Home · Register · Join Upload & Sell

Moderated by: Fred Miranda

New fredmiranda.com Mobile Site

New Feature: SMS Notification alert

New Feature: Buy & Sell Watchlist

FM Forums | Canon Forum | Join Upload & Sell

2 3 … 21 22 end

Archive 2014 · Do you think Canon's tightlippedness is hurting or helping them?

howard
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Do you think Canon's tightlippedness is hurting or helping them?

Ok, I admit I am getting increasingly frustrated by the lack of information from Canon (no, I do not think there has been any leaks, intentionally or not, from Canon; I think all the so-called rumors are made up wishful thinking. They may coincide with reality, as at this point the demand for a high-res, high-perf APS-C camera is there, and it is natural to postulate the release of such a model .. but I digress ...)

Anyway, I am an engineer myself, and in my profession (software), it is customary for large vendors to give a road map, then at certain point in the lifecycle of a release to give users preview, alpha, beta releases, etc. Of course, I understand hardware (cameras) is a little different, as prototypes are more expensive to make, etc. But still, giving the user base a well-defined road map can only help boost the confidence of such user base in the company's ability to deliver.

I think Canon is still operating in a very old-fashioned way. So what is the new fashion you ask? I say that in this day and age of internet and social media, Canon, as a company, needs to learn how to endear itself to its customer base and bolster their confidence and loyalty to its brand, not to mention that giving out road map and early spec lists, etc. are great ways to garner user feedback which can only lead to better products. I think Canon has been to arrogant to listen to its users.

My $0.02.

Howard

Aug 12, 2014 at 10:47 AM

jcolwell
Offline
• • • • • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Do you think Canon's tightlippedness is hurting or helping them?

Doesn't bother me.

Aug 12, 2014 at 10:49 AM

curious80
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Do you think Canon's tightlippedness is hurting or helping them?

The main "roadmap" item people want to know from Canon is when will they release the new sensor technology and that is a piece of information Canon will likely never disclose

Aug 12, 2014 at 11:04 AM

macrobild
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Do you think Canon's tightlippedness is hurting or helping them?

Canon aims to become No. 1 in autofocus.New AF patent today
simple things like IQ , color depth, read out noise and inferior DR don't bother them as long they can sell cameras and live on old merits/name.

Edited on Aug 12, 2014 at 11:15 AM · View previous versions

Aug 12, 2014 at 11:12 AM

snapsy
Online
• • • • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Do you think Canon's tightlippedness is hurting or helping them?

Not sure if it helps or hurts Canon but I've always found it interesting at how well they guard their new products, esp vs. the other camera companies. At the other end of the spectrum I'm pretty sure Sony does intentional leaks of their new products because Sony Alpha Rumors has posted product rumors months in advance and they're almost 100% correct, down to the precise specs. I think Nikon is somewhere in the middle.

Aug 12, 2014 at 11:13 AM

RogerC11
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Do you think Canon's tightlippedness is hurting or helping them?

Canon knows what they are doing and dont really care about pleasing curious minds. As long as canon keeps selling the way they do, they will continue their marketing strategy. If it were hurting them that bad, they would have changed their strategy a long time ago.

Aug 12, 2014 at 11:21 AM

molson
Offline
• • • • • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Do you think Canon's tightlippedness is hurting or helping them?

jcolwell wrote:
Doesn't bother me.

Doesn't bother me, either... but it did result in my buying a Nikon D810 and putting my Canon gear up for sale.

If I could afford to keep both systems I probably would, but now that I also have to make room for my Contax lens collection (plus whatever Sony brings out to replace the crappy A7R), Canon is the odd man out.

Aug 12, 2014 at 11:45 AM

dgdg
Offline
• • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Do you think Canon's tightlippedness is hurting or helping them?

jcolwell wrote:
Doesn't bother me.

+1

In a very competitive industry, not sure why they would leak their strategic plan until they are ready to take orders.
I'm not frustrated. I'm enjoying the gear I have now. I think many would be excited about a D810 equivalent sensor in the Canon camera.

David

Aug 12, 2014 at 12:07 PM

panicatnabisco
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Do you think Canon's tightlippedness is hurting or helping them?

Software is different than cameras, that's why. Saying that canon or any other company is arrogant because people are upset about lack of updates is silly

Aug 12, 2014 at 12:46 PM

molson
Offline
• • • • • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Do you think Canon's tightlippedness is hurting or helping them?

panicatnabisco wrote:
Software is different than cameras, that's why. Saying that canon or any other company is arrogant because people are upset about lack of updates is silly

It's not a lack of updates, it's the lack of a competitive product in one or more market segments.

Aug 12, 2014 at 01:01 PM

jcolwell
Offline
• • • • • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Do you think Canon's tightlippedness is hurting or helping them?

Canon and Fujifilm are both very good at supplying software and firmware updates.

Aug 12, 2014 at 01:05 PM

15Bit
Offline
• • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Do you think Canon's tightlippedness is hurting or helping them?

howard wrote:
Ok, I admit I am getting increasingly frustrated by the lack of information from Canon......
......I say that in this day and age of internet and social media, Canon, as a company, needs to learn how to endear itself to its customer base and bolster their confidence and loyalty to its brand, not to mention that giving out road map and early spec lists, etc. are great ways to garner user feedback which can only lead to better products. I think Canon has been to arrogant to listen to its users.

