--By Suraksha Adhikari 

 

Everyone has memories — bitter or sweet. With time memories tend to fade, but if you want your memories to sweeten as they age then thank technology — the camera is at your service. 

 

With the cheer of the festive season, the market is crowded with people busy in buying goods for the festival. People, unlike in former festivals are interested towards technology. The importance of technology as connective devices in festivals and other occasions have allured people in many ways. Similarly, people are also attracted with the series of discount offered during the festival. 

 

Traders say that because of the festive season, the sale of cameras - be it digital or SLR have been increasing. The camera is being recognized as a necessary gadget in today’s context. Its significance has increased much in festivals. People prefer cameras to capture moments of joy and during festivals and other occasions. 

 

Growing Trend

There are a variety of cameras in the market including digital cameras and high resolution single lens SLRs. Digital cameras are preferred by people as it is easy to carry and easier to handle. Similarly, DSLR cameras are used by people for better quality pictures or to cover wider shots. 

 

One of the advantages of the digital camera is that there is no limitation in the number of pictures that can be taken. Along with this, the pictures captured can also be transferred to computers and can be developed according to the wish and feasibility of the people. People prefer digital cameras to analog cameras as they cannot capture the picture more than the number set in the photographic film. Traders say that the increasing trend of these digital cameras have an effect on the sale of branded cameras. 

 

The growing market of digital cameras clearly shows the growing interest of people towards it. Traders opine that digital cameras have a lot of opportunities in the Nepali market. 

 

 

Brands Available in the Nepali Market

With a large variety of cameras in the Nepali market, some famous brands available in the market are Canon, Sony, Samsung, Philips, Panasonic, Nikon and others.  All authorized dealers of these cameras in the Nepali market have introduced new model cameras during the festive season with a series of offers. 

 

The market is full of stores that deal in digital cameras of different brands.  Stores in New road like Galaxy Photo, Royal Traders, New Amber Impex, Digital Camera Spot and more deal popular brands like Nikon, Canon, Sony, Samsung, Fuji, Olympus, Panasonic and Kodak for compact digital cameras with one year warranty. These stores also sell professional Digital Single Lens Reflex Camera (DSLR) of all brands mentioned.

 

Primex International - Canon’s authorised dealer in Nepal; Him Electronics - authorized dealer of Samsung in Nepal; and NepaHima Trade link - authorized dealer of Sony have introduced a new model of respective cameras on the occasion of Dashain and Tihar. 

 

New Amber Impex also has camera accessories of brand UBCX such as camera bags, tripod, camera case, filter and more as per the requirement of the customers. About the cameras found in Galaxy Photo Mukesh KC, a staff at New Amber Impex informs, “The products are from Singapore whereas the brands are Japanese.” 

 

Most products at these stores are from local authorised dealers where Purushottam Thapa, staff at Royal Traders shares, “The brands are all Japanese and the cameras are assembled in China.”

 

There are various kinds of digital cameras available in these stores in Kathmandu where the customers can opt for simple portable compact digital cameras as well as professional DSLRs. According to Sunil Goel, staff at New Amber Impex the brand Sony also has water proof compact digital camera.

 

There are various series where the function and system varies accordingly and he adds, “In the compact digital camera of Sony WX50, you can get a panorama function for a wider view and a 3D movie function as well. Likewise, in compact digital cameras of Cannon IXY420F, you will get high mega pixels, full HD, Image Stabiliser with Wifi and a touchscreen.” Shopkeepers say that while purchasing a camera one must look into the print order that compact digital cameras offer rather than high megapixels. The quality of print depends upon the print order where Sony has A3 size print order, Cannon has A2 and Samsung has A1. 

 

In portable digital cameras, you can get colours as per your wish ranging from silver, black, pink, blue and more. “The camera must have cases or bags. And while handling a compact digital camera, it would be better if you use the strap of the camera while using it,”says KC from New Amber Impex. 

 

Market Status in Nepal

The customers are interested in digital cameras as they can get a high resolution camera in relatively cheaper prices. At a minimum price of Rs 7000, people can get cameras with a focus of 8 megapixels. 

 

The traders say that in comparison to the brands of other countries, customers prefer the brands of Japan and Korea. Digital camera of Sony from japan is popular in Nepal. Dinesh Agrawal, Sales Manager of Primex International says that this brand is more popular in the Nepali market as it has various new features in comparison to other old model cameras. 

 

Similarly the price of the digital camera is also decreasing because of high competition between various brands of cameras. These cameras attract customers because of their portability, easy handling features and various features with 

high quality. 

 

Challenges

Encouraging growth in sales aside, traders are experiencing various hurdles in this business. Though the competition is very high, traders claim that quality maintenance is not fair in the market. With the plethora of products available in the market, complaints about duplicate products are also on the rise. The growth of unhealthy competition and duplicate products that degrade market credibility is one of the few negative aspects in this business.