Digital Camera Rankings

Attendees at the Photo Marketing Association's 2004 annual convention and trade show were treated to glimpses of the latest advances in digital imaging, even as the industry continues to address the dilemma of how to get consumers to make prints from digital images.

In fact, printing options--both in-store and at home--dominated the show this year as suppliers featured kiosks, home printers and online services. New in-store solutions print faster than ever before and offer consumers more options, such as burning CDs, uploading to Web sites for archiving and image sharing and even infrared capabilities that enable consumers to beam images directly to the kiosk from a handheld device or wireless phone.

The advent of camera phones is mobilizing the industry to develop complementary services even before the technology has Approximately 29,000 reached, print-worthy., resolution levels Fuji, for example, has signed an agreement with Sprint that will let consumers search for the nearest Fuji photofinisher by ZIP code from their mobile phone. Consumers send the images, then pick up their prints at the identified retail location. The service will be available by the end of this year, according to a Fuji spokesman.

New versions of in-store photo kiosks now are Bluetooth- and infrared-enabled, so that consumers can beam images directly into the units from handheld devices. Prints are made in a matter of seconds--two seconds if it's a Polaroid kiosk with Opal technology--and images can be stored on a CD, helping consumers solve the problem of where to save their digital images.

And from Kodak comes the first-ever, self-service film-processing station that lets consumers drop in a roll of film--APS or 35 mm--and seven minutes later, they get back an entire roll of prints. The one catch? Instead of negatives, the kiosk provides a Kodak Picture CD. The company believes consumers are ready to give up their traditional plastic negatives and to enjoy the benefit of more convenient storage and access to images, which also is good news for retailers looking for reprint opportunities. According to Kodak, 51 percent of Picture CD customers come back to the store for more prints.

Accessories are expected to be big this year, offering retailers' new opportunities to build high-margin, add-on sales. CD organizational products will be needed as consumers begin to utilize that option for image storing. 1ne small, envelope-and file-sized products should offer the drug channel an entry into a relatively easy to merchandise, the new product category.

Digital cameras aren't just offering higher resolution, but are getting smaller, sleeker and more stylish, while offering consumers a better value. Most suppliers will be introducing less expensive and more feature-packed products in 2004. As the category continues to experience strong growth among the mass market, vendors say the drug channel still is slow to get into digital camera sales, even as prices come down and consumers become less confused by the options.

The industry finally may be focused on telling consumers how to print at retail, but retailers losing photofinishing business to the rise of digital images may want to address the problem of how to merchandise and sell the popular hardware that goes along with it.

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