._._z Posted June 15, 2004 Share Posted June 15, 2004 Nikon today said that it plans to boost production capacity for it digital SLR cameras and sees an eventual withdraw from traditional film compact cameras, reports Reuters. "Digital SLRs are high-performance cameras that can be used with new interchangeable lenses or many of the millions originally sold for analog SLRs," notes the story. "They generally offer more options than 'point and shoot' models, which have a fixed lens." <p> <u><A href = http://snipurl.com/73dy>Yahoo-Reuters article</a></u> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rich815 Posted June 15, 2004 Share Posted June 15, 2004 Nice sensationalist subject line. Do you work for a tabloid? I think the key line in the article is this:<p><i>"Kimura said Nikon <b>had no plans to stop producing film SLRs</b>, but that it may next year start considering <b>pulling out of the film compact camera business</b> due to a sharp plunge in demand."</i><p>So, it's news that Nikon might actually stop producing their crappy little point and shoots?? Big deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
._._z Posted June 15, 2004 Author Share Posted June 15, 2004 Someday, probably sooner than you expect, kids will ask about film, the way they ask about the "ding" in old movies featuring someone using a manual typewriter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucas_griego Posted June 15, 2004 Share Posted June 15, 2004 LOL! You mean that ding wasn't the sound of a flash website that had just finished downloading somewhere off camera?!?! The horror of it all. I guess it's not far off from things like when my old mans talks about the days before sliced bread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rich815 Posted June 15, 2004 Share Posted June 15, 2004 Funny, hadn't had any kid ever ask me about that "ding" before. Fairly obscure analogy. I cannot remember when I last even saw a typewriter in an old movie.<p> Nonetheless what replaced typewriters was clearly superior to the typewriter. Not so clear cut here. Plus I never heard of anyone switching BACK to a typewriter. Sure have been hearing lately of more and more people doing just that from digital to film though. <p>Anyway, no one will even notice that Nikon has ceased production of their Lite-Touch and One-Touch Point & Shoots, which it sounds like what the guy was talking about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteraitch Posted June 15, 2004 Share Posted June 15, 2004 I don't think that you should overlook the following paragraph: "Canon and Nikon control nearly all of the nascent digital SLR market. They are also the leading makers of film SLRs, but demand is declining due to a rapid switch to digital models." No news there either, you may well observe BUT if this trend continues (as seems likely) they WILL exit the film market. As an F80 user, I'm not ready for that yet (perhaps I should have bought an FM3a and been truly retro?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jorge_oliveira2 Posted June 15, 2004 Share Posted June 15, 2004 I don't think it's so bad if Nikon, Canon, etc leave the SLR film market. There will be lots of fairly new gear going for low prices (at least in the fist years). What worries me more is if B&W film & paper becomes scarse... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
._._z Posted June 16, 2004 Author Share Posted June 16, 2004 <i><blockquote> s I never heard of anyone switching BACK to a typewriter. </blockquote> </i><p> There's been a handful. In a few years, a handful might do the same with film photography too. <p> Pentax annouced recently that they expect noncamera operations to account for 75% of their revenue, and they're making cameraphone parts. Nikon apparently is getting out of a large, formerly-profitable film camera segment. Kodak and Fuji saw 10-14% declines in film sales for the last three years, with that more that <b><u>doubling</ b</u> in the last year. <p> If you want to stick your head in the sand and pretend that film camera aren't going away, more quickly than anyone (especially you) thought), feel free. But ostriches stick their heads in the sand too --doesn't do them any good, but it makes them feel better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard_milner2 Posted June 16, 2004 Share Posted June 16, 2004 Konica reportedly saw a 10% increase in film sales last year. However, it is obvious that digital is rapidly replacing film in the developed world. Even so, as long as there is an economically viable market for film it will be produced. It might be possible for one company (Fujifilm) to operate a world monopoly of film and camera production and processing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msitaraman Posted June 16, 2004 Share Posted June 16, 2004 Whoa! Bold type and underlining. I'd better pay attention! ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rich815 Posted June 16, 2004 Share Posted June 16, 2004 Who's sticking their head in the sand? I have two digital cameras myself. But I'll be using my 4 film ones for a long while yet too. Three years ago people here on photo.net said film will be gone in 5 years. They were wrong. <b><u>They were WAY off.</b></u> (By the way you can turn off underlining using /u between brackets). I have no doubt film sale will decline, especially the consumer "MAX" crap, but overall film will not go the way of the typewriter any time soon. Why people feel so strongly in insisting it will, and posting incomplete subject lines seeming to imply the "sky is falling" for film is beyond me...<p>Anyway, I'm done here. Stupid argument. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard_milner2 Posted June 16, 2004 Share Posted June 16, 2004 </u></b> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
