Konica Minolta Pulls Out of the Camera Market

This is disheartening news to say the least. Konical-Minolta has been in the camera business for a number of years. My friend owns a D-SLR that is made by Konica-Minolta and she will be faced with many decisions about the compatability and accessory options this decision now makes. I however am looking at a Canon 20D, so no skin off my back. I predict that after all of the dust settles, their will only be a few manufacturers that truly offer a Prosumer/Consumer level DSLR that is competitive and has a high quality standard. Canon, Nikon, Olympus, etc are the few companies that will exit.

Craig

I think you mean exist, not exit.

Sony probably hopes to gobble up as many camera companies as possible so it can force its proprietary Memory Stick format on them - and probably its evil rootkit software, too.

Guess it doesn't surprise me. I just bought a K/M X1 camera for his trip overseas. I have owned Minolta SLR, first with the SRT 101 and then the 570. All trouble free and a quality products. I have since gone to the top of the line - Nikon with great results. Like everything else, small players are getting gobbled up by the big guys. That's the way it is.

I hoped that KM/ Sony deal would breath new life into such a great company. I own a KM DSLR and can only think of saying...FIGHT!!!!

Sony breath new life into this company? LOL. Sony can barely breath enough to keep itself alive... If I read some of the reports correctly, Sony's game division is the only one that's make a lot of money. Other groups are either barely breaking even or worse yet loosing a ton of money. I am just amazed how Japanese CE companies are one by one falling behind its Korean rivals and sometimes the Chinese...

But I just bought last month the Konica Minolta A200 8 MP 7x zoom bridge camera! And it's one of the best in its categorie. I AM SHOCKED BY THIS INFORMATION! And what about its famous Anti-Shake system built into its CCD? And its full range of cameras, slim, compact & bridge? I thought they were very competitive. Guess I was wrong.

well we have to be thankful for small mercies, i just bought a dynax 7d [ maxxum 7] and at least thre will be some back up service now. without sony carrying the torch there would be an awful lot of nervous KM camera owners out there. SO lets support the KM brand, use the product and show Canon and Nikon that they are not the only companies that make world class cameras. I for one do NOT regret buying My KM D-SLR. So Sony if you do good by us KM owners we will do god by you, thats the deal.

I own a Minolta Maxxum 7 35mm film camera and have several lenses. Was looking at purchasing the dSLR Maxxum 7d, guess I will wait on that decision to see how it plays out. I have several Minolta 35mm film cameras and a digital Minolta S304, all are still functioning perfectly. Sorry to see them exit the camera business, but after being bought by a company better known for copiers I guess it is not suprising.

I find this disenheartening. Even though you can save pictures on gold cd's, no one really knows how long they will last since information on cd's degrades over time. I know they say it will last 300 years-HOW DO THEY KNOW? I am not in love with my digital camera. I think they are ruxhing into an unknown field and people will be sorry.

I find this disenheartening. Even though you can save pictures on gold cd's, no one really knows how long they will last since information on cd's degrades over time. I know they say it will last 300 years-HOW DO THEY KNOW? I am not in love with my digital camera. I think they are rushing into an unknown field and people will be sorry.

Anybody know how this will impact KM's film scanner business? Is that gone, too?

I'm pleased to say that if sony is buying of konica-minolta the prices are going to hike up! everybody now that sony is an expensive company especially on digital cameras and that's not good news!!!

Own 2 Minola compatable AF lenses. A macro and a zoom. Will these fit the existing KM digital SLRs-If I can find one?