Konica Minolta abandons cameras, film

[Itsme]

Konica Minolta abandons cameras, film

By Reuters

Published: January 19, 2006, 5:06 AM PST

Konica Minolta Holdings will withdraw from the camera and film businesses, marking the end to one of the best known brands in the photography world.

As part of the surprise move, the Tokyo-based company said Thursday it will sell a portion of its digital single lens reflex (SLR) camera assets to Sony for an undisclosed sum and cease production of compact cameras by March of this year.

The company said it will stop making photographic film and color paper by March 2007, pulling out of a market in rapid decline due to the spread of digital cameras, which store images digitally.

The world's third-largest maker of camera film after Eastman Kodak and Fuji Photo Film had said in November that it would significantly downsize its loss-making camera and film operations, but not completely shut them down.

"I wanted to put a clear end to the matter," Konica Minolta President Fumio Iwai said at a press conference, where the company also announced that Iwai would be replaced by Vice President Yoshikatsu Ota on April 1.

Konica Minolta said in November it expected to post a group net loss of $407.9 million (47 billion yen) in the fiscal year that ends in March.

But the decision to completely pull the plug on the business caught analysts and archrival Fuji Photo off guard.

Konica Minolta, created in August 2003 through the merger of Konica and Minolta, has a long history in the camera and film markets, producing Japan's first photographic paper in 1903 and the country's first color film in 1940.

Following the news, Fuji Photo issued a press release saying it will continue making traditional camera film.

JP Morgan analyst Hisashi Moriyama called Konica Minolta's move a "positive surprise…I was also not expecting Iwai to step down. This is a bold move rare among Japanese firms." He added that the decision could increase pressure on Fuji to downsize its business.

"I think the stock will go up. The traditional camera and film businesses were seen as a barrier to earnings growth and now it will be completely gone."

By ditching the unprofitable operations, Iwai said the company could focus resources on more promising areas such as color office copiers and LCD materials, medical equipment and optical devices.

Sony and Konica Minolta formed an agreement in July to jointly develop digital SLR cameras, which are generally more expensive and offer better performance than point-and-shoot compact models, and typically use interchangeable lenses.

Konica Minolta said it will continue to produce digital SLR camera bodies and lenses for Sony based on its Maxxum/Dynax mount system, meaning that current owners of those lenses will be able to use them on new digital SLR models to be developed by Sony.

But the Konica Minolta brand will disappear, ending a legacy that started when Konica introduced its first camera in 1903.

http://news.com.com/Konica+Minolta+abandons+cameras%2C+film/2100-1041_3-6028551.html?tag=nefd.top

[Devhux]

Not good news for Zippy & myself..... as we both use a Konica/Minolta camera.

I wonder what will happen to support for our cameras?

[ArkiStan]

Do you guys have SLR's? I don't think the impact will be as much if you have point-and-shoots. But it still sucks. THeir Dynaxx SLR's were pretty good machines.

[Grimm]

It's a wise decision. Get as much out of as they can and get out. It's a shrinking market.
Don't be the last company making buggy whips.

[zippyjuan]

Sony makes better CCD chips but Minolta had better lenses and cameras overall. Sony says they will continue to make lenses to fit Minolta mounts for digital SLRs. I think Konica had too many different models. They were losing a lot of money. Recently they announced ceasing operations in Canada but I had no idea that they would close everything. Sony is supposed to take over service on Konica products.

Nikon also announced recently that they are getting most of the way (but not completely) out of the film camera market which was a surprise and shows how much the industry has changed over to digital.


Nikon quits film cameras
Email Print Normal font Large font January 13, 2006 - 1:07PM



End of an era as film cameras are phased out.


AdvertisementNikon Corp, which helped popularise the 35mm camera five decades ago, will stop making most of its film cameras to concentrate on digital models.

The Japanese company said it wanted to focus on "business categories that continue to demonstrate the strongest growth" as film cameras sales keep shrinking.

Nikon will discontinue seven film-camera models, leaving in production only the current top-line model, the F6, and a low-end manual-focus model, the FM10.

It will also stop making most of its manual-focus lenses.

Most of the company's autofocus lenses work with manual-focus bodies, however. Also, German optical company Carl Zeiss AG is widely reported to be planning a line of manual-focus lenses for Nikon bodies.

Nikon did not give firm dates for the discontinuation of its products, but said Wednesday that sales will cease as supplies are depleted.

Major competitor Canon still makes five models of single-lens reflex film cameras. At the lower end of the market, Eastman Kodak announced in 2004 that it would stop selling film cameras in the United States and Europe.

Nikon ranks fifth in digital-camera shipments in the United States, behind Kodak, Canon, Sony and Fuji.

Nikon was a major force in establishing the dominance of the 35mm single-lens reflex camera, the workhorse of professionals and sophisticated amateurs until the arrival of digital cameras.

