New York Photo Show

[r.e.]

Went this afternoon. Good show, some quick observations:

There were a couple of exhibitors focused on the use of digital still cameras for video, but it looks like video remains peripheral, at least for this show.

The Leica space was classy & well-manned by knowledgeable people. Unfortunately, I didn't know about the off-site demonstration of the S2, which is a very interesting camera. I was told that backlog on the M9P is about two weeks for black, four weeks for silver. They are apparently seeing a run on the latter. If it weren't for the ISO performance at lower light levels, I'd buy one in a heartbeat. While I was there, a young man with a Rollie TWIN Lens Reflex asked when the M10 is coming out. To my surprise, he did not get an answer However, he gets big points for the only Rollie, indeed the only film camera, that I saw the entire time that I was at the show.

I know that this is politically incorrect, but it was hard to escape the fact that everyone at long-time spaces like HP Marketing, which seems to get smaller and less relevant every year, look like refugees from a retirement camp (sorry Bob), and that the Novoflex space, right next door, was run by an enthusiastic, and quite knowledgeable, young man in his 20s who was pretty obviously brought in from Germany despite the fact that HP represents Novoflex in the U.S. In fairness, there was a young woman in the proximity of the HP booth representing Giotto tripods, but if she had anything to do with HP, it wasn't obvious. It was like a different, and comparatively refreshing, operation.

Kodak and Fuji have tiny areas devoted to film, and Kodak is giving away free rolls (one per person, on the honour system) of 35mm and 120.

HP had a large display about turning film negatives into digital negatives for the purpose of turning the latter into conventionally printed prints. The people at the HP booth had trouble explaining the process, and the HP expert to whom I was referred, when I got into a discussion with him about its applicability to large format negatives, eg 8x10, said: "Very few of the people at this show would know what an 8x10 negative is".

It was a pleasure to meet Messrs. Vogt and Kuklas at the Arca-Swiss space and to see/discuss the R line. I'll be back at the Arca-Swiss booth tomorrow toward closing, because M. Vogt kindly offered to fix, from his demonstration gear for the show, an Arca-Swiss clamp that I need to function this weekend and that I stupidly managed to damage a few days ago. Much obliged to both Rod and Martin.

[AnselAdamsX]

Last year Kodak gave away a box of 8x10 to someone from FPP. I guess I shouldn't get my hopes up

[r.e.]

Last year Kodak gave away a box of 8x10 to someone from FPP. I guess I shouldn't get my hopes up

The closest that I saw was Fuji Instant colour and black and white film for 4x5, in a display case, at the Fuji booth, and they are not giving it away. That was the only large format film that I saw at the entire show.

[r.e.]

If I have one observation about the show, it is that I expected to see more emphasis on the use of 35mm cameras with video capability. Maybe exhibitors are addressing this at video-focused shows, but it surprises me that there is very little focus on video at the NY show. Give it two years, and my bet is that it will be ubiquitous.

[ROL]

HP had a large display about turning film negatives into digital negatives for the purpose of turning the latter into conventionally printed prints.

Did you mean to say: ...turning digital negatives into film negatives...?

Kodak and Fuji have tiny areas devoted to film, and Kodak is giving away free rolls (one per person, on the honour system) of 35mm and 120.

So, how many did you get?

I know that this is politically incorrect, but it was hard to escape the fact that everyone at long-time spaces like HP Marketing, which seems to get smaller and less relevant every year, look like refugees from a retirement camp...

...The people at the HP booth had trouble explaining the process, and the HP expert to whom I was referred, when I got into a discussion with him about its applicability to large format negatives, eg 8x10, said: "Very few of the people at this show would know what an 8x10 negative is".

Thanks a bunch. Today I learned Freestyle no longer stocks cold tone paper, A&I is stopping all E6, and Bob Carnie makes machine produced fiber B/W as good or better than traditional prints.

[r.e.]

Did you mean to say: ...turning digital negatives into film negatives...?

Hi ROL,

I meant film negatives into digital files into digital negatives into conventional prints.

So, how many [free rolls of film] did you get?

One roll of 120 Ektar.

[Bob Salomon]

Glad you saw our booth but you did not notice, aparently, that the booth was 40' long and went from Giottos on one end to Novoflex on the opposite end, all one booth. In the booth were the owners of Novoflex and the son of one (the young guy), the top management from Linhof as well as from Rodenstock (one a young woman) and 3 employees from HP Marketing (me, our Product Manager (female) and another manager from our office. We also had our sales rep and his wife from San Diego and our rep from the south east in the booth.

Sorry if you felt that most of use were old but I guarantee you that none were refugees.

So 7 of the people working in the booth were from the Linhof, Novoflex and Rodestock factories in Germany and 6 of the people in the booth were from the USA. But that Novoflex section was an intregal part of our booth.

[36cm2]

You tell 'em, Bob. Everyone knows that refugees don't carry Linhofs.

Leo

[Helen Bach]

The closest that I saw was Fuji Instant colour and black and white film for 4x5, in a display case, at the Fuji booth, and they are not giving it away. That was the only large format film that I saw at the entire show.

Kodak had boxes of 4x5 and 8x10 film in the display sitting at the left end of the free film table.

I was disappointed by the HP inkjet neg display. I saw definite, visible inkjet banding in the main displayed image that would be unacceptable to me and probably others, and very poor definition in one of the others (probably from a thoughtless choice of original image). The silo image was another poor choice of image for demonstrating the capabilities of the system.

Because the run-up to Christmas is a busy time I only managed to attend on Saturday. Many of the staff on the stands seemed burnt out and weary. The guys on the Fuji and Kodak film stands, and the Arca-Swiss stand were exceptions to that - they were all friendly and forthcoming. I was surprised that no-one at the HP Marketing booth wanted to chat to me, or tell me who to chat to, about the Digarons I am thinking of buying. I don't know what I wanted to talk about or if it really mattered, but you never know what you will learn or who will become a helpful contact. It's a lot easier to learn about / rent / borrow Digitars before choosing them.

Best,
Helen

[Bob Salomon]

Kodak had boxes of 4x5 and 8x10 film in the display sitting at the left end of the free film table.

I was disappointed by the HP inkjet neg display. I saw definite, visible inkjet banding in the main displayed image that would be unacceptable to me and probably others, and very poor definition in one of the others (probably from a thoughtless choice of original image). The silo image was another poor choice of image for demonstrating the capabilities of the system.

Because the run-up to Christmas is a busy time I only managed to attend on Saturday. Many of the staff on the stands seemed burnt out and weary. The guys on the Fuji and Kodak film stands, and the Arca-Swiss stand were exceptions to that - they were all friendly and forthcoming. I was surprised that no-one at the HP Marketing booth wanted to chat to me, or tell me who to chat to, about the Digarons I am thinking of buying. I don't know what I wanted to talk about or if it really mattered, but you never know what you will learn or who will become a helpful contact. It's a lot easier to learn about / rent / borrow Digitars before choosing them.

Best,
Helen

Helen,

Sorry we didn't get to you. No one had told me you were there and had questions. Do you know who you spoke to at our booth? You can also always call me at 800 735-4373, though I am out today because of a funeral.

You can also come visit us, 25 miles west of the city or make an appointment to meet us at a dealer like FotoCare.