I'm confused as to why being a customer of a company would confer any sort of entitlement to know their inner workings. Buying their product doesn't make you a board member...

Aug 12, 2014 at 01:11 PM

howard
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Do you think Canon's tightlippedness is hurting or helping them?

15Bit wrote:
I'm confused as to why being a customer of a company would confer any sort of entitlement to know their inner workings. Buying their product doesn't make you a board member...

Who said anything about entitlement? Customers can, however , vote with their feet.

Aug 12, 2014 at 01:14 PM

gdanmitchell
Offline
• • • • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Do you think Canon's tightlippedness is hurting or helping them?

A big company with large market share does usually not want to take the same approach as a company with a smaller market share. The "smaller" companies like Fujifilm or Pentax may find it advantageous to announce "roadmaps" fairly far out in the future because this reassures potential customers and may influence those who might otherwise buy the bigger names to wait. The big companies will generally continue to sell stuff regardless, so for them to telegraph their own new products too far in advance simply depresses their own current sales.

As we say at my house, "It is what it is." This isn't likely to change. It has worked well for Canon in the past. They remain successful today. They'll likely continue this approach for the most part.

Dan

Edited on Aug 12, 2014 at 05:26 PM · View previous versions

Aug 12, 2014 at 01:27 PM

wordfool
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Do you think Canon's tightlippedness is hurting or helping them?

howard wrote:
Ok, I admit I am getting increasingly frustrated by the lack of information from Canon

Are you equally frustrated by Apple's lack of information about upcoming products? Or Sony's? Most companies don't consider telling people about future products to be a normal part of doing business and it's always been that way IIRC.

If anything, your frustration is probably fueled by the rise in online rumor sites that serve to tease and tempt consumers. Before these sites became so common companies simply announced a new product to an unsuspecting public and everyone went "oooooh, how cool"

Aug 12, 2014 at 01:55 PM

howard
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · Do you think Canon's tightlippedness is hurting or helping them?

gdanmitchell wrote:
A big company with large market share does usually not want to take the same approach as a company with a smaller market share. The "smaller" companies like Fujifilm or Pentax may find it advantageous to announce "roadmaps" fairly far out in the future because this reassure potential customers and may influence those who might otherwise by the bigger names to wait. The big companies will generally continue to sell stuff regardless, so for them to telegraph their own new products too far in advance simply depresses their own current sales.

As we say at my house, "It is what it...Show more →

No disrespect to you, Dan, I understand being a person is different than being a company. But what you described here is exactly the type of big corporation arrogance I tried to describe.

Aug 12, 2014 at 02:01 PM

Glenn NK
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · Do you think Canon's tightlippedness is hurting or helping them?

howard wrote:
Canon, as a company, needs to learn how to endear itself to its customer base and bolster their confidence and loyalty to its brand, not to mention that giving out road map and early spec lists, etc. are great ways to garner user feedback which can only lead to better products. I think Canon has been to arrogant to listen to its users.

Howard

Canon seems to be satisfying its customers the "old-fashioned" way or there wouldn't be so many Canons out in the street. And in spite of their "inferior" sensor technology, people are still buying Canon gear.

I would be surprised if Canon didn't have people poring over the internet forums to see what customers are saying and what they want - they are successful because they don't operate in a vacuum.

And I don't quite follow how secrecy of technical developments makes them arrogant. It might annoy some of us, but that doesn't necessarily indicate arrogance.

Finally in answer to the topic question; I don't think their approach has done them any harm.

Edited on Aug 12, 2014 at 02:09 PM · View previous versions

Aug 12, 2014 at 02:07 PM

Robin Smith
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · Do you think Canon's tightlippedness is hurting or helping them?

No doesn't worry me one bit. If they announce what's coming in advance all the pixel peepers/obsessives will stop buying their present stuff and then what happens if they don't make the expected launch date? Lots of bad feeling. I agree with Dan, they don't need to do so, so they won't. I don't blame them. Suppose they say they will launch a new 100-400mm or a 5DIV in 6 months time. They will never sell another current one and the profit value that represents has gone.

Aug 12, 2014 at 02:09 PM

Gunzorro
Offline
• • • • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #19 · p.1 #19 · Do you think Canon's tightlippedness is hurting or helping them?

Every company is tight lipped about R&D and upcoming deployments. What about Apple, Microsoft, Nikon? No different.

Aug 12, 2014 at 02:09 PM

15Bit
Offline
• • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #20 · p.1 #20 · Do you think Canon's tightlippedness is hurting or helping them?

howard wrote:
Who said anything about entitlement?

You did. This whole thread is about you feeling an entitlement to know what Canon are doing (and also an entitlement you feel you have to tell them what they should be doing). Why should should they tell you what they are doing? What right do you have to this information?

Aug 12, 2014 at 02:20 PM

1 2 3 … 21 22 end
FM Forums \| Canon Forum \| Join Upload & Sell 1 2 3 … 21 22 end

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.