There has been a new article on photoscala.de about the insolvency of F&H. The title of the article "sic tranit gloria mundi" is a good summary :-((
http://photoscala.de/Artikel/Sic-transit-gloria-mundi-0Nothing really new; but this time I am really _not_ optimistic since apparently F&H rented their buildings and even certain machines. F&H does not hold the Rollei trademarks and the photogrammetric division has been sold to another company. So if nobody supports F&H with contracts, the company can stop very quickly.
Really sad if you read all the F&H optimistic presse releases of the year 2008... too optimistic ? may be the product line was not completely ready, so no real sales, no real cash entering the company... and probably also, the current banking difficulties put an abrupt end to the story... like for many other companies (times are extremely hard in the automotive industries on both sides of the Atlantic...)
Sinar has announced as reported on a Swiss photo web site... http://www.fotointern.ch/archiv/2009/03/17/sinar-wie-weiter-nach-der-insolvenz-von-franke-heidecke/...that the (probable) demise of the HY6 project will not prevent them to continue with other products like the Artec digital view camera.
By a _very_ unpleasant coincidence, the editor (Henry Peyre) of galerie-photo.info, my favourite web site dealing with MF and LF photography, had decided to prepare a special issue on the Rollei TLR for MArch 09... for those who can read French, this is the list of articles including an essay by myself on the "Rollei TLR as a symbol" (le rolleiflex et son image)
"The Rollei TLR and its image (as a symbol)" by E. Bigler http://www.galerie-photo.com/rolleiflex-image.html
"Questions asked by future Rollei TLR owners", a digest of the galerie-photo.info forum by H. Peyre http://www.galerie-photo.com/acheter-rolleiflex_questions.html
"The rollei tlr slide projection attachement" by J.P. Sion http://www.galerie-photo.com/rollei-bi-projecteur-convertible.html
"My Rolleiflexes" by R. Mouginaot http://www.galerie-photo.com/rolleiflex-remi-mouginot.html
"Does it make sense to buy a Rollei TLR in 2009 ?" by H. Peyre http://www.galerie-photo.com/acheter-rolleiflex.html
"Comparison of image quality : canon EOS 5Dmk2 vs. Rolleiflex 3.5F xenotar" by H. Peyre http://www.galerie-photo.com/comparatif-rolleiflex-35F-xenotar-canon-5dmk2.html
-----------If I have time I'll try to translate my essay... with the hope that it not the end of the story for Rollei / F&H / cameras !
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