Mamiya Calls it Quits?

[dglickstein]

I just saw these two websites:

 

http://digitalphotography.weblogsinc.com/2006/04/21/mamiya-to-sell-

camera-business/

 

http://robots.engadget.com/2006/04/21/mamiya-apparently-bailing-on-

camera-biz/

 

dG

[skygzr]

Better links: <br>

<br>

<a

href="http://digitalphotography.weblogsinc.com/2006/04/21/mamiya-to-sell-camera-business/">http://digitalphotography.weblogsinc.com/2006/04/21/mamiya-to-sell-camera-business/</a><br>

<br>

<a

href="http://robots.engadget.com/2006/04/21/mamiya-apparently-bailing-on-camera-biz/">http://robots.engadget.com/2006/04/21/mamiya-apparently-bailing-on-camera-biz/</a><br>

[sandeep_singh_brar]

I don't think it's the end of the business, but it does make sense. Why would I spend thousands buying a new RZ lens when I can pick it up new or mint for a few hundred dollars on ebay. I guess they will likely consolidate and concentrate on the ZD digital line?

[pavelp]

The only brand-new piece of Mamiya equipment that I ever bought is their coffee mug.

[scott levine]

Mamiya spinning off the photo Division doesn't mean they are gone. If my memory is

correct, for over 20 years Mamiya has sold close to 60% of all the Medium format gear in the

world. Think about it, combine all the sales of Hasselblad, Rollie, Bronica, Fuji, and Pentax,

and still, Mamiya sells more. As far as digital goes, you can slap on a Phase One, Leaf/Creo,

Imacon/Hasselblad, Sinar/Jenoptik and there is your Digital Mamiya.

 

Relax, the sky isn't falling just yet.

[ilkka_nissila]

Well, the thing is that "more than others" may be very close to zero.

 

I can't understand what's going on. It seems that only cheap plastic effectively disposable cameras are now the only ones that make a profit.

[p_l_jensen]

This was inevitable. It is impossible to be a player in digital arena without being part of a large company. MF sales has been eroded by 35mm based DSLR's. The Mamiya ZD was too expensive to sell. Digital back for obsolete film cameras that doesn't sell anymore is a blind alley that will only exist until the day modern DSLR's on MF platforms could be had at reasonable prices. This can only be done by a major player.

My bet is that the next to go is Hasselblad. However, they could survive as a brand name only if someone big buys them. Some may argue that they are just a brand name already....

[john_h.1]

"Think about it, combine all the sales of Hasselblad, Rollie, Bronica, Fuji, and Pentax, and still, Mamiya sells more.'

 

Not anymore. For Mamiya, the sky HAS fallen.

[jmf]

I have to say I was suspicious when it took then so long to get their ZD stuff to market. Add to that, how many pro's were dumping the medfmt gear, the new market must of looked abysmal. Hassie still seems to be a player, but the market may be so specialized that there's only room for one. I've always liked by RB stuff, warts and all.

[ellis_vener_photography]

Ans the last man standing is the new Hasselblad / Imacon.

 

http://www.camera-news.com

 

I have serious doubts about that 60% claim.

[chaitanya_das_tamayo]

this does mean that the 2nd hand market prices for rb's will take a dive, doesn't it? i've been dying to round out my collection of lenses.

[benjamin teoh]

This is expected with the excessive cost of medium format. If the MF companies could reduced the price of the digital cameras by half they would sell a lot more cameras, especially to serious amateurs. As it is, it is beyond the reach of most people. How many rich professionals are there to buy these expensive cameras ?. Perhaps there was too much greed in the pricing....

[q.g._de_bakker]

And unless that 'last man standing' is willing to review his pricing policy, he will be struggling to keep standing.<br>But i'm afraid that with this 'last man', loss of competition only leads to higher prices. The notion that 'his' product too is hugely overpriced - not competitive - does not appear to be even considered, and instead the demise of the other brands is blamed on their 'inferior' products. It's easier that way, isn't it?

[tariq_gibran]

The fact is, this is bad news for all photographers/consumers as this dramatically

decreases competition not only in MF gear where now Hasselblad is really the only safe

choice for the future(and they now will see/feel even less price pressure from within their

own segment) but it also means that Nikon and Canon will be less likely to continue

dropping their prices/increasing their competitiveness in their top of the line stuff with the

fear of an inexpensive MF Digital camera on the Horizon. It also leaves Phase One and

Leaf without any other camera brands but Hasselblad/Imacon to build backs for. If

Hasselblad decided to go Proprietary with their own Imacon backs, goodbye Phase One

and Leaf. The Pentax 645 Digital is the only wild card now but given Pentax's record thus

far with Digital, I'm not holding my breath. I foresee that the industry is hitting a will hit a

sort of Plateau late this year with whatever new models appear.

