Xpan discontinued.

[genen]

No truth to Discontinued XPan Camera!

I called Hasselblad's headquarters in New Jersey and was called back by a customer service director in film cameras, who said the XPan II is not being discontinued.

The rumor runs when one does not have the facts. …hay….. it raised the price on ebay of used XPan cameras.

 

[photogdave]

Not to be a downer but Hasselblad discontinued the whole V system without announcing it until a long time after. It is quite likely that they have enough XPans in stock to supply the demand for a few more years without making more.
I'm not saying this is a fact, just a probability.

 

[StuartR]

It is not in the interest of Hasselblad to say when it is discontinued...if they do that they have difficulty selling their remaining stock to dealers, and many consumers don't want to buy a model that is on its way out. Like they did with the 200 series and the 501CM and now the whole V system, they will probably stop production and just wait until the stocks are getting critically low, and then when a dealer tries to order some they will say: "Oh, sorry, we discontinued that..."

Anyway, just a minor rant on Christian Poulsen...he just doesn't seem to care about the film side of things at all (other than the scanners anyway). A matter of months after taking over Hasselblad and the V system and X system are on their way out, while the H1 and H2 are offering film support almost as an afterthought.

 

[Doug]

I understand that cameras are typcially made in batches, then the line is changed to produce a batch of some other model. They make enough to supply expected demand for some reasonable period of time, and when the supply in the pipeline gets low and they anticipate additional demand, they produce another batch... but usually there are some improvements made to the new batch and it may then have a different model designation.

So, as I understand it, when a camera is "discontinued" it means it's replaced by a whole new camera... or there are unsold cameras in the distribution pipeline that are not selling well enough to justify cranking up the production line for another batch, and no reasonable improvement is likely to rekindle demand.

 

[StuartR]

On the Leica forum it seemed to indicate that Fuji told Hasselblad they needed to ramp up production, otherwise Fuji would have to stop production, and Hasselblad decided to stop production instead of buying more cameras...

 

[bcool]

I also sent email to Hasselblad USA and got the response.
The consumer relations department confirmed it
and said "Hasselblad has alerted their dealers to the fact that production will be
phased out in the first half of this year. There is still inventory available and service and parts support will continue for years."

I disclose this because what I got is totally different from what genen got.

 

[schaubild]

Hard to understand. The format of the XPan is unique and the lenses are exceptionally good. With the wide wide angle lenses you can get results that are very hard (and expensive) to reproduce with current digital equipment.

I have two XPan prints displayed in an exhibition just now and people seem to like them because of their unique look and image quality.

 

[StuartR]

Hard to understand. The format of the XPan is unique and the lenses are exceptionally good. With the wide wide angle lenses you can get results that are very hard (and expensive) to reproduce with current digital equipment.

I have two XPan prints displayed in an exhibition just now and people seem to like them because of their unique look and image quality.

Just to play devil's advocate here, but it is not entirely unique, nor entirely hard to reproduce with digital. There were 6x17 cameras and Widelux/Noblex cameras on the pro side and APS panarama on the consumer side long before the Xpan. And with the power and ease of the new digital stiching programs it is a simple matter to combine photos into a panarama even if you did not use a tripod and carefully line up the negatives. Even film users who use a scanner can do this quite easily and without the added expense of a dedicated camera. You can make them as long or as short as you like. Heck, Andrew Nemeth even does 360 degree spherical panaramas in quicktime with a Leica R and a 16mm Elmarit Fisheye. I definitely mourn the Xpan's passing, but it is not a death of the panaramic format, just the end of a pleasant to use solution for panaramas in a rangefinder's body. Just take solace in the fact that the Xpans are very well built and there should be a strong used market for a long time to come.

 

[schaubild]

Just to clear some things: I'm very much aware of the 6x17 format, a Linhof Technorama is sitting on my shelf, it just hasn't been used much in the past. Even if it delivers outstanding quality, but in MF I almost exlusively use 6x9 today.
I won't comment on APS, image quality of cropped images is not getting better by reducing the size.
And if you can show me how you stitch scenes with moving objects, please tell me. I use Realviz Stitcher for digital panos and have not seen this feature yet.

 

[genen]

>>>>>follow-up>>>>

Yesterday I too e-mailed Hasselblad USA - this reply was different than the phone call last week – to protect the integrity of the Hasselblad sales Rep – He did say “It was in production” He never stated it was “going” to be discontinued maybe he didn’t know (?).

(>>>e-mail message>>> ...The Hasselblad headquarters recently alerted their worldwide distributors, which in turn alerted retailers to the fact that the XPan system would be phased out of production in the first half of this year. Rather than make way for a new model, this move will end the roughly eight year run of this line. Details about the reasons for this decision are not known.
Sincerely,
Consumer Relations Department
Hasselblad USA Inc ....)

