Canon expects that their operating profit for the nine-month period from January to September, 2014, will increase by 7% yearon- year to over 260 billion Yen (US $2.41 billion). This was credited to strong office equipment sales and the weak Yen. But sluggish camera sales, which had increased by 26% in the first half of 2014, blunted the company’s profits. Total sales for the … [Read more...]

Fujifilm Corp. announced that they will invest about 1 billion Yen to boost the production of their instant camera, instax mini (nicknamed ‘Checki’) and instant film in order to meet increasing international demand. The company will expand film production lines at the Ashigara Factory in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, and camera body production at the Suzhou plant in China. Both … [Read more...]

Apple announced the latest member of the iPad Air family, the iPad Air 2, which is 6.1mm thick and weighs about 450g. The 9.7-inch Retina display is 2048x1536 pixels, the same as the previous model. This time, Apple hasadded a new anti-reflective surface that helps reduce glare. The iPad Air 2 has a new 8 MP iSight camera and the front camera has also been enhanced, for crisper … [Read more...]

Olympus Corp. began marketing the Stylus 1s, a successor of Stylus 1 on November 14 in Japan. The basic features are the same as the predecessor. There are additional functions like Small AF Target for easier focussing on a precise spot of the subject, and Stepping Zoom to set the zoom ratios at 28, 35, 50, 70, 100, 135, 200 and 300mm equivalent. The new grip is easier to … [Read more...]

Nikon announced that their net profit for the first six months of fiscal 2014, ending on September 30, 2014 posted a 26% year-on-year decline to 10 billion Yen on a revenue of 374.9 billion Yen, which was down by 20%. The company attributed the unfavourable results to declined sales of digital cameras, especially in Europe and China. The precision machinery sales were also … [Read more...]