[Leica]The new T-Max 400

[tedgrant at shaw.ca (Ted Grant)]

David Rogers said:

>>Might we not see a film renaissance to some degree at some point? <<<

Some of you may re-call late '70's and early '80's B&W shooting was supposed
to be dead and gone forever. Ad agencies where paying huge dollars to so
called "colour shooters only!"

I know my assignments sky rocketed simply because I always said. "Sure
thing, shoot colour? A piece of cake!":-) And never let on I was still
clicking a roll of B&W for favourite people stuff.

However? B&W returned with a vengeance as soon as the major clothing
manufacturers realized some of their products had more appeal in B&W than
colour. Or the styles began to change both in clothing and automotive
industries and B&W became the tool of the day.

I also think creative people began to realize certain subjects looked better
in B&W and other subjects had their place in colour.

Will this kind of thing happen in cameras, digital to film? I sure as heck
wouldn't want to be the person to say.. "Naw it'll never happen!" 

Besides look right here in our motley crew how many are still shooting film
or knock off a roll every once in awhile.

Maybe these KODAK guys and their Tmax could be the beginning of a new era of
shooters, particularly the younger ones. Those who only know suckling a
digital camera who find adventure in film? Although a seemingly greater
amount of work in a darkroom etc. it creates such a wonderful experience of
involvement they'd only have read in books or heard the "old guys" going on
about the great days of film.

Don't change channels quite yet, just maybe there's a whole new B&W
resurgence at the top of the hour!

ted

 

 

On Behalf Of David Rodgers
Sent: Thursday, January 10, 2008 1:17 PM
To: Leica Users Group
Subject: RE: [Leica]The new T-Max 400

 

A few of the remaining die-hard engineers, production superintendents

and cost accountants no doubt did some white boarding in the one room

that still had electricity and they suddenly realized, "Hey, lets trim

the overhead, focus on the right products, and roll up our sleeves.  We

can make money making this stuff!" Forget economies of scale. If done

right being a niche' player can work, too. Fortunately there are lots of

really good film cameras out there. They were built with longevity in

mind, so the market for film remains as long as they do. It's not like

all those film Ms stopped working. They just got less expensive. Might

we not see a film renaissance to some degree at some point? 

 

OTOH, the new TMax may be something they came up with a few years ago and
they just now put into production. R&D is always ahead of the game.

Heck there might be Tmax that's even newer than the new Tmax. It's also
possible that Leica already has a prototype M9 that we'll see as soon as
they tap out the market for M8's.   

Business is a tricky business. 

DaveR