Leica Camera AG today announced a very special limited edition of its classic 35mm rangefinder system camera: the LEICA M7 Edition ‘Hermès’. The strictly limited LEICA M7 Edition ‘Hermès’ comes in silver chrome with a choice of two striking calfskin leather finishes – orange and étoupe – supplied by Hermès, a Paris-based company renowned throughout the world for its exclusive products. To complement the design of the camera, the special LEICA M7 Edition ‘Hermès’ set includes a silver anodised LEICA SUMMILUX-M 35 mm f/1.4 ASPH. wide-angle lens, a matching classic round lens hood in silver anodised metal – manufactured specifically for these models – and a LEICAVIT M rapid winder in silver chrome.  A leather carrying strap, handcrafted by Atelier Hermès to match the colour of each camera, provides the finishing touch. Each set is delivered in a linen-covered, silk-lined box. The LEICA M7 Edition ‘Hermès’ will be available in the UK from December 2009 from authorised Leica dealers, at a suggested retail price of £8,550.

Fujifilm Professional has moved quickly to dispel rumours that the company is about to withdraw production of its FP-100B and FP-3000B black and white and FP-100C colour instant film. Fujifilm’s Senior Product Manager for Professional Film, Russ Gunn, explained the announcement: “It was brought to our attention that a number of websites were carrying ‘news’ of the discontinuation of some of Fujifilm’s instant film. I would like to confirm that all current formats of FP-100B and FP-3000B black and white instant film and FP-100C colour instant film will remain in production and we have no plans to discontinue any of them.”

Kodak’s finest-grained colour negative film, Kodak Professional Ektar 100, has turned one year old, and Kodak celebrates its birthday by announcing a photography contest. The competition, which seeks the best images captured on Kodak Ektar 100, will be officially announced at the annual Photo Plus trade show in New York City. Film enthusiasts are encouraged to shoot Ektar 100 film, scan their results and upload them to the website below. First Place winner will receive one year’s supply of Ektar 100 film up to 1200 rolls; an all-expense paid “Adventures by Disney” travel package in North America for two people; feature on kodak.com, and feature of their image on Kodak’s New York City Times Square Gallery. Note that the contest is open to 18+ legal residents of the USA only.

Website: Kodak Ektar Contest

Ontela released survey results today that are said to indicate the “imminent death of the traditional film camera” amongst U.S. consumers. The last three years of data have shown a steady decline in people who report owning a traditional film camera, decreasing from 67% in 2007, to 61% in 2008, and dropping all the way to 48% in 2009. Conversely, camera phones continue to grow in ubiquity, going from just 70% reporting that they owned a phone with a camera in 2007, to 78% in 2008 and 87% in 2009. Despite respondents’ growing ownership of camera phones and usage of data, their ability to get the pictures off their phones to their PCs or the web has stayed consistently low. When asked to upload a picture to the web, 74% of respondents failed in 2007, compared to 81% in 2008 and 61% in 2009. Users were frustrated, however, since 90% expressed a desire to upload pictures. Some of the top desired destinations included the user’s own computer hard drive at 71%, Facebook at 54% and Photobucket at 25%.

Today has been declared “International Film Buying Day”. The initiative, which originates on Facebook and Flickr, aims to “send a message to the photographic industry, the manufacturers and retailers, demonstrating that there remains a market segment still worth the investment”. Film aficionados are asked to buy as many rolls of their favourite film type as they can today, and join the movement’s Flickr group.

Website: International Film Buying Day on Facebook
Website: International Film Buying Day on Flickr

Fujifilm has released the Fujifilm FP-100B 4x5 black-and-white instant film in the USA. The availability of this particular instant film type provides a practical proofing and testing solution for large-format photographers to check light, depth and overall composition when shooting. The Fujifilm FP-100B 4x5 instant film is a positive, “peel-apart” panchromatic material designed for camera back-incorporated photographic equipment and cameras that accept instant film packs. It develops in 30 seconds and produces glossy finished photos with an image area of 3.5” x 4.5”. Available in 10 sheets per pack for $42.40, the Fujifilm FP-100B 4x5 can be purchased wherever Fujifilm professional films are sold.

