Minolta is jumping ship as well

[photogoddess]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060119/tc_nm/japan_konicaminolta_dc

 

[sfaribault]

You beat me to it.....

Steve

 

[Don Simon]

Nikon stopping all film cameras was only kinda surprising, but Minolta disappearing completely? Can't say I saw that coming. I figured they would at least just discontinue film cameras and continue making KM-branded DSLRs.

So who's next? This is slightly scary .

 

['Daniel']

Alot of the other companies have their hands in alot of pots.

Canon, Sony, Nikon, Ricoh and many others so find it easier to support themselves.

it's a shame though.

 

[Don Simon]

Yeah I agree it is a shame. With the film cameras, that's just the way it's going and I know I should just accept it. What I find more disappointing is the fact that there won't even be any KM-branded digital equipment, as their DSLRs and accessories will be branded as Sony. I can't really explain why this bothers me, except to say that I have plenty of Sony electronic equipment already, and would prefer my SLRs to be made by a camera company, rather than an electronics company that also happens to make cameras. I guess it's just a personal preference thing.

 

[Big Mike]

Not all that surprising.

The packed up and left Canada last year...all of a sudden.

 

[panzershreck]

so how long until the total demise of the 35mm camera?

 

[Big Mike]

People are still using large and medium format film...and they fell out of the main stream a long time ago.

I'd guess that 35mm will be around for a long time...but how available it will remain, is the question. There will most likely be a niche market for it...for a long long time.

I can see that one hour labs will start to disappear in the not-so-distant future. If less and less people are getting film developed, it will cost a lot to run those machines and have people to operate them.

The self printing kiosks however...will keep multiplying like bunnies though.

 

[usayit]

http://konicaminolta.com/releases/2006/0119_03_01.html

Oh so very sad to see them leave the market. My first SLR was my father's Minolta 7000 which I believe was the first autofocus camera to be successfully marketed in the US. So many rapid changes in the photographic world and I haven't decided whether or not I like where things are headed. I'm no where near as excited as when computers first started appearing in people's homes in the early 90s.

So who's next? My guess would be Pentax. I'm a big fan and collector of older Kmount and screw mounts but I can't see Pentax's SLR line showing much profit.

It also saddens me to see all the local camera shops going through hard times and having to make some drastic changes to accomodate. Many shops I visit have a vivid history dating back to the 20s ( Sandrian ) into the 40s ( Denville, Dover, Madison, Millburn ).

 

[skylark]

When I returned to photography this year I was amazed to see how Canon and Nikon had come to totally dominate. Being a P30 user I tried to find aPentax SLR (originally digital) and was amazed to see how poor the producty offering was represented. I was even more surprised at the near death of Olympus - used to dream of an OM-1. Just sold my pentax as I bought a Canon AF SLR s/h and have now moved to MF (Bronica and Lubitel). Maybe 'serious' photography is moving to niche status, not just film. For 90% of what Joe Public wants a 2Mp phone cam does the trick and I personally cannot see too much advantage of a D350 vs say a Fuji Finepix 'SLR lookalike' with zoom for an awful lot of situations.
Just a thought

 

[Don Simon]

I agree about Canon and Nikon dominating; it seems like pretty much everyone has either a Canon or Nikon DSLR. From looking at most photography sites you'd get the impression that no-one else made DSLRs. I can't say I really understand this, after all when people look for a digital p&s they don't ask "So, should I get a Canon or Nikon?". There's Fuji, Panasonic, Sony, Casio, Olympus, Kodak... the list is pretty exhaustive. There may not be as many companies making DSLRs but there's still more than just the two. Until this recent announcement I would have given serious consideration to getting a Minolta DSLR, after being extremely impressed by my own 35mm Dynax 5 as well as classic Minolta SLRs and Rokkor glass. I don't feel Minolta deserved to disappear like that. I may wait to see what happens with the KM/Sony thing, or maybe an Olympus, but basically I'm now looking to Pentax for my DSLR when I finally get one. I was sad to see Minolta go, but if Pentax were to follow suit I think I might have to rise up in armed rebellion. Don't get me wrong, I know Canon and Nikon make great cameras. I just don't like the idea that I have to buy from them.

 

['Daniel']

I personally cannot see too much advantage of a D350 vs say a Fuji Finepix 'SLR lookalike' with zoom for an awful lot of situations.
Just a thought

Two words which sum it up for me always when I see pictures taken with those types of camera and the words are:

Chromatic Aberration.

 

[skylark]

Fair point but for MOST people thaose are just words they don't understand (and I CAN'T SPELL) , we all know that for a LOT of people a good photograph is one in which those involved are roughly in the centre, are in focus and no one has their head chopped off, I say 'those' because for an awful lot of people photography is about portraiture. Its not snobberry to accept that what most people want from a picture is diferent to what we see as important. Hence my contention that CAMERAS as stand alone devices may become a niche commodity.

 

[Don Simon]

I agree that p&s digicams are fine for the purposes of most people (meaning literally 'most people', not 'most people on this forum'). It's true that the majority of people wouldn't look out for chromatic aberration, noise at high ISO levels etc. I'm guilty of this myself; since getting my new compact digital I've found myself using it whenever I need a camera as a tool, from a utilitarian point of view, as opposed to when I want to take photos in the context of photography as a hobby and form of creative expression. Example, I currently need some photos of various architectural works for part of a university course (one which got shoehorned into the history degree :mrgreen and since the technical and artistic qualities don't matter, I can just go around taking endless shots with my little digicam. Similarly, I've been using the macro mode to 'photocopy' pages from library books (and will continue to do so until I get caught). I don't need a DSLR for this - and yet I imagine I'm still using my p&s for more purposes than 'most people' will use a camera. Maybe 'most people' want a camera to take holiday snaps, photos of their friends and pets (nothing wrong with that) and people embarassing themselves when drunk. For the latter, camera-phones are perfectly adequate. For the rest, a compact digital is fine.

On the other hand, even if you discount 'most people' a lot of people still remain; a lot of people who want more than snapshots. Take for example everyone on this forum (which is growing by the day), the various other photography forums and all the people signing up for photography courses. Sure, convergence of technology and all that, but there will always be people who want their photos to be better technically and want more control over their photos, and they won't be happy just using a phone with a built-in camera. If anything, I'd suggest that of those 'most people' who are currently perfectly happy with digital p&s, a not insignificant number will try taking more difficult shots, discover the limitations of their equipment and choose to move on to a camera with more features and better glass. 35mm a niche market, sure, but all cameras? Not for a long, long time. It's a bit like saying that writing implements are going to become a niche market.

 

[skylark]

A very good argument against my musings. Yes there does need to be an 'upgrade path' for those who wish to be more adventurous. I forget that at one time I used a very basic B&W camera which had no user controls other than a film advance and shutter button. This got me interested in film and taking photographs, one day I may even be reasonably competent at it .
I think I am getting plain p***ed off with the marketing hype around digital SLRs (like the recnt Canon ad for the D350 which suggests that anyone can take wonderful pictures as long as they lay down the cash) and the way that there are probably more images captured now than ever before but the number of good qualiy printed images is less than ever.

I am, however, heartened by Fuji's decision to stay with film and the vibrancy of boards such as this which promote the craft of photography. Thanks for the counter argument.

Cheers CJB