Sony has officially discontinued the last of their DSLRs (the A99 Mark II, the A77 Mark II, and the A68). Some lingering inventory may be out in dealer/distributor hands, but we’re basically past “last call” on the A-mount DSLR.
Of course, many of you thought they were already gone and are wondering why it took so long for the coroner’s results to be published. What tends to happen is that a few clients regarded as key still have a product being used in production. If they break the product they have, they want to replace it directly, not with something else.
For instance, several Nikon DSLRs were used in various traffic systems over the years (red light monitors, speed traps, etc.). The vendor who bought all those cameras doesn’t want to have to rewrite any software or do any new testing if they have to replace one, they just want to replace like-for-like.
So some cameras end up with lingering availability, even though the manufacturer isn’t actively selling them any more. Eventually, though, the inventible happens and it isn’t viable for the camera maker to continue to supply something, typically because of parts.
