Mamiya 7 discontinued?

[dfranklin]

I just noticed that B&H now lists almost all Mamiya 7 components as "discontinued." They still seem to have the 7ii body and the 150mm in stock, but all other lenses and the camera + 80mm are listed as "discontinued." Has Mamiya stopped producing the M7? It's still listed under "legacy products" on their website...

 

[sevo]

Mamiya Germany still list it (along with the RZ67 ProIId and AFDII/III) among their current analogue products. But then they have no more digital products listed, the ZD now is in their "history" section. That looks as if they are migrating towards marketing all current digital products under the PhaseOne brand.

 

[Markus]

That would be bad news.

 

[Tijmendal]

I'm surprised they weren't discontinued yet. I reckon a store like B&H is just selling off their last stock. The camera is pretty old and I'd be surprised if more than 10 new ones are sold each year worldwide.
Let's just hope that they will keep servicing them for many years to come.

 

[Johnmcd]

I just picked up very good condition M7II (just to get the 50mm lens it came with). The plan was to sell my older M7. I think I'll keep it as a spare now.

John

 

[Markus]

Well, the Mamiya 7 is a "old" camera, but I think it's a good camera too. Even if bought new, it's a bargain. I mean I've spend more money on my Canon gear, but the M7 is a real camera unlike the Canon EOS. The M7 solves the biggest downside of a Leica: the small format. I would be sad to see Mamiya doscontinuing the M7. Digital is a comparatively new way of making and storing photos. Film is proven over the last 100 years and its weaknesses (think of the early days of colour photography) are well known. Who can guarantee that a .cr2 works in 10 or 20 years?

 

[BillBingham2]

....Who can guarantee that a .cr2 works in 10 or 20 years?

If there is a market for it, it will be.

Keep in mind there are folks out there who can develop imaging software so while it might be a problem, it's not impossible. Just a matter of time and money.

I'm hoping that some folks will keep medium format cameras in product but I'm afraid it's not looking good. While LF cameras are still being made, their complexity from a manufacturing perspective is not that of a camera such as the Mamiya 7 series. No chips keep being made, no boards to be stuffed, just a small program on a CNC machine or two.