Mamiya on the Rise

[scott levine]

Here is a link regarding the New Mamiya.

http://www.mamiya.com/assets/pdfs/Mamiya_Digital_Imaging.pdf

[Aoresteen]

Thanks! Good news!

 

I get irked when I see press releases with no date!

[dglickstein]

Why hasn't the ZD been released in the US yet?

[andrewlamb]

Doesn't sound like good news for fans of the RZ.

[paulhu54]

The press release was dated 05/10/06 on Mamiya's website. I am glad that MAC is committed to the future of the Mamiya cameras and accessories.

 

I just love my Mamiya 645AFD II and all the lenses. I just came back from Virgin Islands shooting some Playboy playmates and other swimwear models. I shot both 35mm digital and 120 film (Provia 100F). There is absolute no comparison between digital and film images. I had to do several white balance adjustments on my digital images, but the slide images were right on as far as the crystal blue of the water, the white clothing of the models, and the skin tone of the models.

 

As long as I can get support and service on my existing equipment, I am very happy with the tools that I have.

[scott levine]

I wouldn't worry about the RZ. People are still buying them. Maybe not in the amounts they

sold in the early 90's but it is still a viable product. I would guess, and it's just a guess, that

we won't know the fate of any Mamiya system until early next year. I also heard some-wear

that the group that took over Mamiya Camera Japan worked for Mamiya for many years and

has a desire to preserve the current offerings. Time will tell.

[q.g._de_bakker]

This is the same news we had before, telling us Mamiya gave up on their camera divison and sold it on. The only difference is that now the name of the company set up by the buyer to take the camera division from Mamiya is given, and it contains the Mamiya name.<br>The selling company, Mamiya, will have as much to do with the 'new' Mamiya company as Mamiya America had to do with the Mamiya company.<br><br>Confusing? That is the purpose of this excercise. We might start believing Mamiya actually gave up on their camera division (which they did), doubting it would be wise to put fresh money towards Mamiya camera equipment. That would (obviously did) deflate the value of the thing they are going to sell, putting the deal in jeopardy.<br>They just should not have announced they were going to sell the division 4 months in advance of the planned sale...<br>MAC (an U.S. based trading company that succesfully claimed and registered the Mamiya name in the U.S., which gave them the exclusive right to sell Mamiya branded goods in the U.S., and has nothing to do with decisions about making these things, nor with who does the making of these things) obviously has a vested interest in the continued existence of the Mamiya name. If the buyer would have chosen to use their name on the product, MAC would lose its grip. Makes you wonder what they did, and how much they paid, to keep the Mamiya name on the ex-Mamiya products.<br><br>Anyway. However obscure the politics, i hope the Mamiya line will survive. They make great cameras, and their ZD (though not great yet) shows they could be great in the digital field too.

[david_littleboy__tokyo__ja]

QG basically has it right.

 

Mamiya was bought out (many years ago) by a fishing tackle company that changed their name to Mamiya-OP. Mamiya-OP switched from fishing tackle to golf clubs and diversified into slot-machine electronics, where they found themselves making (2005) 85% of their revenue.

 

This year, a small Unix package software company set up a digital imaging division, and that division bought Mamiya-OP's optical division for about US$900,000 (that's right, under a million bucks), taking on some undisclosed amount of debt.

 

There are a plethora of possibilities. The new owner might be intending to make a real try of competing in the MF digital business, with the purchase allowing some of the debt to be written off by Mamiya-OP as a one-time loss and the new company being able to reorganize the optics division in ways that Mamiya-OP couldn't. Or maybe they're just going to sell off the assets and take an immediate profit. Or maybe the president of the Unix software company is an MF fan and wants spare parts for his Mamiya 7 during his retirement years (whenever that may be) and plans on downsizing to an absolute minimum that can limp along forever. (This last one's unlikely, though.)

 

"i hope the Mamiya line will survive"

 

Me too. I doubt things will be clear until late next year, though.

[larrydressler]

I still love my Mamiya 35mm cameras even though 3 differant lens mounts and 3 slr's with fixed lens/lenses. My Daughter and her ZE still amaize me with her shots. at 16 she still hates Color film.

 

Larry

[35mmdelux]

taking on "some undisclosed amount of debt" would in most likelyhood preclude selling assets for a "profit." To bring the acquisition to a breakeven point, ie, no loss/gain, the debt would need to be liquidated first. This would necessarily require an infusion of cash.

Therefore, chances are no "profit" will be realized on this deal as such.