._._z Posted June 16, 2004 Author Share Posted June 16, 2004 Richard, I don't care what anonymous people you claim were asserting something a few years ago here. Facts are facts, and we see a dramatic crash in film sales, in pro film camera sales, in film camera sales period, in the discontinuation of film stocks, and reports about Nikon and Pentax eyeing discontinuation of parts of all their 35mm film-camera sales. the writing is on the wall. It's not going to get better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_swinehart Posted June 18, 2004 Share Posted June 18, 2004 Dear .[.Z (if that is your real name - speaking of "anonymous people")- you seem to be adamant that YOUR predictions are the only ones that could possibly be true. As a seer with apparent powers and abilities to accurately predict the future - could you please give me next week's winning PowerBall number? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sander_vesik Posted June 18, 2004 Share Posted June 18, 2004 Why do people who have invested in digital want to convert everybody else and convince everybody that digital is the only way? This is really silly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg_miller8 Posted June 18, 2004 Share Posted June 18, 2004 Nikon & Canon are only reacting to market trends and maybe trying push trends to best need their profit objectives. As long as there is a demand for film cameras and film, Nikon & Canon, and Fuji will continue to manufacture them. Where you will lose is in the product development arena since these companies will invest their R&D budgets into the digital products. And prices will go up for analog gear due to reduced efficiencies in manufacturing in lower volumes. This is Macro Economics 101 for a free market society. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
._._z Posted June 18, 2004 Author Share Posted June 18, 2004 Sorry Swineheart, facts are facts, depsite hopeful entreaties to the contrary. Nikon's latest moves, in conjunction with similar reports from Minolta, Pentax and others, with the recent report that film sales are collapsing, demonstrate an accelerated trend that some, like yourself, seem unwilling to acknowledge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
berniek Posted June 18, 2004 Share Posted June 18, 2004 Nikon's not on top in digital (overall)-- ranking 5th at best. With film P&S cameras being produced cheaply by any number of companies and rebranded, it's small wonder that they may abandon the film P&S market. Nikon appears to be making rational decisions about which markets it can reasonably compete in. This is not to say that we won't have film P&S cameras for years to come. It's to say that those devices are cheaply produced commodities and Nikon's efforts can get a greater return elsewhere. I don't think the world will be much affected if we don't see blister packed Nikon film P&S cameras in the photo aisle of the MegaMart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon_guss2 Posted June 24, 2004 Share Posted June 24, 2004 It seems that all everyone talks about is digital. What a Shame! The other day I shot a few rolls of slide film, put them in the projector and it was great. People should get out and shoot a roll once in a while and see what real photography is about. It is hard to take pride in a photo shop picture. (Don't get all worked up..It's just my opinion.) Its too bad that the next generation of photographers will miss the chance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GerrySiegel Posted June 27, 2004 Share Posted June 27, 2004 Nikon exit from low price film cameras doesn't have much impact around this island. Every global seller has to put its eggs in the most profitable basket for hatching. Since the D70 is selling well, I too would make lots of them and drop the low profit product lines.Just as Canon got out of PCs. The trend away from film cameras is indeed accelerating. If we can't buy any film,well,I don't expect that will happen,but if it does I can deal with it. Or at least accept it. Meanwhile it did the job for me for at least forty five years. But what do I do with my compact cassettes, now that DVD-RW is going to kill off blank cassettes for good. Some of the more useful lengths of cassettes are harder to buy,sniff,....just pulling your leg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fate_faith_change_chains Posted June 29, 2004 Share Posted June 29, 2004 Some future thoughts Burn your film, blow up your pixels , throw away your television and crash your car, stop paying your damn phone bills and turn of the freakin'light , ain't no soldiers anymore worldwide with enough analog reason's to fight for those brave and free with the right to neatly pay their digitally enhanced electricity. Film is a smelly corpse already dead but still walking around to the beat and the sound of those who believe that there is no relieve in a digital angel but without the right wings to fly away into another reinventing day. Either way , everything will blast into another past. So don't hold your breath, and keep petting your pet while the same old future is coming, while it's coming fast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garry_paterson Posted June 30, 2004 Share Posted June 30, 2004 What?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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