The leading camera brands have seen another shakeup in rankings, according to a report by Japan’s largest financial newspaper. Retro-camera maker Fujifilm’s viral fame has propelled the company into third place, dropping longstanding Nikon out of the top three.
The insight comes from the Nikkei Industry Map 2027, an annual report coming from the region’s largest financial media outlet, analyzed and shared by Digital Camera Life. The report examines Japan’s camera makers and ranks each brand by the number of cameras shipped.
Canon continues to lead in terms of market share and has strengthened that lead by adding nearly a million camera shipments compared to 2024’s data. That leaves Canon with a 45.7% share – that means nearly half of all digital cameras shipped from Japan bear the Canon name.
That’s followed by Sony, which has now held the number two spot for seven years, thanks to the rise of the Alpha mirrorless series. Sony saw slight growth from 2024’s numbers, moving from 2.33 million cameras shipped to 2.42 million.
But the real shakeup comes in third place: Fujifilm. Nikon has held the third spot since the Sony Alpha series pushed the company down to third in 2019. Nikon’s drop to fourth place is affected somewhat by lower sales – dropping from 960,000 to 880,000 – but Nikon would have held onto the third place spot if Fujifilm hadn’t also seriously jumped up in sales at the same time.
The report suggests that Fujifilm shipped 1.16 million cameras in 2025, up from 740,000 the year before. The data gives concrete insight into Fujifilm’s viral fame.
Fujifilm, known largely for its retro-inspired cameras and color science, started seeing accelerated growth after the X100VI went viral, a two-year-old camera that is still in such demand that it’s hard to find in stock without a wait list.
The X100 series' success has bled into other models, like its mirrorless sibling the Fujifilm X-E5, while more budget-friendly models like the X-M5 and X-T30 III have also sold well for the brand.
Neither Nikon nor Fujifilm has announced a new mirrorless camera yet in 2026.
Although Nikon revised its 2026 projections for slightly lower sales during the last investor report, the company says it expects the interchangeable lens market to remain solid over the medium and long term.
While the numbers drop Nikon out of the top three, that’s not the only unusual shakeup. Ricoh has surpassed OM System, moving from seventh to sixth, behind Panasonic. The reason? Ricoh’s camera shipments tripled over the last year.
While the report doesn’t specifically detail how many of each camera were shipped, Ricoh’s growth is likely due to the success of the Ricoh GR IV series.
The pocketable camera that packs an APS-C sensor has long been a popular option, but Ricoh’s refresh of the series last August and the growth of the compact camera segment is likely giving the brand a significant boost.
That puts OM System in seventh place, the last on the rankings, with 150,000 cameras shipped, which is about 10,000 less than the year before.
Panasonic hasn’t changed rank, in the fifth-place spot, but the numbers show a steep growth from 280,000 cameras to 430,000.
While a majority of the largest camera-makers are based in Japan, the Nikkei report’s regional focus means that brands like Leica (Germany) and Hasselblad (Sweden) aren’t tallied and ranked in the report.
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