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In February, Ricoh Imaging revealed a Pentax-branded full-frame DSLR following years of speculation. Ricoh today said it expects interchangeable-lens camera production will suffer as a result of the April earthquakes<\/em><\/p>\nPhotokina plans in disarray?<\/strong><\/p>\n Amateur Photographer <\/em>(AP) pressed camera makers for updates after an industry source told AP the earthquakes may have a serious impact on launch plans for Photokina, which takes place in Cologne, Germany, in September.<\/p>\n Although Panasonic told us its plans for Photokina \u2018remain unchanged\u2019, it said the quake, which struck in the second week of April, \u2018damaged the factories of some of our parts suppliers\u2019.<\/p>\n It added: \u2018As a result of this, the supply of components for some of our digital imaging products has been affected and we do envisage some disruption to inbound stock.<\/p>\n \u2018We anticipate that this will delay shipments from the beginning of June until the end of November on almost all models in our camcorder range and some of our still fixed-lens cameras.<\/p>\n \u2018We can, however, confirm that our Lumix G series remains unaffected by this issue.<\/p>\n Canon said: \u2018None of the company’s buildings or facilities have incurred any significant damage and all Canon Group companies in the region are able to operate normally.<\/p>\n \u2018However, some compact camera production has been affected due to the impact on part supply companies, and production is reduced at some plants, including Nagasaki Canon Inc.\u2019<\/p>\n ‘Lessons learned’<\/strong><\/p>\n Yesterday, Fujifilm released an update, saying: \u2018Fujifilm Kyusyu Co Ltd, located in Kikuyo-cho, Kumamoto, has been working toward the resumption of its operations\u2026 The company commenced trial operations on April 23 and full operations have now been resumed at the first trial facility.<\/p>\n \u2018The resumption of operations has also been successfully achieved at other facilities, and on May 22, the company had finally resumed full operations at all its facilities.<\/p>\n \u2018The operations of Fujifilm Kyusyu have now reached pre-earthquake production levels.\u2019<\/p>\n Fuji added: \u2018The company resumed the shipping of stock from its warehouse on April 19, and has also started shipping products that have been manufactured in facilities at which operations have resumed.<\/p>\n \u2018Damage to the warehouse was minimal, and resumption of operations proceeded smoothly and quicker than expected\u2026<\/p>\n \u2018The Fujifilm Group will continue to improve its business continuity plan, based on the lessons learned from this recent experience.\u2019<\/p>\n A fortnight ago, Sony revised its status to say: \u2018Operations at Sony Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation’s Kumamoto Technology Center (located in Kikuchi Gun, Kumamoto Prefecture), which is the primary manufacturing site of image sensors for digital cameras and security cameras, as well as micro-display devices, had been suspended due to the impact of the earthquakes.<\/p>\n \u2018However, as of May 9, 2016, testing operations, which are one of the back-end processes carried out on the upper layer of the building, have resumed and other back-end processes, such as assembly, are also expected to restart sequentially beginning May 17, 2016\u2026<\/p>\n \u2018Although there was a delay in the supply of components to Sony from certain third-party suppliers that also have manufacturing facilities in the Kumamoto region, inventory adjustments have been made and a timeframe for regaining supply levels is now in place, so no material impact is anticipated on Sony’s business operations.\u2019<\/p>\n Last week, Nikon UK\u2019s group marketing manager Jeremy Gilbert told AP: \u2018We are still examining the impact [of the earthquakes], and are unable to answer at this time.\u2019<\/p>\n A Sigma spokesman said: \u2018Thankfully, Sigma were not affected by the earthquakes and there is no change to Photokina.\u2019<\/p>\n Olympus Europe declined to comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Pentax brand owner Ricoh Imaging has admitted that the earthquakes which rocked Japan in April will hit camera production.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":324,"featured_media":41959,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"product-category":[],"class_list":["post-79406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-photo-news"],"yoast_head":"\n