Wednesday, 9 March 2011

Focus 2011

Returned earlier this evening from my annual visit to Focus on Imaging, which fortunately for me is held in Birmingham, so is easy to get to.

Just a few notes for now, perhaps more to come in a future post:

  • My general feeling is that the industry is settling down again now after the turbulent times of the last few years - the film/digital war is over, and the megapixel-race is now a steady climb.
  • There seemed to be more interest this year in continuous lighting kits based on CFL (continuous fluorescent light) technologies, both for beginning users and high end pro work.
  • Kits and accessories for modifying the light from compact flash-guns (e.g. "Speedlites") were also popular, as people look to improve the results they can get with their existing flashguns. This might also be called the "Strobist-effect"
  • There are now plenty of services who will take your digital files, and take them right through to a printed book output. Or, you can print your own in-house using any one of a number of inkjet printers
  • Conservation storage for both new and old photographs was also covered, courtesy of Timecare.
  • A service called "Lab Direct" from Ilford that offers digital prints on "proper" black-and-white paper. A good example of old meets new. My sample print even had that wonderful smell of hypo (sodium thiosulphate)....
  • Some truly superb cameras from Linhof and Cambo utilising the newest digital backs and large format lenses. Unfortunately, impressive resolution also brings with it an impressive price.

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