Exit filmbaserte kamera fra Nikon

når har skriften stått tydelig på veggen ganske lenge. ikke desto mindre er det verd å merke seg at Nikon nå for alvor begynner å snakke høyt om å stoppe produksjonen av de fleste kameramodellene for film.

Det innebærer at Nikon stopper produksjon av storformat-optikk, forstørrer-optikk, objektiver med manuell fokus og så godt som alle kameramodeller for film. Det enste kameraet som Nikon fortsatt vil selge i Europa blir dermed det analoge flaggskipet Nikon F6. Salget av de øvrige modellene fortsetter bare så lenge lageret rekker....

I New York times kan du lese mer om dette:
The Nikon Corporation, the Japanese camera maker, said Thursday that it would stop making most of its film cameras and lenses in order to focus on digital cameras.

The company, based in Tokyo, is the latest to join an industrywide shift toward digital photography, which has exploded in popularity. Rivals like Kodak and Canon have already shifted most of their camera production into digital products.

Nikon said it would halt production of all but two of its seven film cameras and would also stop making most lenses for those cameras. The company will halt production of the film camera models "one by one," though it refused to specify when.

Nikon Plans to Stop Making Most Cameras That Use Film - New York Times.

Pressemelding fra Nikon:

Following the success of our digital line-up over the last seven years, which has resulted in more than 95% of Nikon?s UK business being within the digital area, Nikon Corporation has made the decision to focus management resources on digital cameras in place of film cameras. This decision will allow Nikon to continue to develop products that match the demands of an increasingly competitive market place.

Despite this growing competition Nikon Corporation has continued to outperform the market, and has recently reported positive financial results which saw group net profit climb by 20% in the fiscal first half which ended in September. Group sales also increased by 9.8% to 342.85 billion yen in the same period. Sales of high end digital SLR cameras and the success of products like the D70s and D50 have helped contribute to these positive figures.

As the film camera market shrinks and the popularity of compact digital cameras increases, demand for products that offer advanced features and extra value is continuing to grow. High performance digital SLR cameras are performing well as users shift from film-based SLR cameras or upgrade from compact digital cameras to digital SLR cameras.

As a result of the new strategy Nikon will discontinue production of all lenses for large format cameras and enlarging lenses with sales of these products ceasing as soon as they run out of stock. This also applies to most of our film camera bodies, interchangeable manual focus lenses and related accessories. Although Nikon anticipates that the products will still be in retail distribution up to Summer 2006.

In recognition of Nikon?s commitment to professional photographers we will continue to manufacturer and sell the F6, our flagship film model, as well as a number of manual interchangeable lenses. Sales of the manual FM10 will also continue outside Europe.