EU and CIPA Tag Team Digital Camera Hybrid Market

October 3, 2007- The European Union (EU) has just assailed the digital still/video camera hybrid market by tacking a higher tax onto models that record high definition video. According to a statement released by the Camera and Imaging Products Association (CIPA), any digital still/video camera hybrid that exceeds an 800 x 600 resolution, frame rate of 23fps, and capture time of 30 minutes or more will now be classified as a “video camera recorder.” All models that fall beneath any or all of these categories will thus be deemed as a “digital camera.”  

Currently, digital video recording devices are capable of the following resolutions: 320 x 240 (QVGA), 720 x 480, 640 x 480 (VGA), 1280 x 720, 1440 x 1080, and 1920 x 1080. Therefore, any digital still camera that shoots high definition video—1280 x 720 and above—will be pinned with an elevated tax.

The Canon TX1 (Specs, Recent News, $424.15) is one of the few devices currently on the market capable of capturing high definition, recording 1280 x 720 video at 30fps. Luckily, the Canon TX1 will not fall victim to the new tax, as the regulation is not retroactive. The EU is clearly seizing upon a revenue stream from a category about to explode. Canon got there first, but it is easy to imagine that high definition video capture will be a common feature for still cameras in a few short years, just as standard definition video is today. Despite the often inadequate video performance, YouTube and other video sharing sites have driven a renewed interest in consumer video production after several years of flat growth in the traditional camcorder market.