Hybrid Cameras: The Future of Photography?

They're as practical and easy to use as compact cameras, but they have interchangeable lenses and the kind of manual controls typically found in SRLs. These attractive new digital cameras, sometimes referred to as 'hybrid' cameras, can therefore be as appealing to beginners as they are to professionals.

Romain Thuret / Florence Legrand
Updated: June 3, 2010

New technology for a new type of camera

Thanks to new industry developments, hybrid cameras like the Panasonic GH1, Olympus Pen E-P1, Samsung NX10 and Sony's NEX range manage to pack loads of technology into compact camera bodies. The mirror-based optical viewfinder typically found in SLR cameras has been replaced by an electronic system that takes up much less room. The sensor, however, is larger than those used in regular compact cameras, and this allows users to play around with the depth of field, while also ensuring excellent picture quality in low-light conditions. The lens-mounting system has also been simplified.

Although the technology found in all hybrid cameras is essentially the same, the sensor formats and the lens mounts differ from model to model. Panasonic and Olympus use micro 4/3 sensors and the brands' lenses can be used interchangeably. However, Sony and Samsung hybrids both use proprietary mounting systems—the Sony E and the Samsung NX—which means you can only use Sony lenses with Sony cameras and Samsung lenses with Samsung cameras.

Adapter rings are, however, available for hooking up regular SLR lenses to these new hybrid models. The only snag is that you'll lose the automatic features of the lens, such as autofocus and sometimes even light metering.

Hybrid is a word that's bandied about a lot these days, referring to any kind of new product, concept or spin-off that hasn't yet become a mass-market staple or which is still finding its feet. While the compact digital camera market is running out of steam, with ownership levels reaching saturation point, the market for high-end SLRs is largely dominated by Nikon and Canon, who hold almost 80% of the market share between them. In other words, it was about time for manufacturers to reach out to both beginners and experienced or professional photographers with a sleek new toy that's compact, easy to use and original. According to a Europe-wide study carried out by Sony, 76% of people questioned said they were interested in this new hybrid concept, and manufacturers haven't looked back since!

Panasonic DMC-G1

Olympus Pen E-P1

So for want of a better name, the 'hybrid' digital camera was born. The first such compact yet high-performance camera to hit the high-street was Panasonic's Lumix G1, launched in the autumn of 2008, closely followed by the Olympus PEN-E-P1. Both cameras had a more compact and lightweight design (under 400 g) than a regular SLR (at least 800 g), which was largely achieved by ditching the optical viewfinder and the internal mirror. These new 'compacts' have a larger sensor than a regular compact camera and interchangeable zoom lenses just like an SLR, not to mention big ambitions to eat into the market for classic compacts, bridges and SLR cameras with their wide-ranging appeal.

The G1, the first camera of its kind, released in October 2008

The hybrid camera has elbowed its way into the highly profitable digital camera sector, offering users the best of both SLR and compact cameras, as well as a viable alternative to a classic SLR. Hybrid cameras may be easy to carry around, pleasant to handle, flexible to use and have a video mode worthy of the average HD camcorder, but there's also one major reason why sales could be slow to take off: like with an SLR, you'll have to effectively build your hybrid camera yourself. In other words, you'll have to shell out at least £100 to equip it with a lens, which is certainly enough to put some people off.
Plus, as tends to be the way with any fledgling market dreamed up by manufacturers to have us parting with more of our hard-earned cash, the regular SLR lenses customers may already have at home aren't compatible with the new hybrid cameras, unless, of course, they invest in a special adapter ring (see insert). To really get the best out of this new product then, it looks like you'll have to get your wallet out more than once.

The Olympus E-PL1 with a selection of adapter rings

This new sector, recently padded out with the arrival of Olympus, Samsung and Sony hybrids, should be a new and lucrative way for manufacturers to take the digital camera market forward and make a tidy sum along the way. Or at least, that's what they're hoping.

New kid on the block

'A year and a half ago, distributors and certain other manufacturers saw us as the ugly duckling of the camera industry,' said head of cameras and photography equipment at Panasonic, Romain Chollet. In fact, when Panasonic, a brand that's not got the same heavyweight status as Canon or Nikon for SLR-type cameras, first launched its G1 hybrid camera back in 2008, it was drowned out on the shelves among the likes of the Nikon D80 and Canon 5D. A year and a half later, the G1 is no longer going it alone, as Olympus has launched three competing models (PEN E-P1/E-P2 and E-PL1), Panasonic has padded out its range with a total of five models now available (G2, GH1, GF1, G1 and G10), Samsung has launched the NX10 and Sony will soon be releasing its two NEX hybrid cameras.

