As far back as I can remember,
the photography equipment industry has never experienced a serious downturn even when the economic situation changed.
Even in an excellent economic environment, the
industry did not grow all that vigorously. On the other hand, when the
economy turned down, the photography equipment industry was not that
severely impacted.
When the economic bubble in Japan burst in 1991,
digital technology introduced many new trends into a variety of
industries. Digital technology dramatically reshaped the photography
industry. In the photographic equipment industry and many other fields,
digital technology made companies either clear winners or clear losers.
While some enterprises are winning and growing in new directions, others
are having difficulty surviving. Amidst these circumstances, Velbon is
neither a winner nor a loser. The company has stayed in the middle by
constantly developing new and unique tripods.
Velbon introduced the Mountain Chaser in 1995, the
Carmagne 640 and QRA-635 in 1996, panheads made of magnesium alloy in
1997, the MAXi 343E in 2001, the ULTRA MAXi in 2002, and the El Carmagne
tripod series in 2003. Constant innovation and the introduction of new
materials and devices resulted in the flow of new products.
