Photo Specialty |

Hunt’s launches loaner program for in-demand cameras

May 9, 2012 By Gary Pageau

Canon EOS 5D Mark III

Hunt’s Photo and Video, Melrose, Mass., recently kicked off a customer service program letting photographers who order and pre-pay for one of four high-demand, low-availability cameras to borrow and use the units for up to three days. Included in the program are the Nikon D4, Nikon D800, and Canon 5D Mark III; the Canon 1DX will be added as soon as it begins to ship.

“There are probably about four cameras that are coming out in limited quantities and for which the demand is very high,” says Mike Mitchell, director of retail operations, Hunt’s. “It’s going to take a long time to fill all the orders for them. In the past, we would have sold all of our units as they came in. Now we are holding a unit in the store and making it available to people who’ve ordered the cameras in advance and pre-paid so they can get experience with them before the units ship.”

Filed Under: Photo Specialty Tagged With: Hunt's Photo and Video

BIC Camera to open new Central Tokyo store

April 26, 2012 By Gary Pageau

Japan’s BIC Camera will open its 42nd store in Akasaka, central part of Tokyo in summer next year, according to JPEA Photo Electro News. The company will rent a whole building on the Akasaka-Mitsuke subway station. The store will have floor space of about 6,000 square meters. There are many offices and hotels in the area so that BIC expects new customers from offices and foreign tourists.

Japan’s large-scale consumer electronics stores have been suffering from decline sales of TVs, thus far the main merchandise, taking some 20 percent of total sales. Leading stores with enough money are opening stores in larger cities with larger potential consumers. BIC is opening a second store in Shinjuku this summer, where mega stores such as Yodobashi Camera and Yamada Denki are clustered .

Filed Under: Photo Specialty Tagged With: Bic Camera

The March/April issue of PMA magazine is ready for reading

April 25, 2012 By Gary Pageau

The new Paul's Photo is featured in the new PMA magazine

The latest issue of PMA Magazine – Connecting the Imaging Communities is live and online in an all-new interactive version. Top features include the renovation of Paul’s Photo and a look at the new 6Sight Social Imaging Report.

Connections
Newsline – Top news for the industry’s leading information source

Member Advantage – PMA resources save you time and money and help you succeed.

Connections
In Memoriam: Edward C. Ritz
In Memoriam: Michihiro Yamaki

PMA Australia event gets digital makeover — Annual conference provides wide range of education opportunities.
Portraiture in focus – School portrait and sports/event photography conferences spotlights new opportunities for growth and change

Business & Marketing
Laser photo engraving 101 – If it’s flat, you can probably make a laser-etched photo out of it.
Reinventing Paul’s Photo – A conversation with Mark Comon about why now is the time to rethink the photo store.

Trends & Technology
Smart phone apps drive imaging – Discussing the biggest imaging boom, from PMA@CES
6Sight releases the 6Sight Social Imaging Survey Report – New research sheds light on how today’s connected generation of photo takers choose devices and methods for taking, enhancing and sharing photo.

Filed Under: Featured, Mobile imaging, Online imaging, Photo Specialty, PMA Australia Show, PMA News, PSPA, Social Imaging Tagged With: PMA magazine

Fujifilm to sponsors PMA Australia Future Leaders Program

April 25, 2012 By Gary Pageau

Paul Rogers, Fujifilm

Fujifilm Australia announced they are Platinum Sponsor of the PMA Australia Future Leaders Program.

“For over 12 years the PMA Young Achiever Award has been a very successful event and in 2011 the program was expanded making training available to an even larger group of future industry leaders with wider eligibility for entrants,” says Paul Rogers, general manager, Fujifilm Australia Consumer Imaging. “The objective of the program is to expose future leaders to training and techniques that will make them better employees for the entire industry. We see this program as incredibly worthwhile I’m delighted to say that for the 2012 event Fujifilm will be a Platinum Sponsor.”

PMA Australia’s first Future Leaders Program Workshops were successfully run
In Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane in late April and May 2011. Fifty-five industry future leaders, from a variety of retail, wholesale, professional photography and picture framing businesses attended the workshops, which were developed and run by The Friedman Group. The workshops focus on refining the future leaders’ communication skills, enhancing business development skills and developing world-class practice strategies.

Filed Under: Photo Specialty, PMA News Tagged With: Fujifilm Australia

Lensbaby adds versions for mirrorless cameras

April 2, 2012 By Gary Pageau

Lensbaby comes to interchangeable lens cameras

Lensbaby Inc., Portland, Ore., announced its SLR creative effects camera lens, the Composer Pro, is now also available for Micro 4/3rds cameras (including Panasonic Lumix G Micro System and Olympus PEN), Sony α NEX, and Samsung NX cameras. The Composer Pro for mirrorless cameras is compatible with the Lensbaby Optic Swap System and ships with the Double Glass Optic installed.

The Composer Pro, launched in March 2011, upgraded the swivel ball and focus mechanism to provide professional performance. The Composer Pro’s metal swivel ball design and refined focus mechanism deliver ultra-smooth focus and tilt control. The updated focus mechanism features a fluid and accurate dampened focus ring comparable to the focus mechanisms of the highest quality professional manual focus lenses.

