If we were to judge an industry maturity by the percentage of volume sales compared to an older (and more mature or graying) technology, then it’s safe to say that the digital camera industry has come of age.  The sales of digital cameras (excluding camera cell phones or cell phone cameras) have for several years now outstripped the sales of film-based cameras.

Another mark of a mature industry is the segregation into market niches.  There have been no significant market segregation for film-based cameras in recent years.  In contrast, there has been a lot of new niches in the digital camera market.

One such segregation is what’s called the bridge camera.  It’s no longer a niche, but an industry all its own.

A bridge camera is a high-end digital camera which bridges the gap between digital SLR’s with interchangeable lenses and point-and-shoots.  As a half-way point between these two markets, bridge cameras however are tend to be on the higher end of the middle pricing.

Among the selling points of the bridge camera is the ease of use (like a point-and-shoot) with lots of options for shooting styles and conditions, and a relatively large optical zoom range of at least 10x.  Most bridge cameras have the regular features like white balance, landscape mode, portrait mode, a night mode, sports mode, as well as a some SLR settings which include full manual mode and aperture-priority settings.  Additionally, some bridge cameras also have the option to save to TIFF or RAW.

What makes this line appealing is the capability for lens attachment, much like SLRs.  The lens has a screw groove for filters, and add-on lenses like multipliers and macro attachments.

For the most part, the bridge camera is where the manufacturer, puts its advanced features for the point-and-shoot lines.  This gives the avid amateur photographer or hobbyist the feel and features of a digital SLR with the capability to switch to relaxed point-and-shoot photography.