Carl Zeiss supports film just talk

[simonpg]

I received an email newsletter a few minutes ago from CZ. One topic is about the future of film.

You may find it interesting so here is the url:

http://www.zeiss.com/c12567a8003b58b9/contents-frame/e403322f9f3eb83bc12570f8003d4eb9

I suppose their statement supporting film need not have been made at all unless they felt motivated to do so. I suppose the ZI needs it!

And, they announced that Braun is building a Contax/Yashica mount SLR! Anyone aware of that before? Amazing what some will do in a massively declining 35mm film market. Anyway nice to see.

 

[gjames52]

Simon:

Thanks.

I noticed the comment about letting them know in Camera Lens News 23 .

[So I wrote them about supporting Contax owners with lenses, G and N etc,. I also mentioned loyalty to their customers not Nikon and Cannon owners that opted out of Contax, because they did not want to pay the price...]

I hope others write.

Regards:

Gilbert

 

[simonpg]

Gilbert, your comment prompted me to recall hearing here a replayed program made in the US by NPR about the new and fast pace of digital movie distribution and the enormous cost benefits.

While the program did not mention if that would mean capture on digital media or remain on film; it made me think that Zeiss may feel a major value segment for it could dry up or be under threat at least (of course lenses will always be required).

But the above newsletter focused each story on film based still cameras and the lens mounts Zeiss will now support. It would be very interesting to see what is really behind these stories.

 

[gjames52]

Simon:

Actually Zeiss's involvement in producing DigiPrimes, DigiZooms for cine cameras was one of the reasons I posted my question about Nikon and film. As Hollywood is the not only the prime user of 35 mm, and of course 35 mm film was the impetus for 35 mm cameras, but as you know they are also involved in Digital...

It is also not uncommon for a company to change direction the next day, so I reserve caution.

Perhaps CZ could purchase Kodak.

Regards:

Gilbert

 

[simonpg]

Fair comment Gilbert.

Well having read Eastman and Kodak's business history, anyone could run Kodak better than Kodak people!

It could become the "warm" film department of Fuji!

 

[jsmisc]

I came across a Braun C/Y mount camera based, I think, on the (Cosina) FX3 super body in Teneriffe about 5 years ago. I might have bought it except that the shop only had one left and it was badly scratched and I didn't really need it. I think it was quite cheap though but I cannot remember the price.
John

 

[qnu]

Simon,

That's it exactly. Fleischer/Müller (the One-Man-With-Two-Names of Strategic Marketing fame) is trying to lure people towards film consuming Zeiss-Ikon.

He's talking about a no less but a "hysteria"* when digital is concerned.
Meanwhile, one of his trusted sources, Kodak, is saying digital hasn't properly taken off yet, because the imaging industry is making it too hard for digital shooters...

Today’s digital cameras are dinosaurs, with the same basic architecture and functionality as the box Brownie camera that Kodak introduced more than one hundred years ago. It’s a lens, shutter and something to capture the focused light. All the imaging industry has done is to replace silver with silicon. In the next era, we will design digital cameras from the ground up to take full advantage of the creative power that digital technology provides.
Antonio M. Perez, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Eastman Kodak Company

If the move towards digital we have seen in the market makes Zeiss reach for words like "hysteria", whatever will they make of that?

After Contax going under, Rollei following suit, and now Hasselblad too. They sorely regret not making the Zeiss-Ikon a digital camera from the beginning.
And with all that adversity making them look bad enough already, they'll be damned if they will admit it, and look even worse. I don't know if they succeed this way.
A pitty though. Despite their rather poor luck in marketing, they make great lenses.

By the way, i don't understand why people keep complaining about Kodak. They have been, and still are doing very well.
Both in business and in supplying us with great products.
So why would "anyone" be able to "run Kodak better than Kodak people!"???


*
"In einer Zeit digitaler Hysterie [...]", which became "In an era of digital hype" in the English translation. The translator must have thought the pathos in the original a bit too thick.

 

[simonpg]

Interesting comments QG.

It seems that many German "iconic" companies struggle on the marketing front. This may be due to the fact that their success legacies lie in engineering and design - technical stuff, rather than product marketing skills.

The loyalty to their legacies is probably what has allowed some of them to survive up until now