Leica Stores - When Camera Stores Are Disappearing, Leica Stores Are Multiplying

Image Source: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-06-14/why-leica-is-opening-so-many-stores

 

I've written a few times about how much I enjoy having a new Leica store in DC. I've taken a couple of Leica Akademie classes there, and always enjoy dropping in for a chat with the experts, and to view the latest equipment.

 

BusinessWeek has posted a brief article about the stores. (Click Here) to read it.

 

Apparently, the plan is to increase from the current number of 37 stores worldwide to over 200 by March 2013 2016. That's a business I'd actually consider running.

 

The Leica stores include retail space (obviously), studio space, which is also used for lectures in the Leica Akademie workshop series, and a gallery.

 

My experience in the Leica Store DC is that this is no snobby jewelry store atmosphere. The staff are true enthusiastics (which reminds me of Aziz, who proudly brings his early Barnack Leica IIIF and Summaron 50mm lens to work). They're intent on sharing Leica camera capabilities and unique features, not on getting your wallet out of your pocket.

 

The gallery space is always interesting, inspiring.

 

You've perhaps already read my thoughts on the Leica Akademie. It's really quite good. I've just finished a three day workshop there, "The Truth About Photographs." You'll see a review on that very soon.

 

So, in a time when brick and mortar camera stores are disappearing, Leica stores are expanding. I hope this is a good direction for the company. Apparently, something is going right. According to the BusinessWeek article, Leica's revenue increased 57% last year ($310M). I'm not sure exactly what this means, but the article also says that income increased 10X. Income can be defined in more than one way, but regardless, this sounds pretty good to me.

 

Welcome to the neighborhood, Leica Store!

 

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Mike Johnston of The Online Photographer Shares Some Lumix DMC-GF1 Shots of the Abandoned Pabst Brewery

 

Abandoned Pabst Brewery in Milwaukee, by Mike Johnston of the Online Photographer

Image Source: http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2012/05/the-abandoned-pabst-brewery.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+typepad%2FZSjz+%28The+Online+Photographer%29

Mike Johnston of the Online Photographer has posted some great images from an abandoned Pabst beer brewery in Milwaukee, WI, USA.

(Click Here) to see Mike's post on the Online Photographer blog.

Mike's images were shot with the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1 at iso1600 - a real stretch in terms of image quality for that camera. Of course, at the resolution of small online images, they sure look great. Mike reports that the noise would make printing of them pretty tough.

Mike toured the building with photographer Jack MacDonough, and includes a shot of Jack working with his Leica S2 on a tripod in his post. That's Mike's favorite of the bunch; it's my favorite, too.

We have all made the mistake of going to a great location without a tripod. Mike made that mistake (admittedly), but pulled through pretty well with his GF1, if you ask me.

I've written in the past about the photographic allure of abandoned places and things.

(Click Here) to see my last post on the subject.

The subject still intrigues me.

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Pro Photographer Giulio Sciorio Writes About Professional Use of Micro 4/3 Equipment

 

Image Source: http://blog.giuliosciorio.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/fear.jpg

 
 
Professional photographer Giulio Sciorio has posted a piece on his blog about the barriers (both real and psychological) to other professionals adopting Micro 4/3 camera gear for their pro work. I will review his main points below.
 
 
(Click Here) to read Giulio's full post.
 
 
Giulio outlines the following five barriers to professional adoption of Micro 4/3 equipment:
 
 

1. It's not "professional" gear.
2. There aren't enough megapixels.
3. The noise levels are too high.
4. It's not full-frame!
5. Worries about what your professional colleagues will think.

First, Giulio identifies the concern over your clients not being impressed by the appearance of your gear, because it's not big, heavy, and expensive looking, as a real concern. He explains how he did two things to overcome this. First, he shot a series of street portraits with his Olympus Pen, and showed them to others before explaining what equipment they were made with. Second, he carried his Pen with his "professional" Canon gear, and impressed clients with shots made with the Micro 4/3 gear. For me, this is not a concern. That's because I don't really have clients. If anyone is interested in my photographs, it's because of the photographs, not the equipment. I'm not hired to cover any specific events, in general. If I were, I may try Giulio's "bring it along with the Pro gear" approach. Second, "there aren't enough megapixels." Giulio explains that even large format magazines need only around 9 Mp for a full page image. As for me, I would argue that there are too many megapixels in some cases. More megapixels = more noise (see "Third..." below). And, since megapixels are the universal language of camera marketers, having too few will never be an issue. Third, noise. Giulio handles this one through the simple statement that while his Micro 4/3 images do have more noise than full 24x36mm sensor cameras, he has never had a complaint from a client. He considers it part of the rendering style of the gear. For me, the noise concern has some truth to it. Back to megapixels, if my Lumix DMC-G3 could achieve the same noise performance as my Nikon D700 24x36mm sensor camera, I'd happily give up any extra megapixels. From my point of view, the noise issue improves with every iteration of Micro 4/3 sensor design, and is now well under control for most print sizes, and certainly for images on the computer screen. Now that the technology has gotten to this point, I see this concern as the same one that photographers used to have to make regarding 35mm versus medium or large format film. The Micro 4/3 kit has become my 35mm film equivalent, and is every bit as capable, in my opinion, with lots of advantages. The Nikon D700 is my medium format equivalent. If I'm worried about making super large prints or approaching perfection, I can decide to carry the big, heavy Nikon.

The fourth concern is "it's not full-frame!" Giulio makes a great case on this one. Of course it's full-frame. Full-frame is all relative. If you really want to argue, 24x36mm (35mm "full-frame") is not full-frame to a medium format film photographer. It's the image quality that counts. I totally agree with Giulio on this point.
 
