Canon mulls film future
By
Mike Tomkins
(Thursday, May 25, 2006 - 10:20 EDT)
Media outlets around the world are today (incorrectly) reporting that Canon Inc. is to discontinue development and / or production of film cameras.
The stories look to be based on what seems to be an unfortunate misunderstanding, with Reuters and the Associated Press releasing articles that incorrectly interpreted a statement from Canon Inc. in Japan.
Reuters' initial report stated that Canon was to "halt development of film cameras", but that the company would "continue to produce and sell existing models". The Associated Press took things even further. Their article entitled "Canon to Stop Making Single-Lens Camera" seemed to suggest that the company would cease making SLR film cameras altogether. We've even seen other sites reporting that Canon would stop producing film cameras altogether.
The Reuters report has already been retracted, with a corrected article now stating that Canon "would consider whether it needs to continue developing" film cameras - something that you'd really have to expect, and hardly the significant piece of news it might initially have sounded.
To be clear, Canon has not stated that it is halting development of film cameras - be they SLRs or compact models. Instead, the company has basically suggested that it is continuing to evaluate the market, so as to determine how much longer its development of new models (and production of existing models) should continue.
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