BPI News July/Aug 2015

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Talking temperatures in JulyNEWS 4Who said the summer was quiet for new releases? In this issue Sony invites us to Pinewood Studios to launch the RX10 II, A7R II and RX100 IV, while Canon lures us to a Central London rooftop for a se-cret preview of its G3 X. Then its canapés in Mayfair for the Leica Q

NIKON DECLARED BEST PHOTO BRAND BY WHICH? 12No, that isn’t us posing a question, the photo stalwart really has bagged the ultimate accolade from the consumer magazine. Coupled with on-going cashback deals, now retailers have two great sales weapons with which to fight for purchases this summer

INTRO2020 4-PAGE PROMOTIONAL PULL-OUT 15The proactive distributor has a raft of new products to share with the trade. BPI News was invited to one of its annual press conferenc-es, this year in Hamburg, where we were a captive audience for its comprehensive product line up of familiar brands

PROFOTO LAUNCHES B2 SUMMER SPECIAL DEAL 23The premium lighting brand beloved of pro photographers is looking to give your own business a boost by stocking its TIPA award winning B2 off-camera flash, now the subject of a limited summer promo deal that sees £220 worth of light shaping tools bundled free

GET YOUR FILL OF SIGMA’S FULL FRAME 3-IN-1 24Sigma’s General Manager Graham Armitage has another reason to smile this month: a new ‘Art’ series lens in the 24- 35mm f/2 DG HSM which should be pitched as the world’s first full frame wide angle zoom offering f/2 brightness throughout its focal range

EDITORIAL

CONTENTS

BPI News July/August 2015

It’s that time of year when thoughts turn to the festive season – crazily early it seems, as invites drop through the letterbox at BPI News Towers for ‘Christmas in July’

retail extravaganzas, big name stores and consumer elec-tronics manufacturers taking over basements in central London, whilst the world outside sweats, to highlight this coming Christmas’ must-have gadgets and gizmos; all dec-orated with fake fir and fairy lights to get us in the mood. In other news, I spent 10 days in Japan last month, and managed to pop into Sapporo’s ‘Bic Camera’ consumer electronics store for a brief browse and to pick up their summer photographic catalogue. I’m sure many mem-bers of the trade will have visited a Bic Camera outlet if they’ve made it to the Far East, but for those who haven’t, imagine a retail park sized Dixons or Currys, but spread out across six to nine floors rather than just the one. Whereas at one time you would see cameras of all colours and types, many of which would never actually make it to the UK, 98% of what was on show this time was already familiar. Perhaps, as in the UK, this signals a shift from the mass market to a specialist market: frivolous pink and purple cameras now replaced on shelves by serious looking mirror-less models. But, in fact, if you want to take the temperature of the industry as a whole, another great way to do it is to sit down with the new CEO of the PMA, Georgia McCabe, as we did for this issue. Talking frankly, she highlights the challenges facing not just the PMA but us all. Luckily though she also has a four-point plan to motivate retailers and excite and enthuse customers – all ideas as equally applicable to the UK and European markets as the US one. Contact me with your views at [email protected] Finally, you’ll have noticed from the cover that this is our annual summer edition of BPI News that combines July and August. This means our next regular monthly issue will be our September cover, which we begin work on early August. Enjoy the magazine, enjoy the summer and we’ll join you back here in September when things step up a gear for the run-in to Christmas. The real one. Gavin Stoker, Editor

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EDITOR - Gavin StokerEmail: [email protected]: 07990 974 367Please direct all editorial requests, news and press releases [email protected]

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COVER: FILMSTAR LOOKS: Sony unveiled its trio of summer blockbusters – in the shape of the A7R II, RX100 IV and RX10 II – at Pinewood Studios in June – the latter of which is our cover star this issue. Will its high-end features tempt high-end customers?

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Printing on the way back in…AT LEAST the photo trade seems to be wooing back customers for specialist printing. Supplying kit and media to event photographers is enjoying a renaissance in this issue with Fujifilm, DNP and Mitsubishi showing healthy profit margins can be generated. Panoramic papers and printing from A4 inkjet printers open doors to add-on sales of frames and albums (see Kenro’s summer insert with this issue) and Fotospeed’s new Easybooks on page 10 again encourage extra sales when placed next to in-store photo kiosks. There’s numerous cash-

back offers still being heavily advertised to drive punters to your doors and websites... so let’s all be pro-active and come up with offers on batteries, memory cards, filters and cases. Why not include a D&P voucher or incentive with all July and Aug sales...valid ’til mid September so the customers come back to your shop for print orders and albums.. For your news and views over the summer, contact publisher Clive Insley via [email protected] or call 07713 622304.

