BCN has published the best-selling cameras, lenses, and all the photography/videography-related stuff — brand names that topped the selling list in the first half of 2025. Before moving on to more details, let me explain what BCN is. BCN is the real sales data, which comes from around 40% of Japanese retailers that are part of the BCN chain of retail stores.
There is no big surprise that Sony returns to the number one spot in mirrorless cameras.
It’s nothing new — Sony was number one before in the mirrorless zone, as evidenced by previous records. And even this time, Sony is covering approximately 30.4% of the entire market share in the first half of 2025, which is not as good as it was in 2024, when it was approximately 35.8%, resulting in a visible drop of around 5%.
The top-selling Sony cameras in the first half of 2025 were:
Sony A7 IV, Sony ZV-E10, and Sony A7C Mark II in the Japanese market. Btw, we have created a guide of the TOP 20 Mirrorless Cameras of 2025, explore them to know our personal favorites camera.
Here is a simple and clear table showing the market share of Canon, Sony, and Tamron in their respective categories based on the BCN Awards 2025 (First Half):
| Brand | Category | Market Share (%) | 2024 Market Share (%) | Change |
| Sony | Mirrorless Cameras (Interchangeable) | 30.4% | 35.8% | ▼ 5.4% |
| Canon | DSLR Cameras | 46.8% | 69.4% | ▼ 22.6% |
| Tamron | Interchangeable Lenses | 21.8% | 17.5% | ▲ 4.3% |
Why are Japanese users preferring Sony mirrorless cameras over others?
Let’s conclude why they think Sony is better compared to others:
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- Superior Autofocus – Real-time autofocus with outstanding eye-detection is extremely good in Sony cameras. That’s the number one reason why people prefer them over other brands.
- Versatile Lens Ecosystem – There are no limitations or locks. You’re free to use any lens. Sony’s E-mount is completely open since 2012.
- Compact & Powerful – Sony generally makes compact, powerful cameras, especially good for vlogging and cinematography. A big plus is their dedicated vlogging series (ZV series) — something other brands have failed to bring out effectively and are still lagging behind.
Canon Maintains DSLR Market Leadership
It’s a big surprise that Canon has officially declared they have stopped research and development of DSLRs, and most of their EF lens manufacturing units have stopped producing DSLR lenses.
Despite all these efforts to shift focus to mirrorless and intentionally reduce DSLR sales, Canon remains the number one DSLR brand in the first half of 2025 — covering approximately 46.8% of the market share.
However, that’s a sharp decline compared to 2024, when they had about 69.4% market share.
This is my personal note to Canon:
You should at least announce a proper successor to your most popular and reliable mid-range and flexible DSLR cameras. Cameras like Canon 200D Mark II, Canon 90D, and even the Canon 5D series badly need updates. People are still buying the older versions — especially photographers.
Tamron Surges as the Number One Interchangeable Lens Brand
That’s a big surprise — I’m personally a Sigma lover, and most of the lenses I own for my mirrorless system cameras are either native or made by Sigma. But let’s talk about the Tamron lenses that are the most popular:
- Tamron 35-150mm f/2-2.8
- Tamron 28-200mm f/2.8-5.6 Di III RXD
These two lenses are driving major sales for Tamron. Their market share jumped from 17.5% to 21.8%. Also, rebranded Tamron lenses made for Z-mount system cameras — like the 28-75mm f/2.8 — are also contributing heavily to their sales.
Kodak Leading in the Fixed-Lens Camera Market
This is a big setback for Canon. Canon was holding around 21.7% market share in the compact camera segment. But current stats say Kodak is now the most sold compact camera brand. Other popular fixed-lens cameras in Japan include the Fujifilm X100VI and the Leica D-Lux 8.
If you’re exploring the best superzoom cameras, we have already created a dedicated list of the best superzoom cameras of 2025 — you can check them now.
DJI Dominates Action and Video Camera Market
According to the same stats, DJI is the leading brand in the video camera market, covering around 45.2% of total sales. In the action camera category, they’re leading with 35.3% market share. GoPro was once the dominant player in action cameras, but now no one talks about them. Key products like the DJI Osmo Action 4 and DJI Pocket 3 are among the most popular in the first half of 2025.
Final Words
The BCN Awards 2025 (First Half) give us a clear snapshot of the most popular brands and what products people are actually buying right now.
I was also looking for Nikon’s sales stats, but unfortunately, I couldn’t find how much market share they captured in the first half of 2025.
If you have any information, feel free to comment below.
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