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01/12/2006 06:15:42 PM · #1 |
This seems to be a real article, I checked and didn't see any other form posts (sorry if I missed it).
Orginal Article Link
Nikon to end film camera production
By Tony Smith
Published Thursday 12th January 2006 14:33 GMT
35mm film has come to the end of the roll, Nikon has said. The camera maker this week revealed it is focusing its efforts solely on digital photography products.
Nikon said its traditional film-based cameras now account for less than five per cent of its UK division's sales. It claimed the shift will also better equip the company to operate in an "increasingly competitive market place".
The company will stop producing film camera bodies, along with interchangeable manual focus lenses, lenses for large format cameras and enlarging lenses, it said. However, it doesn't expect stocks of these products to run down completely until the Summer. It will also continue to offer its F6 flagship pro-oriented film camera and lenses. Sales of the manual FM10 will also continue outside Europe, the company added.
Nikon is clearly looking to the higher end of the market for growth, pointing to rising demand for digital SLR cameras not only driven by users of traditional SLRs going digital, but also other consumers upgrading from compact digital cameras.
That mirrors Olympus' recently announced shift to focus on higher-end digital SLRs as the compact market becomes more competitive not only between camera makers but also with mobile phone vendors who are already driving up the resolution of camera phones. ®
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01/12/2006 06:25:12 PM · #2 |
Makes sense. How much improvement can you make to a film camera anyway? Sales must be fairly low. I myself still use an 8 year old 35mm SLR... never seen any reason to upgrade.
Digital is another story.
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01/12/2006 06:59:04 PM · #3 |
You've been fooled... This is just poking fun at the digital crowd. According to news announcements at Nikon THIS is their latest big announcment from December 21...
"Nikon Announces Company-wide Integration of ISO 14001 Certification of Environmental Management System"
Pretty exciting stuff, huh? :)
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01/12/2006 07:27:38 PM · #4 |
Originally posted by fotomann_forever:
...I myself still use an 8 year old 35mm SLR... never seen any reason to upgrade. |
LOL, my film SLR is 48. I'm 47, for comparison. I'm not quite worn out yet either!
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01/12/2006 08:01:29 PM · #5 |
They are not getting out of the film camera market entirely -
From the Washington Post today
"NEW YORK -- Nikon Corp., which helped popularize 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."
The Washington Post Link
You may have to register to read the item - they don't ask me, but I think I'm registered. |
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01/13/2006 06:34:07 PM · #6 |
Sounds like a wise business decision to me. Devoting resource to 5% of sales sounds like poor use of resource, seeing as it's going to continue to decline. You have to stop making stuff that people just aren't interested in buying. Kinda like albums, there is a very small nique market, but almost everyone now listens to music in CD or MP3 format.
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01/19/2006 01:46:57 PM · #7 |
| I wonder if this means they will focus their attention much more on DX lenses... |
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01/19/2006 04:33:34 PM · #8 |
I'd originally thought this story was a hoax, but nope... it is true:
CNN reports Nikon to stop film camera production
And now Konica-Minolta will stop manufacturing cameras all together.
FILM IS DEAD... Long live King DIGITAL!
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01/19/2006 04:40:37 PM · #9 |
| I'm pretty sure I heard about this last week, at least ... eithe NPR or CBS had a brief report. I remember it came up in another thread. |
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01/19/2006 07:20:24 PM · #10 |
| Not until Ilford stops production of 35mm Negative Film will I believe that film is dead. |
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