New Swains catalogue sees trade set for summerWITH your customers inevitably taking large numbers of holiday pictures and hopefully making them into prints, it’s timely that there is now a new trade album and frames catalogue available from Swains. Featuring its best selling lines and some notable new additions, including for the wedding and baby photo market, the pitch is very much ‘something for everyone’. As anyone in the industry is only too well aware, the only way your customers can ensure their images last a lifetime is to print them – and what better way to show them off than via an album or a frame. The distributor advises that trade members register for access to its new website at www.swains.co.uk and then filter searches for frames and al-bums by size, type, colour and shape. The re-vamped site, which is described as ‘comprehensive’, also features all the latest special offers, live stock availabil-ity updates and online ordering oppor-tunities, as well as high res images and in-depth product info. Alternatively call for more on 01485 536 200.

TZ57 DirekTek bundle

WITH summer arguably the most popu-lar time to purchase a travel zoom cam-era, the distributor is offering retailers a discount on the Lumix TZ57, which, as we flagged up in our June edition, twins a 20x optical zoom with a tilting LCD plus Full HD video capture. Having pre-viously advertised a trade bundle deal which included camera, a 32GB Class 10 SD card and case for £180, this month the price for the limited stock remaining has been slashed to a too-good-to-miss £135. To place an order before it’s too late, call DirekTek on 01494471100 or email [email protected]

‘Q’ up for a Leica THOUGH it couldn’t be described as a mass-market device, Leica’s latest rangefinder M-styled compact, in the 24.2 effective megapixel full frame sensor incorporating ‘Q’, is one of its more affordable at £2,900 SRP – and was being stocked by Jessops and Clifton Cameras as we went to press. Already picking up multiple photo press plaudits, the Q is further notable for an EVF that boasts the highest resolution in its class at 3.68 million dots and a solid-feel aluminium and magnesium alloy body. The 28mm wide-angle lens here is fixed, and boasts a bright f/1.7 aperture, enabling some creamily smooth shallow depth of field effects. Though the camera still looks reassuringly retro, a 3-inch touch screen at the rear brings matters bang up to date. www.leicacamera.com

Sony firmware updatesYOUR Sony E-mount camera owning customers – specifically those who have bought the A7, A7R, A7S and A6000 – should be directed to the latest free firmware update that claims to increase start up speed by 30% and other enhancements. On the A6000, now 18 months at the top of their APS-C mirrorless range, it adds high bit rate video recording at 50p/25p in PAL mode and 60p/30p/24p in NTSC mode in the XAVC S format, described by Sony as ‘highly efficient’. XAVC S requires a minimum 64GB SDXC format card which is another chance to sell through to the customer if they upgrade their A6000 to be able to use the superior 50Mbps video quality and slow motion features. www.sony.co.uk

Ricoh-chet!HERE’S anoth-er brand that’s bouncing back. Ricoh’s GR range of high end compacts has long been popular with street photography enthu-siast customers – and now news reaches us of an addition to the family in the Ricoh GR II, the first in the GR series with Wi-Fi and NFC, for uploading to social media via a smartphone. The GR II provides users with a choice of two applications to support different functions and photographic styles: GR Remote is a new GR II-dedicated application that allows easy setting of various commands from a mobile device screen, just like on the camera’s LCD panel. Secondly there’s Image Sync, incorporated in Pentax branded DSLRs, which the manufacturer claims makes it easy to transfer images to another device and browse them on a larger screen, or share straight to social media. Attendant camera features include a ‘high performance’ f/2.8 lens with 28mm equiv-alent focal length in 35mm terms, large 16.2 megapixel APS-C sensor plus GR Engine V image processor. Availability is from mid July at an SRP of £599.99. www.ricoh-imaging.co.uk

A6000 getsXAVC S

BPI News | July/August 2015 5

Perfect for photographer customers turned filmmakers: the RX10 II, A7R II & RX100 IV. For full details visit www.sony.co.uk

