Mandy Martin, Puritjarra 2, 2005. For further information on MANDY MARTIN, refer here: http://www.mandy-martin.com/
If there are diverse kinds of knowledge and ways of knowing place, then we need to learn to value the different ways each of us sees a single place that is significant, but differently so, for each perspective.
adrift on a sea of information at a time when the world's night is a destitute time. In the age of the world's night, the abyss of the world must be endured.
--Adelaide is home. Relaxation is Victor Harbor. I'm a frustrated photographer who has lost his way in life.I have trouble coping in the technological mode of being of our complex digital world.
It's an advert for the SX-70 instant camera, but it does show how far photography has changed from film to digital. The failure to adapt meant going out of business. It nearly happened to Leica--interest is growing --- and to Hasselblad. Franke & Heidecke, the makers of Rolleiflex were sideswipped by digital. Even though Phase One did make a back for the Rollei 6008 for a time, the Rollei brand languished.
Despite eventually making the Hy6 for Sinar and Leaf-- the Rollei/Sinar Hy6/Leaf Afi!--- have gone bankrupt and closed down their factory. The Hy6 appears to be the case of too little too late, as it was basically a retrofitting of the old film camera (a Rollei 6008 based MF body with Jenoptik digital back), rather than a 100% digital from the start. Sinar has said that it is negotiating a possible continuation of the medium-format Hy6 camera production.
The digital revolution has definitely cut a destructive path through the medium format camera market, even though they saw the technological revolution happening in the 1990s and an entire industry for digital backs for medium format cameras emerged in the 1990s.
the rise of digital imaging put an end to the camera industry as we knew it. Many established players have gone out of business or balanced at the brink of bankruptcy for several years. The main reasons for this seem to be the explosive nature of digital technology, along with the fact that many firms had a position and a competence base that was rendered obsolete. While digital imaging has both popularized photography and taken it to new heights, this has been accomplished through the destruction of thousands of jobs and entire companies.
The market for the $50,000+ digital medium format camera such as Hasselblad and Phrase One is very small, and it probably now rests almost entirely in the rental houses. What is needed is medium format cameras starting to become more affordable,
Meanwhile, the digital revolution continues with the convergence of still photography and video, whilst the latest DSLRs, feature HDMI connectors which allow them to plug directly into home entertainment systems. We are a long way from the classic film cameras of yesteryear.
| Posted by Gary Sauer-Thompson at 11:32 PM | Permalink
It wasn't the camera--the 6008 -- that screwed Rollei. That was a good camera---in its time it was the most innovative and usable 6X6 medium format camera on the market. It was bloody expensive though.
It was their lack of dealership and service in the US and Australia. Rollei's service and dealer network did not keep pace with their innovativeness in design.They would not answer emails requesting equipment. They were reduced to Europe.
Brain,
the flaw with the Rollei 6008 is that it is a rechargeable battery dependant camera The Rollei is not much use on shoots where one is away from AC power for up to a week at a time. I have a Rollei 6006 and the same situation applies.
You need an mechanical camera--such as the earlier Rollei SL 66-- for these situations.
The problem with the Rollei in the digital age is that Franke Heidecke did not develop digital backs that could be used with cameras made 30+ years ago-- eg., the SL6 or the 6006. The SL66 is a perfectly good camera today. It just needs a good basic functional digital back.
It wasn't the camera--the 6008 -- that screwed Rollei. That was a good camera---in its time it was the most innovative and usable 6X6 medium format camera on the market. It was bloody expensive though.
It was their lack of dealership and service in the US and Australia. Rollei's service and dealer network did not keep pace with their innovativeness in design.They would not answer emails requesting equipment. They were reduced to Europe.