Press release:
24th November, 2009.
KL Associates,Northampton.

JP Distribution is pleased to announce the new Tilthead Bracket with Locking Shoe Mount from award winning manufacturer Lastolite.

The Tilthead Shoe Lock features an adjustable ‘screw locking’ shoe mount, which offers an additional locking mechanism to work alongside the built in method used on the flashgun.

The dimensions of the hotshoe on the bottom of each flashgun can vary from one gun to the other. However, the Tilthead Shoe Lock can comfortably accommodate these variances, including the Nikon SB900.

This new bracket (LAS2422) will be offered alongside the original Tilthead bracket (LAS2402).



Availability

The new Tilthead Bracket with Locking Shoe Mount is available as of 1st November 2009.

Pricing

SRP £22.99 Inc vat / JP Code: 192302



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News Release from Kenro Ltd - Date: 28 July 2009

Kenro has announced the UK release of a new range of wireless transmitter and receiver kits designed to trigger studio lighting flash heads.

These new additions to Kenro's wide range of photographic equipment feature either mains or battery powered units. Each system comes with a radio signal transmitter and receiver that offer effective triggering of flash heads up to distances of 30m. The kits consist of a sender module which operates from a camera hot shoe or synch cable. They are available in four channel or eight channel kits.

"Our new flash triggers are ideal for photographers looking for a cost effective way to reduce the wiring in their studio or when on location. Due to the multi channel function, they are particularly suited to the event or wedding photographer who wants to avoid external flashes triggering the studio lights." says Kenro managing director, Paul Kench.

The four channel battery version has the product code, FERF604D and carries an RRP of £63.50 and the mains system is available for £58.50 with a product code FERF604.
The eight channel battery version has the product code, FERF608D and carries an RRP of £66.75 and the mains system is available for £67.50 with a product code FERF608.
Spare receivers are also available, with the four channel battery model costing £21.50 and the mains version £19.95. The eight channel battery model costing £23.50 and the mains version £21.50. All Prices...

LONDON UK, June 22, 2009

Eastman Kodak Company announced today that it will retire KODACHROME colour film this year, concluding its 74-year run as a photography icon.

Sales of KODACHROME Film, which became the world’s first commercially successful colour film in 1935, have declined dramatically in recent years as photographers turned to other, newer KODAK films or to the digital imaging technologies that Kodak pioneered. Today, KODACHROME Film represents just a fraction of one percent of Kodak’s total sales of still-picture films.

“KODACHROME Film is an iconic product and a testament to Kodak’s long and continuing leadership in imaging technology,” said Mary Jane Hellyar, President of Kodak’s Film, Photofinishing and Entertainment Group. "It was certainly a difficult decision to retire it, given its rich history. However, the majority of today's photographers have voiced their preference to capture images with newer technology – both film and digital. Kodak remains committed to providing the highest-performing products – both film and digital – to meet those needs."

While Kodak now derives about 70% of its revenues from commercial and consumer digital businesses, it is the global leader in the film business. Kodak has continued to bring innovative new film products to market, including seven new professional still films and several new VISION2 and VISION3 motion picture films in the last three years. These new still film products...

Panasonic's development of the four-thirds sensor format (17x13mm approx.) continues apace with the DMC -G1 and its HD video endowed sibling, the GH1. Both cameras are fitted with the latest LIVEMos sensor developed by Panasonic in partnership with Olympus Optical Co Ltd.


1. The new Olympus Micro Four Thirds camera E-P1. The company promises further developments for this format and one can hope there might be an all black version, preferably in Urushi lacquer.

Thus far, products from both companies deliver an extraordinary level of equipment and image sophistication for their sensor size, although it is apparent that both also arrive at visibly different levels of image aesthetic and technical quality.


2. This was made on the Panasonic G1 at approximately four times life size using an old Visoflex mirror box, a set of M bellows and the lens head from of an Elmarit f/2.8 90mm (first launched in 1959.). The image is exceptionally micro-detailed and sharp right in the centre of the full size image.

I have limited experience of exploring files from Olympus kit. It includes hands-on an OM e400 and subsequent screen use and printing from that model; handling and inspection of large scale prints (A2) out of an e3 and whenever possible, assessing mechanical print reproduction of OM digital files from the earliest days of the e10 through...

TANK MAN DEJA VU - COLLECTS DART AWARD.

Associated Press photographer Jeff Widener's image of a lone man halting a row of military tanks in Tiananmen Square in June 1989 has become one of the few iconic news images of the 20th Century. Following the student pro-democracy uprising that was so brutally quashed by the Chinese Government, Widener's photograph made the front page of thousands of newspapers world wide.

