This is from the rec.arts.photo.equipment.35 or whatever it is newsgroup... there's a section on Pentax which may be of interest...
-- http://www.infotainment.org <-> more fun than a poke in your eye. http://www.eighteenpercent.com <-> photography and portfolio. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Lewis Lang" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Newsgroups: rec.photo.equipment.35mm Sent: Saturday, November 02, 2002 1:06 AM Subject: "A Hard Days Night At the Jacob Javitz Center Photo Expo Show" > I was at the PHOTO EXPO show today at the Jacob Javitz... writing this on th > same night/early AM of the next day (what are Saturdays for? :-)). Lots to > tell, and so little pixels on your monitors and time/space to tell it in. So > cuddle up next to the warmth of the hearth of your flickering monitors w/ a hot > cup of steaming coa coa boys and girls, while I tell a long story about a man > named Jed who barely kept his family fed"... Sorry, that's in another post to > another galaxy, far far way... ;-) > > IN THE BEGINNING... AFTER LOTS OF LONG, LINGERING, LISTFUL, LONELY LAMENTING > LINES OF CARS ONT HE WEST SIDE HIGHWAY ALL GOING NOWHERE IN A SLOW EARLY > MORNING RUSH HOUR THAT SHOULD HAVE TAKEN 35 MINUTES TO COMPLETE BUT ENDED UP > TAKING TWIC OR THRICE AS LONG, THERE WERE LINES, LOTS OF LONG, LINGERING, > LISTFUL, LONELY LAMENTING LINES OF LONG WAITING PHOTOGRAPHERS ATTEMPTING TO GET > IN FROM THE OUTSIDE AND EVEN MORE LOTS OF LONG, LINGERING, LISTFUL, LONELY > LAMENTING LINES OF LONG WAITING PHOTOGRAPHERS WAITING TO GET ON OTHER LOTS OF > LONG, LINGERING, LISTFUL, LONELY LAMENTING LINES OF LONG WAITING LINES OF > PHOTOGRAPHERS INSIDE THE JAVITZ CENTER, BUT I DIGRESS, OR PERHAPS I PREGRESS, > BECAUSE I WAS ABLE TO AVOID ALL THIS (EXCEPT FOR THE TIE UP AT THE GEORGE > WASHINGTON BRIDGE AND THE ENDLESS TRAFFIC JAM ON THE WAY FROM NEW JERSEY DOWN > TO LOWER MANHATTAN ON THE WAY TO ALL THESE LOTS OF LONG, LINGERING, LISTFUL, > LONELY LAMENTING LINES OF PHOTOGRAPHERS)... > > Had my advanced registration swiping card and badge so all I had to do was ask > a few people where the advanced registration was, they gave me a badge holder > and clip on a strap and I was off and running. In the meantime the lines inside > and outside were so heavily thronged I thought I went back in time to the first > blockbuster movie screenings of Jaws or Star Wars w/ their lines that looked > like endless snakes of people... > > CANON > > Inside I first checked out the EOS1Ds ($8,000 camera somebody said?), which as > usual was closest to the entrance and found it much like the EOS1D of the > previous year. An oriental fellow next to me whom I believe may have said he > shot fashion helped me cycle through the menus to get the picture to stay on > the back door LCD screen after I took the shots (He owned a 1d, I believe so > was very familiar w/ its menus). I don't remember if Canon had any film cameras > out at the show (were there any displayed?), but then again, it din't seem that > way, though I wasn't looking too hard because Canon was just a pit stop for me > on the way to other booths (I no longer own Canon gear except for an old broken > EOS 630 that I will someday have repaired when I get enough extra money). I > wanted to look through a new 24-70 mm f/2.8L at the show but there was non > available yet. Also remember the 1Ds, though large, being/feeling relatively > lightweight in my hands (though I couldn't tell how it would feel around my > neck all day, glad I have smaller Minolta film cameras for that - the > 600si/Maxxum 7). I t would have also been nice to see the D60 but unfortunately > I didn't. > > AGFA > > Only breezed by the Agfa booth later in the show but... > > Near the Canon booth, earlier in the show, as described above, just after I > left the Canon booth, I believe, was some 15x20"? largeish display prints of > wedding shots (taken by Dennis Reggie? and/or other photographers) done w/ the > new 1Ds, I believe. I talked to Peter Krause/Kuka (I forget exactly his last > name, sorry Peter ;-)) of Agfa in Toronto, Canada, who saw me with my nose/eyes > up to the large print. I mentioned that these prints look great from about 2-3 > feet back but when you got up close to them you see that the flowers/bouquets > in the shots lack details and that there is really no detail to the eyelashes > on the bride. 