I thought Nikon did well in the DSLR market (not numbers but products).
The D5, D500 are top of the hill. D810, D750 although at the end of life are still top.
We've got outstanding lenses with the 200-500, 19PC, 105E, 24-74E, 70-200E, 16-80E and earlier with 300PF and superteles.
Main problem for me is QC and price (except 200-500).
This is how I see it, too, Chris.
First of all, I don't really like much of what Thom Hogan has to say (nor the way he says it).
People are confusing "market share" with "quality products."
(E.g., porsche may not have the same "market share" as Toyota, but which company produces
better cars ... and which ones would you
rather drive?
)
Canon has come out with 3 iterations of the Mark V since the D810 has come out, and none of them is as good an overall camera as the D810.
By contrast, when Nikon comes out with a new product, it renders the Canon equivalent essentially obsolete (as the D810 obliterated the 5D III ... and as Canon's 7D MK II has
not a single feature as good as the Nikon's new D500).
I do agree with posters that Nikon should stop making "budget DSLRs" ... they are a wasted effort. Modern cell phones are more convenient and essentially do just as good a job for casual photography.
[For example, my own brother and his family recently planned a European trip. I told them they should invest in a quality camera to document it. After shopping, and shopping, his whole family concluded 1) didn't want to spend the extra money, 2) they didn't want to have to "carry" an
extra camera, when 3)
they each already had "cameras" in their high-end cell phones. Better still, they each 4)
could instantly share their phone-taken photos with friends on Facebook, whereas they have to "go develop" photos taken with a separate camera.]
The truth is, 99% of the population doesn't need a DSLR anymore, because the cell phones now offer excellent image quality, and cell phones are also MORE CONVENIENT for 100% of the population to use as well.
Probably less than 1% of the population is interested enough in photography, these days, to buy expensive cameras and lenses with their cell phones being so good and so handy.
(Let's face it, a camera is
a hassle to use, compared to a cell phone. "Processing images" is
a hassle to do, compared to instantly sharing images online with a phone.)
Of the very limited number of people, who
are so interested in photography that they need truly specialized equipment, and are willing to take
all the extra steps that good photography requires, Nikon makes the best overall DSLR products ... in the most important segments ... and they pair those leading DSLRs with the best long-primes ... and comparable "other lenses" with anyone.
Not everyone can afford a Porsche, but those who
can "don't care" that Toyota has a "better market share" in the overall auto world.
