps, together with 25fps and 30fps. It will be limited to 1080 and not to 720 due to technical issues, but at least the long awaited 24fps will be available! :)

Coloured cameras?
The product specialist asked us if we would have seen positively an introduction of coloured cameras, as other competitors are doing. I stand firmly behind what I told during the round table: for the lower end, consumer cameras (1000D, 450D and 500D) I would see this as a very wise move as it will create a huge appeal to the younger generations, but I am not sure about the other production lines... What do you think?

Conclusions
All in all Canon is doing quite well. I personally disagree with their product pricing placement in Europe as I believe they are losing their customers' confidence and trust. This is something they will have to ponder carefully if they do not want a new player as Sony might become to break into their market, stealing their customer base. In difficult times there is the need of difficult choices, but I am not sure that Canon and I share the definition of "difficult choices"

The round table was absolutely amazing, interesting and informative. I received more answers than I expected and the cooperation between 1000 Heads and Canon seems to be working very well: time will tell if Canon will start listening their customers or if they will maintain their walls high. I am very much a "Web 2.0" person, I think that a company can improve by listening, so I would have my answer to this question.

Good Luck Canon!