11MP may be a large improvement ove rthe 6MP digi SlR's chips but > portable 35mm digital SLRs in the league of the 1DS are still a long way from > recording the detail/resolution (and the hue differentiation) of 35mm film > cameras. Peter said how disappointed he was w/ some large/huge Epson prints > when viewed up close (lousy D-maxed blacks and very evident pattern dots in the > huge black and white print of Andy Warhol at the Epson booth. He said that > there was no comparison between the image quality ink jets (Lumnina/archival > inks) and real chemical photographic prints (I later confirmed up close at the > Epson booth that this was true when I inspected Pete Turners and other's ink > jets up close). He also mentioned my pet peeve about the lack of digital's > archivalness/longevity and that people (photographers and/or there customers) > were more interested in quickness (right word?) than quality nowadays. Peter > also talked w/ me about the new Agfa Ultra 100 which is (will be) still the > most saturated color negative out there but its not as saturated as the older, > now lamentably discontinued Agfa Ultra 50. > > CONTAX > > Next? (my memory is not perfect w/ all the things I saw) came the Contax booth > where I got to look at the Contax G2 after waiting for two quite pretty young > ladies to finish asking their questions. One looked like what I pictured Charo > (blond hair, glasses) might look like and was a photographer, which I found out > from the other lady who was interested in the G2 or a G3 (which she said was > discussed on the bulletin board/mailing list? group on/of the Contax G site, > and she wanted to use it for travel/documentary work, I believe. While I was > playing w/ either the Contax 645 or the N1 or NX, can't remember which camera, > I spoke to a youthful looking/energetic older man who used to use Graflexes in > the 60's and wanted a medium format w/ good low light AF for his aging eyes. He > said the Mamiya 645 AF had an IR AF assist but it was not supposed to be so hot > in its capabilities. But he wanted to use his already existing Hasselblad > lenses on the body and preferred a square format image but would at least > accept a 645 format (I told him he could possibly get a Super 35mm (forget what > its actually called now) that would be a square but obviously smaller than the > 2 1/4 he wanted. I believe he may have been asking how the Contax 645's > lowlight AF ability was and/or whether it had IR AF assist. Getting back to the > lens issue, the tech rep who ran the booth for the show said that the 645's > lenses were Carl Zeiss and I believe he mentioned that the H1's lenses were > made by Fuji. I confirmed this because I had read in Amateur Photographer > magazine the day before this fact, also I chimed in the the AF module was made > by Minolta, so the Hasselblad is real what I would call a "Fujimolta" :-). The > older photographer wanted AF Carl Zeiss lenses (supposedly he mentioned he had > thousands already tied up in his Carl Zeiss lenses/Hasselblad system?) for the > medium format system, so the tech rep had a quick joking? retort as to how he > could get into a nice Contax 645 system -- "ebay" (in other words, sell the > system he had to get into the Contax 645 AF system. The tech rep also mentioned > that a landscape? photographer was very pleased w/ the quality of his Pentax > 645 AF camera lens's images but when he did a side by side w/ the results from > the Contax 645's lenses still saw a definite difference in contrast/clarity, > things that are not just measurable in a test report (I added to this by saying > that "(test reports? of) lens resolution isn't everything (in other words > theres more to image quality than just sharpness/resolution). He also mentioned > that many? people who have switched from the Zeiss lenses to Canon/Nikon often > come back to the Zeiss lenses for their extra clarity/brilliance/color contrast > snap (I forget the exact words he used but this about covers it). > > THe NX I was less than thrilled w/ in operating its sensors and the layout of > the controls made the 167MT look like ,an excersize in easy operation by > comparison. You have to use some kind of mode button then a roller thingy (and > possibly a turn dial?) to cycle through things like setting the AF mode and > other modes. The viewfinder was kind of darkish and I don't believe it had > release priority (or if it was there it was buried in a custom function > somewheres...). It may have more features than the N1 but in both operation and > solidity the N1 (a quite nice camera buy the way) has it far beat in ease of > operation and AF function - I especially liked the AF button that when set to > manual focus activated AF only when the button was depressed then left the > focus locked by default when you weren't touching it (and left the shutter > button free for only taking pictures, not AF activation - only drawback (again, > unless its over-ridden in a custom function? was that I don't believe you can > use the AF button to activate focus in continuous AF while depressed which > would have been better for following action. The N1 is more like an RX w/ AF, > solid, very bright viewfinder (I was surprised how bright the viewfinder was > even w/ the 24-85mm 3.5/4.5 zoom on it), relatively easy to use and felt like a > Contax :-). I also tried the 17-35mm f/2.8, nice lens. The only drawback to > these N lenses