Its breakthrough model was the F, released in 1959. It set a standard for ruggedness and reliability and became a must-have for photojournalists.

Unusually, Nikon has maintained the same lens mount over the years, meaning most lenses from 1959 will fit today's digital models and vice versa, albeit with functional restrictions

[Chgoman]

Each company will slowly get out of the film camera business as it's a dying breed. The last one left will probably stick around though since they will have a sudden monopoly on the die hard film camera people.

[Itsme]

Each company will slowly get out of the film camera business as it's a dying breed. The last one left will probably stick around though since they will have a sudden monopoly on the die hard film camera people.

I think even the die hard ones will be converting as well. My brother is a highly regarded wedding photographer. A couple of years ago he wouldn't think of using a digital camera for the high definition photos he needed for a wedding. Now, with such high quality lenses and high megapixels that's all he uses. The ability to post process the pics into what you want has radically changed the wedding photo business.

[ArkiStan]

Film photographers are still alive and kicking and they will stick around for a long time. It's just the 35mm format that is seeing a lot of converts. There is still the medium/large format camera market that will not be endangered by the digital medium for a long time.

[zippyjuan]

They are already making digital backs for medium format cameras like Hallelblads. Kodak has some that are 18 megapixels. Other companies make them as well. Since digital is easier and quicker and cheaper to process with better results than film (in many cases- especially for publishing and advertising) the changeover is probably happening there as well. http://www.dpreview.com/news/0109/01091102kodakprobackplus.asp

[Jeffbx]

Film photographers are still alive and kicking and they will stick around for a long time. It's just the 35mm format that is seeing a lot of converts. There is still the medium/large format camera market that will not be endangered by the digital medium for a long time.

Don't look now, but there are scanning backs available for medium & large format cameras at up to 384 megapixels... (http://www.betterlight.com/)

They're big, slow & heavy, but boy do they take an amazing picture.

[Itsme]

Sony eyes push into high-end digital cameras

By Reuters

Published: January 20, 2006, 8:55 AM PST

Sony said on Friday it would aim for a quarter of the digital single-lens reflex camera market after acquiring assets for a push into that market from Konica Minolta Holdings.

Konica Minolta announced on Thursday that it would sell a portion of its SLR camera business to Sony for an undisclosed sum, part of its move to pull completely out of the business of selling cameras and photographic film.

The deal was not a total surprise as the two agreed last July to jointly develop digital SLR cameras, which are generally more expensive and offer better performance than simple point-and-shoot compact models, and typically use interchangeable lenses.

Sony is the world's No. 2 digital camera maker behind Canon but it currently has no presence in the potentially lucrative digital SLR market, having lacked the history selling interchangeable lenses for film SLRs to warrant a push.

The digital SLR market is currently dominated by a handful of traditional camera makers that sold millions of interchangeable lenses during the film era. This is seen as key factor because many of those lenses can also be used on digital SLRs.

Canon and Nikon control the lion's share of the digital SLR market, but Pentax and Olympus have recently formed alliances with electronics makers in a bid to boost their sales.

Yutaka Nakagawa, president of Sony's digital imaging business group, told reporters the company would aim for 20 to 25 percent of the fast-growing digital SLR market by focusing on relatively inexpensive models that could achieve mass-market appeal.

"But because there are few players in this market, I would like to grab an even bigger share than that," he said.

Nakagawa said Sony would have several advantages in the market including its ability to produce image sensor chips, displays and batteries in-house, as well as leveraging its strong audiovisual technology used in its electronics products.

Sony plans to launch its first model this summer based on Konica Minolta's Maxxum/Dynax mount system, meaning that existing owners of those lenses--Konica Minolta sold about 16 million lenses over the years--will be able to use them on Sony's SLR.

Nakagawa reiterated Sony's target of selling 13.5 million digital cameras this business year to March, seeing little impact from the recent sales suspension of some models in China that local officials said did not meet quality requirements.

"Even if we are affected by China, sales in other countries are strong. We are on track," he said.

Nakagawa said he thought digital SLRs would eventually account for 20 percent of Sony's overall camera sales, but he did not expect that to happen any time soon.

"I don't think it will happen in one year. I don't expect a such a big contribution to profit in the first year."

Sony shares were up 44 cents, at $43.20, in early trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

http://news.com.com/Sony+eyes+push+into+high-end+digital+cameras/2100-1041_3-6029190.html?tag=nefd.top

[Grimm]

Megapixels asside, a CCD still can't capture the nuances of light that film can.
Film will still have it's uses for years to come. Any application used for legal records will encourage film use. Such a crime scene photos and anything else that might end up in court. A film photo will have more weight than a digital photo, because film will be harder to alter.
Also, aplications that desire controlled distribution will also use film. Such as Paparatzi photos. A digital copy is easier to abuse. A hard copy will be easier to authenticate.