About 75 percent of the way through 2026, shipments from Japan’s biggest camera makers have seen a nearly five percent dip compared to the same time last year. Growth for compact cameras has been offset by a decline for interchangeable lens bodies, putting the first nine months of 2026 at 95.7 percent of 2025’s numbers.
The insight comes from the Camera and Imaging Products Association, or CIPA, which tracks monthly production and shipment numbers from Japan’s biggest camera makers. 2025 was the best year for cameras since 2019, but 2026 has marked a slight slowdown in the industry.
According to the CIPA September 2026 data – the latest available – across all categories, camera shipments are about 95.7 percent of last year’s numbers for the first nine months of the year.
Compact cameras have continued to grow in 2026, posting a 15.4 percent growth over last year’s shipments for the year so far, hitting about 1.9 million compact cameras shipped from Japan.
Interchangeable lens camera shipments have dropped, however, hitting about 89.2 percent of last year’s numbers for the year’s totals so far. DSLRs are just 64.5 percent of last year’s numbers, while mirrorless saw a slight slowdown at 92.1 percent of the previous year’s numbers, or a 7.9 percent drop. So far, Japanese camera brands have shipped more than 4.1 million mirrorless bodies this year.
While 2026’s overall and interchangeable lens numbers are trailing behind last year's, September saw more shipments for mirrorless and DSLRs than August did, while compact cameras’ month-to-month numbers dipped slightly at 97 percent.
The September CIPA numbers show that 2026 is overall on a decline, but 2025 was the industry’s best year since the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the slight slowdown for 2026, the numbers still beat out 2024’s count for overall shipments.
The year’s production numbers sit at a slight decline for the first nine months of 2026 as well, but the 96.9 percent overall production number beats the 95.7 percent shipment number. That’s particularly notable as camera brands warn investors of supply shortages. Production on compact cameras is up by 21.3 percent so far in 2026, while mirrorless production saw an 8.3 percent decline.
Looking at where those camera shipments are headed, China has seen the steepest percentage decline at 78 percent for the first nine months of the year.
Shipments for lenses follow a similar trend, with the first nine months of the year showing lens shipments are 93.3 percent of last year’s numbers. While lens shipments are down, the cost of those lenses is up, with the shipment value showing a 3.1 percent growth over 2025.
CIPA data only includes participating companies from Japan. That includes some of the biggest camera brands, but excludes brands like Leica and Hasselblad, as well as action-camera makers like DJI, GoPro, and Insta360.
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