is that they are quite large and almost look like medium format > lenses because of their largeish size... > > The N1 Digital was there, should have seen it, but didn't in any great detail, > I barely even remember picking it up and wanted to/was anxious to head > for/asked for the Contax film SLRs which was beyond the wall/in the second half > of the booth closest to the entrance wall. > > PENTAX > > Over in Pentaxland... Said hello to a tech rep there I've always stopped by and > talked w/ over the years (am a closet "Pentaxcaholic", I told him). He > mentioned that either 4 or 6 people were let go since last year from the rough > post 911 economy and that the economy will/should take a couple of years to get > back up to speed. > > Had to explain about the new/rumored KAF3 mount which supposedly has contacts > for IS and other feature(s)?/functionality and when I wanted to know more about > this they truthfully joked that its news to them/they are the last to know > ;-)/I was informing/teaching them about it. :-) > > He (tech rep) mentioned/was enthused about the release (come March 2003 > supposedly, I say supposedly because their other digi SLR camera from last year > didn;'t materialize but this seems to be something that is/will exist soon/in > the process of being ready to get shipped?) of a new "smaller"Pentax digital > SLR body that will use an APS sized 6MP (if I'm remembering correctly) sensor > and that looked very much like an MZ-S but a little bit more hight but quite a > bit less width (making it smaller in that way). He wasn't sure if the mount for > this camera would be the standard KAF mount but I do believe he might have > mentioned that even though it would be able to take smaller lenses, that it > accepting the standard sized KAF mount was a likelihood (this is all memory, so > don't hold me to the accuracy). > > He also mentioned to me (possibly replaying my quote to him) that they'd sell a > lot more (he said 20x times more cameras) if the price of the MZ-S was dropped > down into the $650 range instead of about the $800 range. Played w/ the MZ-S. > Nice compact camera. Took the instruction book to find out exactly how to make > the back AF button work for focus activation and turn that capability off of > the shutter button so the shutter button wouldn't refocus. I don't believe it > would continuous AF w/ the back AF button, but this may be locked up in another > custom function and though they didn't have a brochure that went into any great > depth at the Pentax booth to confirm or deny this fact one way or the other the > tech rep there made an excellent suggestion of "just going to the website and > downloading the manual in PDF format (Adobe Acrobat) which would go into far > more detail about the camera (/custom functions?) than any Pentax brochure > would." The 24-90 Pentax lens on the first MZ-S I picked up was broken (it made > kind of a grinding sound and I believe wouldn't focus, can't remember) so he > replaced it w/ another similar lens and suggested that it probably was a lens > that was used/abused at many shows and was damaged when they picked it out of > their equipment box. Took a while to learn/get used to the MZ-S's top control > dial functionality (not many people at the booth had any intimate knowledge of > operating the MZ-S's interface/etc.) but later learned I could use/twist it to > get manual shutter speeds in manual expsoure mode, I believe. The 31mm f/1.8 > (chrome, black supposedly only available in Japan) and the Mz-S made a great > combo, solid yet petite (w/ great image quality, I suppose/heard about but > haven''t seen results from yet) - a great combo (perfect focal length and nice > solid small automated body) for street shooting/snap shooting - the modern > Pentax version in SLR form/quality of an HCB or Winogrand Leica M and a 35mm or > 50mm Summicron or 28mm lens. The MZ-S autofocus was impressive in speed and > accuracy (once I set it to central AF censor) in the dark area of the hall > where the pentax booth was at. My only complaints w/ the MZ-S, other than its > highish (almost F100 or at least N90 teritory) price, was the mirror black > out/return time seemed a little long to me (compared w/ other SLRs which seem > to have a faster return mirror) and the horizontal AF sensor seem a little too > close together/bunched up. I think, of course, because its my camera, but also > because its true, that my Maxxum 7 has the MZ-S beat in features/AF usability, > IR asist built inot the camera and ease of selcting an AF point and smallness > of the area that an AF point covers verses the Pentax, but the MZ-S is/seems > like a great camera too -- if only I was rich enough to afford it/some of the > limited edition and other great Pentax lenses - and then there's the 645N AF > Pentax w/ its larger negative size (but more affordable I believe than its > Contax 645 AF