Editorial
By Peter Fortune
Some years ago my wife and I visited a small church in a small village called Tudeley near Tonbridge in Kent. A couple who lived close to Tudeley lost their 21 year old daughter in a boating accident off Rye on the South Coast and commissioned Marc Chagall to create a stained glass East Window for the church. When Chagall arrived to instal the window he was so impressed by the church that he said he would create stained glass widows for all the windows (12 in total). After spending nearly 2 hours taking pictures of the widows I could hardly wait to get home and produce a collage of selections from the various images. When I worked up the collage I found that I did not have enough sections to complete the collage I had hoped for so I took 4 sections from my photograph of the Benjamin Britten memorial window in Aldeburgh Parish Church which I had taken the year before.
I was so pleased with the collage that I had it professionally printed and framed. It now hangs in pride of place above the fireplace in the sitting room. It is often commented on and admired by visitors to the house. This was the most satisfying project I have done to date.
Being a Nikon owner I take an interest in the financial results of the company. I did review these about 3 years ago when the business was having a tough time making a loss in 1 year. A number of pundits were predicting a possible take-over or even a business closure. (Business closures very very rarely happen in Japan - a white knight is usually found to get the business back on a firm footing.) The business was criticised for a failure to bring to market new products! Well anyone who has been looking at Nikon in the last few years will have noticed a dramatic change with several new cameras and lenses being launched in quick succession.
The extension to the Z range (mirrorless) equipment has been remarkable going from 2 cameras to 10 and 3 lenses to a huge range. The range also covers the entire market except for the simple point and shoot cameras. In their financial results for the year 22-23. Revenue for the year ending in April 2023 shows 178.2 billion yen (£32.1 billion). There is a statement that says the product development will generate more equipment exclusively in the Z range of equipment. This means that the D range of SLRs will be left unexpanded for the foreseeable future. Clearly Nikon sees the future as mirrorless - most of the major camera brands have already adopted the same policy. When a business loses its way it is very pleasing to see it making a dramatic recovery.
Peter Fortune, RPS Landscape Group Newsletter Editor.
Header Image: Ludlow High Street © Peter Fortune
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