Konica Minolta withdraw from camera business

Joe T

Joe T

Joe T

Soldato
Joined
1 Apr 2003
Posts
11,890
Location
Northamptonshire
Shamelessly copied from elsewhere ;)

This has to be the biggest and most shocking news before the upcoming PMA show, Konica Minolta has today announced that it is withdrawing from the camera and photo business. They will be transferring assets related to their camera business to Sony who will continue to develop digital SLR's based around the Konica Minolta lens mount. Konica Minolta it appears will continue to work with Sony (a relationship announced last year) in the development of digital SLR's and lenses but they will not be branded as or be sold by Konica Minolta. Full announcement and details of the Sony asset transfer inside

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0601/06011901konicaminoltaout.asp
 
Last edited:
Actually the impact on Nikon might be kind of interesting; Nikon are currently reliant on Sony for their sensors, now I can't that changing in the near future and I can't see Sony shutting them out but....it does mean that Sony will also be building dSLRs and it is only logical that they would be putting their best technology into their dSLRs first.

PMA at the end of Feb might be very interesting as I would expect at least at more detailed Statement of Direction and maybe actual product announcements. Sony in their press release mention the summer for new dSLR(s).

And before anyone discounts Sony as a low-end Consumer Electronics manufacturer, they also make high-end, high quality movie cameras.

With Samsung rebadging Pentax and now with this move; this might actually be an interesting year. Expect to see more consolidation in the industry.
 
Very sad. Their in camera anti-shake system sounded excellent. It is a pity that a company of minolta's history is going to dissapear when Samsung is launching into the slr market.

I also wonder how long Olympus will carry on making slrs.
 
I am a Konica Minolta user, so I am disappointed by this, but I suppose with all the competition and so on they weren't going to survive all that long. I will be holding onto my Minolta equipment as long as possible, but I am looking to go the Canon or Nikon route at some point in the future anyway.
 
Anti-shake will still be around, the lens mount will still be around....instead of saying Minolta or Konica Minolta, the cameras will say Sony. This could be a very good thing for existing users of Minolta kit; could be very good for the dSLR market in general, in that what was effectively a duopoly with Nikon and Canon could in time have a third large player.

Also, if you have Minolta kit; the servicing has been handed over to Sony (including your film cameras) and they have a much larger service operation than Minolta.

I expect Samsung to buy Pentax at some point......and someone, perhaps Panasonic to pick up Olympus. Sigma's position is interesting; they need to refresh the SD10 to stand any chance in the dSLR market but they might be wiser to withdraw from the dSLR market and concentrate on making glass.
 
The thing is if you were a Canon or a Nikon film user, changing to digital is an easier decision, full of advantages that convince many film users to weigh them against the disadvantages.

On the other hand I know a few Minolta users, with a wealth of lenses and a top end minolta body who are not convinced by the dslr bodies, and instead consider moving to a canon dslr, or to stay with film.

This also happens to Pentax users I know, where the ist* isnt worthy of leaving their top end Pentax film body. Although I think Pentax is a more resilient company than Konica Minolta in that they also have a good share of the medium format market.
 
I had one of the konica minolta compacts and loved it to bits
shame it got nicked...
interesting news, esp for those with more serious equipment.
still as least the mounts won't be defunct!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom