From the plate camera to Lumix S1R

This is not really a write up about the evolution of photography, more about my personal experience and how I want to bring this into our new business venture ‘NCAS_48’, which is to complement our AV business ITI-Image Group. Afterall audio visual and photography belong together.

After my dream becoming a pilot, due to me wearing glasses, was shattered, I started out in a career in photography. Accurately more correctly in dealing with photography, but my education and training brought me face to face with darkroom photographic work. From weddings (not so successful) to medical (not so much fun in running flashlight cables through blood puddles on the floor) to industrial (lots of fun). Of course the photography I really love is travel and, what is nowadays called street photography.

In selling cameras, projectors and darkroom equipment I learned a lot about the equipment of the day and the customers. Since I worked in a small camera store on Hamburg-Harburg, I became involved in virtually all aspects of the business, except bookkeeping. An activity, I still don’t enjoy today.

Being young almost everything was exiting and fun. At least most of the time. In our company we have had a lot of apprentices, whereby apprenticeship in Germany is something very different to what is is here in Australia and it covers much wider fields, including retail management, etc..

One day a week I would travel to the other side of Hamburg to attend the professional school. We learned everything from the mechanics of cameras, to optics and darkroom technics. One of our teachers was a chemist from TETENAL, a company which manufactures photographic chemicals in Hamburg.  Our teacher, Dr. Mutter, was not a typical teacher, but a scientist. He had possibly more in-depth knowledge about the photographic processes than any other teacher in the country. He also loved chess and taught us. So half of our lessons, was playing chess. I don’t know where from, but there were at least 10-15 chess boards in the class. Often these classes were the last one on a Friday and subsequently went over time, until the school caretaker throw us out.

Great times.

Over the years I got to work with and own many cameras. My first camera was a roll-film, 6x9cm camera, a very common format thouse times. 6x9cm would give us 8 pictures per roll, if I remember right. A far cry from the 36 pictures you would have gotten on to a normal KB roll (Kleinbild or 24x36mm film). Everything was manual of course and in Black and white.

I still have some of these pictures in my school work books and the quality of these comparatively basic cameras was incredible. Of cause many were made by famous brands like Voigtlaender, Zeiss Ikon, Agfa and Rollei.

But 35mm film became the dominent format and I still remember when the factory rep brought in one of the early Topcon 35mm automatic cameras. The Japanese manufacturer were leading in these developments at those times. Of course brands like Leica, Rollei, Zeiss were the jewels  of the industry, together with the spy camera Minox, but these were expensive, much to much for our modest apprentice salaries. Even after I finished my formal education in 1967, I only earned about 700 Deutschmark a month, which is possibly as much as the jobseeker (unemployment) allowance is in Australia nowadays.

So one of my first system cameras I owned was a Pentax from East Germany with a famous Jena lens. I also often used an Exacta, as well from East Germany. My boss was very generous and allowed us free loan of any second hand camera the shop had and sometimes even new stock over the weekend.

In fact Claus Schroeder, was most generous. He gave us, though mostly I used it, access to the darkroom after hours. Working on the places, where the girls, interestingly it were almost always women who worked in our darkroom and enlarged and processed clients pictures, I developed my own pictures. He only charged us the cost of the paper.

In those years simpler camera technology emerged. The Kodak Instamatic and the Agfa Rapid. Both designed to bring photography to the masses. Cheap, easy to handle and reliable cameras. Film sales boomed and the darkroom created great income, if you consider that the standard 6x9 cm print cost between 1.20 and 1.50 DM or about USD 1.00. Of course in the 70’s and beyond, with automated processing and the appearance of discounters, like ‘Tausend Toepfe’ (Thousand Pots), the price dropped to 30 pfennig a print. This also made many of the darkroom girls redundant. But that was after I left the store and moved on.

Over the years I used many a camera. But one brand always remained my favourite one and that is Leica. In fact there was once a risk that this brand would go under, but in the 90’s it was rescued and has become not only the leading luxury camera brand but a driving force in the lenses for cinema production and many other fields.

I used many of their models. From taking a M2 to South America to a Leicaflex SL, which was exchanged to a Leicaflex SL2, which I still own, to an M6, R3, R4s, Leica T and TL2. The latter was exchanged last year for a CL.

But for me it is not so much the camera technology. Even that I would love to buy a SL2 or SL2s. For now a Lumix S1R has to do for financial reasons, it is the Leica lens technology.
From all the lenses I ever used, I feel that the Leica lens have the nicest rendering, the best, warm colours and an inrcedible sharpness.
But they also have a great mechanical feel. The M-series as well as the R-series. Of course lens technology has evolved, but I am using now my R- and M-lenses on the Lumix camera, which features the Leica L-mount, adapted by Panasonic and Sigma.
These older lenses have a different appearance to the new T-type from Leica. They are not as clinically clean, as many lenses are, which have been calculated for the digital world. But they look great and being forced to be just manual (no autofocus here), they force me to look even closer at the objects and image composition.

