Sad
news. After decades of churning out great cameras, Nikon announced
that it will stop production of SLR film cameras except F6 and
FM10 cameras. I had mentioned in the guides that I so much want
aspiring photographers to pick up a film camera to practice and
hone their skills. Well, it seems that digital is the way to go.
Here is the press release by Nikon about the demise.
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.
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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.
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