The Mamiya ZD Saga

At 22 months, elephants have the longest gestation period of any mammal. We don't yet know what the average gestation period for all-in-one medium format digital cameras might be, since the breed is still too new. But that of theMamiya ZDcan now be noted as something like 18 months, fromPhotokinaannouncement in September 2004, to first shipment in Europe in March, 2006.Pentaxis also in the gestation race, having first announced its 645 medium format DSLR in June of 2005. Current word is that it will be shown in final form at this September'sPhotokina, and ship before year's end. That will mean roughly an 18 month gestation period as well. Maybe we're seeing a trend.
This of course begs the question –why so long? Could it be simply that we are being told about these products at the point that they are just wooden mockups, and that this is the normal time to birth. I think not, because in the case of the ZD, Mamiya have been showing working samples for more than a year, and some ...