Canon press release:

Canon Announces Results of Extended Acceptance Period for Public Cash Offer to the Shareholders of Axis

TOKYO, Japan, April 24, 2015—On February 10, 2015, Canon Inc. (“Canon”; Chairman and CEO: Fujio Mitarai) announced a recommended public cash offer (the “Offer”) to the shareholders in the Swedish company Axis AB (“Axis”; President and CEO: Ray Mauritsson) to tender all their shares in Axis to Canon for 340 Swedish krona per share (the Offer Price). Following the end of the acceptance period under the Offer, Canon decided to extend the acceptance period from April 8 until 17:00 (CET) on April 21, 2015. During the extended acceptance period, Axis shareholders tendered 5,445,997 shares, which accounts for 7.84% of the total number of Axis’s outstanding shares. In addition, Canon has acquired 500,187 Axis shares outside of the Offer. As a result, the combination of these shares with the shares tendered by Axis shareholders during the initial acceptance period brings Canon’s current holdings in Axis to 58,362,081 shares, which corresponds to 84.02% of Axis’s outstanding common stock.

Canon published the financial results for the first quarter 2015. Doesn’t look very good for Canon, given a net income loss of 29%.

• Presentation material for Q1 2015 (PDF)
• Results for Q1 2015 (PDF)

There is also an article by Reuters about Canon’s financial results. Quoting:

“Sales volume for low-end (digital camera) models declined due to the ongoing contraction of the market in all regions from the previous year,” said Canon in its earnings release. Sales of high-end models increased, it said.

Canon also said it expects to sell 7.0 million compact cameras in 2015, versus a previous forecast of 7.8 million and 22.5 percent less than in 2014. It projects sales of cameras with interchangeable lenses to reach 5.8 million units rather than its previous view of 6.4 million.

If you want to have a look for yourself, look into the presentation material, since it is much easier to read and understand.

This is the first pre-order opportunity for the new Mitakon Zhongyi Speedmaster 85mm f/1.2 lens.

eBay selller chinaoptics (97.3% positive ratings) has the [shoplink 28572 ebay]Mitakon Zhongyi Speedmaster 85mm f/1.2 available for pre-order at $799[/shoplink]. They seller states that the lens will ship early May, and that 5 units are available. Please note: this seller appears to have a pretty low number of transactions, and also the rating isn’t stellar.

The Mitakon Zhongyi Speedmaster 85mm f/1.2 lens was announced a week ago. Product description:

The Mitakon Zhongyi Speedmaster 85mm f/1.2 is a ultra-fast portrait lens that delivers unbelievable optical performance. A maximum aperture of f/1.2 makes it extremely convenient for shooting without flash in low light conditions. Designed for the use of full frame cameras, the large aperture also provides fine control over depth of field for fascinating portrait photography. The truly circular aperture creates a shallow depth-of-field that brings attention to the subject and blurs the background, which is critical for portraits. The lens incorporates 9 elements in 6 groups with 2 pieces of Extra-low Dispersion elements & 4 pieces of High Refractive Index elements. This helps reducing aberrations and maintain excellent sharpness even at f/1.2. . Manual focus design and a click-less, silent aperture ring promote smooth handling and are especially well-suited to video applications. The lens is built of metallic enclosure with additional protective processing, which gives extra durability and aesthetic.

Canon press release:

Kat Candler Signs On To Josh Hutcherson’s Next Film For Ron Howard And Canon’s Project Imagination: The Trailer

Candler to Write and Direct Hutcherson’s Next Hollywood Short Film Inspired by a Consumer Story

MELVILLE, N.Y., April 22, 2015 – Canon U.S.A. Inc., a leader in digital imaging, announced today that Kat Candler, a decorated filmmaker best known for “Hellion” and “Black Metal”, has signed on to Canon’s Project Imagination: The Trailer, a consumer contest helmed by Ron Howard. Howard and actor Josh Hutcherson (“The Hunger Games”) will choose one winning trailer to inspire a Hollywood short film starring Hutcherson and written and directed by Candler. Ron Howard and Josh Hutcherson hand selected Candler for the project who’s film “Hellion” was in the 2014 U.S. Dramatic Competition at the Sundance Film Festival and went on to receive Honorable Mention for the Gamechanger Award at the 2014 SXSW Film Festival.

“I’m so excited to work with Kat Candler and after watching ‘Hellion’, it was clear that she is extremely intuitive and can bring thought-provoking work to the screen,” said Josh Hutcherson. “The best part about the project is that I have no idea how the script will unfold with Kat or what type of part I’ll play — it’s totally up for interpretation!”

“Kat’s films are cinematic and she has a very real approach to capturing life experiences in a way that viewers can relate to,” said Ron Howard. “With everyday moments at the crux of this creative experiment, Kat’s technique and skill will lend themselves in the most authentic ways possible.”

“It is an honor to work with Canon, Ron Howard and Josh Hutcherson on this project,” said Kat Candler. “I’m a firm believer that there are many great stories living within each of us and the Project Imagination platform is the perfect opportunity to share and inspire others.”

Project Imagination: The Trailer contest launched in February 2015 and is open for submissions through April 29th. Based on the concept that anything in life can be a movie, and every movie starts with a trailer, even those who have never picked up a camera before can easily turn everyday photo and video footage into a creative movie trailer, with titles, Hollywood style voice-overs and epic soundtracks. Consumers of all skill levels can create and submit trailers of their everyday moments using Canon’s Trailer Editor tool at imagination.usa.canon.com.

For the third iteration of Project Imagination, Francesca Silvestri and Kevin Chinoy of Freestyle Picture Company are once again producing the film, this time with Josh Hutcherson.

For a Lifecake demo video, and other company information, visit www.lifecake.com. To download the app visit the App Store or Google Play.

Canon press release:

LONDON, 23 APRIL 2015 – Canon Europe today announces that it is acquiring London-based digital start-up Lifecake, marking a major step in the development of Canon’s digital consumer services business. This brings Canon closer to its ambition to play a part in every image taken no matter what device is being used, and enables the business to establish a presence within London’s ‘Tech City’.

Lifecake is the company behind the Lifecake photo-sharing app for families, which allows parents to store, organise, share and relive key moments of their children’s lives. With Lifecake, parents can create photo and video timelines that the whole family can experience on smartphones, tablets, computers and in printed photobooks.

Alberto Spinelli, Director of Digital Services at Canon Europe, says: “Today, we are all taking more photos on more devices than ever before but often become overwhelmed and even disconnected from them. We would all like to be able to quickly find our photo as we remember a moment – at the swipe of a finger – and relive it on any screen, or print it to hold. At Canon, we are building digital services to help people do just that with tailored experiences.

“Lifecake is an extremely exciting addition to the Canon Group providing a digital service that makes it easy for families to take control of their ever-increasing number of photos. This acquisition fits perfectly with our vision to give everyone taking photos the tools to bring their stories and experiences to life – and engage with them whenever and wherever they choose.”

CEO and co-founder of Lifecake, Nicholas Babaian comments: “With the reach and technology of Canon, we’ll strap booster rockets onto our service. At the same time, our team will accelerate the growth of Canon’s digital services ecosystem. But we’re most delighted that our existing and potential customers will know their precious memories are safe with one of the most trusted brands in photography – a company that’s helped families capture and relive moments for nearly 80 years and will continue to do so for generations to come.”

Lifecake is currently available in English language worldwide. Today sees the launch of additional language versions in French, German, Spanish and Italian.

More after the break…