Pentax to Reduce Film Compact and SLR Production

Imaging Resource are reporting that Pentax are planning to reduce the manufacture of their 35mm film compact and SLR cameras and focus on digital instead. They will continue production of professional medium-format film cameras. This breaking news was originally posted on the news page of Pentar Corp., the official Russian distributor of Pentax products.

What do you think? Are Pentax making the right move by switching their attention to digital, especially when the likes of Canon and Nikon have made no such announcements (yet)?

Website: Imaging Resource - Pentax plans to focus on digital

Published: Wednesday, June 02, 2004

Reader Comments

1. The time is here... doesn't digital cameras now outsell film cameras? I think I read that somewhere. We know digital is the growing market segment and the future, so it makes perfect sense to spend less on developing new film cameras and spend more on digital. I guess the market for the pro medium format hasn't changed much yet, and it's higher markup I'm sure, so that's why they keep that. But sooner or later that market will go digital as well.

   Mac at 10:37am on Wednesday, June 02, 2004

2. Olympus did this, de facto, when they dropped the OM system. The reason for that was their tooling was geared for mass production, and with lowered demand they were running the machines only a few hours a day, making it very expensive. This interview has the details:
   
   http://www.geocities.com/maitani_fan/om_interview_2.html
   
   I guess Canon will be the last consumer film SLR vendor left standing with their Rebel lines sold to inveterate technophobes in places like Costco.

   Fazal Majid at 02:47pm on Wednesday, June 02, 2004

3. nothing surprising about this type of announcement; others already dropped APS, and many 35mm compacts.

   guest at 04:21pm on Wednesday, June 02, 2004

4. My father works in a camera store in Manhattan, New York and according to him photo camera sales in general are currently like 80 percent digital and like 20 percent film based.
   
   I think lowering production of film based cameras and increasing production of digital cameras is the correct decision. But, not to eliminate them completely.
   
   Hopefully this will lower the price of the digital cameras more, or increase the quality, or both.

   Ismael Ramos at 08:27pm on Wednesday, June 02, 2004

5. I can't say I'm surprised, but I think Pentax ought to keep at least a couple compacts and a film SLR around. Their compact film cameras are the best selling compacts at the shop I work at. The cameras are very small, and the lenses are generally very good. As for their SLRs, well, I think they should keep the ZX-M (it goes by a different model name in the rest of the world) around simply for student photographers. It, and the K-1000, have the "perfect learner's camera" market cornered.
   
   On the other hand, as a Pentax *istD user and general fan of their products, I hope this means they'll be able to up the production and range of their digital-only lenses. They are supposed to be announcing two new dSLRs this fall, so new lenses are going to be important.

   John at 05:42am on Thursday, June 03, 2004

6. Hopefully, Pentax will introduce a digital SLR with controls like the ZX-5n/MZ-5n. It would be great for students and pros alike. I noticed that all the reviews of the new Leica digital compared it to the Pentax. Maybe Pentax will take the hint.
   
   As to getting out of film, it was bound to happen some time. Now's the time apparently.

   Ed at 11:08am on Thursday, June 03, 2004