Digital cameras are growing up. The megapixel war, where battles over market share hinged on who could deliver higher resolution pictures is so last year. Today, even entry-level point and shoot cameras routinely offer the 7 or 8 megapixels that used to define professional equipment and consumers make their decisions based on other criteria that have more distinguishing impact on the quality of their picture taking experience.

The J.D. Power and Associates 2008 Digital Camera Usage and Satisfaction Study^SM looks at camera model lines in four body-style segments: point and shoot, premium point and shoot, ultra slim and digital single lens reflex (DSLR). In each segment, we examine customer evaluations of picture quality, performance, ease of operation, and appearance and styling.

The new battlefield is shaping up as one where new features compete to create differentiation to attract customers. The study finds that owners are particularly satisfied with the new technologies available on their digital cameras – as long as they’re easy to use. Geotagging, which provides an exact geographical identification to a photograph, weather proofing, MP3 playing capabilities and face-detection technology can all yield top customer satisfaction scores. Make them difficult to use, however, and consumers are quick to turn away from a camera.

Looking ahead, consumers are looking for new features that offer even more flexibility and ease-of-use, including:

• Weather proofing attracts both point and shoot and premium point and shoot users


• 4GB of internal memory capacity is looked for in the ultra slim segment


• Waterproofing is high on the DSLR owner wish list

In this constantly moving, highly competitive arena, consumers have many good choices. In that crowded field, consumers rank today’s top performers. Here they are:

Point and Shoot
Fujifilm Finepix S series tops the list, performing particularly well in picture quality, performance and ease of operation. It is followed by the Kodak V series and M Series.

Premium Point and Shoot
Canon PowerShot G series and Panasonic’s Lumix DMC-TZ series tie for top ranking, followed closely by the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ.

Ultra Slim
Sony Cyber-Shot T leads, performing particularly well across all factors driving customer satisfaction. The Casio Exilim Zoom series ranks second and the Fujifilm FinePix Z series closely follows to rank third.

DSLR
Canon EOS Digital SLR and Nikon D series tie, each capturing the highest satisfaction ranking among all camera segments. The Canon EOS Digital SLR receives notably high ratings from customers in picture quality, while the Nikon D series performs particularly well in ease of operation, performance, and appearance and styling.

For prospective buyers across all camera segments internet product and review sites provide the most frequently cited resource for purchasing decisions, followed by information or recommendations from family and friends, print reviews and in-store salespeople.

Some other revealing facts from the study:

• On average, DSLR owners take the most photos in a month at 454 images, followed by premium point and shoot owners (159), ultra slim owners (96), and point and shoot owners (83).


• Premium point and shoot owners are unique compared with owners of other fixed lens cameras in that their primary reasons to pay more than $230 for their camera include better picture quality (21%), enhanced optical zoom capability (17%) and increased features and functions (14%). Only 7 percent of point and shoot owners say price was the primary reason for purchasing their camera.


• Consumers who purchased an extended warranty report significantly higher overall satisfaction scores with their cameras compared with owners who did not purchase a warranty.

The 2008 Digital Camera Usage and Satisfaction Study is based on responses from more than 8,000 consumers who purchased a digital camera between April 2007 and March 2008.

For more information, view digital camera ratings or read the press release.