14 DAY TRIAL // Not even the most true-blue defender of the tradition and quality of film cameras can stand a chance in an argument and question the newest releases of "digital persuasion". The argument whether film cameras still offer better quality than the digital ones seems to have finally come to an end, which wasn't too hard to predict and eventually everybody was going to accept the digital alternative. Indication that this transition was about to take place surfaced more and more often throughout the past few years, as producers started investing more in Research and Development in order to raise the quality standard of digital cameras and make sure customers would be attracted not only by the ease-of-use trait of digital cameras, but also by the quality offered by these devices.
The rapid transition to digital photography has forced companies like No. 1 film maker Eastman Kodak Co. to shift their business strategy away from film as early as January 2004. Initially, Eastman Kodak Co. said it will stop selling traditional film cameras in the United States, Canada and Western Europe, another move by the troubled photography company to cut lines with declining appeal in favor of fast-growing digital products. The company was supposed to continue to sell one-time use cameras in the West and expand its sales of these and other film-based cameras and supplies in markets such as China, India, and Latin America, where demand was on the rise. But that soon changed and film didn't have that much life left, not even on those emerging markets considered less interested in acquiring last minute high-tech gadgets. China became one of the most avid consumers of digital equipment and all manufacturers and service providers are fighting hard to gain more of the Chinese market. Microsoft, Google and Yahoo are doing everything possible to please Beijing authorities and keep gaining more of the market. Every important high-tech producer out there realized that there's no point in concentrating only on the Japanese market while the rest of Asian markets are considered less important and put together a strategy that treats all countries in the region in a similar way and offers the same products all over.
So, if Asia isn't a solution for "dumping" outdated products like analog digital cameras, the digital ones have the world to themselves, for both professional and individual standards. This is a conclusion that both Nikon and Konica Minolta reached recently as they announced dropping the production of film cameras. Just in case you weren't aware already, Konica Minolta was the third largest 35 mm film maker in the world so this drastic change of direction will have a strong impact on what the company will look like in the future. The company has decided to give up on film products and concentrate more on segments of the business that are generating some kind of profit. Changes didn't take long before surfacing and having all activities shift towards the production of office supplies and professional optics led to Konica Minolta Holdings shares increase by 5.45 on January 19 and by the end of that day, shares grew by 10.3%. Konica Minolta wasn't the only to gain from this change, but Sony Corporation, the company that took over the photo SLR segment of Konica Minolta, also announced a 3 percent increase. The two companies had started working together based on an agreement signed July 2005 which stated that they will collaborate on producing new SLR cameras. All major investors announced they expect things to heat up in the office supplies market, where Konica Minolta, Canon and Ricoh are putting up a real fight for leadership in the Japanese area.
The Konica Minolta patterns of withdrawing from the camera business were also applied to some extent by Nikon, who dropped all film-based cameras, with the exception of only two professional models. The company will no longer make most of its film cameras, its large-format Nikkor lenses, enlarging lenses, manual focus Nikkor interchangeable lenses and related accessories. It will continue to manufacture the F6 and FM10 film cameras, however. Nikon will sell all of the products until supplies run out. It is obvious film products account for a shrinking share of the company's sales and Nikon chose to focus on the digital camera business, which continues to grow.
But producers aren't interested only in offering basic digital cameras that appeal users just recently parting with old 35 mm film cameras. More and more companies are taking digital picture rather seriously and make huge efforts to offer high quality for professionals as well. That's why new names surface the SLR (single lens reflex) market, which used to be run by only the likes of Canon, Nikon and maybe Fujifilm. Now, Samsung is joining in on the fun and starts playing the big league after making waves on the entry-level and mid-level markets. Last week, Samsung announced its first DSLR (digital single lens reflex) camera, while before it only had one SLR-like model, the Pro815, which was announced June last year and offered 8 megapixel resolution and images saved as TIFF and WAR uncompressed files would reach a maximum resolution of 3264 x 2448 pixels. Last week though, Samsung introduced to the world the GX-1S, full SLR, which can offer 6.1 megapixels and shoots pictures at 2.8 frames per second. The camera body looks very much like the casing of the Canon Digital Rebel. Specifications range between the Rebel and Nikon's D50 DSLR, but the GX-1S shoots slightly faster than the D50's 2.5 frames per second, but slower than the Rebel's 3 frames a second. The most important spec of the Samsung camera is the ISO range, which tops out at 3200 and allows users to take faster photos. Still, if this information is pretty impressive from a newcomer, it still needs to be matched by facts and we can only wait until the camera will be available next month and see what it can really do.
Not only Samsung is showing interest for the SLR market, but Sony is making big promises about their intention to gain 25% of the market. Of course, having acquired all the Konica Minolta experience will definitely have much to say towards reaching this goal.
Film cameras are pretty much a thing of the past as both financial and professional results indicate. It's no longer profitable to rely on sales of supplies such as film and paper which much be replaced frequently since everybody seems to be catching the digital train. Most of that supplies market is surviving only thanks to users that didn't take the digital leap yet, but that's not going to last very long. It's sad to see a piece of the technology puzzle fade away, but there's no other way. The mystery inside the dark room is now replaced by updates for digital imaging software, which is becoming more and more complex and suits any professional's requirements.
