Posted on 03/11/2011 6:26:58 PM PST by libh8er
Canon was forced to halt production at some of its manufacturing plants after power failures caused by the Japan earthquake.
In a statement, the company has also confirmed that around 12 employees suffered minor injuries at its lens factory in Utsunomiya.
However, Canon says that buildings and factories have not suffered major damage, as it assesses the impact of the quake on production.
A spokesperson for Canon Europe was not able to confirm which factories were forced to stop production.
It is also not clear whether there were any British nationals among those working at the damaged plants.
However, we understand that Canon has informed the family and colleagues of those affected by the disaster.
Statement released by Canon this afternoon:
'Canon can confirm that the Canon Inc headquarters and the Canon Group Subsidiary locations in Japan did not suffer major damage to any buildings or factories as a result of today's earthquake and tsunami.
'In one location, Canon Utsunomiya, approximately 12 employees suffered minor injuries and in some Canon manufacturing sites production was suspended as a result of power failures.
'Canon is currently assessing the situation regarding the impact of the earthquake on production.
'Our thoughts are with our colleagues and customers in Japan and here in Europe who have friends and family there.'
Canon is the greatest Japanese consumer photography equipment maker after Panasonic and Sony.
Their cameras are excellent value for the money!
That’s the other side of the quake: massive damage to plants and infrastructure. It’s going to bite, big time.
Later reports indicate one employee fell into a lens grinding machine and made a spectacle of himself.
I myself have a printer of theirs and it works wonderfully.
Canon's a good company, glad to hear their people are OK.
One of Nikon’s plants is in the Sendai area...
I know. Ken Rockwell, in typical style, is already referring to Nikon in the past tense. :)
I used to be a Nikon guy. Film and digital. But after the SECOND failure of my D70's shutter-block, days after warranty ended on the repair of the first, on a road trip and WAY too expensive to replace with new and incompatible Nikon gear, I was "reduced" to a Canon S3 IS (pseudo-SLR, no lens substitutes) for an event.
But in the course of that event I came to kind like the unfamiliar Canon.
Soon after return home I discovered and installed CHDK and, as a result, outside of the S3's limited glass, I have a camera that serves me far better than the Nikon D70 ever did. And now has worked longer too.
My tagline hints at why I will not buy Sony. Nikon, well, I've sunk money into them and I am not happy with the result. Too unreliable and WAY too expensive to repair. The D70 is about to go up on sale as "spare parts" for anything other than the second defunct shutter block.
And I will soon find a way to unload the rest of the Nikon gear I have.
(s) Former Nikon Guy, looking towards Canon
Read Thom’s info on this page: http://www.bythom.com
I bought my D70 in March of 2004. 30000+ exposures later it was still going strong when I retired it in 2008 for a D200. Two things I didn’t like about the D70 were, 1) it underexposed slightly - apparently to preserve highlights since since highlights tend to burn out easily on the D70 chip, and 2) Auto white balance was too blue for my taste. Other than that it served me well and I made many memories with it. The D200 has neither of the two problems but is big and heavy so sits inside most of the time. I do most of my ‘everyday’ photography with a Canon 20d, a camera I like very much and which feels most natural to me.
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