 
The fifth, final concern is "what will my colleagues think?" Giulio's point here is that it's not your colleagues' opinion that counts. It's your clients.
 
 
I have experienced this one, even though I'm not a pro. One of my good friends is an ardent Nikon DSLR user. He asked me
 
 
"What does Lumix give you that Nikon doesn't? What got you started with it?"
 
 
Well, I have to admit, this got me thinking. What really got me into Micro 4/3 was the ability to adapt legacy lenses. That's a minor advantage for me, now that there are great native Micro 4/3 primes. What really sold me was size, weight, reduction in back pain. What keeps me in Micro 4/3 is the awesome progress it has made recently. One final note on this. It is my belief that being a photographer who takes a different approach, one that is not initially accepted in the professional community, has a history of ultimate success. Just look at the Leica. Pros turned their noses up, with very similar concerns about the "small format" of 35mm film that we hear today about Micro 4/3. Then they saw the images that could be made with a small, flexible, fast camera. The rest is history.
 
 
Giulio's article was thought provoking and useful for me.
 
 

Sumo Crossing, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1, Lumix 20mm f1.7 lens

iso100, f5.6, 1/100 sec

 
One of the things I love about this image is that the sign on the store across the street, which sells sumo souvenirs and the like, has a sign that reads "Kingu Saizu" in Japanese ("King Size" in English).
 
Small, fast cameras are fun and productive.
 
DMC-365.blogspot.com
 
 
 
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Kirk Tuck (Visual Science Lab) Returns, Renewed!

 

 

Actor Martin Burke, by Kirk Tuck

Image Source: http://visualsciencelab.blogspot.com/2012/04/were-back-both-of-us-now-howdy.html#comment-form

Kirk Tuck, blogmaster at the Visual Science Lab (visualsciencelab.blogspot.com) recently took a break from writing. I must admit I was a little worried about what that meant. I've come to enjoy his blog regularly, and didn't want to see it go away.

Well, not to worry. Kirk is back, and with renewed creative drive. In this first entry since returning, Kirk discusses how he's working to add his own creative edge back to his professional photography work.

(Click Here) to read Kirk's story.

In addition to his current professional digital equipment, Kirk is now carrying a Hasselblad and single roll of black and white film. When he's met the needs of the job, he then plans to grab the 'blad and do a little more with his subjects - for his own development.

While I am not a professional by any means, I can understand Kirk's point. Focus is important, but I am feeling some loss by focusing so narrowly on Panasonic products. As you may know, I did sprinkle in a little film work recently, on an outing with fellow blogger Aboud Dweck. I need to do more of that.

I just returned from a trip to Japan, which was exclusively shot with Panasonic equipment. It served me very well. But, as I will write in the near future, I had the experience of going to a flea market in Tokyo, where I found a piece of gear from the past that really got the gears turning for me. It reminded me of a part of photography that I have not been focused on. So, you may see more from some of my other gear in the coming weeks and months.

I will not lose my focus on Panasonic equipment; it really is a great set of tools. However, if focus is important, variety is the spice of life. And I like things a little spicy.

DMC-365.blogspot.com

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Spring Is Here, Even In Boston!

 

Image Source: http://www.boston.com/yourtown/boston/backbay/bbgallery/

warm_weather/?rss_id=Top+Stories

(Click Here) for the photos on boston.com.

Okay, I am sure you will want to know why I posted this. It's funnier to me than to anyone else. I just remember looking at people in Copley Square in Boston a few years ago, on the first day of the year. The combination of shorts, sheet-white legs, black socks, and business shoes was just too much. My guess is that these were businessmen, who kept a pair of shorts in the office just in case, but no other warm weather clothes. It peaked about lunchtime.

I hope I didn't just waste a minute of your life on something you can't imagine; it was damned funny to see.

I shot some cherry blossoms in DC this morning. I promise a more interesting spring post coming soon!

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

Panasonic's New President Focuses on Improving Efficiency

 

Panasonic's New President, Kazuhiro Tsuga

Image Source: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/images/photos2012/nb20120301a1a.jpg

To be officially formalized this June, Kazuhiro Tsuga, currently the Managing Director and President of Panasonic's Audiovisual Products Unit, will take over as the President of all of Panasonic. He will replace the current President, Fumio Otsubo.

(Click Here) for an article in the Japan Times.

Panasonic has just predicted its largest loss ever, 780 million yen in this business year, largely due to strength of the Japanese currency, and decreased demand in televisions and semiconductors.

Mr. Tsuga stresses that the company must eliminate inefficiencies, and develop the "Environment Business" through revolutionary new product development.

When I spent a year working at a Panasonic factory in Kofu, Japan, I was very impressed by the difference in how Panasonic responded to tough economic times, as compared to my own experience in American companies. At that time (1994), the Japanese bubble economy had just burst. Panasonic executives uniformly stressed the importance of engaging customers, ensuring customer satisfaction, and making customers life-long fans of the company and its products. I hope that message isn't lost on Panasonic's new President.

Panasonic has made some revolutionary product introductions in the Micro 4/3 camera market, in my opinion. They still have a long way to go in developing excellent customer service, at least in the United States, in my opinion. Inefficiencies in dealing with service and internet systems are obvious. Sorry for the frank talk, but I want to see this improve.

I remain a loyal Panasonic customer, and look forward to a new era for the company. Their products have always been first-rate in my opinion. The latest G series camera products continue that tradition.

Onward and upward, Panasonic. Your founder, Konosuke Matsushita, would have certainly expected no less!

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