Joseph S. has a bit to say about the lead solder issue. If he's correct then lead is not the reason.
DPR
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=60824\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]
I am a bit skeptical of Joe Wisniewski's cynicism, though he is often very well informed. If it were just the Hasselblad XPan maybe, but it is harder to believe Pentax using the same lie just a day or two earlier to cover up discontinuation of the 645AF and 67.
Maybe the truth lies in between: these products are probably produced in intermittent batches, maybe only every year or two, so it could be that none has been made for some time, and this EU lead solder regulation is just one of many factors in the decision not to run further batches when current stocks are gone.
More broadly, I speculate that a great many cameras for film formats larger than 24x36mm have had their last production run, and are not officially discontinued yet because stocks are still slowly selling. Note that new Contax 645 and 35mm cameras are still available, and we know that they have been out of production for some time.
For example
- the last of the 6x6 Hasselblads are one subject of heavy speculation, and the limited edition of 500 503CWD's sounds to me like a "get it while you can" farewell collectors item.
- Fuji's website has dropped any mention of its two 6x8 models and the 6x17.
My speculation runs to about everything MF from Hasselblad, Fuji, Rollei, Mamiya and Pentax being out of production except the 645AF cameras from Hasselblad-Fuji and Mamiya.