Has The Canon 5D Mark I Been Discontinued?

Last week, at a media session playing with Canon’s latest range of new cameras, I casually glanced up from the screen of the new 50D DSLR and asked them, “So, when are we going to see the new 5D?” Their response was unsurprising: “No comment”. However they did follow that by hinting its imminent arrival: “There’s always something around the corner”.

To throw fuel on the rumour fire that’s growing every day we get closer to Photokina, tipster Norman tells us that he has been informed by Canon Australia and authorised Canon reseller Digital Camera Warehouse that Canon has discontinued the 5D Mk.

“DCW told me that it had received an email from Canon on 28 August 2008, advising that the 5D “has been officially discontinued”.
I followed this news up with Canon Australia (Sales) that advised me “the Canon Australia warehouse stock is zero and there are no new orders being placed”.

When we asked a Canon representative about this, their response was:

“No, Canon Australia has not discontinued the Canon 5D, however Canon is unsure when the next shipment will arrive.”

So, can we expect a new 5D Mk II to land in our laps in the next month or so? I really hope so, especially if those leaked specs were accurate – I’m setup as a Canon man, but the Nikon D90 was starting to tempt me in unnatural ways with its HD video recording and abundance of features…

[Thanks Norman!]