FUJIFILM U.S.A. has announced the availability of the Instax Mini 7S Instant Camera and Instax Mini Instant Colour Film to the U.S. market. The Instax Mini 7S is a compact and lightweight instant film solution for the on-the-go photographer or photo enthusiast. Fujifilm’s line-up of Instax instant cameras have been enjoying success in Asia and Europe for years, which has allegedly helped generate a loyal following in the United States, particularly over the last year. The new Instax Mini 7S has an electronically controlled shutter and sports a built-in flash for low-light shooting. The Instax Mini Instant Film has a sensitivity rating of ISO 800/30° and an image area of 1.8"x2.4”. Camera and film will be available at retail locations beginning in September, 2009. MSRP for the Instax Mini 7S Instant Film Camera is $95.99 while MSRP for a 10-Pack of Instax Mini Instant Film is $19.99.

Hartblei has announced the Hartblei CAM, which allows you to mate a Nikon F or Canon EF mount lens to a medium-format digital or film back. The Hartblei CAM uses a 35mm lens mount as an interface to support all lenses, no matter whether 35mm or MF. Hartblei claims that you can mount any of the currently available medium format backs, and points out that a combination of a 14mm lens and a Phase One P65+ back will give medium-format users an extremely wide 135-degree angle of view. The Hartblei CAM comes with a built-in shutter boasting a top shutter speed of 1/2000th of a second, and offers a motorised slider to move the back back and forth. The camera is available now at €4985 plus shipping and taxes.

Website: Hartblei

With effect from October 1, 2009, Sinar Photography will take over the Development, Sales, Service and Support divisions for the products of the Sinar brand. Sinar Photography originates from Tekno AG, which has already been marketing the Sinar products in Switzerland up to now. The German and Swiss markets will be served directly by Sinar Photography from Switzerland, with support from an existing service, repair and sales office in the Hamburg region. Additional sales support offices will be announced shortly. The ongoing product development at Sinar Photography will focus predominantly on the tried-and-tested analogue and digital camera systems. This includes the digital backs, the globally renowned Sinar view cameras for studio applications, and the specialist cameras for architecture and document photography. The continuation of the Hy6 medium-format camera is currently under negotiation, but the existing business alliance guarantees long-term technical support.

Harman technology, the company behind the Ilford Photo brand, has announced the “Image on a Box Photographic Competition 2009 – North America”. The competition, whose theme is ‘Fine Art’, is open to US and Canadian residents. Entries must be shot on ILFORD DELTA 400 Professional film and printed on any ILFORD black and white photographic paper. The closing date for the competition is June 30, 2010. The first prize is US $1000 worth of Ilford Photo’s black-and-white products.

Website: Image on a Box

Ilford Photo’s traditional black and white processing service has a new online presence and new identity. The Ilford Lab Direct printing service draws on 130 years of Ilford Photo expertise, producing the finest quality black and white prints; achieved using traditional Ilford black and white chemistry and genuine Ilford silver gelatin photographic paper, Ilford says. The new online resource at www.ilfordlab.com not only provides secure payment and digital file upload, but customers can also create an account with Ilford Lab Direct and go through the digital upload tutorial. For customers who prefer the traditional approach, Ilford Photo continues to sell process paid films and mailers through popular photographic dealers. Further still, order forms for 35mm and 120 film processing can be downloaded from the website for the direct mail order service. Ilford Lab Direct normally operates up-to a maximum of 5 working days in the lab for UK distribution. The service is available for UK and European customers.

Website: Ilford Lab Direct

Spürsinn, a German online retailer, is now offering an orthochromatic black-and-white sheet film in a historic 6.5x9cm format. It has a nominal sensitivity of 24 Scheiner°, which translates into roughly ISO 25/15°. This film contains 4 times as much silver as modern black-and-white emulsions, which is why it comes bundled with its own developer and fixer. The complete kit includes 50 sheets of film, 2 bottles of developer and one bottle of fixer; and costs €47.90.

Website: Spürsinn

Fujifilm Professional has announced the re-introduction of E6 slide film processing vouchers in the UK. The vouchers allow photographers to send to the new Fujifilm laboratory in Leeds any professional reversal 35mm film for process only, or process and mount, as well as 120 for process only. In addition to the E6 vouchers, the company is also simultaneously launching a new ‘Image To CD’ scanning voucher. Each E6 processing voucher carries a unique code that can be used to track the status of the relevant order via the lab’s website. The E6 vouchers, costing £6.33 (including VAT), are available now, direct from Fujifilm, via www.fujilab.co.uk and all good Fujifilm Professional stockists. Image to CD vouchers are available from www.fujilab.co.uk only.

