Canon could be pulling out of film camera production

25 May 2006 15:23 GMT / By Amber Maitland

Canon could be pulling out of the film camera market following a series of reports on Reuters.

After announcing bright and early this morning that Canon is planning to stop development of new film cameras, Reuters then issued a speedy correction that clouds the issue somewhat.

In the corrected story, the slowdown in both the analogue and digital camera markets may cause Canon to consider whether or not to continue with the development of film cameras.

In the original story, Reuters reports that "Canon's decision follows an announcement earlier this year by rival Nikon Corp that it would stop producing most of its film cameras except for a few professional products", whereas in the second version the sentence begins "Canon's statement".

However some commentators are suggesting that the move would be a logical step for the company with digital camera sales out performing film across the sector.

Konica Minolta withdrew from the market earlier this year, while a number of companies producing professional, medium-format film cameras have closed over the past year and a half, following a lack of demand. To add to the film market's woes, some manufacturers have stopped producing film and even darkroom photographic paper.

Watch this space for future statements from Canon.

Full tags

Cameras, DSLR cameras, Film cameras, Canon, 8 megapixels