Digital BW, The Print

"Sources at Kyocera have confirmed that the company is to cease production
of
film and digital cameras, putting a huge question mark over the future of
one of the oldest brands in photography, Contax. Contax cameras have been
produced since the early 1930's, when the brand was launched by German
optical legend Zeiss Ikon. Contax joined forces with Japanese manufacturer
Yashica in the 1960's, becoming part of electronics giant Kyocera in the
mid-1990's.


Kyocera has had some success in the digital camera market with models
bearing Yashica, Kyocera and Contax branding, though the company's first
foray into the digital SLR market (the Contax N Digital) was widely regarded
as an expensive failure. There is some confusion over the future of the
Contax brand, or the widely anticipated digital rangefinder (G digital) and
Mark II 645 cameras. When we spoke to a Kyocera UK representative at the
UK's Focus on Imaging exhibition this week, it was made clear that there may
well be a future for Contax under another owner, with one rumor mentioning
Sony as a potential buyer (the company already uses Carl Zeiss branded
lenses on some of its digital compacts).


Kyocera has already stopped production of film and digital cameras, and the
various international operations are being prepared for closure. The reasons
given were purely market-related (in other words not because of financial
difficulties), with Kyocera now concentrating on its mobile phone and
semiconductor business."

and

"Contax - end of an era


The manufacture of Contax and Kyocera branded 35mm film cameras has ceased,
and digital products are to follow by the end of the year, marking the end
of an era.

A spokesman for Kyocera in the UK confirmed to BJP that the Japanese
manufacturer has already stopped production of both its own and
Contax-branded 35mm film cameras. These include the Contax TVS-III, which is
a high-end zoom compact; and the electronic rangefinder, the Contax G2.

The production of digital cameras under both the Kyocera and Contax brand
name is also to stop by the end of the year. Operations in the US have
already closed and the distribution of products has been transferred to
American distributor, Tocad.

Frazer Allen of Kyocera UK told BJP that the company has made the decision
because of market-led problems as opposed to financial reasons. Allen says
that Kyocera is planning to concentrate on the mobile phone business,
although it will continue to manufacture other electronic products as well.

Despite this announcement, rumours are still circulating of two new launches
for Contax' medium format ranges. A Mark II 645 camera and a digital
rangefinder to join the G series have been predicted, but Allen could not
confirm whether these products are still on the design board.


The History of Contax, Kyocera and Carl Zeiss
Carl Zeiss started making high quality magnifying glasses in 1846 but by
1925, his company had moved on to manufacturing cameras. A year later, it
bought four small camera manufacturing firms: Ica, Contessa-Nettel, Ernemann
and Goertz to form Zeiss Ikon AG - a company with designs to compete with
those manufactured by Leica.

In 1932, Zeiss Ikon produced the Contax camera, which represented the top of
the company's range. The Mark I model was in production from 1932 to 1938
and the Mark II was produced until 1945.

After the war, the company was split in two across the East-West German
divide. It was Carl Zeiss Dresden in the East, though, that introduced the
world's first 35mm SLR camera body at the Leipzig Spring Fair in 1949.

This was the Contax S. The first SLR produced by the Western branch of the
company came in 1953 - this was the Contaflex and was a leaf shutter model.

By the late 1960s, however, competition from Japan and economic conditions
in Germany determined that Carl Zeiss could no longer produce cameras in its
native land. A partnership was formed with Japanese electronic giant
Yashica.

The first product of this union was the Contax RTS, which was launched at
Photokina in 1974.

Kyocera bought Yashica in 1996 and the Contax-brand name was included in
this deal."