Epson Europe discontinues R-D1
By
Mike Tomkins
(Thursday, June 7, 2007 - 16:00 EDT)
A news article on the website of British magazine "Amateur Photographer" reports that Epson has ceased sales of its R-D1 and R-D1s digital cameras in Europe.
Epson's R-D1, first announced back in early 2004, was notable as the world's first digital rangefinder camera. Coupling six megapixel resolution from an APS-C image sensor with a Leica M lens mount that could also accept Leica L lenses via an adapter, the R-D1 quickly gained fans despite a hefty $3000 pricetag. While the R-D1 was available worldwide, the 2006 follow-up R-D1s model was initially available in Japan only with Europe eventually receiving the newer variant as well. Changes were mostly limited to the camera's firmware, and are detailed in our announcement of the R-D1s. In Europe, pricing of the R-D1s was also well below that of the original R-D1.
According to the Amateur Photographer item, Epson Europe seems to have been caught by surprise with the popularity of the camera. With a total production of 10,000 units the full stock of R-D1 and R-D1s cameras allotted to the European market has been sold out, and there are apparently no plans to make more, nor to create a successor camera.
The R-D1s remains available in Japan at the current time. In the US market, only the R-D1 model was sold (and is now listed as out of stock on the company's website).
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