Bad news

Sinar is reduced to 1/3.
www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00ANcu

Kodak closes its plant in Toronto.
www.largeformatphotography.info/lfforum/topic/500300.html

Bad news for us, worse for people who worked there.

Yes, it is sad for those who worked there but I am not concerned about SInar that much. Like Hasselblad, their stuff is really well made but just out of the pricerange most folks are willing to pay these days. I have a Sinar F1 and enjoy the hell out of using it but I would never have bought the thing new. I suppose there are those who feel they have to pay really high prices for the "best" and they will be able too. COuld it possibly be that people were finding what they needed in Toyo and other just as capable cameras?

" ...WELL MADE BUT OUT OF PRICERANGE..."
Mark
Ok , our opinions are not gonna change the course of history but I think today goods are NOT WELL MADE and often OUT OF PRICERANGE most folks are able to pay. Present rule is : transference of workforce costs to China, Thailand, Malaysia etc. Cheaper and with another standard of quality. Lifetime products are disappearing, the rules of industry have changed (for worse, for me as a consumer). Remember Omega Speedmaster, Parker 51, Ford Mustang 1967, old Calumet...?
Today = - Sinar + Shen Hao

I guess their problem is that they made products that last well. Probably nearly every Sinar that has ever been made is still in use, and they move from owner to owner. Who needs a new one? Current production of most products (nearly all?) has addressed this "problem" by ensuring that no one will want to own their products in a few years, whether by obsolescence or difficulty in servicing. I have several cameras, and apart from a late model Nikon (couldn't resist), all are 25 years old or more.

To be honest I suspect that I am one of those responsible for the demise of many
photographic equipment producers over the past fifty years.

You see, I still have and use all my gear from the start of my photographic careers.
I would not dream of parting with any of it for new equipment. I just had to work harder to afford the discounted new price!

As the saying goes, "Quality products are not owned, but merely looked after for the next generation" With thanks to Patek Philippe, from a Rolex owner....

I doubt any of Sinars problems are the fault of Shen Hao or anybody else for that matter. Look at the Sinar product line and compare it to the people picking up LF. How many people dream of being studio photographers? I bet relatively few in comparison to the Ansel wannabes.

Shen Hao is competing with the people making similar cameras. Those all seem to be doing fairly well.

Everything mentioned about products being transferred to other countries has happened in the past. Japan was a low wage low quality area. Germany was a low wage area after the war. The two killed off the US and UK camera industry pretty much. You can't even buy a new Kodak LF lens anymore.