[paul ron]

And what is everyone worried about? The old Mamiyas will be around for another 100 years, they were built like Russian Tanks to last forever. There are so many great used cameras and accessories still out there in ver servicable condition.

 

Anyone have any old RB67 Non-C lenses they want to part with? I'll take em all!

[scott levine]

Ellis, believe it. Mamiya has been the top seller of Medium format for over two decades world

wide. We shall see if this is really the end of their Camera production. Give it some time for

the dust to settle. I know that everyone likes to genuflect to German glass and (Swiss)

cameras, but the fact is no matter how good the German products are, they haven't led the

photo industry since the 70's.

[steve_levine]

Does this mean that all of my (30 year old) Mamiya gear, will turn to dust?

[pics]

I suspect that if one's name isn't Canon or Sony, your days in the photo industry are numbered whether its film or digital. Great if you have stock in these companies but not so great if you like variety and would rather not have to "submit" to a photo monoploy. The collapse of the film industry and the glut of cheap used equipment is no doubt kiling companies that rely heavily on the sales of new film gear. Its kind of a double edged sword. Prior to the digital age, I wouldn't be able to afford the medium format gear I purchased in the last year, but at the same time I'm part of the reason for the demise of the industry. I wish there was a middle ground where companies could focus predominantly on digital but still keep a small portion of production for film use gear, but that doesn't appear to be the case. Oh well, heres hoping my Mamiya's don't break and that Ilford keeps making FP4+ and some paper!

[franka t.l.]

IMHO its pretty much set in stone already way before the ZD affair. Mamiya is too specialized and not having the financial might to back it. MF business had start to erode long since digital come along when people starting to find that even 35mm is good enough ( noted that how many PRO turn to 35mm for things like wedding, social event etc in the early 90's )

 

It's simply taking too long for the Mfr to figure that their range is no longer a viable product without infusing some serious new ingrediant. AF come along in mid to late 90's but digital pretty much crop up and simply put, almost all MF mfr had too late trying to incorporate this need into their product and when they do, they take too long to made a viable product at too costly a price.

 

Think about it, If Mamiya had been able to field the ZD as first planned ( at least 9 to 12 months earlier than reality ) then the beast might yet start a business revivial for the Mfr, but as it is, its too costly and stuck in the middlw with too corwded competetions around.

 

It would be very interesting to see how Pentax go about their 645D, I sure hope Hassy not becoming the only one standing !!

[q.g._de_bakker]

<i>Does this mean that all of my (30 year old) Mamiya gear, will turn to dust?</i><br><br>You're confusing the state of your camera with the state of the industry. The latter is what this news is about.

[ellis_vener_photography]

I suspect that if one's name isn't Canon or Sony

 

...or Nikon. Nikon still makes a tremendous amount of money from new camera equipment sales.

 

new medium format sales except for the Hasselblad H1 and H2 have been effectively zero for at least a year if not two. And has been dropping that way for at least five years

 

I suspect the medium format digital back manufacturers we still see in business a year from now will be Hasselblad (which now incorporates Imacon), Phase One, Leaf, and maybe Jenoptik (who recently bought all of Sinar including their digital division.) it is significant that phase One which has about a 70% share of this market makes all of theiur backs with a HAsselblad "V" (square format) attachment as part of the back chassis.

 

Note also that the camera manufacturer formerly known as mamiya is still in business but with a new name and owner.

 

In short the sky has fallen yet but it has changed color.

[blakley]

Is Cosmo going to stop selling & making Mamiya gear? Or are they buying the business in order to operate it?

[peter_evans4]

<p>Cosmo sells software called Kasuzō that's for companies renting out buildings and heavy equipment. It also sells vaguely described "total solutions". (To what problems, we aren't told. Um, wasn't the term "Operation Total Solution" used in some recent war?) In a word, it's boring. My uneducated hunch is that the totalness of Cosmo's solutions will include spying and keeping crooks out, so the designers of the Mamiya (like the designers of the Bronica) will wind up designing videocameras for corporate snooping. Gosh, isn't the 21st century wonderful!</p>

[pics]

"...or Nikon. Nikon still makes a tremendous amount of money from new camera equipment sales."

 

I think Nikon is a distant third behind the Canon/Sony regime regarding the marketing and developing of digital technology which seems to be key in today's world. Nikon may still be making money and I don't think they are in immediate danger of collapse but they have lost quite a bit of ground and you never know what may happen years down the road. I still think that if you aren't one of the two giants mentioned above, your place in the market is far from guaranteed.

[glenbarrington]

Well, for good or bad, digital has changed the face of photography, and I suspect it is a permanent change.

 

The simple fact is, the economics of photography is VERY different from what it was. It is getting harder to justify medium format photography economically. We have to accept the fact that even Hasselblad may not survive - there may be NO MF cameras in 10 - 15 years.

 

NOTE!: I am NOT commenting on image quality, or the technical merits of a medium format negative; just the economics of the thing.