Digital Cameras

How to find an ethical digital camera

Digital camera sales were in steep decline, with the market size having dropped from 2017 to 2023. But there is a resurgence driven by Gen Z social media users and "retro" trends, with 2024–2025 sales increasing for the first time in years. 

Many consumers are using their smartphone cameras rather than buying a standalone camera.

Mirrorless cameras are the most popular followed by compact cameras. Sales of DSLRs are declining.

Japanese dominance of the camera industry

As always, the camera industry is heavily dominated by Japan, with seven of the nine companies rated in this guide headquartered there.

Japanese dominance in the camera industry dates back to World War II, when the country’s military relied on optical apparatus and great advances were made in optical glass manufacturing.

After the war, Japan’s economy recovered quicker than Germany’s allowing Japanese camera companies to gain the upper hand over the German manufacturers which had dominated the camera market before the war.

Compact, mirrorless or DSLR?

Digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) are typically bulkier, which makes them more cumbersome but allows them to fit more batteries in and last longer. They were once the only choice for professional photographers, but mirrorless cameras now offer similar levels of quality.

Mirrorless cameras do not use the reflex mirror system found in DSLRs. Light passes directly through the lens onto the imaging sensor, which feeds a digital preview to a rear screen or Electronic Viewfinder (EVF). They are generally smaller, lighter, and faster, offering advanced autofocus and video features compared to traditional DSLRs.

Compact or ‘point-and-shoot’ cameras have typically been the most popular type for consumers; cheaper and small with an in-built lens. They directly compete with the camera phone.

Workers’ rights in the supply chain 

Workers’ rights violations are endemic in electronics supply chains, where intensive manufacturing in countries with little protection leads to exploitative practices.

Compared with some other mass-produced electronic devices such as smartphones, digital camera producers typically carry out more of the manufacturing and final assembly ‘in-house’ rather than outsourcing to other companies, although many companies do own manufacturing plants in countries known for cheap labour such as Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines.

Complex electronic devices require a myriad of materials and components and this necessitates a large supply chain.

The companies assessed in this guide were found to be behind the curve on workers' rights, with nearly half of the brands scoring 0/100 in this category - Sony, Leica, Lumix, Panasonic, Olympus and OM.

The highest scoring brands were the two owned by Ricoh - Pentax and Ricoh, but they only scored 40/100.

Tax avoidance by camera companies

Only 2 of the 9 companies scored above zero in this category - Leica, Olympus (including OM).

Leica was the highest scoring owning only one ordinary company based in a tax haven - Switzerland.

Olympus and OM (both owned by the same company) owned two ordinary companies in tax havens.

All the other companies owned companies in tax havens that were judged likely to be used for tax avoidance strategies.

Camera companies and climate emissions

We rated camera companies on what they were doing to tackle climate change - whether they were cutting emissions and reporting about them, whether they had targets for future cuts in emissions and whether they were involved with fossil fuels.

Four companies scored relatively well in the Climate category - Ricoh, Sony, Nikon and Fujifilm.

The worst scoring were Leica, Olympus/OM and Samsung. We couldn't find any information from Leica, Olympus and OM. Samsung was at least reporting its climate emissions but had been criticised as one of the biggest carbon polluters in big tech in 2023.