equivalent)... Sigh... :-) > > LEICA > > I believe I blew off the Leica booth because I was too hungry/tired and wanted > to eat something and get back to it later - I did, but only at the end of the > show when allthe equipment was laready locked up, a shame as it would have been > nice to play w/ a new R9/etc. > > MINOLTA > > And at the Minolta booth... > > Nothing. Absolutely nothing. No booth. No carpeting for a booth area. Just > plain old - Air. In other words that are exactly the same as the previous words > -- nothing. This was disapointment to me as I would have liked to try out the > new Di'mage 7HI (forgive my spelling/designation inaccuracies...). I thought > that perhaps sight of them was blocked/gobbled up by by the Loch Ness > monster-sized, almost circus tent-sized monstrosity of the Kodak booth but > Minolta was a no show (possibly because their advertising budget didn't allow > for it and/or they were going to show at Photokina? or some other big show > instead - this is all specualtion though by me/the Pentax tech rep). > > Finally got to lunch after talking w/ five? or more people on my way to lunch > (hadn't eaten in many hours - some of the tech reps usually have it worse and > are lucky if they get to go on a break or have a bagelas their legs seem to be > tied down to their booths in cast iron or should I say "cast irony"/the lot of > a show tech rep... ;-)). Couldn't find any seats in back like previous years > (either I wasn't looking hard enough/long enough through the rest of the baack > of this foot ball field sized show or was too tired/hungry to continued > looking) so I sat down on carpeting and ate a "bag lunch" w/o the bag but in a > plastic sealed "baggie" (self made tuna on toasted whole wheat w/ Orange Mango > Snapple I picked up on the way to the show). Why am I mentioning this, other > than the fact that I am getting hungry again, possibly? Because I have learned > from apst experience that food you bring is either cheap or near free (other > than the cost of the materials to make it), food at the show's prices is a rip > off w/ several dollars? for a drink (water/soda?) someone mentioned. Just a tip > for those who might or are thinking of attending a future PHOTO EXPO show at > the Jacob Javitz center. > > END OF THE SHOW > > As it was closing I breezed by the closing or already closed Olympus, Leica, > Fuji, Tamron and Tokina booths and picked up some brochures. Also talked to the > reps at Fuji about different Fuji Frontier printer (largest size is 10x15" and > the paer it uses is the same long-lived (60 years?) Fuji Crystal? Archive paper > as the professional paper although the professional paper might be lower in > contrast for pro use) questions/comments and how I was amazed at the quality of > prints from slides which were far better in terms of clarity/sharpness and full > range of tones than the blown out highlights and squozen shut shadows you'd get > w/ a typical RA-4 process slide/positive paper through an enlarger lens). > > > NIKON! NIKON! NIKON! - MINT! MINT! MINT! > > (Very obscure reference to the chants of two photo enthusiasts (from different > planets?, but definitely from different twilight zones of personailites) who > used to say these words/or something like them at the now defunct former NJ > camera store I, fortunately, very temporarily worked at (and whose name I won't > mention because it has sent flocks of birds flying to lose their feathers and > fall to their deaths, stock markets crashing, seven lords a'leaping - > intentionally to their deaths, blood bubbling from the ground, the re-emergence > of the tea tax, and summoned the retarded and wonderfully wobbling lisping > spirit of Truman Capote wearing a diaper and carrying a Pentax Spotmatic while > photographing bird droppings that vaguely resemble the seven best best plays of > the last seven Super Bowls), though I lasted longer than many/most? of the > others there who couldn't stand working there for reasons I can't go into > here/etc. (the store under brilliant mis-management only equalled to the skill > that brought the Titanic down, later sunk the store financially, after many > years of intentional "drowning" and the store later became, after a merciless > death and possibly some sherrif notices on the door temporarily closing it down > for reasons I can't disclose here, became a part/outlet of the Beanie Baby > empire which now has outlets in 14 galaxies near you, plus New Jersey ;-)) - as > the owner?