If you're like me and have been looking around at getting a DSLR but haven't found too many, turns out that production in Japan has been slowed due to the earthquakes. Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Sony, etc. will be putting out reduced amounts of DSLR and point and shoot cameras. So if you find a good deal on one, you might want to snatch it up before its too late.

" Just as the second-biggest selling season of the year kicks off for cameras, some of the most popular digital models are hard to get.

Som camera models at a Target store are unavailable "due to the crisis in Japan."

Fallout from last month's earthquake in Japan — and the resulting rolling blackouts — has crippled production at many camera manufacturing facilities there.

U.S. retailers Target, Best Buy, B&H Photo and Adorama note on their websites that several top-selling digital SLRs are currently unavailable. And in stores, Target advises its customers that many point-and shoot-cameras are out of stock, "due to the crisis in Japan."The shopping period from Mother's Day to Father's Day is critical for camera makers.

"This couldn't have come at a worse time for the industry," says Chris Chute, an analyst with research firm IDC. Retailers could be out of stock of many of the most popular cameras by mid-May and June, he says.

In announcing its earnings Tuesday, Canon, the world's largest camera maker, said it would make 20 million point-and-shoot cameras in 2011, down from earlier projections of 23 million. The company also lowered its operating profit forecast for the year to $4.1 billion, down 29%.Canon, Nikon, Sony, Olympus, Panasonic and Pentax produce SLRs and lenses in Japan. Canon said it didn't expect its production facilities to return to normal until June or July.

For now, Walter Erbe, manager of the Los Angeles based Samy's camera chain, says digital SLRs are "really rare and hard to come by."

Source: USAToday

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