Fujifilm have changed their minds about discontinuing Fujicolor Pro 800Z, and are now saying they will “continue production for the time being”. As we wrote earlier, Fujfilm’s original decision was to remove all formats of Pro 800Z from their range due to low sales volume. Apparently this provoked such outrage, with “many people… genuinaly upset about the withdrawal”, that Fujifilm were forced to backtrack on their decision, at least for now.

Today marks the 40th anniversary of the first lunar landing, whose historic moments were captured with Hasselblad medium-format cameras. The first Hasselblads used by NASA in space were modified Hasselblad 500C models, whereas the ones used during lunar missions were called Hasselblad Electric Data Cameras. They had a glass plate with reference crosses that recorded on the film during exposure. These crosses can be seen on all pictures taken on the moon from 1969 to 1972. The most interesting photographs can be downloaded from NASA’s website. NASA has also made available the Apollo 11 onboard voice transcription, which is where our title quote comes from.

Website: Great Images in NASA

Rollei Redbird is a new “redscale” colour negative film offered in 135 format. In the Rollei Redbird emulsion, the red layer is on top of the others, whereas with other C-41 print films, it is usually the bottom layer. This results in the reds being accentuated much more than usual - hence the name. The Rollei Redbird film has a nominal sensitivity of ISO 400/27° and the manufacturer says it is equally well suited to Lomography and creative use in “serious” cameras. Shutter speed is apparently a major factor in how the film renders colours - with relatively slow speeds such as 1/30 second, essentially the whole scene is rendered in different shades of red, whereas with shutter speeds faster than 1/125 second, white objects take on a strong yellow cast, while greens are accentuated. This opens up great possibilities for those involved in hybrid analogue/digital photography, the manufacturer claims. The Rollei Redbird film is available now from Spürsinn and Ars-imago at €5 per roll.

Plustek has released the new Plustek OpticFilm 7600i dedicated 35mm film scanner, which boasts an optical resolution of 7200x7200dpi, an infrared channel for hardware-based dust and scratch removal, and a new white LED light source for more vivid results and precise colour rendering. The Plustek OpticFilm 7600i offers 48-bit scanning, a dMax of 3.5, a fast preview time of around 8 seconds and USB 2.0 connectivity via a supplied USB cable. The scanner weighs in at just 1.6kg and comes with a carry bag and two film holders; one for film strips of up to six frames, and one for up to four mounted slides. The Plustek OpticFilm 7600i is compatible with Windows 2000/XP/Vista and Mac OS 10.3.9 and higher. The SE version comes bundled with SilverFast 6.6 SE Plus Multi-Exposure, while the AI variant ships with SilverFast 6.6 AI Studio IT8 Multi-Exposure and comes with a free IT8 calibration target.

The Plustek OpticFilm 7600i is already listed by some European online retailers, who quote around €270-300 for the SE version and up to €450 for the AI variant. In the U.S.A. the OpticFilm 7600i has not been released yet.

Website: Plustek OpticFilm 7600i AI

Adesso Albums have introduced a new line of Instant Photo Guest Books, specifically designed for Fujifilm Instax 200 instant photos. “The instant gratification and fun, interactive nature of instant film have timeless appeal,” said Adesso Albums founder Lesley Mattos. “When Polaroid discontinued production of their film and cameras last year, both became increasingly difficult to find. We are delighted that Fuji brought their instant product to the U.S. market and enabled us to continue to provide our customers with the ability to create Adesso Album Instant Photo Guest Books for their life celebrations.”

The production of Fujicolor Pro 800Z will cease as of September 2009. Fujifilm’s Product Manager for Professional Film, Russ Gunn, explained the decision: “We have decided to remove all formats of Pro 800Z from our range due to low sales volume. By streamlining our selection of Professional film we can ensure our strong selling lines are protected.”

Olympus have created a fascinating stop-motion movie to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Olympus PEN series. For this project, they took over 50,000 still photographs and combined them into a three-minute clip. They also developed nearly 10,000 prints. We think the result is quite spectacular - check it out at the website below.

Website: The PEN Story at YouTube