The Composer Pro is compatible with the complete range of creative optics in the Lensbaby Optic Swap System including the Edge 80, Sweet 35, Fisheye, Soft Focus, Pinhole/Zone plate, Single Glass, and Plastic. Each optic can be swapped into the Composer Pro to deliver a different creative effect.

Filed Under: CliQ, Photo Specialty, Pro Photography

In Memoriam: Edward C. Ritz

April 2, 2012 By Gary Pageau

Edward C. Ritz

Photo specialty store pioneer and PMA Hall of Fame member, Edward C. Ritz, died Friday, March 30. He survived by his wife, Irene K. Ritz; son, David M. Ritz, and daughter, Linda Ritz Dolphin. He is also survived by five grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Services and interment private.

Ritz served the association as president from 1973 – 1974, a chair of the convention committee for many years, and as vice president of PMA Services. He was elected into the PMA Hall of Fame in 1984.

More information will be made available as soon as it is received.

Filed Under: In Memoriam, Photo Specialty, PMA News

Leica announces Leica Store Washington D.C.

March 30, 2012 By Gary Pageau

Leica Camera Inc., Allendale, N.J., has announced the opening of the Leica Store Washington D.C., located at 977 F Street, NW, in the Penn Quarter. The store, featuring the entire Leica photography and sport optics product portfolio, will celebrate an official grand opening May 2 -3.

“Perfect for Leica enthusiasts, professional photographers and new customers alike, the Leica Store Washington DC creates a completely immersive experience into the world of photography,” says Roland Wolff, director, Corporate Retail at Leica Camera Inc. “Leica Camera has always represented the best in German engineering and the special culture of the picture. We are now able to offer a complete showcase for our products and services as well as a creative setting for our customers, bringing this central mission to life in a new way.”

The Leica Store Washington DC will also be the setting for the Leica Akademie workshops. In addition, the store will be designated as an S2 Pro Dealership and provide specialized demonstrations, consultations and support for professional photographers.

To celebrate the grand opening, Leica Camera will host programming throughout a two-day event. May 2-3, which includes workshops highlighting Leica’s product portfolio, a cocktail hour for professional photographers and an official opening ceremony showcasing the new setting to invited guests. The gallery space will feature an exhibition by internationally acclaimed Photojournalist Peter Turnley. As part of a new Leica Lecture Series, Turnley will present “Peter Turnley: Moments of the Human Condition” on May 2nd. Attendees of this lecture will not only view Turnley’s iconic photographs but also hear the stories behind the images that have shaped views of world history from the fall of the Berlin Wall and the 1989 revolutions in Eastern Europe to the devastation at Ground Zero on September 11, 2001 and most recently, the turning point in the Egyptian Revolution.

Leica Camera has confirmed two additional store locations in the United States slated to open later this year, Leica Store New York SoHo and Leica Store Miami.

Filed Under: Photo Specialty, Retail Tagged With: Leica Camera

Custom SLR launches M-Plate universal quick-release camera tripod plate

March 27, 2012 By Gary Pageau

Custom SLR M-Plate

Custom SLR, a San Jose, Calif., design company announced the M-Plate universal camera tripod plate, offering built-in Manfrotto RC2 and Arca-Swiss connections as well as attachment points for accessories. Produced with appreciation from the support of more than 400 Kickstarter backers and designed by a team of seasoned photographers, the $74.95 M-Plate enables quick release from any tripod head and can attach multiple camera accessories into a single plate.

Crafted in the USA from aerospace grade aluminum, the M-Plate is sturdy, steady and lightweight, and works with any camera strap system including the Custom SLR C-Loop strap mount, BlackRapid, Spider Holster, Sun Sniper, Cotton Carrier and other systems would typically occupy the camera tripod socket.

“While connecting with real photographers using the C-Loop, we heard over and over that they also wanted something to connect with their tripod. That was the inspiration for the M-Plate but what grew from that inspiration is a system that will work with any strap system and any tripod – improving the shooting experience for all photographers,” says Ivan Wong, COO, Custom SLR. “We started Custom SLR as a means to solve our own problems and it’s amazing to be able to help so many of our fellow photographers as well. Thank you to all of our Kickstarter backers for help bringing the M-Plate to life.”

Filed Under: CliQ, New products, Photo Specialty

Quebec’s Gosselin to open new store this summer

March 19, 2012 By Gary Pageau

Jean Goupil, CEO of Gosselin Photo Vidéo Inc., announced the photo-specialty retailer will open this summer a new store in Laval, Quebec, Canada. The announcement said the 8,000 square-foot store will be the largest photo specialty store on Montreal’s North shore, and feature “photographic products and services in a trendy design to offer our customers the best purchase experience.”

Filed Under: Canada News, Photo Specialty Tagged With: Gosselin Photo Video

PMA U.K. interviewed by BBC regarding passport photo challenges

March 16, 2012 By Gary Pageau

PMA U.K. is active in efforts to preserve the printed photo id market, served by photo retailers, from being replaced by government employed photographers. Director Nigel McNaught has launched a website, Save the Photographers, to highlight the issue.

BBC Essex interviewed McNaught earlier this week; the audio file is below:

Filed Under: Europe news, Photo Specialty, PMA News