KONICA MINOLTA ABANDONS CAMERA BUSINESS
Fujifilm Reasserts Commitment to Traditional Imaging

Citing the difficulty of remaining competitive in the rapidly changing digital era, Konica Minolta is withdrawing from the camera and photography market. The move followed last year’s announcement from Bronica that it was also retiring from the medium-format camera business, terminating a 47-year-old brand.

The surge of worldwide digitization has resulted in a rapid shrinking of the traditional silver halide photographic market, according to Konica management. In such a changing world, profits for camera and photo businesses have wors-ened in recent years, necessitating a reorganization of Konica’s business structure.

At the same time, Fujifilm has reaffirmed its belief in the viability of silver halide photography. The company recently announced plans to continue its silver halide business and to “further cultivate the culture of photography.”

Despite the reduced demand for film and photographic products, Fujifilm believes that silver halide photography has advantages over digital in such areas as power of expression, long-term storage capability, reasonable prices, easy handling, and an established and convenient photo development and print infrastructure.

Restructuring guidelines devised by Konica include an agreement to develop digital SLR cameras jointly with Sony. In February, Sony, the second-ranking digital camera manufacturer behind Canon, purchased a portion of Konica’s SLR business for an undisclosed sum. In announcing the acquisition, Sony revealed that the company’s goal is to corner 25 percent of the digital SLR market.

Konica also plans a reduction in color film and color paper pro-duction,with cessation of those operations to be completed by Mar. 31, 2007. Production of the Minilab system has already been discontinued. Reorganization of sales offices and withdrawal from all photo sales activities are scheduled to be completed by Sept. 30, 2007.

In the future, the company intends to concentrate on nonconsumer businesses, such as business technologies, optics and display devices, and medical imaging.

Late last year, Tamron discontinued production of the Bronica RF 645 6x4.5 range-finder camera model, along with its relevant lenses and accessories. The RF 645 was the last Bronica model still in production.

Tamron executives blamed the drastic drop in Bronica sales on the quick adoption of digital technology by core Bronica customers, professional and wedding photographers.

Tamron will continue to service Bronica equipment for seven years from the official date of discontinuation of each model.

MAISEL DEFENDS SAGO DISASTER COVERAGE

Bad timing and remote locations, rather than media sloppiness, were the main factors that contributed to initially erroneous press reports about the Sago, W.Va., mine disaster that killed 12, according to Todd Maisel, a staff photographer for the New York Daily News.

Hundreds of journalists from around the country traveled to Sago to document the rescue attempts, and photographs of the waiting families dominated almost every front page. On the NPPA web site, Maisel, who also is Region 2 associate director for the National Press Photographers Association, described his experiences and those of other journalists and photographers.

“This was obviously not the work of gullible media, but of journalists pushed to their limits and everyone wanting the miners to be alive,” Maisel wrote, adding that it is rare for unverified facts in a big story to cause newspapers across the country
to print inaccurate information.

The real question, according to Maisel, is whether there was anything that photographers could have done to prevent the mistake in the papers. “One can only report and photograph what happens,” he wrote.

The same forbidding weather that was credited as a likely cause of the mine explosion also made the jobs of the media more difficult, according to Maisel. Heavy thunderstorms created tense drives for those sent to cover the scene. When they arrived, they faced bone-chilling dampness, slogging mud, poor visibility and bad lighting.

After nearly two days, photographers were on hand to capture the jubilation of the waiting families when they were told that their husbands, sons, brothers and fathers had been delivered safely from the mine. The news came just before final deadline for many of the publications represented at the scene, and the media scrambled to share the joy and relief of the men’s families.

When those reports were proven false, the photographers and journalists suddenly found that they were no longer welcome. “The inaccurate report about the miners added to the already difficult task of photographing the families of these men in this sleepy, deeply private Appalachian community,” Maisel wrote. “It made a draining story more stressful and harkened back to the days of 9/11, when families awaited the rescue and then recovery of their family and friends.”

Prior to that moment, Maisel said, many family members who did not mind the camera lights had shared their thoughts and feelings with the media. “So the pressure mounted for any positive info, perhaps fueling the chain of events that led unidentified rescuers to leak word that the miners were alive,” he wrote.

Maisel’s entire report is available at www.nppa.org/news_and_events/news/2006/01/sago.html.

Getty Launches Licensing Service, Chinese Website

Getty Images recently established two new services for its customers: a subscription-based licensing service, called Creative Express, and a Chinese-language web site with content developed for the Chinese market.

Subscribers to Creative Express pay a fee for access to more than 50,000 images selected from the Photodisc and Digital Vision collections, available at www.gettyimages.com.

All imagery included in Creative Express is provided with model and property releases, plus full indemnification. The service offers monthly and annual subscription options, multi-user discounts and high-resolution image upgrades, which are available at a 10 percent discount from the single, royalty-free image price.

The new Getty Images China web site, www.gettyimages.cn, allows Chinese creative professionals to search, download and license imagery from all of Getty’s collections. To meet the demand for culturally relevant content on the site, a team of local and international photographers will shoot a broad range of subjects, supported by local creative research and art direction.

Yu Li, formerly with Reuters and now director of Getty’s Greater China division, oversees Getty Images China at its Beijing headquarters. Sales offices also have been established in Shanghai and Guangzhou

COPYRIGHT OFFICE ISSUES INTERIM REGS

The U.S. Copyright Office has issued new interim regulations regarding the registration of unpublished works being prepared for commercial distribution in media that the Register of Copyrights determines have had a history of pre-release infringement. The office also sought comments on whether use of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer web browser would create difficulties in the preregistration process.

