Canon EOS 20Da - What Happened?

Someday I'd like to treat myself to a nice digital SLR, so I was reading the piece on the Canon EOS 20Da in the July Astronomy with some interest. Then I noticed a "Product Note" saying Canon had annouced the camera was being discontinued as of April 21. Anyone know why? Not enough interest?

The enhanced H-alpha pass sounded very nice.

Clear skies, Alan

Alan,

Actually, nothing happened besides what Canon said was going to happen in the first place. They announced some while ago that they were going to make a limited run of Astro specialized 20D's called the 20Da. They did that. Then their run was over. It was never meant to be a forever offering.

Now, one very interesting development was a by-product of RTMC. Every year the RTMC people award an honor to whoever has made a great innovation in amateur astronomy. This year, the award went to Canon. A rep from Canon came to receive the award. He was very impressed with all that happens at RTMC. Apparently he did not realize that their camera had such an impact on such a bunch of enthusiasts.

So, maybe we will hear more from Canon in the future. In the meanwhile, as they said they would do after making a limited number of 20 Da's, Canon has stopped production.

Alex