Recently, he was invited by the BBC to return to Beijing for an anniversary interview about his experiences there two decades earlier.

"I felt a sinking sensation in my stomach when the BBC offered to fly me back. I had almost lost my life from a stray rock as demonstraters cornered a burning armored car, " said Jeff in an exclusive interview, " but a Nikon I was using absorbed the blow."

"I was rather shocked that my Chinese visa had been approved. I thought they must surely know who I am? My picture had caused the Chinese government more embarrassment than just about anything else in the last 20 years. I was concerned."

At the Jianguo Hotel where Widener and a group of other journalists had stayed in 1989, Jeff recalled events.

"The view was nothing like 1989. There were so many large office buildings and where were all the bicycles? Looking over the balcony I couldn't quite line up the same view with a 400mm lens. It looked...

THE BEAUTY OF BIC

The best thing about the ubiquitous biro is its simplicity.

In France, Bic is the generic name of all such writing instruments. Flip the cap off a slender yellow plastic stalk and apply to paper. Usually, it works.

In 1959, the Olympus Optical Co Ltd., launched the Pen camera; a product designed for writing with light conceived around the principle of functional simplicity in a compact but elegant package. It worked and the company made and sold hundreds of thousands of the many different models of the Pen and Pen F half frame cameras produced over the next 20 odd years.

But half frame was nothing new. Other companies, in an effort to woo more customers to the miniature 35mm film format by marketing the advantage of economy to be gained from obtaining 72 frames from a single cassette instead of the normal 36, had launched similar products. Mostly, until Olympus launched the Pen series, half frame models were built around regular full frame cameras with the film gate and viewfinder masked off to the appropriate 18X24mm format.

Two factors point to reasons why the Pen series were so successful; the cameras were simple to operate and the D type Zuiko lenses were specially designed for the task of maximising image quality from such a small area of film.

Olympus had developed new D type objectives for its earlier medium format cameras and it continued to refine...

POTATOES, LAMPBLACK AND TWO TAXI - CABS.

I had hoped to come back to this subject long before now, but other projects and a slow down on the technology front connived to postpone attempts to tackle any remaining issues.

To sum up briefly, it is reasonably clear from reproductions seen in mechanical print to date that derivatives of the compact digital camera models discussed previously, i.e. Ricoh GRII, GX200 and Panasonic LX3 (aka Leica D-Lux 4) are all capable of producing excellent image file quality for repro to a moderate size.

In particular, the LX3 with built in firmware for the correction of lens distortion, chromatic and spherical aberration, does an excellent job, only let down by comparison with the other two, by its weaker ergonomic features. In that department, both Ricoh cameras stand head and shoulders above the rest as well as, the Sigma DP1 which I will come to shortly.

REPRO QUALITY

I have mentioned in a previous post that when my own history of reproductions is analysed, by far the highest number appear on the page at up to half page size - roughly A5 or, as is often the case these days, a lot smaller. The reasons for this are numerous but a general observation often points toward the page layout person having to grapple with the compromise of balancing headlines, standfirsts and text on the page. The latter has to go in, a picture doesn't and if...

span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" Release Date: 15 April 2009 Kenro Ltd/spanbr /br /span style="font-weight: bold;"Kenro, one of the leading suppliers of photographic accessories to UK retailers, has appointed Simon East to the newly created role of Sales Office Manager./spanbr /br /Simon joins the company with a solid photo industry CV. He began his career with Camera Exchange's Cotswold group of stores in 1988 prior to their re-unification with the London Camera Exchange Group. Following his relocation to Scotland in 1995, Simon was appointed manager of the J.Lizars Ltd (now Black amp; Lizars) Edinburgh store's photographic dept. During this time he developed exhibition and field events experiences as well as in-store retailing skills.br /br /In 1997 Simon joined the field sales team at a href="http://leicacameras.ajaxnetphoto.com"Leica Camera/a Ltd and for a decade managed the southern territory for photographic, sport optics and projection products.br /br /Simon is looking forward to his new role at Kenro: "I am really excited to be joining a company with such a strong reputation within the imaging industry. I have already met many people from the company and the team at Kenro have great strength in depth, this demonstrates to me why the business remains such a competitive outfit after almost four decades of trading."br /br /He continued: "I will be assisting the company in its plans to continue modernising its technical operations, drive efficiencies, develop provisions for e-commerce, improve technical support as well as manage its customer relationship strategy, I know I am joining a future-focussed, growing...