NCAS_48, will get involved in consumer photography again, while my main company ITI-Image Group, will keep focussing on Audio Visual and particular projection. I love the interaction with amateur photographers. Like to see their results.

In the next write-ups, I will talk about my experience of using a low cost Chinese Lens for L-Mount, 

 

the search for reasonably priced R> Nikon> M> adapter to the L-Mount , working with a glass plate camera and other subjects as they come along.

Drop me a line if you like to join any discussion or like my opinion on anything photography.  ncas_48@yahoo.com

Projection and Projection surfaces

Projection surfaces seem to be a mute subject to talk about. A simple, ideally ironed, bed-cloth would suffice as a projection surface, right? If I can project onto any wall, floor, ceiling, regardless of design, material or colour, why do I need a dedicated projection surface, right?

Well, lets create an analagy. 

You can mount 4 wheels to a board and roll down a hill. If you attach the wheels on to an axel and mount the axle moveable you can even steer. But you would certainly not get into city traffic with the contraption or win a car race.

Projection surfaces are similar. With a bedcloth I can get a rudimentary result.  But it is not optimal and will neither reflect the capabilities of your projector or the quality of your content.

Projection surfaces are made of different materials, colours, consistencies and come even in opaque or transparent, white or dark and everything in between, so that you can have an all-rounder, which works everywhere, but maybe not optimal, of you can have surfaces (screen-materials), which give you the best performance.

In the following series we will review different materials for rental and staging, corporate, home, retail, exhibition, special effect use. We will try to keep it simple and not add to many diagrams. Yes, we may show you how the colour performance may be and why that matters, how the viewing angle is and why that can be critical and how the material performs on not so ideal environments.

Some of the first distinctions we will have to make is the difference between foldable and roll down material. PVC based and fabric or fibreglass. Acrylic foil or sheet and projection paint.

Finally we will talk about cleaning and service.

This is a comprehensive program. Not to tax you to much and take up of your valuable time, we will break this down into small junks. It is like eating. Consuming smaller quantities keep you healthy and slim.

So I hope you will stay with us and get to know your projection surface and be able to create a better screening experience.

 

The challenge to create cost effective and impactful digital displays and audio visuals.

 Budgets, apart from really prestigious projects, are always tight and every cent spend on a retail, museums, gallery and visitor centre installation must be well considered. 

What are the key elements in creating a cost effective 'show' for your viewers?

A good story:

Look for the story, not the product”. Everything has a story to tell. Regardless if we sell toothpaste or a designer dress, a new electronic gadget or a big truck. There is a story behind it.

If you are a museum, national park, visitor centre, you have already a good story. The trick is to tell it well.

Make it engaging? Make it fit the mindset of your audience, not the mindset of the curator, designer, administrator or sales person.

Ofthen less is more and simple can have more impact.

This applies to everything, the audio, visual and technology side.


Viewer engagement.

Engage your viewers. Make them part of the story. This does not neccessarily require wizz-bang interactivity and augmented reality. Sure these aspects can help, but they can be costly and not always be reliable, in particular if you don't have dedicated staff.

Find the element in your story, which will people want to linger and see and listen. A cute animal picture, a baby, a ......, often does more then complex technology.

Make it big:

 Most people in this world are visually oriented, even blind people refer to ’seeing things’. 

So the visual impact is most important. Use big screens or multi-screens (no this does not cost the world). Surround people with images. Immerse them. Complicated? No it is not.

Interaction. 

Get your audience to interact with your story by touching the emotional element.

Technology.  

This comes last.
The range of technology is wide ranging and so is the price. But the most costly technology is wasted if the story is not told well.
On the other hand, effective use of projection foil and mirrors, projection on to objects, panel displays, mirror walls, suspended acrylic screens, all this can help to tell your story with a minium of expense.

LCD, Projection, LED?

Sales people will tell you that a 40K+ LED wall has more impact, then a 10K three projector show on a wide screen.

Rubbish. There are applications where a LED wall will shine and have the desired impact. On the other hand 3 x $500 LCD monitors and a controller can equally engage your audience.

If you have the space, put projection into a darkened room. Why do we still go to cinemas? Because we like these spaces, which allow us to immersive into the story on the screen. Cost a fortune? Does not have to. A blacked our space can be created as a room within a room at minimal cost. Or you have the space, just utilize it wrongly.

Whatever, create the impact and tell your story well. Then every dollar you have invested will pay back multiple times.

Want to talk? Just contact us at itiav.info@iti-imagegroup.com.au and we ring you back.