As the medium format world turns: Franke & Heidecke closes down, Hassy lands on the moon again

Medium format continues to generate headlines, some good news, some bad news. On the good news front, the Imaging Insider notes that Hasselblad is celebrating the forty year anniversary of the moon landing. But conspiracy theorists and skeptics will point out that it is impossible to take pictures on the moon, because the gravitrons interact with the quarzitrons at the post-molecular sub-structural level, and the resulting nikotrinos make it physically impossible to record an image on film. Therefore, those pictures were taken in a studio ;-)

On the bad news front, the German company Franke and Heidecke that has been having financial troubles is now closing its doors for good. Apart from their rich tradition, their latest projects include work on the Leaf AFi and Sinar Hy6. As you may recall, Leaf is being transitioned from Kodak to a new PhaseOne-controlled company.

Coverage of this story at a number of websites:
+ BJoP breaks the news
+ Leaf AFi is on hold says BJoP
+ Sinar is "processing" the news (BJoP)
+ Potential aftershocks at Adorama ALC
+ RIP says Luminous (look for it under July 4)
+ Employee speaks at AP UK
+ Imaging Insider recaps the situation