Page  1   2    You can Use Your Prized Camera Lenses    This is why there is great expectation placed on digital SLR cameras. Camera manufacturers are anticipating that seasoned amateur photo enthusiasts, who own film SLR cameras and various interchangeable lenses, will switch from film to digital cameras in hordes. For amateur photo enthusiasts who own a number of camera lenses, being able to use their favored lenses in a digital camera is something that goes beyond the simple realm of cost. Counter of digital single-lens reflex camera where various new models are displayed    Digital SLR cameras provide advantages for manufacturers as well. Although prices have been reduced, digital SLR cameras still cost three to four times more than compact digital cameras, and they offer a high profit margin. There were forecasts that Canon, which spearheaded the affordable digital SLR camera market, would proceed to launch cameras that are even less expensive than the Kiss Digital. However, the company released a higher rank model, and one cannot help but read in this move an ulterior motive meant to maintain the price of digital SLR cameras.    Digital SLR cameras require core capacities in sophisticated optical technology, such as lenses. This is something that consumer electronics manufacturers cannot easily match. In the past half century, Japanese camera manufacturers applied themselves to developing film SLR cameras and peripherals so that they may become a player in the global market. It remains to be seen whether this tradition will be repeated in the digital field.    Canon is taking a bullish position, and it forecasts that the global digital SLR market, which reached 850 thousand cameras in 2003 (year-on-year growth of 400%), will become 2.3 million cameras in 2004. 20 percent of its sales are in Japan while overseas countries, centering on North America and Europe, account for 80 percent (Asia is an up and coming market). It looks like the major battleground for digital SLR cameras will now be areas outside of Japan.