The preregistration process was outlined in the Artists’ Rights and Theft Prevention Act of 2005, and was intended to give artists protection against pre-release infringement of their work prior to authorized commercial distribution. Originally, the regulations required that artists follow up any pre-registration with regular copyright registration of their work within specified time frames. The new revisions allow artists who preregister but fail to re-register before the deadlines to remain eligible for awards of statutory damages and attorney’s fees in the event of copyright infringement.

Professional photographers were among the many artists who had sought broader protection under the act. Trade groups, such as the Advertising Photographers of America and the American Society of Media Photographers, expressed satisfaction with the changes. The APA noted, however, that photographers should endeavor not only to register their work but also to meet all registration deadlines under the law.

Background information and a copy of the regulations are available at www.copyright.gov/fedreg/2005/70fr42286.html.

PHOTOGRAPHERS EMBRACE DIGITAL SLRs

Nearly 80 percent of profession-al photographers own digital SLR cameras, according to a recent InfoTrends/CAP Ventures survey. At least 52 percent of those surveyed said that they plan to purchase a new digital SLR within a year.

Photographers also are taking a large number of shots, averaging 482 per week for digital users. The vast majority of these images are saved to a computer, and nearly 65 percent of the photos taken are edited with digital tools.

UPDIG STANDARDIZES DIGITAL MARKETPLACE

Because the advent of digital pho-tographic technology is rapidly changing the image marketplace, a working group representing digital imaging professionals and allied trade groups and manufacturers has drafted the Universal Photographic Digital Imaging Guidelines (UPDIG).

Gaps in creative and quality control have led to confusion, inequities, loss of quality and unnecessary expense, according to the working group. In addition, the lack of transparencies or reference prints has left a void in the image-quality control chain that can be filled only by integrated color management that adheres to accepted ICC workflow protocols.

Worldwide imaging quality and delivery standards will facilitate reliable and repeatable image reproduction, the group believes. The guidelines identify four objectives to address professional photographers’ concerns:
• Making digital imaging practices clearer and more reliable.
• Developing a web resource in order to establish a common language among photographers and other members of the imaging supply chain.
• Demonstrating the creative and economic benefits of these guidelines to clients and the reproduction industry.
• Developing industry guidelines and suggested workflow protocols for various types of image reproduction.

Adoption of these standards would ensure that images look the same as they are transferred among devices, platforms and vendors, and that they are prepared in the correct resolution, at the correct size. In addition, embedded metadata that conform to IPTC standards would make the images searchable as well as providing usage, copyright and contact information.

For more details, see www.updig.org.

SOTHEBY’S INSTITUTE OFFERS PHOTO DEGREE

Sotheby’s Institute of Art-London is offering a master’s program in historic and contemporary photography, starting in September 2006. The MA in Photography, Historic and Contemporary, is intended to reflect the shift in the way that photography is received and understood. Master’s candidates will acquire the skills needed to appreciate and analyze photography in terms of intention, production, encounter and interpretation, better preparing them for careers in art with specializations in the photographic medium.

The course will look at photo-graphy’s role in a variety of social and cultural contexts, including photojournalism, documentary practice, vernacular environments and fashion. The course will consider the full range of ways in which artists engage with photography to make art, from 19th-century daguerreotypes to conceptual art’s use of the snapshot.

For more information, contact Jane Tobin, Sotheby’s Institute of Art, 30 Bedford Square, London WC1, United Kingdom, +44 20 7462 3219, www.sothebysinstitutelondon.com.

PLUS PUBLISHES PHOTO GLOSSARY

The Picture Licensing Universal System (PLUS) Coalition has published the Universal Picture Licensing Glossary, a free resource providing industry-standard definitions for more than 1,300 terms used in transactions involving photography and illustration. The glossary is the first component of PLUS, industry standards created and approved by a worldwide coalition of art buyers, photographers, illustrators, publishers, graphic designers, advertisers, artist representatives, stock picture agents and their trade associations.

The PLUS Glossary is available for use at the coalition’s newly launched web site, www.useplus.org.

RAINIER, DICK’S CAMERA COMBINE EXPERIENCE

Earlier this year, Jonathan Stone, president of Rainier Photographic Supply, purchased Dick’s Camera from Dick Dahlgard, who had owned and operated the Seattle-based business since 1969. In February, Rainier Photographic Supply moved from its Rainier Valley location, where it has operated since 1976, to the Dick’s store in Burien, Wash., one mile west of Sea-Tac Airport. Phone numbers, fax numbers and e-mail addresses for both stores remain unchanged.

Dahlgard is retiring from a career that began in 1954, when he joined the original Tall’s Cameras. Dick’s Camera began with locations in Burien, Federal Way and Issaquah, Wash., eventually consolidating operations at the Burien store, which opened in 1978.

CASCADES ACADEMY CLOSES ITS DOORS

Late last year, Cascades Academy of Photography in Issaquah closed its doors after five years of operation. Owners Di Irons and Bob Iness say they were casualties of an industry-wide slump. Over the past couple of years, Iness says, enrollment in photography courses has declined, on the adult education level as well as in the community colleges.

The proliferation of digital cameras has greatly affected the way photography is taught, Iness believes. Many of those who have bought digital cameras have computers and software at home, and don’t feel that further instruction is needed to achieve the results they want.

Although Cascades will no longer provide gallery space and rental facilities, Irons and Iness hope to continue contributing to the local photography community by offering classes and workshops at various locations in the greater Puget Sound area. In addition, they will provide an instruction referral service through their web site, www.cascadesphotography.com.