"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." [via dpreview]