Minolta gone?

[Schlapp]

Did I dream this? I thought I heard on the the radio that minolta are out of the film market. No more Konica films and no more film cameras. Please tell me this is not true

 

[bjorke]

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Konica Minolta Holdings Inc. said on Thursday it would withdraw from the camera and photo business and transfer a portion of its digital single lens reflex camera assets to Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE - news).


Konica Minolta plans to withdraw from the camera business as of the end of March this year, while ceasing film and color paper production by March 2007.

Konica Minolta is the world's third-largest maker of photographic film after Eastman Kodak and Fuji Photo Film Co. and a relatively small player in the digital camera market.

The company said in November it expected to post a group net loss of 47 billion yen ($407.9 million) in the business year to March, reflecting 90 billion yen in restructuring charges to rationalize production sites, write down assets and cut jobs.

Iwai said in November that the restructuring would accelerate a shift of resources to more promising areas such as color office copiers and liquid crystal display materials, and away from the deteriorating market for analog film.

Sony and Konica Minolta said in July they would jointly develop digital SLR cameras, marking the Sony's entry into the fastest-growing segment of the camera market.

The Tokyo-based company also said Vice President Yoshikatsu Ota would take the helm on April 1, replacing current President Fumio Iwai, who is set to become chairman.

Prior to the announcement, shares in Konica Minolta closed up 3.1 percent at 1,278 yen, while Sony rose 0.8 percent to 4,900 yen. The Nikkei average was up 2.3 percent.

($1=115.21 Yen)

 

[kunihiko]

Good-Bye Konica PAN

 

[Jimi]

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

 

[FrankB]

R.I.P.

Is anyone running a sweepstake for the date Canon dump their film cameras too? (Sorry, gallows humour...)

 

[Andy K]

I'll miss the Konica/Minolta VX100 colour film.

It looks to me like the way things are going we will be left with the majority of bw materials coming from Ilford, maybe Efke and also Lucky, while the only player looking strong in the colour market is Fuji.

 

[bobfowler]

I wonder who will pick up the ball to supply the chemistry for the Konica Minolta minilabs. They don't use "standard" liquid concentrates, it's a dry tablet system that no one else makes.

 

[Steve Roberts]

A great pity. Never been a user of Minolta SLRs, although when I did once try one of the SRTs I was impressed by its quietness and feeling of refinement. Konica were always to me one of the "second division" of SLR manufacturers, but had some very innovative products in their time. Perhaps they were stronger elsewhere in the world.
I do like Konica's colour print films, especially the 400ASA product in the Lexio 70W for P & S applications.

Steve

 

[Gabe Racz]

While I've never used Konica-Minolta film, I have an ever-growing collection of Minolta manual focus cameras and lenses. Well, I guess this doesn't affect me directly -- unless I wanted to pick up a Maxxuuum (sp?) and mount my lenses with an adapter -- but it's a sentimental thing.

 

[Kevin Roach]

STEVE!

<i>Never been a user of Minolta SLRs, although when I did once try one of the SRTs I was impressed by its quietness and feeling of refinement.</i>

That is the first time I ever heard an SRT referred to as quiet. I'll agree with the refinement but my SRT101 is the loudest SLR I ever heard.

 

[Dave Parker]

Well interesting development, I figured it would be Minolta next, of course after Konica saved their rear, I figured it was just a matter of time, accourding to the reports, I have read Noritsu will be taking over the minilab stuff...I started my career in photography with Minolta many years ago and they have been great cameras.....

Onward and upward I guess, I just hope fuji keeps on with the color...time will tell

 

[sanderx1]

There is a independent MD mount camera here - http://www.braun-phototechnik.de/E/Products/Cameras/sr2000/2000md.htm Given that they just announced a similar yashica mount camera (only on the german page as of yet), I would say they are likely to be commited. This is also probably the future shape of amateur 35mm cameras.

