Map Camera, one of the largest photography retailers in Japan, has published its list of the 10 best-selling lenses of 2023 and the results are somewhat surprising.
As Digicame-Info reports, Map Camera split its year-end summaries into camera and lens sections: the newly-published lens sales recap breaks it down into sales for “new” lenses alongside a separate chart for second-hand or used lenses.
The most popular brand-new lens of 2023 was the Nikon Z 24-120mm f/4, a robust standard zoom lens for full-frame mirrorless Nikon Z cameras. Utility proved to be a hot commodity, as the second-place lens of 2023 was also a standard zoom, albeit a faster, shorter one — the Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 Di III VXD G2 for Sony E-mount cameras.
Zoom lenses occupy much of the top 10 list, in fact, with the Nikon Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 VR lens rounding out the top three. Sony’s new 20-70mm f/4 G and the Tamron 28-200mm f/2.8-5.6 Di III RXD all-in-one zoom for E-mount wrap up the top five.
Among the top 10, there are only three prime lenses: the Canon RF 50mm f/1.8 STM (sixth place), the Nikkor Z 26mm f/2.8 (eighth place), and the Sony FE 50mm f/1.4 G Master (10th). A single APS-C lens made the cut, the Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8 DC DN Contemporary lens for Fujifilm X Mount.
As for used lenses, prime lenses proved significantly more popular. Last year, Fujifilm’s XF 35mm f/1.4 R was the most popular used lens among Map Camera customers. The Sony FE 24-105mm f/4 G OSS took the second spot, while the Canon EF — yes, EF — 50mm f/1.8 STM took the final podium position.
Interestingly, Canon’s RF 50mm f/1.8 STM nabbed fourth place, and Nikon’s amazing 24-70mm f/4 S kit lens rounded out the top five. The rest of the top 10 is available in Map Camera’s new video, seen above, and in the retailer’s full blog post.
While the data is only for a single retailer in Japan, Map Camera is a significant player in the Japanese market, and its data is worth considering. It is fascinating to see how Nikon lenses performed in 2023. Nikon has made many great decisions lately and has released excellent mirrorless cameras and lenses.
It is also interesting to note the general lack of APS-C lenses on both lists. Of the 20 lenses, three are designed for APS-C cameras and are all X-Mount lenses. Further, not a single Micro Four Thirds lens or L-Mount lens made either list.