Graywolf forwarded this message to the list:
"Tom Reese, like many on the list, just don't understand BUSINESS.
He says the Nikon F5 is too good a camera and has too loyal a following to
drop it from the lineup in the foreseeable future. He suggests in making
that statement that Nikon should keep making something that is not selling,
just to make people feel good. Go into your neighborhood camera store
(where an F5 is stocked) and ask when they last sold one. The folks behind
the counter will look at each other, scratch their heads and probably say
that they don't remember when they last sold one. Nikon doesn't have the
money to keep making things which are not selling."
I understand business very well. You make products that people want to buy.
I also understand that Nikon has a relatively large customer base of
professional photographers who use the F5. I don't think Nikon ever sold
vast numbers of the F5 model. It is still important to them as proof that
they make the best (yes I know this is debatable but it is marketing)
cameras. There are still segments of the professional market that are
predominantly film based. John Shaw is still shooting 90% film (as of a few
weeks ago in a seminar I attended). I do not believe that Nikon will drop
the F5 from their lineup until they have a replacement for it. I could be
wrong but I can't see them abandoning it even if they aren't selling very
many of them. I believe that it is too important to their marketing
department ("more pros use Nikon equipment than any other brand") for one
thing.
I also believe that slide film provides something that digital does not and
can't because of the nature of the medium. I believe that slide film will be
around after print film disappears. I believe that digital is better if you
want prints but there is no digital replacement for transparencies if that
is what you want. I could be wrong about slide film demands too.
Those are my opinions.
Tom Reese
