Nikon to end production of film cameras

I read on a photography board that Nikon is announcing today that it will end production of most film cameras and lenses. No link yet.

Bummer.

Jim

This link ought to do it (I don't have Flash installed, so I get redirected and can't see it; I got the link from a photography mailing list):
http://www.nikon.co.uk/press_room/relea ... px?rid=201

This is unfortunate, but certainly no surprise. I suspect that Canon, Pentax, and Konica-Minolta will make similar announcements in the not-so-distant future.

With the VAST majority of their SLR sales being digital SLRs, there's just no point in continuing to sell film SLRs if only 10% of the SLR market is going to buy them.

Specifically in regards to the Nikon announcement, it's very sad that of the two film SLRs they will continue to sell in the immediate future -- the F6 and the FM10 -- the FM10 isn't even made by Nikon; I believe it's made by Cosina or Tokina or some similar company. It has a Nikon lens mount and a Nikon emblem, but that's it. But I guess it's popular with photography students who require a fully-manual SLR for class and don't want to buy a pre-owned Nikon (which I'd personally much rather have than an FM10).

Canon has been much more aggressive in marketing to the amateur photographer than Nikon, so hopefully they will continue to offer decent film SLR cameras like the Rebel and the Elan for a while longer. That's what is so frustrating about the Nikon decision - they could have kept at least one decent camera in between the ultra low-end FM10 and the ultra high-end F6.

Jim