 

[eric]

Kinda sad. I **LOVE** my SRT 101, actually, I love the lenses more. It's my first real camera. Nice creamy bokeh. My Nikon's are super duper sharp and I use it for color. But the harshness is hard to look at in B&W.
I am going today to Terry's Camera Repair here in Socal and dropping off another SRT 101. All manual, Mirror lockup (and he puts in a split screen for me). Can't go wrong with these bad boys.

 

[roteague]

I hope they keep making their excellent 35mm film scanners.

 

[Dave Parker]

I hope they keep making their excellent 35mm film scanners.

Robert,

I suspect they will, when Konica purchased Minolta, their main focus was the digital imaging division, office machines and such, so the surprise is not that great, at least to me, they are getting out of the camera industry..

As far as them getting out, the manual focus cameras have been out of production so long that it really has nothing to do with them, but the AF technology that has been copied by virtually every single other manufacture, is a loss, they were at the forefront of the AF revolution and many of the systems you see in Canon and Nikon now a days were developed and they paid royalties to Minolta..

Dave

 

[roteague]

Dave,

I hope so; their products are excellent. People forget that while digital technology gets better, so has scanning technology. I'm ordering the Dimage 4500II Elite this week.

I remember the old SRT-101. I held on once and loved it, but couldn't afford it at the time (I had a Petri FTEE) - I thought it had a great feel and loved the sound of the shutter. Like you say, time moves on and we have to adapt. That is why I've gone almost totally LF; using 35mm just for stock purposes.

 

[eric]

Robert,
a loss, they were at the forefront of the AF revolution and many of the systems you see in Canon and Nikon now a days were developed and they paid royalties to Minolta..

Dave

They have some Flash technology that Nikon/Canon uses.
And don't forget the Acutte-Matte screens.

 

[roteague]

Here is an article that looks at this from more of a business standpoint:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10922697/

 

[Thane Bitter]

Very sad and equally disappointing.

Although their cameras and lenses may no longer be made it is not going to stop my enjoyment of them, or keep me from picking up more (& more) used equipment. I was very upset when Minolta discontinued the Maxxum 7 in favour of the film-less 7D.

 

[André E.C.]

Never used a Konica film or own a Minolta camera, therefore...!

Cheers

André

 

[magic823]

This is the final straw. As soon as I can afford I'm dumping all my Maxxum equipment and buying Canon. I was about ready to buy a X1 but I'm not now.

Steve

 

[Dave Parker]

Never used a Konica film or own a Minolta camera, therefore...!

Cheers

André

To bad Andre' you don't know what you have been missing!

Dave

 

[Andy K]

This is the final straw. As soon as I can afford I'm dumping all my Maxxum equipment and buying Canon. I was about ready to buy a X1 but I'm not now.

Steve

That would be cutting off your nose to spite your face. Olympus ditched the OM range, there's no way I'd sell my OM kit!

 

[Dave Parker]

This is the final straw. As soon as I can afford I'm dumping all my Maxxum equipment and buying Canon. I was about ready to buy a X1 but I'm not now.

Steve

What does that accomplish???? you move to Canon and then Canon decides they are getting out of film? Are you going to ditch them and go to .....What????

Crips I am on the point and don't have nothing to shoot!

come on guys and gals, get over it, there is a massive amount of equipment out there....

I ain't ditching my Minolta gear and have been shooting it for 20 years + its good gear and will produce the images I was to shoot....

Knee Jerk Reactions to a changing market, seem to be real strong right now, but what about the millions of cameras that are still floating around!

Dave

 

[Lee Shively]

It's not really surprising since Konica/Minolta has been pretty low-key in photography for some time now. They're into business machines, aren't they? Like Kyocera (of Yashica and Contax history)? Or is Kyocera now into camera phones? And Sony, king of consumer electronics, becomes a digital SLR force to be reckoned with? Nikon ceases making most film-based camera products? For 35mm, that leaves...who? Pentax, Canon and, peripherally, Leica?

So, when does Taco Bell get into the digital imaging business?