/self-sabotaging horribly managing manager of the store used to > whine/complain/exclaim "K-mart, they're kiiiiilllling me!" > > One of these photo enthusiasts who regularly visited the store used to exclaim > about their blind passion/devotion to anything Nikon, Nikon, Nikon (camera > equipment) and the other photo devotee would always be getting /trading up to > these great used deals on Leica's and Contax/other high end gear for a 100 > bucks or so (or w/ little or nothing possibly lost in trading (or selling) his > previous high end gear) that would fall into his lap and seemingly always in > "MINT" condition :-) > > Could've seen Jay Maisel or Art Wolfe at the Epson booth signing prints, long > lines for that too, sorry, need baseball cards w/ pictures to tell the two > photographers apart since I am not sure how both these two greats appearances > look nowadays;-) > > Sorry, didn't get to the large Nikon booth, by the time I got there it was the > end of th show and it was already closed off w/ black bands and pillars that > acted like the ropes that blocked people off into lines at some movie > theaters/etc. I couldn't/wouldn't even reach for the brochures because both > they were out of reach, and even though they were meant to hand out to the > public it was probably for tommorrows public and would've felt like stealing to > me even if it wasn't at the end of the show when there was nobody there to give > them to me - so I didn't (jump past/under the blockade and take/grab/"steal" > any brochures) :-). Would've been nice to see the 5700 (high specced P&S digi > camera), the D100, the F100 again/etc., but... > > HIGHLIGHTS > > Best parts of the day?... > > Not the Javitz show, which was good, but the B&H store which looks like (w/ its > system of overhead green boxes carrying items that people are about to purchase > from the ordering area to the cash register/paying area) a Jewish version of > Santa's Toy-makin factory/shop - though no elves, just orthodox Jews, though > there was one older Jewish man there w/ a white beard who might have passed for > Santa Clause ;-) ;-) :-). Got to look through a Leica R8? (or R9? there, I > forget which)< my favorite (handsome forrest green) Nova 3 Lowe Pro bag (I own > a Nova 2 and wish I had gotten the slightly large Nova 3 last year, though the > 2 is a good bag, though a bit small for al my stuff). > > Loved looking through the viewfinder of an F100 and one of Sigma's wide 20-40mm > f/2.8 zooms at the Sigma booth, nice high eyepoint, a pity about the wirelss > TTL flash capability being an add on, Minolta/Canon/Pentax are much better/more > capable (especially w/ high speed wireless flash and Minolta has the controller > built into its built-in flashes too, yay Minolta! ;-)) in this area.. > > The other greatest part of the day was the trip home to NJ, believe it or not - > riding home on the ferry to Weehawken (spelling?) New Jersey and watching the > red white and ble lit up Empire State Building and the dazzling and beautiful > lights of the buildings/large/long skyline of the city and a bridge (forget > which one) that was probably lit up too) recede amidst the choppy waters of the > Hudson at night. It was cold, and I hate the cold, but the combination of the > fresh air, beautiful lights/cityscape and being at the edge of the railing w/ > just a few feet separating me from the choppy water and the bobbing of the ship > up and down made it more than a bearable cold but a beautiful cold. Toke some > both in focus and out of focus (for the bokeh ;-)) snapshots of the receding in > the water beautiful cityscape at night w/ my Maxxum 600si - more so for the > experience of it rather than hoping to get any "LEWISVISION" quality > photographs out of it. It/the scene was just plain beautiful - more beautiful > than any camera - and that's saying a lot! > > Finally, the best part of the day was knowing/focusing on just a few booths > this year instead of doing the mad dash I always do to see as much as possible > (and there are seemingly never-ending gobs of interesting and not so > interesting booths to see), and getting to talk w/ lots of interesting regular > photographers as well as John Isaacs over at the Olympus booth who has now > simplified his life by eliminating his four cameras and 17? lenses by shooting > w/ the new E-20 (and/or E10, I forget which) which has its own built-in zoom). > He gets by w/ mainly the 1 lens (and uses the 28mm equivalent lens adapter to > get wider when he must). His large images from the digi ZLRs 5MP camera were > impressive both for their (his) vision and their image quality (but when you > got up close you could see some colored pixilization/or possibly this was jpeg > block artefacting). I have large, signed by him) color poster of a tiff file > from the E20? of an African black woman in native garb that looks quite nice > (though perhaps a little lackingin detail arounfd the eyes/etc.)., but its the > image/vision that counts... but the cameras are fun too! > > Anyway that about wraps it up for me in this very long post (w/ a lot still > left out too!). Sorry y'all couldn't be there, you would've loved it - > especially the ferry at night part! > > Regards from New Jersey, > > Lewis > > Check out my photos at "LEWISVISION": > > http://members.aol.com/Lewisvisn/home.htm
