Bridge Camera - Market

Market

The market for bridge cameras is gradually being squeezed from both ends of the range. Inexpensive DSLRs often overlap with bridge cameras, and manufacturers give priority to DSLRs, since they can enjoy further profits from the sale of aftermarket lenses and accessories. Compact cameras are also released with advanced functionality and large zoom ranges, features that could previously only be found in bridge cameras. However, compacts generally rely on automation and the menu system, lacking the multiple dials, rings, pushbuttons or other direct controls that allow efficient manual operations for users who study their bridge camera. Third-party manuals are available for particular popular models, as they are for DSLRs, but they are scarce for classic compacts.

A recent category is the mirrorless interchangeable lens camera, which features a large sensor and an interchangeable lens, but no mirror. These occupy a niche at the top end of the bridge camera range, and in many respects (such as live view or electronic viewfinder only) are similar to smaller ones. They differ in that the larger sensor provides advantages (as noted above), but makes super-zoom lenses more difficult, hence the interchangeable lens.