Any new toys from Photokina this year?
Printable View
Any new toys from Photokina this year?
Yes
A new Alpa 6x9cm camera Alpa 12 XY
http://www.alpa.ch/photokina2006/
and new hand-held Arca Swiss cameras, two models, a 6x9cm and a 4"x5". Plus new ball-heads.
http://www.largeformatphotography.in...ad.php?t=20111
http://www.schoditsch.com/arcaswiss2...wiss_page1.jpg
http://www.schoditsch.com/arcaswiss2...wiss_page2.jpg
http://www.schoditsch.com/arcaswiss2...wiss_page3.jpg
http://www.schoditsch.com/arcaswiss2...wiss_page4.jpg
http://www.schoditsch.com/arcaswiss2...wiss_R_m3d.jpg
Plus the Linhof Technika 3000 and an improvement of the Technorama
http://www.largeformatphotography.in...ad.php?t=20039
http://www.linhof.de/download/LINHOF_NEWS_06-d.pdf
Plus some new medium format products (but this is off-topic here)
and a 6x15 Seitz scanning back camera.
http://www.largeformatphotography.in...ad.php?t=19894
http://www.largeformatphotography.in...ad.php?t=19917
I'm not sure the announcements were literally at Photokina, I started seeing rumors a week or two before, but the big news for me was the new printers from Epson and HP. 17" wide prints for around $1,000, 24" wide prints for not a whole lot more . One of the HPs is self-profiling.
Brian,
There are lots of reports appearing on the Epson 3800. With it's much improved dithering and more economical black ink switching, this appears to be a great deal at approx $1295. I'm thinking of getting one as more & more of by work is settling in on 16x20 / 16x24.
Regards,
The Alpa 12XY looks very interesting (but out of my range). I downloaded the photos and it seems like it is... a large format camera for the high-end digital world. A large paltform that allows you to -- perfectly -- stitch six high-res medium format digital back captures. Beautiful machining too.
I'm surprised it hasn't gotten more attention here.
What?
No updated version of the inexpensive "cube?" :)
That would be a nice toy to have but, at $1,500, it's just toooooo costly!
Now, that Technika 3000 is a sweet looking camera.
Cheers
I too had pretty well decided on the 3800 to replace my aging and 13" limited 2200 also. However, the more I read about a couple of the HP printers the more intrigued I am, especially the one (or maybe there's more than one) with the profiling feature. I haven't yet been able to keep the HP model numbers and features in my mind but IIRC there's one that will print 24" wide and that costs under $2000. I'm going to wait about six months so that I'll have a chance to read some user reports and then decide.
Hello Brian Ellis,
That HP would be the DesignJet 130 with the spectrophotometer built in. You can also order a version of the DesignJet 90 with thatm though it only prints up to 17" wide.
Ciao!
Gordon Moat
A G Studio
Everytime I buy an HP for the kids they suck. Every Epson works out of the box, They lost me a couple years and a couple $$$ ago...
Interesting you would say that Frank, and I agree with you regarding their consumer items. In fact, about three years ago I would have told you that anything from HP was the worst crap you could ever buy. After seeing numerous DesignJet 130 printers in usage, and many sample prints, I would be more confident of using that than any Epson 7000 or 9000 series I have seen in use. Of course, living near where these HP printers are developed helps make service easier, though it seems quite rare to need service. So yeah . . . I would not recommend a cheap HP for your kids either.
;)
I am not against Epson gear, know several fine art photographers using these, and it seems anyone picking an Epson has a ready support base of users. They are definitely the marketing powerhouse in the inkjet world, though that should be far from the compelling reason to only consider whatever Epson makes. You can make bad (or good) prints with Epson printers just as easily as with any other printer.
:D
Anyway, if I had the cash to put into a wide ink printer, the best results I have seen were from ColorSpan printers. Then the professional high end line of Seiko (as in Seiko-Epson Company) and the very wide HP printers (DesignJet 5500 or 9000 series, et al). Likely all these are out of the reach of anyone on this forum. Anyway, if anyone is interested try to find the Spencer Labs or FLAAR reports on wide inkjet systems (pigment, dye, solvent, or other types) to evaluate cost per square foot, service and maintenance issues, training and set-up, etc.
Ciao!
Gordon Moat
A G Studio