I will be shopping for a new camera in the near future. As I am currently looking at camera brands and the lineup of their models. it has struck their their naming schemes of models is confusing. I wonder if these brands ever ask the general consumer what they think of it.
This is not new in many industries. It ranges from PC components, the mobile industry and is especially common in the car industry. What baffles me about the naming schemes in cameras is that it has always been letters and numbers and not always actual names. When the Pen was introduce by Olympus back then, it became a hit to many photographers due to its size and functionality. Now looking back, the Pen is easily remembered due to its history and the name.
With a camera name like the Pen is memorable and easy. Something that the general consumer easily associate. Lately, FUJI, Olympus, Panasonic, Canon, Nikon, Leica, and many more are using using letters and numbers.
Let’s take a look at a few camera armbands and their model names.
Panasonic. As it currently stands, these are the models that are currently available. GF7, GX8, GX85, G85, and GH5. Now.
Fujifilm. Models are X-Pro2, X-T2, X-T10, X-E2S, and X-A3. They are obsessed with the letter X.
Now lets take a look at Olympus offering. The EM-1 II, EM-5 II, EM-10 II, Pen E-P7, Pen-F, Pen E-PL8
If you are just starting to buy a camera, think about this. How do you you know, which is the flagship? Mid end? Or the low end models? Now granted, before buying a camera. Research must be done but it does begs the question, how does the general consumer understand the naming schemes without being an engineer or a camera geek!?
If camera brands at least try to name their camera much easier then the consumer will easily understand , which models to get. I am not sure as to what kind of market research these brands follow but certainly it is not working. Not only that, camera nowadays are starting to look the same as their features are the main differentiating factory when presenting it to consumers.
So what kind of naming scheme do camera manufacturer do to solve this issue? I do not have all the answer but I would prefer to see them in actual person’s name such as Honda name their cars from the Accord, Civic, Fit, Pilot, and so on. I am not saying that Honda has all their naming scheme rights as they do have their own mess but in the general sense of knowing that Civic is the low model while the Accord is the upper model car.
We humans tend to remember names better than numbers because we grew up in a world where names are remembered, honored, respected and classified. So why not names camera using human names? We already do it with out pets and other animals.
That is certainly not the be all end all solution but it is a start. A good 1st start.