NEW YORK CITY, 11/4/02 - What a town; what a show! When you go to a photography/design trade show in New York, you get the best. Keynotes by photographer Greg Gorman and New York Times columnist and Missing Manual author Davie Pogue. Presentations by eminent photographers like Walter Iooss, Douglas Kirkland, Jay Maisel, Peter Turner, and more. Demonstrations by digital experts like Jeff Schewe, Helen DeLillo, Andrew Rodney, and Julieanne Kost. Plus more than 200 exhibit booths showing all the coolest equipment and supplies. Leading photo publication Photo District News (PDN) staged the event, and spokesperson Karen Thomas said that attendance figures were definitely up from last year: from 18,000 to 22,000. Some highlights:
As expected, there was plenty of new digital camera action. SIGMA was showing its SD-9 digital single lens reflex camera, the world's first with the new Foveon X3 image sensor (instead of a CCD or CMOS chip). With 10.2 million layered color photo detectors total, it's supposed to start shipping in the U.S. in 1-2 weeks. NIKON showed off all its digital cameras including the newest Coolpix models: 4300 (4 Megapixel) and 3500 (3 MP) as well as the new D100 digital SLR for advanced amateurs. The D100 is 6.1 MP, takes all old Nikon lenses, is priced around $2,000, and has a multiplier factor of 1.5x. KODAK was showing its new DCS Pro 14n, a 14 MP digital SLR that delivers 41 MB max file sizes. Shipping in mid-December with a list price of $4,995, it's one of only two digital cameras with full 35mm size sensors and no lens magnification factor! The other one is the CANON EOS-1 Ds. This latest Canon digital SLR is an 11.1-MP camera offering 33 MB raw files. Street price is about $8,000, and it's shipping early December. www.sigma-photo.co.jp; www.nikon.com; www.kodak.com/go/dcspro14n; www.usa.canon.com
And speaking of CANON, they were showing, in addition to a new photo-direct desktop printer (S830D), their new wide-format inkjet printers: the imagePROGRAF W7200 and W7250. The 7200 is for up to 24" wide media with 6-color 130ml cartridges (dye-based). It sells for $3,495 including the stand. The bigger 7250 is for 36" wide media with 330ml carts, and it's selling for $5,495. Both are in stock now. The resolution is 1200 x 600 dpi, and there's a new 1-inch, 7,680-nozzle printhead. The rumor is that Canon's got a pigment line of printers in the works. www.usa.canon.com
HP certainly hasn't been sitting on the sidelines after their announced $1.2 billion investment in digital printing and imaging. Three new products that caught my eye at the show... The SCANJET 5500C is a brand new 2400-dpi, 48-bit flatbed scanner that allows you to put a stack of 3x5 or 4x6" photos (up to 50) in a tray, hit "scan," and walk away. Somehow keeping the prints magically away from the surface of the glass, the scanner automatically scans and stores all the prints in order. There's also a standard-included "TMA" (transparent materials adapter) for scanning negs and slides. $299 list price. Then, there's the sweet little PHOTOSMART 230 inkjet printer. It's photo-direct (computer is optional), and although it's a full 4800x1200-dpi printer, it only takes 4x6" paper or smaller (available in packages; no roll stock). You can take it to parties for instant prints, and it even has an adapter to plug into your car. Lists for $249, and comes with both Windows and Mac drivers. Finally, there's the 2210PSC ALL-IN-ONE (PSC stands for printer-scanner-copier, but it also does faxing). All-in-ones seem to be a trend (Epson also has two new ones: Stylus CX3200 and CX5200.) But, what makes the 2210 special is how it handles proofing and printing. After popping in your digicam memory card, it prints a proof sheet. Then, just like taking a multiple-choice test, you fill in the boxes of the prints you want, put the proof sheet back on the scanning glass, and -- get this -- the printer automatically makes prints of the selected images! List price is $399. www.hp.com
Adding to its amazing tri-linear scanning backs, BETTERLIGHT was introducing its new E-model line for professional photographers, photo schools, museums, and art repro companies. The "E" comes from a mix of Economy and Ecology, explained marketing director Larry Guyer. Using recycled CCDs and PC boards coming out of upgraded customer units, BetterLight has remanufactured this line of scanning backs and is offering them starting at $6,495 for the 4000E model (53MB max file size; 24-bit RGB). As with all BetterLights, the E models are upgradeable to higher resolution models at any time in the future. www.betterlight.com
Denmark's IMACON was showing it's new Flextight 646 high-end scanner with a non-interpolated max res of 6300 dpi. It's priced at $13,995 and uses Imacon's unique "virtual drum" where the original film is bent into a curve and suspended in mid-air without any glass to get in the way. www.imacon-usa.com
The LUMINOS PHOTO booth was really jumping. Not only was Bob Haupt and crew showing their Monochrome Plus variable-tone inks as well as the new LUMIFLO Standard EP pigmented inkset, but the new Symphonic inks were on display, and I heard from a well-placed source that there may soon be a new RIP package combining some of these elements to yield a pigmented inkset that will approach the luminosity of dyes. www.lumijet.com
