Any hot "analog" news from Photokina?

[HansDerHase]

Now after all the rave and hype about the M8. Are there any hot news for the rangefinder user who is not yet digital?

So far I know of:

• Bessa R4A and R4M
• Fujichrome Provia 400X and T64 Professional
• New Kodak Professional-Portra's
• Rumor about new Maco/Rollei films

Anything new from Ilford?

 

[HansDerHase]

New Rollei films

New Rollei films

Ok, here is some "analog" news..

http://www.foto-riegler.at/neu-aktuelles.htm

- Rollei Slide Direct 50 (slides in simple negative process; no reversal processing needed)
- Rollei IR 820/400 (Infrared)
- Rollei CN400 Pro (Scanfilm)

- Some new Rollei soup...

All pretty expensive (as everything under the Rollei-Brand).

German Forum-Entrys from people who saw a stip at Photokina say that the Slide Direct is no substitute for Agfa Scale (as opposed to claims in the Rollei advertisment). The test shots looked pretty flat and unspectacular.

 

[haagen_dazs]

what is new about the Provia 400X ??
could someone enlighten me?

 

[varjag]

IIRC 400x is supposed to have graininess on par with 100 ISO chromes of previous generation.

 

[Nachkebia]

Yap, but it was announced months ego, wonder why noone sells it yet...

 

[varjag]

Initially it was planned for Japanese domestic market only I think.

 

[Chris Lynch]

yeah, you can already get 400X in japan. B&H said they MIGHT have it this year.

 

[wrenhunter]

Well, Zeiss announced some snazzy new glass. Ironically, the F-mount lenses have me considering a Nikon D50!

 

[Stephan]

Ok, here is some "analog" news..

http://www.foto-riegler.at/neu-aktuelles.htm

- Rollei Slide Direct 50 (slides in simple negative process; no reversal processing needed)
- Rollei IR 820/400 (Infrared)
- Rollei CN400 Pro (Scanfilm)

- Some new Rollei soup...

All pretty expensive (as everything under the Rollei-Brand).

German Forum-Entrys from people who saw a stip at Photokina say that the Slide Direct is no substitute for Agfa Scale (as opposed to claims in the Rollei advertisment). The test shots looked pretty flat and unspectacular.

The slide thing looks pretty good actually too, on the other hand the dudes on the Rollei stand had NO idea what they were talking about. I asked one guy about the chromatic sensitivity of one of their new films (I can't remember which) and after calling up everyone working there they still couldn't figure it out 😛

Unfortunately that's all I can contribute to the debate, I was only there half a day and ended up in the town center getting hammered with some friends 😉

 

[jonasv]

Well, Zeiss announced some snazzy new glass. Ironically, the F-mount lenses have me considering a Nikon D50!

I suggest going to a camera story and trying out the combination of D50 and manual lenses... Remember: no metering (no problem for me) and hard if not impossible to accurately focus faster than f/2.8 lenses, especially close-up (at least, it's more visible close-up because of smaller tolerances).

Been working with a D70 and 50/1.2 lately and while not impossible, it sure is hit-and-miss at times.

The brighter viewfinder of the D80/D200 should help a bit...

 

[BJ Bignell]

A few comments - better late than never, right?

- There were two samples of the new Rollei direct positive b&w slide film on a light box. It looks to be high-contrast like most slide films, but because it's developed exactly the same as b&w negative film, you can theoretically use any b&w developer to adjust contrast and tone. I'm personally pretty excited about this stuff.

- Fuji had huge posters made to show off every one of their pro films, including the new 400X. Their literature indicates that it is designed for "image colour", not "real colour", and it does appear to have stronger saturation. The grain size is also quite good for an ISO400 film. I hope it proves to be a good replacement for 400F.

Photokina was an awesome day out. I've already forgotten most of what I saw, but I do remember enjoying it. I only spent about four hours there, but it was enough: You can only try so many cameras, carry so many brochures, and see so many models before you get tired. 😉

Cheers,
BJ

P.S. One comment not related to analog photography: I got to play with the M8, and it seems to be quite impressive. I did, however, manage to crash the camera after only about the 30 seconds of use. 😀 Even if you turned it off, it stayed in image review mode on the LCD screen, and the battery had to be popped out. I asked the guy at the booth, and the firmware in the Photokina models is only about "95%" ready. Hopefully they have it fixed before release!

 

[wrenhunter]

I suggest going to a camera story and trying out the combination of D50 and manual lenses...

Thanks for the advice, I'll bear that in mind. Luckily I have two good local shops where I can try stuff out.

 

[Michael I.]

I think keiser showcased some enlargers

 

[peter_n]

There were two samples of the new Rollei direct positive b&w slide film on a light box. It looks to be high-contrast like most slide films, but because it's developed exactly the same as b&w negative film, you can theoretically use any b&w developer to adjust contrast and tone. I'm personally pretty excited about this stuff.

This does sound good especially now there is no more Scala. The Rollei films are fairly expensive and I think many are "rebadged". Might be worth figuring out who the OEM manufacturer is... 😉

 

[HansDerHase]

The Rollei films are fairly expensive and I think many are "rebadged". Might be worth figuring out who the OEM manufacturer is... 😉

AFAIK the Slide Direct 50 is developed and made by ORWO exclusively for Maco / Rollei.

So I don't think you can sneak the same film for a more economical price. 🙂

 

[varjag]

I'm also looking forward for Slide Direkt.. if it really is good and price within reach I can see myself shooting a fair amount of it.

 

[kenny12]

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI...10041153271&rd=1&sspagename=STRK:MEWN:IT&rd=1

this one,

 

[peter_n]

AFAIK the Slide Direct 50 is developed and made by ORWO exclusively for Maco / Rollei.

So I don't think you can sneak the same film for a more economical price. 🙂

Thanks for the bad news Hans! 🙁 😉

 

[peter_n]

• Bessa R4A and R4M

Funny that no-one seems interested in this camera. All this hype about the M8 and here we have a really innovative idea that will improve the usability of wide-angles no end. I'm certainly going to track the R4A. You will be able to use a super-wide lens with no separate finder because of the built-in 21mm+ frame lines with parallax correction in the high eyepoint VF. Very 😎 indeed! The only bad thing is that it won't be available until April of 2007. I'm thinking that my 24mm/f2.8 would like this cam very much. 🙂 Link to Gandy's page on the camera:

http://www.cameraquest.com/voigt4m4aintro.htm