BPI NEWS EXTRA

Sales wise, Sony claims that over the past two years it has risen to claim the number

one position for market share in Europe for compact camera and compact interchangeable lens cameras. Given this, the electronics giant has unleashed three premium products to press its advantage further, spearheaded by the 42 MP full frame A7R II. At a launch event on Pinewood Studios’ Goldfinger Avenue, in the shadow of the permanent 007 sound stage, Sony was clearly hoping that the infamous Bond villain’s Midas touch would rub off on the trio when they go on sale this summer. SRPs are confirmed as follows: RX100 IV (£850), RX10 II (£1,200), A7R II (£2,600). Sony describes the new models as witnessing the “horizontal integration of stills and video”, and very much sees them as ‘hybrid’ products, as useful to the semi pro filmmaker as the semi pro photographer. Indeed it suggests customers’ expectations are that stills cameras should have more video functionality these days. Sony has an advantage in the market here, as it owns sensor and lens technologies and its software algorithms. This is what has allowed its development of a world first 1.0-type stacked CMOS image sensor with DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory). Named the ‘Exmor RS’, it’s been incorporated in the new RX10 II and RX100 Mark

You only live thriceWith premium-end cameras selling strongly, Sony is hoping your customers ‘Bond’ with its big budget trio of summer blockbusters: the RX10 II, RX100 Mark IV and A7R II. BPI News heads to Pinewood Studios to check their film star potential…

IV, whilst the A7R II utilises another global first in its back illuminated full frame sensor – the pitch to your customers being that as more light hits the chip, image quality is much improved, with no wiring layer obstructing the light path.

Innovative tech, rising sales

Three new stills cameras aside, Sony also discussed its premium camcorders.“4k production has come of age and Sony has been the driver”, suggested Pro Handheld Camcorder Product Manager for Sony Europe, Joon Hong Thom, citing its high-end 4K shooting HDC-4300 and X70 models, plus new 1-inch sensor incorporating HXR-NX100. This, he claims, is the “new benchmark for non 4K entry level camcorders”, with October availability promised.

Ryoko Noguchi (left, with RX100 MkIV), Sony Europe’s Product Manager for DSC, also presenting, touched once again on the “epoch making image sensor” in the RX10 II and RX100 Mark IV, extolling its benefits as including a super fast shutter (up to 1/32000 sec with anti distortion filter), plus the ability to shoot 20x super slow motion video at 500fps (PAL) or 40x at up to a whopping 1000fps. There is naturally also the 4K movie shooting capability and the possibility of dual recording – capturing a 17MP still image in the midst of movie recording. According to Ryoko, the £850 RX100 Mark IV is its “first Cyber-shot to offer 4K recording” and keeps the pocket-sized design of its predecessors. Also of interest is a pop up OLED viewfinder boasting 2.35 million dot Zeiss T* coating, whilst retailers have the chance to piggyback a sale of an LCS-RXG carry case, incidentally compatible with all in the RX100 series. The chunkier RX10 II at £1,200 is more obviously a semi pro style model, again promising a lightning fast speed (an official 0.09 sec Fast Intelligent AF response) and a constant f/2.8 aperture across its 24-200mm focal range. We also get an OLED viewfinder and a magnesium alloy dust resistant body plus 4K movies of up to 29 minutes. “It’s for high end amateurs and pro users,” adds Ryoko.

Rounding off its presentation of new products with a focus on the A7R II was Yoma Hori, Alpha Product Manager for Sony Europe. Also arriving this summer, the second generation CSC offers 40% faster AF than the A7R while the much-trumpeted new chip offers a 3.5x faster readout. Chief features are again 4K video capture, 42.4 MP resolution, 399-point wide area AF, plus 5-axis in-body image stabilisation. Up to ISO102400 and 5fps continuous capture “thanks to our knowledge in image sensor development,” said Yoma. He added that there are 13 lenses directly compatible with Sony’s full frame cameras, with 20 compatible lenses promised by 2016. If you can sell your customers an optional LA-EA3 mount adapter, then they also have accesses to existing A mount lenses. Sony will doubtless be hoping reviewers and customers agree that, to quote that famous Carly Simon Bond theme, this summer nobody does it better. www.sony.co.uk

Claire Beard, Sony Cyber-shot Product Manager, with RX10 II and A7R II


NEWS

Tetenal become Epson Authorised Service CentreFOLLOWING a rigorous training pro-gramme, the Tetenal Technical Support Team is now able to offer support and repairs on Epson large format printers (above, at the Societies’ trade show 2015) as well as all Epson SureLab equipment. Epson users now have access to a ded-icated team of engineers at the end of the phone to assist with any technical issues. Tetenal’s Technical Support Team manager Rob Blanchard says: “The training was quite intensive but it helped that we have a dedicated Epson showroom here at Tetenal so we could do it on-site with Epson engineers. We realise print equipment is the heart of our customers business so our team are now able to make sure those businesses continue to produce print”. The Tetenal Technical Team can be contacted on 0116 2815741.