617 roll film cameras are fine too for the 3to1 image ratio panoramic.

I started using the Fuji 617 in the late 1980's and like the massive size of the 120 roll film, tripod is often required but I can hand hold it.
I use a Linhof 5x7 Tech with Canham 617 back (120 roll film), like the perspective control, option of viewing the groundglass (you know what is included on the negative) and with the rangefinder I have hand held it. Using 400 or 800 speed film with the large size even a 12x36 inch print doesn’t print apart, 30x90 inch prints really pull you into them! (I'm a wet darkroom type of person)

The XPan fits in my backpack, bike bag or coat pocket and rides along with out letting me know it is there, which means it is there in my hand - to my eye, not in a pelican case in the back of the car or in my studio.

Maybe Fujifilm USA will market the XPan/TX-II camera in the States?

 

[genen]

About stitching on the desktop, I do it all the time for the web for work – fine for a meeting room (people sitting still) or a fixed subject.
I can't stitch an ocean scene with wave crashing or clouds speeding across a weather filled landscape. I have yet been able to shoot multiple images quick enough to capture a wave crashing up onto a beach or an active New York City street-although it is cool to have the same person four times in a stitched scene! A throw back to the old circuit camera trick!

 

[flipflop]

Does this mean Fuji will stop producing the tx-2 as well?

I just sold my xpan 1 + 45mm + 90mm to pay for tuition...sad....im def. going to miss it.

 

[Zack]

Hasselblad merged with imacon on Jan 1. they no longer make film cameras and once the warehouse is empty its gona.

 

[RichardK01]

Hasselblad Merged with Imacon Jan 1?

Hasselblad Merged with Imacon Jan 1?

This is, of course, nonsense.

They merged a long time ago in August 2004.

Go here for the announcement:
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0408/04081701hasselbladimacon.asp

 

[Ben1]

Richard is correct, hasselblad actually bought imacon out middle of last year.


As if the prices of their scanners werent already enough :bang:

 

[Ben1]

haha i see your point... no sympathy from me 🙂


if they are struggling to pay their bills maybe they could try reduce the somewhat over inflated prices of their products.

Problem is, the xpan doesnt have much as far as competition goes in the 35mm format, and imacon scanners are in a league of their own,.. hence the bumped up prices. Stinks really 🙁

 

[ZeissFan]

Stitching together isn't quite as easy as it sounds, particularly if there are people and cars moving in the photos and not just stationary buildings.

 

[StuartR]

Yes, I totally yield on that argument. It was something that did not even occur to me.

And as for the Imablad prices, they are going to be in trouble pretty soon. Think about it...Canon is probably going to have a 20-22 megapixel full frame camera within the next year or so, and it will probably be under 10,000, just like their current 1DsMKII. At 16, they are already reaching pretty far into the Medium Format digital market. It is a hard sell for a pro to buy a medium format digital camera that costs 6000 for the camera and 20000+ for the back, especially considering that the backs are not full frame, make it difficult to shoot wide angles, have worse high ISO performance, much smaller lens selection, slower operation and bulkier equipment. Now I am not saying that a 1DsMkII is competing directly with MF backs, but in many cases a pro has to choose one or the other, and Hasselcon is making the decision easy by pricing their products into the stratosphere. There are very few applications where the output of a 1DsMkII and a MF digital back are easily differentiated by the bulk of the public. If you put two well-executed photos from each camera in a glossy mag, I doubt that most people would choose one over the other for quality. I could be wrong, but I am sure most pros are asking themselves that question...or at least asking whether it is a 20,000 dollar difference.

 

[EmilGil]

On the Leica forum it seemed to indicate that Fuji told Hasselblad they needed to ramp up production, otherwise Fuji would have to stop production, and Hasselblad decided to stop production instead of buying more cameras...

A good friend of mine works as a salesman for Hasselblad in Sweden, and while meeting him the other day, he confirmed that they will cease production of the X-pan. For what it's worth, he mentioned the new European legislation on electronics production as the reason. (To expensive to adapt the electronics to lead-free processes).

I can but agree when critizising the prices, the H2D is touching $33k (excluding 25% VAT) here in Sweden and the H2D-39 is well above $40k...

 

[spysmart]

I'm sure the RoHS regulations banning lead based solder only apply to products 'put on market .. for the first time' from July 2006.

So existing products can continue in production unaffected.

As Hasselblad ( and Fuji ) seem to have lost the plot, and have given up film cameras, they should give the Xpan to Cosina/Voigtländer.
A fair transfer cost would be service support of existing Xpans. Then we can have a Voigtländer/Zeiss 45 f/1.4.