EF50/1.8 discontinued?

[droosan]

It is out of stock at bhphoto.com and doesn't seem to be sold at cameraworld.com. keh.com is still shipping them.

I have long used this lens as a way to get people (who've never taken off the nasty cheap zoom their Canon SLR came with) to understand that the lens is more important for the final result, than the camera.

I can understand why Canon would discontinue it. I can't imagine they make more than $20 on each one and two of them would take up as much shipping volume as something that would bring $200 profit.

I don't have a personal interest. I have a 50/1.4 which I prefer because it focuses more quickly.

But still I think it is mean of Canon. Does anyone know anything?

[Longwatcher]

They have the US version in stock (as of 1PM EST), the import version is out of stock though. However, I had to be very specific in my search to find the US version as the import version showed up on the first page, but unlike previous visits, the US version was on a different page.

There is only a $5-6 difference.

A large number of lenses have been poping up as out of stock lately (like the 70-200/2.8L IS) mainly due to the vast quantity of people buying DSLRs and a few highly recommended lenses faster then Canon can produce them. (or so my speculation goes)

As to the imports, BH may also be trying to limit the number of import versions they bring in.

Just my research and speculation,