THE DISTRIBUTOR, celebrating 40 years in business, has given its website a fresh lick of digital ‘paint’. The trade-ori-entated site, at www.kenro.co.uk, right, has been revamped to offer a clean new look, with a more friendly user interface, more technical information for its deal-ers and more images of Kenro distrib-uted product lines generally. As before, retailers are also being encouraged to place orders directly through the site. Head to the above address to check it out now. As indicated by the leaflet (lower right) included with this issue of BPI News, there is also a fresh line up of al-bums and frames with which to tempt custom – so do take a look through this too. In it you’ll find a ‘Holiday Series’ of albums perfect for pitching to your customers as they pick up their travel photos. There are also brightly colour-ed baby albums plus sophisticated Cottage Flowers or recycled paper Kington Series albums to choose from. Frames haven’t been forgotten and here there are the by turns stylish and pretty Symphony Copper Series or Silver Plated Flower Series. In a nutshell, choice is plentiful. Catch up with Kenro in person meanwhile at the Harrogate Home & Gift trade fair 19th-22nd July on Stand B24. For further info and pricing, contact your Account Manager or Kenro Sales Office on 01793 615836, or email [email protected]

New face, new vision at TetenalTETENAL has a new Field Service Engineer in Dave Farr, below, who ar-rives having begun his trade career as a teenage Sales Floor Assistant at Jessops, before rising to the role of its Technical Support Manager, overseeing an in-stalled base of 1200 kiosks. This led to a recent period at Lucidiom as Product Integration Manager, covering hard-ware, software and its online gift-ing service. But it was apparently Tetenal’s history and the vision for expanding its own service and sup-port that prompt-ed Dave to make the move: “Once I’d spoken to Tetenal’s Technical Support Services Manager Rob Blanchard and he’d explained the plans for expansion, I realised this wasn’t just a company which was rest-ing on its laurels but one which was for-ward thinking and looking at growth. It didn’t take me long to accept the offer!” Rob Blanchard adds: “We’re really happy to have a guy of Dave’s experi-ence and expertise on board as we en-ter a period of growth. He will add to the already excellent team we have here and enable us to move forward with our plans to expand our technical services as well as giving us added geographical coverage.”

Printed Back Cover

Stand B24Hall B

NEC BIRMINGHAM6-9 September 2015

Stand K05Hall 5

Holiday Series - Old World MapArt printed cover design based on an Old World Map and historical buildings in European Cities.

These are book-bound slip-in albums with a memo writing area next to each picture. Supplied in a protective plastic jacket.

Product Code Photo Capacity Pack SizeHOL103 200 photos 6x4” / 10x15cm 6HOL108 200 photos 7x5” / 13x18cm 6

Holiday Series - Global TravellerThis album has an art printed cover featuring a design based on a world map and an aeroplane.


Product Code Photo Capacity Pack SizeHOL111 200 photos 6x4” / 10x15cm 6

Holiday Series - Euro TravellerThis album has an art printed cover featuring a design based on scenes and landmarks in European Cities with a 5.5 x 7.5cm frame on the front cover for a favourite picture.


Product Code Photo Capacity Pack SizeHOL110 200 photos 6x4” / 10x15cm 6

Visit us at the following exhibitions to see our full range of albums and frames

Introducing our fresh new collection of designer photo albums and quality photo frames.All available as singles or in the stated pack sizes, with fast delivery across the UK & Ireland.

Our new trade website is now live, visit us at www.kenro.co.uk.

