[FONT=Arial Black][SIZE=3]Four years on and undoubtedly the CSC has revolutionised the camera market, but not entirely across the globe[/SIZE][/FONT]

How does that saying go? Ah yes, lies, damned lies and... statistics. I get fed statistics from camera companies on a regular basis (yum!). Sometimes they fit a pattern and sometimes not. What doesn't seem to be disputed is that mirrorless system cameras or CSCs (compact system cameras) are making a big impression in parts of Asia where DSLR sales are either flat or slowly declining. Until four years ago when Panasonic launched their Micro Four Thirds Lumix G1 model the CSC sector simply didn't exist. In Japan today around half of all sales of interchangeable lens cameras are CSCs.

[B]CSCs are popular in some part of the world but not others[/B]

But the market penetration of CSCs is not unform across the globe. CSC sales in the UK are strong, with around a third of system cameras being mirrorless, but on mainland Europe sales are generally weaker with around half the UK's share, and it's the same in the USA, where the appetite for DSLRs seems relatively undiminished.

[B]All major DSLR manufacturers now make CSCs too[/B]

Canon was the last DSLR manufacturer to commit to a CSC system with its EOS M platform, but like arch-rival Nikon's N-system CSCs there is little overlap with existing DSLR models and functionality. On the other hand, Panasonic Lumix abandoned its foray in to DSLRs by launching Micro Four Thirds and the G1. Olympus, another Micro Four Thirds manufacturer, has practically ended DSLR production although it has promised to produce cameras in future that will support users of its DSLR lenses. Samsung, too, ended its DSLR partnership with Pentax once it got its own NX CSC system up and running. Pentax, itself, has hedged its bets and launched a very small sensor CSC system in the form of the 'Q' which has no impact on its DSLRs. That leaves Sony Alpha and its Minolta-derived DSLR legacy system. Well, it now looks like all future models will be fixed-mirror SLT (single lens translucent), but of course Sony does have a mirrorless system, called NEX and this definitely competes with DSLRs.

[B]What regional factors might influence CSC popularity?[/B]

Maybe it's straightforward to explain why the Asian market has greeted CSCs so enthusiastically. CSCs are smaller, less bulky and lighter than DSLRs. Small is cute in Asia. One of the raisons d'etre for CSC is to tempt compact camera users to go for a system camera when such people were unlikely to buy a DSLR. This has probably been realised in Asia more than anywhere else.

In the UK I definitely see a lot of DSLR owners investing in CSCs because they have been tempted by a smaller and lighter alternative to their big and heavy DSLRs and lenses. Some use a CSC as a convenient second camera, especially for travelling. The CSC cause has undeniably benefited from strict baggage restrictions imposed by low cost airlines, for example. Such photographers have kept their DSLR gear, but others have cashed in their DSLR gear altogether in favour of CSCs.

I wonder if the budget airline baggage factor simply doesn't apply nearly as much in continental Europe and the USA? This might explain, in part, why CSCs have not taken off quite so brightly as they have in Asia and the UK. Another explanation may be that the relatively large hands of Americans and Europeans guide their owners towards camera designs that are not quite so small and potentially fiddly to use.

[B]And how about you?[/B]

So I'd like to ask my readers: did you consider and reject the possibility of buying a CSC? Have you actually gone for a CSC and did it replace or supplement your DSLR? And of course, why?