A week after the disaster in Japan, the situation does not look very good. Companies continue to issue warnings about halted production and damaged plants. Fortunately there has not been any life loss reported from the major photo equipment manufacturers. Those are the latest updates:
B&H sent out the following email today to all Fujifilm FinePix X100 pre-orders:
B&H received the following note regarding availability of the Fujifilm FinePix X100 today from Fujifilm USA. We regret any inconvenience this may cause. We are mindful, though, of Japan's human tragedy, which is ongoing and will remain so for some time. Lives are lost and families are homeless on a scale which seems, from news reports, as great or greater than any natural disaster in memory.
FUJIFILM FinePix X100 Statement
March 16, 2011. Due to the March 11th earthquake that affected northeast Japan, the factory responsible for production of the new Fujifilm FinePix X100 digital camera has been temporarily shut down due to safety concerns. FUJIFILM is currently assessing the factory conditions as well as accessibility via domestic logistics and working to determine the potential impact on the X100 market availability and initially scheduled release dates. FUJIFILM is making every effort to quickly gather the information needed to provide an accurate update to our retail partners and consumers. FUJIFILM appreciates your patience and will provide a formal update as soon as possible.
Today I also received an update from Samyang:
Delta Company, the sole representative and distributor of Samyang products for Europe announces there may be some temporary shortage of Samyang lenses in late April and early May. This is due to suspension in deliveries of optical lenses produced in Japan by factories located on the area destroyed by the Tsunami wave which hit Japanese shores on 11th of March 2011. We will be informing our customers about any changes concerning availability of our products.
A recap on other companies can be found here.
I already mentioned on NikonRumors that the best way to help is to donate directly to the Japanese Red Cross. From the US, the easiest way to make a donation is through Google.
