Jenoptik drops Sinar following Franke & Heidecke's collapse

[Fotogman]

Is this the end of Sinar digital?

http://www.bjp-online.com/public/showPage.html?page=867835

[Dustbak]

It says Sinar is preparing for a management buy-out. I wish them well and hope they will succeed. Big kudos to the guys that are doing that, it takes believe in your abilities and the future of the company to do a management buy-out. It would have been a lot more classy from Jenoptik when they would have waited until the buy-out was a fact before making announcements. Nowadays it is hard enough to get funding, no need to make it more difficult by announcing stuff too early.

I kind of hoped Leaf would do the same thing but it seems the key people at Sinar have more believe in themselves than those at Leaf.

The only thing else it says is that the Hy6 will be dropped. Save to say that system is completely dead but Sinar is more than that. I wonder what will happen with the various types of Sinar backs?

[ThierryH]

There is nothing more here, no new information than in the press release by Jenoptik dated July 29th.

Again, I would refrain from speculating and making comments which could prove to be wrong.

What I know for certain, is that Sinar will certainly not give up on warranty issues and service/support of its line of Sinarbacks, for 2 reasons: Sinar is bound contractually with its customers and it is not in Sinar's policy to let customers down, whatever plans the future company and its new management have.

Best regards,
Thierry

Is this the end of Sinar digital?

http://www.bjp-online.com/public/showPage.html?page=867835

[Juanito]

I'm confused. Jenoptik has dropped Sinar so who currently owns it? Did they sell? There was the bit about a management buy-out but that hasn't happened yet. Somebody has to own it.

John

[ThierryH]

Usually there is a period of "overlapping" between the announcement and things being carried out and organized: as written by somebody else, Jenoptik is bound by the German stock laws to inform publicly about such changes immediately. IMO it is now in the phase of contracts being drafted and signed by the parties. A public announcement from Sinar's new owner(s)/management will certainly come within the next month.

Thierry

I'm confused. Jenoptik has dropped Sinar so who currently owns it? Did they sell? There was the bit about a management buy-out but that hasn't happened yet. Somebody has to own it.

John

[teddillard]

I kind of hoped Leaf would do the same thing but it seems the key people at Sinar have more believe in themselves than those at Leaf.

Sorry, don't feel this comment is fair at all.  I know some people personally at Leaf...  some of the best, most committed people I've ever worked with.  Likewise Sinar.  There's no way that someone outside the company, or that situation, can ever make that kind of judgment.

[Dustbak]

Sorry, don't feel this comment is fair at all.  I know some people personally at Leaf...  some of the best, most committed people I've ever worked with.  Likewise Sinar.  There's no way that someone outside the company, or that situation, can ever make that kind of judgment.

You are right. It is not fair, it is the disappointment speaking together with the fear of Leaf fading away. I also know several people at Leaf and have them in high regard.

[mmurph]

There's no way that someone outside the company, or that situation, can ever make that kind of judgment.

Among other things, they would have access to the financials.  

It may not have been viable under even the most optomistic of assumptions. Sales figures, fab costs, R&D, economies of scale, product lifecycles, ability to obtain financing, etc.

In the past year we have seen very little concrete information on the true finacial condition of any of the main players in this market.  It looks like things worlwide are picking up a bit, but I doubt that anyone is **really** out of the hot water yet.  Hard to tell how quickly we will recover, or whether it can be sustained without another "dip."

[teddillard]

You are right. It is not fair, it is the disappointment speaking together with the fear of Leaf fading away. I also know several people at Leaf and have them in high regard.

Very true, and the comment that followed, too.  This industry, unlike the consumer cameras, is tiny.  Small groups of incredibly dedicated teams who've led everyone else to where we are today.  Leaf in the '90s?  Digital photography wouldn't be where it is without them, and it was a handful of people.  I remember meeting one team, a small new company of guys who were working on a new DB, many of them had been with Leaf, even Dicomed- they brought me into the back room to see the manufacturing.  There was a spread of the Phillips 6MP CCDs out on the table- literally- hand built cameras.  

I heard some very VERY disturbing news last week from an old friend- I can't dish it, but I have no doubt that it will be common web-gossip within days...  not only about the "players" but about the backstabbing that's going on now, and some people I hold in the highest regard getting thrown under the bus.  

Sad, sad stuff.

[mcfoto]

Been following MFD for the past few years ( from 1999), used to shoot almost entirely MFD & now back to Canon. This past year has been a turning point. With MFD we are with two players now being Hasselblad & Phase/Mamiya. The Hy6 has turned into a white elephant. For Sinar to survive they have to open the platform to who is left.
Denis

[Nemo]

Been following MFD for the past few years ( from 1999), used to shoot almost entirely MFD & now back to Canon. This past year has been a turning point. With MFD we are with two players now being Hasselblad & Phase/Mamiya. The Hy6 has turned into a white elephant. For Sinar to survive they have to open the platform to who is left.
Denis

In this context it is very strange Leica's development of the S2 camera.

There is no explicit connection, but Hasselblad/Imacon designed and produced the R digital back for Leica, and Jenoptik/Sinar did the same (regarding electronics) for the M8 camera. Do you remember the attempt of buying of Sinar by Leica two years ago? It was another strange episode. Leica signed a collaboration agreement with Phase One, and a few months later it was broken. Now Leica is attacking Hasselblad and Mamiya/Phase One with the S2, and, probably, Panasonic with a new Leica-made compact camera.

Sinar, Leaf and Franke & Heidecke had financial problems, Jenoptik is a large company, and Phase One seems to be healthy enough to buy Mamiya and Leaf's assets, but Leica had luck with the funds raised by Andreas Kaufmann (current owner of the company). Leica also was in bankruptcy when Kaufmann bought the company.

The industry of the "small players" is very shaky at this moment... There is a concentration process, and a fight for surviving. Only 3 players seem to remain in the playground: Hasselblad, Mamiya/Phase One and Leica.

[PdF]

A good explication of the Hy6's problems (in German) :

[a href=\'index.php?act=findpost&pid=0\']http://www.photoscala.de/Artikel/Stochern-im-Nebel-Zur-Zukunft-der-Hy6[/a]

PdF

[mcfoto]

A good explication of the Hy6's problems (in German) :

[a href=\'index.php?act=findpost&pid=0\']http://www.photoscala.de/Artikel/Stochern-im-Nebel-Zur-Zukunft-der-Hy6[/a]

PdF

Try this link
http://translate.google.com.au/translate?h...cial%26hs%3DaqP