Ashton Kutcher pushed Nikon to #1 in December 2008?

One of the things that fell through the cracks at PMA in Vegas is claims by Nikon and the NPD Group that the Coolpix compact digital cameras were number #1 for December 2008. Not a lot of details in this post, but they are likely talking about the US market - because of the parties involved (Vegas, Nikon USA VP, NPD Group).

On the DSLR front, the Nikon guy (actually Nikon USA VP) was quoted as saying that they finished second to Canon in 2008 after a "dogfight". If we had infinite time, we would create a graphic with Canon vs Nikon DSLR dog fights, shooting lasers out of their lenses ;-)

Opinion
The Coolpix models did not get dramatically better than before, but Nikon is riding the coat tails of the Ashton Kutcher campaign that hammered the Coolpix brand in the minds of consumers. And it looks like it paid off.

Plus, Canon frustrated a number of users by "de-clawing" their A-series cameras, thus opening the door for consumers and photographers alike to consider alternatives more seriously.

By the way, we have assembled a list of market-related items that we never got around to posting, so look for a jam-packed market-numbers round-up in the next few days!