For Mathieu Lanier of Panasonic, the new market for hybrid cameras 'is meeting a strong customer demand for this type of product. The digital camera market is very mature now, which leads it to create new niches in response to specific user demands, like here, with a product for customers' wanting a more compact kind of SLR.' He went on to say that 'with the hybrid camera, we're testing the water in response to a specific customer demand, and we'll just have to wait and see whether consumers respond positively.'

Olympus PEN E-P1, an original camera right down to its retro design

Romain Chollet affirms that 'consumers have been quick to see the advantages of this kind of product and to understand how it works. Shops are also finally starting to position this type of product in a category of its own, and they now know how to market and sell the product too.' Is that enough to convince hybrid camera manufacturers that their new products have successfully infiltrated the digital camera market?

According to research institute GfK, only around 10,000 cameras of this type were sold in 2009, making them a fairly modest success. This year, predicted sales are somewhere between 50,000 and 60,000. In other words, just over a year after the release of the first hybrid models, sales are still low compared with those of compacts and SLRs, which sell approximately 4.5 million and 500,000 models respectively.

The new bridge

It's interesting to note that even though GfK said it gave us an 'optimistic' 2010 sales figure for hybrid cameras, it's still well below the hopes and expectations of some manufacturers. This is very rare indeed, as manufacturers tend to keep their estimations in line with those quoted by research institutes. Panasonic, for example, is predicting sales of 80,000 hybrid cameras this year, while Nikon, a brand that's not yet present in the sector, is estimating sales closer to 100,000!

'It's true that for several months now, we've been keeping a close eye on the hybrid camera market,' confirmed Nicolas Gillet of Nikon. 'The first products released in this category, like the Lumix G1/GH1 or G2, as well as the Samsung NX 10, are similar to what we're already doing with models like the D3000, which is more compact but still offers great picture quality. However, some other models are more intriguing, and are even more compact without necessarily compromising quality.' He also sees the hybrid camera as 'a great way of stimulating and re-launching the digital camera market, and the hybrid camera is an excellent go-between for the compact and the SLR.'

So it looks like the hybrid camera could be set to become the genuine 'bridge' camera. You may remember that traditionally, 'bridge' cameras are the not-so-compact mini-SLRs with a selection of focal lengths and a zoom equivalent of three bags full of SLR lenses. Around 400,000 traditional bridge cameras were sold in 2009.

Spanning the market

So can this new type of camera span the market divide and genuinely bridge the gap between the world of amateur photography, where the compact is king, and the professional SLR, a product that's still intimidating for many intermediate users? That's what most manufacturers trying their luck in this new niche market are hoping. Canon, on the other hand, is much more critical of hybrid cameras, and the firm will be simply watching how the market develops for the time being. Canon's consumer marketing director, Vincent Vantilcke, considers the hybrid camera to be 'first and foremost a product dreamed up by manufacturers, rather than a product designed to meet consumer needs, and they're having trouble eating into the SLR market.' However, Sang-Jin Park, CEO of Samsung Digital Imaging, speaking at last year's CES technology show in Las Vegas, predicted the hybrid camera would account for '20% of the total digital camera market by 2012.' This bold claim echoes the Korean manufacturer's own ambitions to become the number one manufacturer in the sector by 2012.

One camera for all?

It remains to be seen whether the many qualities of the hybrid camera will be enough to seduce the customers manufacturers are clearly targeting the most i.e. compact owners who are unsure about whether or not to upgrade to an SLR. What's more, there are already several feature-rich compact cameras out there with plenty of manual functions, but with no need for extra lenses or extra expenses (the Canon G11, for example).

Even if manufacturers don't necessarily succeed in reaching out to their initial target audience, beginners, intermediate photographers or even pros could still find the hybrid camera a great alternative to a compact, or more practical than a bulky SLR for use out and about. It's still early days for the hybrid market too, and it remains to be seen what kind of hybrid an SLR giant like Nikon could come up with if the sector really does take off. In any case, regular SLR releases have been pretty thin on the ground in the first quarter of 2010, which could lead us to believe that manufacturers' attention is focused elsewhere. And with 80% of Panasonic's camera advertising currently dedicated to the Lumix G range, the hybrid looks set to fight its way into the digital camera market whether we like it or not.

> Product Survey: Digital SLRs and Cameras with Interchangeable Lenses

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