The two firms merged in 2003 but have failed to capitalise on the digital camera boom as demand for analogue film slips away. Konica was established in 1873 and started making cameras in 1903, while Minolta entered the industry in 1928. The company said: 'Our cameras have been the pillar that shouldered all of our branding efforts, but in order to secure future growth we realise we have to bring the curtain down on the business.' The firm has yet to specify where the cuts will be made. Under a plan agreed at the end of last year it will cut 3,700 jobs - or 11% of its global workforce - by the end of September 2007. To stem the losses it will focus on profitable sides of its business, such as printers, photocopiers and parts for liquid crystal displays. The company, saddled with a ¥90bn (£445m) bill in restructuring charges, said it expected to suffer a group net loss of ¥47bn this financial year, compared with a ¥7.5bn profit last year. Konica Minolta has struggled in the face of competition from better-known makers, such as Canon, and has suffered a dip in its share of the $13bn global digital camera market.

The Japanese company, the world's third-biggest maker of photographic film after Eastman Kodak and Fuji Photo Film, will sell its single-lens reflex (SLR) camera business to Sony as part of an agreement reached last year.

The demise of traditional film photography gathered pace yesterday when Konica Minolta said it would stop making cameras and photographic film in an attempt to stem expected losses this financial year.

Sony minolta camera