Also hanging out in the Luminos booth was none other than Norm Levy, owner of MEDIA STREET. He was pre-launching his most recent Niagara II bulk ink system, but it was on an EPSON 2200! MediaStreet is apparently the first third-party company to crack the 2200 chip, and this Niagara II model will start shipping within the week for $275 complete and pre-assembled with your choice of two inksets. But, Norm wasn't done with me yet. He pulled out -- and you're hearing about here first folks! -- his new universal chip resetter (see arrow) for all EPSON desktop chipped printers including the new 950/960. The resetter, which doesn't even have a name yet, will be available in 10 days for about $25. www.mediastreet.com
At distributor ANW Crestwood's booth I met Wayne Connelly, president of HAHNEMUHLE USA. He showed me their new Photo Rag 460-gsm paper. It's a heavier-weight version of the popular inkjet printing paper, mainly for EPSON users. Comes in sheets only; available starting December 1. Hahnemuhle has also teamed up with HP on two co-branded papers: HP Photo Rag by Hahnemuhle and HP Watercolor by Hahnemuhle. And, if you still don't know how to pronounce "Hahnemuhle," don't worry about it; Connelly joked that the name is more memorable when people can't pronounce it. www.hahnemuhle.com
Continuing on the media theme, ILFORD IMAGING was announcing five new textile media products for indoor and outdoor banner applications. These include new Cotton, Polyester, Polysatin, Flag, and Mesh ILFOJET products. Also new from ILFORD is its new STUDIO system, which is a complete digital output system comprised of media in pre-mounts, sheets, and rolls; an EPSON 7600 or 9600 printer; and the RIPSTAR Studio RIP. And finally, ILFORD has added a new multi-use paper to it's Galerie line of pro desktop inkjet photo paper: Galerie Smooth Multi-Use, which is a double-sided paper with a matte finish. For both dye- and pigment-based printers. www.ilford.com
XEROX had a small booth to test response for its color lasers and solid ink inkjets. Trade Show Manager Josh Stevens (who has the daunting task of exhibiting Xerox products at 40+ trade shows a year!) was showing the Phaser 7700 12x18" tabloid, single-pass, color laser (with sample prints featuring digital artist Ileana's La Paz image), the smaller Phaser 6200, and the unique Phaser 8200 solid ink printer. Some people have nicknamed the latter as "crayon printers" because of the waxy, resin blocks of ink colors that are solid until the printer liquefies them for use and spraying on the paper. All these printers were getting a lot of attention at the show. www.xerox.com
On the color management front, the COLORVISION booth was packed (as usual). I got to meet briefly with color guru C. David Tobie, who was busy explaining color management to anyone who walked by (CDT is also the technical editor of my new book). Nearby, MONACO SYSTEMS was introducing its new MonacoOPTIX colorimeter for both CRT and LCD displays. MonacoOPTIX is priced at $299, and there is a limited-time $75 rebate program if you already have the older MonacoSENSOR. www.colorvision.com; www.monacosys.com
LEXJET had a big and busy booth. Chris Cudzilo showed me a couple of new products including a new grayscale control feature on their SpectrumPro RIP. It gives you the ability to choose the tone or tint of grayscale prints. It's now a standard feature on the SpectrumPro RIPs for Epson's new 7-color printers (2200, 7600, 9600). Prices vary according to which printer you have and if you need PostScript or not. Non-PostScript for the 2200 starts at $495. Lexjet also has a new 20-mil Satin Canvas medium that works with both the Photo Black and Matte Black on the new EPSONs. This allows you to switch from photo-based paper to canvas without having to purge out and replace inks. www.lexjet.com
One neat thing about trade shows is that you never know whom you're going to run into, and it's a real treat to be able to finally put faces to the names we have virtual relationships with on the Internet. For example, I was talking to Dan Hunt, director of sales for system integrator Parrot Digigraphic, in their booth when Dr. Nicholas Helmuth stopped by to take a picture. Helmuth runs the large FLAAR organization (now housed at Bowling Green State University in Ohio) that offers reports on digital imaging subjects. www.parrotcolor.com; www.wide-format-printers.org
In the Digital Learning Center, where a lot of hands-on instruction and presentations were taking place, I met fellow authors Bruce Fraser, Katrin Eisemann, Martin Evening, and John Paul Caponigro. Fraser's new, co-authored color management book has been delayed until January earliest, Evening's new Photoshop 7 book is out, and Caponigro has a revision of the his Photoshop Master Class book due out in December.
I also was pleased to meet digital-fineart list member ANDREW DARLOW in the Professional/Graphics Systems & Services booth. Darlow offers workshops and seminars, does inkjet and Photoshop consulting, and he has an informative Inkjet Tip of the Month Club newsletter. www.andrewdarlow.com
All in all, PhotoPlus Expo is a great show if you want to see the latest in digital photo equipment and supplies. And, if you want to meet the real people you're spending all your time online with!
2002 SHOW DETAILS:
PhotoPlus Expo
Jacob Javits Convention Center
New York City
Oct. 31-Nov. 2, 2002
2003 DATES: Oct. 30-Nov. 1
www.photoplusexpo.com
Your faithful reporter,
Harald Johnson
Harald Johnson is the author of the new book Mastering Digital Printing. He can be reached at harald@dpandi.com.
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