Canon India's Andrew Koh talks about Photomarathon, mirrorless cameras and more

Canon recently concluded the 6th edition of its annual Photomarathon on 30 October, which is a day long event involving time-bound theme-based photo competitions. The grand prize winner gets an all-expenses paid trip for a photography workshop in Japan. The Canon Photomarathon 2015 was flagged off by Andrew Koh, vice president of consumer imaging and information center, Canon India. The competition received over 500 entries. The 3 judges for the event were Art and Medical Photographer Mayur Davda, Commercial and Nature Photographer Vijay Shah, Commercial and Wedding Photographer Pritish Rao. We had a chance to have a conversation with Andrew Koh about Canon India and its outlook on the photography market in India. Koh spoke on Canon India’s initiatives to bring together the photography community in India, product cycle of Canon advanced compacts, Canon’s mirrorless camera status and much more. Could you tell us something about the Canon Photomarathon? What is the purpose behind this day-long event? This is the 6th edition of the Canon Photomarathon which we are doing and the last time we did it in Mumbai was in 2011. See, this is a very unique competition, there is no other competition like this. In most other photo competitions, you get a theme and you can work on it for one week or one month and then submit your entries. What happens in these competitions is that you can submit someone else’s photos or you can dig up your archives and send in a 10 year old photograph. But Canon Photomarathon requires quick thinking on your feet and creativity. For instance, we just announced the theme Humour, which needs to be submitted in a couple of hours. And since this is a whole day thing, it is literally a photo marathon. Canon started the Photomarathon 13 years ago in Singapore and it has spread to Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Indonesia. In India it is the 6th year. Apart from this one-day Photomarathon does Canon have other regular meetups with the photography community of India? Yes, we do other programmes too but not on such a huge scale as the Photomarathon. This is the biggest gathering of photographers in a day. So, this year, we have done a Photomarathon in Delhi, Bangalore and now Mumbai. On a smaller scale, we have workshops, training modules and so on, which keep happening on a monthly basis, all over the country. [caption id=“attachment_286576” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”] Canon PowerShot G3X[/caption] Canon’s DSLRs have a 2-3 year update cycle, but the PowerShot series generally is updated every year. What is the reason behind that? Why not keep at least the advanced compact categories on a longer product cycle? In the GX series now we have the G1X, G3X, G5X, G7X and the G9X. The thing is that the demand for advanced compact cameras have changed. Consumers are not so keen on the entry level compacts anymore. In some ways, smartphones have taken over. We realised that there is a demand for advanced full featured compact cameras and we want to cater to that segment. But with so many advanced compacts out there, would it not lead to cannibalisation within the product portfolio? See, the idea is to provide variety. For instance, you may want a high zoom, then probably the G3X is a better fit for you. Some people prefer more compact body, some prefer a bigger sensor and so on. Ultimately we want to give consumers the choice. What is your take on the entry level cameras? Do you feel that smartphones have made the category irrelevant or there is still scope for improvement there? I wouldn’t go so far as to say the category is irrelevant because people are still buying those cameras. As long as demand is still there, we will continue to offer these cameras. Of course, smartphones are also positioning themselves as having good cameras, so we are aware of that. [caption id=“attachment_286575” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”] Canon EOS M3 mirrorless ILC[/caption] Canon had introduced the M-series mirrorless cameras in 2012. Don’t you think Canon came late into the mirrorless market? The EOS M series mirrorless cameras haven’t really created the kind of buzz that say Canon’s DSLRs or advanced compacts do. I think ultimately, we look at it from a long term perspective. Canon has been in the digital imaging and camera business for 70 odd years. We aren’t here to just create a buzz in the short term segment. It is not always about being first in the market, but about coming out with a better product for the long run and being able to sustain it. We have the resources and capabilities. In India if you see, the demand for mirrorless is still quite small. It hasn’t matured, as it has internationally. Will there be more product categories in the mirrorless camera segment in terms of bodies and lenses in 2016? That is something we will consider only if we see a market demand in India. If there is a demand, surely we will push forth in the segment. Canon DSLRs are generally priced more than their Nikon counterparts and it is a similar story with the lenses. Is there any specific reason for that? It is not a deliberate attempt. We price our products according to what we feel is right. For us, it isn’t about coming out with an economically priced product. We feel that if a product is good, people will willingly shell out the money. There was news recently about Canon working on a 250MP APS-H CMOS sensor. Will such high-res cameras eventually make it in the consumer segment, considering Canon is already offering a 50.6MP EOS 5DS/5DSR? We don’t know what the future will be like, maybe in 5 years’ time 50MP will be the entry level. But what we are trying to prove is that Canon is always ahead of the curve. We have the capabilities and the resources to produce a hit. For instance, the 120MP sensor was announced a few years ago, so we were ahead of the curve. What is your view on the festive sales that keep happening online where Canon products are sold at heavy discounts. I have two questions pertaining to that: 1) Does Canon approve of those heavy discounts when the same cameras are being sold for higher prices in physical shops? 2) Do these cameras being sold at heavy discounts, come with Canon warranty?  To answer your second question, as long as the camera is a Canon India product, then we will definitely honour the warranty. So for us, where you buy it from is irrelevant. With regards to e-commerce, I think that is a part of the worldwide trend. Huge discounts are offered not just on cameras but many other product categories as well. It is another alternative for customers to purchase products from. We are not in a position to dictate to the dealers and partners, as to what price they can or cannot sell a Canon camera on online marketplaces. It is a free market. Could you tell us something about the Asia Traveller Protection Programme (ATPP)? We have extended the Asia Traveller Protection Programme to India. So any Indian customer of Canon cameras is in either China or Singapore or Malaysia, and they need to get their Canon camera serviced in these countries, under the ATPP you can get it serviced in any of the 12 mentioned countries. If it is under warranty, then whatever service charges you pay abroad, will be reimbursed when you come back to India. It gives our customers added assurance. What is the idea behind opening over 200 Canon Image Square (CIS) outlets in India? The Canon Image Square is meant to provide a different kind of experience, because when a customer walks in, he or she is able to touch and feel our whole range of Camera products and lenses as well as some consumer printers. The CIS outlets are owned by our franchisees so it is also a point of sale. It is an endeavour on our part to bring ourselves closer to our customers, specially in Tier II and Tier III towns, as not all our partners may have outlets there. So will a photography enthusiast who wants to experience a camera get access to it in the CIS outlets, considering the fact that large format retailers only stock limited camera bodies - some of which may even be some generations old? CIS is a good outlet for photography enthusiasts to check out our range of cameras. Well, I would not say you get the complete range of lenses, but at least there will be all the latest camera bodies available for you to check out. Considering Canon makes its own camera sensors, does Canon have any plan to get into the smartphone camera sensor market, which is dominated by Sony? I would not be able to comment on that, that is a head office decision. There is whole wave of ‘Make in India’ going on in India at the moment. Does Canon have any plans to assemble any camera products in India? I wouldn’t know what the head office plans are, but we consider many possibilities. But there are a lot of factors to consider, such as the infrastructure that can be offered in the countries. When the time is right we will make the announcement, but at the moment there is nothing to say.