Product News Category

This is from month or two back, I somehow got it stuck as a draft and forgot about it. Anyway, the following large format lenses are now out of production, so whatever is left in the supply chain is it if you want to buy new:

Fujinon-SW 90mm f/8 (shipment ended August 2006)
Fujinon-T 300mm f/8 (shipment […]

Following the story of one of Polaroid’s coating plants closing reported by South Coast Today, several message boards have been alight with rumours that Type 55 positive/negative sheet film is discontinued.
Bill Schwab (who BTW makes fantastic pictures) actually bothered to call Polaroid, and said:

Just got off the phone with Polaroid (easy) where I was […]

You can read the complete press release, but the highlights are:

It’s the "world’s sharpest" and "finest-grained" ISO 400 B&W film.

Pushable 2 stops up to ISO 1600.
Availability "will occur on a stock-turnover basis, beginning in December 2007".
The new film code will be TMY-2.

There’s a surprisingly informative Q&A sheet (PDF) about the old vs the new film, […]

Fotoman Camera, makers of large format and medium format panoramic cameras, are having a sale:

Purchase any Fotoman Camera Kit, and select an additional Cone Assembly of your choice… free of charge.
This offer is limited to on-hand inventories, and is valid through December 31st, 2007.
Please contact any of our authorized dealers to take advantage of this […]

The title pretty much says it all! More info: Web page, PDF data sheet, and PDF user manual.

This press release from Fuji says that they’re raising prices globally by about 5% on all of their colour negative films, and that "the rate of increase may differ by regional market".

Today Leica announced a new range of M-mount rangefinder lenses, called Summarit. They will be available in focal lengths of 35mm, 50mm, 75mm, and 90mm—all f/2.5 and coded for the M8—from the end of November, 2007 forward.
Leica’s press release:

The new class of Leica precision lenses
It is the lenses on which the legend of the Leica […]

According to Fuji’s choose-film.com Web site, the new Velvia 50 slide film has been released in the UK.
As best as I can tell, it’s also available in Japan, but not yet in North America.

Experimental photographer and camera builder Chris Keeney (whom I recently had the pleasure of interviewing) is now offering custom, hand-made MintyCams, which are pinhole cameras made from Altoids mint tins.
Keeney writes:

For those of you that are interested in the mintycam, but aren’t sure you want to go to all the trouble of painting, cutting, etc., […]

DNP Photo Marketing are introducing a new range of colour negative film. 24- and 36-exposure rolls of 35mm will be available in ISO 100, 200, and 400 speeds, from the end of May, 2007.
From the press release:

CENTURIA 100 – Excellent performance for portrait or landscape photography
This fine-grained ISO100 film provides sharp reproduction of even the […]