Leica Press Conference – 20th October 2015

My LeicasLeica have announced a press conference for the 20th October, I am hoping its going to be to announce the new M but there is a rumour going round of a new full frame autofocus mirrorless camera.  Which ever, I look forward to seeing what they are going to release.

 

For more than 100 years, our thoughts and actions, and our passion, have been dedicated to only one thing – creating the perfect picture. With products that are always focused on “Das Wesentliche”, the essentials, we provide photographers around the world with the ideal tools for capturing the decisive moment and for bringing their own vision to life. This tradition is what drives us to achieve and gives us the power to reinvent ourselves time and again. The outcome is a portfolio of cameras and lenses that redefine the status quo as we know it and have one thing in common, despite a century of progress: a focus on “Das Wesentliche” – in other words, the picture.

We cordially invite you to a celebration of photography in the the spirit of “Das Wesentliche”. From October 20, 6:30 p.m. on until October 21, approximately 1:00 p.m, everything in the Leitz Park in Wetzlar will revolve around the fascinating nature of pictures and the exclusive presentation of a new milestone in the Leica Camera product range. Be one of the first to experience the next chapter in the history of professional photography, a historic moment that begins right here and now and will shape the future. Enjoy a delightful atmosphere and a special photographic program with friends of Leica, photographers, artists, media, and prominent and international guests – in other words, with all those who, just like you, breathe life into the fascination that is Leica.

Read more on LeicaRumors.com: http://leicarumors.com/2015/09/23/leica-das-wesentliche-event-on-october-20th.aspx/#ixzz3meltuvgR

Ilford get bought out

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There are not many film manufacturers left. Ilford in the UK, Kodak in the USA and Fuji of Japan are basically all that’s left for traditional silver photography.

Not sure if I should worry or not but Harman the parent company for Iford has been bought.

14th September 2015

HARMAN technology, manufacturers of the famous ILFORD Photo range of Monochrome Photographic products, have been purchased by Pemberstone Ventures Ltd for an undisclosed amount.

Pemberstone, a UK based investment company have been tracking the performance of HARMAN for some time.Mark Anslow, CEO of Pemberstone Ventures comments:“We are very excited by the potential of the Analogue Photography movement and believe that HARMAN is uniquely placed to drive the resurgent Film market into the future”.

Peter Elton, Managing Director of HARMAN concurs.“Film has become an interesting medium for young photographers to work with again.We are seeing this very clearly. Our new owners will assist us to connect more effectively to this younger generation in the future, and we will prioritise this as our main goal over the next five years.”

“We remain totally committed to Analogue Photography, and indeed to all forms of Imaging.Our Product Range is uniquely stable and of the highest quality, and we can assure all of our customers that we will continue to support them in our customary way for the foreseeable future”

Shooting details

Details in ~Orkney-2Even when on holiday to beautiful places like Orkney, I still look out for details and more unusual shots.  The above shot of the cobbled slip way needed more dramatic light and then should have made a dramatic Black & White, unfortunately this day in  Kirkwall it was bight sunshine.

Looking out for objects to photography, with it being a harbour then this lifebuoy just had to be photographed.

Details in ~Orkney-3

The last shot is the one that I think actually works from this set. After parking up near the harbour and walking into town this old petrol pump took my eye as we walked up an old street towards the centre of Kirkwall.

Details in ~Orkney

 

Well its Home coming Thursday

Puffin on CliffWell thats it.The holiday is over and we are back home and back to the routine of work.  While I took my wildlife kit I did not manage to get any great shots this time unlike my week on the Shetlands in 2013 but it was a great holiday nevertheless with some fantastic live archaeology being done in front of our very eyes and new discoveries being made.

 

 

Leica’s CCD M series Sensor update

A while ago, Leica published some details about potential issues with the CCD sensors in their M series cameras.  https://brown-family.org.uk/m9-ir-cover-glass-corrosion/

Until now if you had the issue Leica would replace the sensor with one from stock that potentially could have the same issue.

Well good news from Leica, they have announced they have developed a new generation CCD sensor for the M series and from now its these that will be fitted to Leica CCD rangefinders.

We are very pleased to inform you that we have successfully completed development on our new generation of CCD sensors and conducted subsequent quality assurance testing under practical conditions. As a result, Leica Camera AG can now begin replacing the sensors in the M9, M9-P and M-E models that were affected by corrosion with sensors from the new generation.

Sensor replacement for M Monochrom models will also begin shortly. We will inform you of the precise date of this as soon as possible.

On this note, we would like to remind our customers that we can only offer replacements for CCD sensors for cameras affected by this particular problem; prophylactic replacement is not possible.

We thank you for your patience and for your loyalty to the Leica brand.

Read more on LeicaRumors.com:  http://leicarumors.com/2015/09/01/update-on-the-leica-ccd-sensor-issue-for-the-leica-m9m9-pm-em-monochrom-cameras-2.aspx/#ixzz3kxP5faRu

Holiday Highlights – Ness of Brodgar

MaeshoweIf your into archaeology, wildlife or even scuba diving, the Islands of Orkney are one of the best places in the world to visit.

For this this visit we concentrated on the archaeology and while we visited and entered the tombs of Maeshowe which was as spectacular as we remembered once I had managed to climb inside, and also the site of Skara Brae were the stone age (neolithic) homes are remarkably preserved.SkaraBrae

 

But for us the highlight of the trip was the Ness of Brodgar, this site was discovered just after our last visit ten years ago when the local land owner went to plough this field for the first time.  Immediately he hit stone and after the geo-physics had been done it was revealed that the whole site was covered with the remains of stone buildings.

For the last then years for the the eight weeks of summer they did at this site and discover more, its one of the great finds of prehistory in the world, a temple complex over five thousand years old.NessofBrodgar

 

Orkney – Land of Rugged Coastlines & Neolithic Tombs

Orkney is a fantastic place to explore, if your into walking, wildlife, arts or crafts and especially history then there is something to see.

Orkney Explore-3The coastal scenery is just stunning, this shot is just a quick snapshot from my iPhone as we walked around one of the tiny uninhabited islands to visit an old viking settlement.

Orkney Explore-2Everywhere you have everything from stunning beaches to stark cliff’s, while we did not see any puffins this time there were plenty of cormorants and other sea birds.

Orkney Explore

In the first few days we visited the main towns and then went off and found the famous tombs of pre-history that Orkney is famous for.

Orkney Explore-5Some of them like the Tomb of the Eagles had a entrance only three feet high, lucky there a trolley which you could lie on and a rope to pull yourself along.

These early trips gave me lots of ideas for photographs and i’ll be revisiting them later on in the holiday with something a little better then an iPhone to photograph them better.