For further information and pricing, please either contact your Account Manager or Kenro Sales Office on 01793 615836 or via email at [email protected]

NEW ALBUM & FRAMESUMMER COLLECTION 2015

Summer 2015

Kenro frames new leaflet inserted, new trade website & Harrogate fair


NEWS EXTRA

Talk of the trade-ins: Fujifilm cashback until August 3rdWhile we’ve just got a new X-T10 in to play with – the latest high-end retro styled CSC from the X series covered in our June edition – the trade should be aware that August 3rd is the cut off point for the photo stalwart’s summer cashback scheme…

Cashback deals via Fujifilm to drive custom to your door this summer continue until

August 3rd . “Don’t miss our fantastic summer cashback offers. There are deals on bundles of XF lenses and cashback offers on the award-winning X-T1”, Fujifilm UK’s Marketing Manager for Electronic Imaging Lucy Edwards tells BPI News. The promotion includes £75 redeemable upon purchase of the TIPA award winning X-T1 and additional deals on Fujinon XF lenses to go with it. If your customers decide to buy the X-T1 with XF18-135mm kit they will also receive a free vertical battery grip worth £179.99 for example, as well as the £75 cashback – a total saving of £254.99. There is also £75 cashback offered when buying one XF lens, £225 cashback if buying two XF lenses, £375 cashback if buying three lenses

www.fujifilm.eu/uk/products/digital-cameras/promotions/

A lens worth looking into

X-T1 Firmware V4 free for all

IN CASE your customers previously missed it, the brand has announced a Ver.4.0 firmware update for its flagship X-T1 model, made available on June 29th for your customers to download. The software patch is said to introduce a new AF system with upgraded autofocus performance, as well as an array of other enhancements inspired by user feedback. The latter includes improved shutter speed dial operation, the use of exposure compensation control in manual exposure mode with auto ISO selected, while the Silent Mode has been renamed ‘sound and flash off’ to avoid confusion. Direct your customers to: www.fujifilm.com/x-t1/ver4/

FUJIFILM’S new XF90mm f/2 R LM WR lens, announced in our June issue, goes on sale for retail partners this month. As we said last month the new Fujinon XF90mm lens meanwhile is designed to provide customers with strong ‘bokeh’ effects and ultra sharp images, while being weather resistant into the bargain. The Fujinon XF90mm f/2 R LM WR offers the double sales whammy of a focal length equivalent to 137mm and fast/bright maximum f/2 aperture. Its manufacturer suggests this makes it a must have for portrait photographers wanting candid results. High speed AF as quick as 0.14 secs is claimed courtesy of a new Quad Linear motor, while availability is from later this month (July) at £699.

or a whopping £525 cashback if purchasing four XF lenses. Alternatively if your customers stretch to five lenses they can claim an additional £150. The greater the spend, the greater the saving – it’s as simple a message as that to pitch to punters this summer. Photographer customers can check how much they can claim via

www.fuji-promo-calculator.co.uk, which also provides full T&Cs. In addition customers are being invited to trade in their old X-Pro 1, X-E1, X-E2, X-M1 or X-A1 Fuji CSC for either the X-T1 or X-T10 and receive an £80 trade-in bonus in store. Again, they have until August 3rd, with the pitch for this offer being ‘trade in to trade up’.


Offer and purchase period: 12 May to 31 August 2015. Pick up a leaflet in-store for more information or visit olympus.co.uk/promotions

Terms and conditions apply. At selected participating retailers.

Cashbacks and trade-ins: Enjoy your adventures

even more with exclusive offers from OLYMPUS.

Purchase any one of these products and claim: £120 cashback on M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 9–18mm 1:4.0–5.6; £120 cashback the M.ZUIKO

DIGITAL ED 14–150mm 1:4.0–5.6 II; £100 cashback on the M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 75–300mm 1:4.8–6.7 II; £30 cashback on the M.ZUIKO

DIGITAL 45mm 1:1.8 lens; £75 cashback on the OM-D E-M10 camera; £150 extra trade-in bonus on any working DSLR with OM-D E-M1

plus claim an HLD-7 power battery holder worth £189.99.

The perfect gear for putting a new perspective on your travels.

OM-D E-M10

OM-D E-M1

selected M.Zuiko lenses

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BPI NEWS EXTRA

For full details of Olympus’ TG-4, summer promotions plus T&C’s, please visit www.olympus.eu/summerspecial

‘Tough’ at the top for Olympus

Summer promotions continueCURRENTLY running until August 31st, Olympus has newly-announced summer promotions on its OM-D E-M1 and E-M10 cameras, plus four lenses. While a new deal on the E-M10 offers £75 cashback, if buying one of the four lenses in the deal, up to £120 is offered. As we flagged up last issue there’s also £150 extra bonus for any working camera your customers trade in when purchasing the OM-D E-M1. And don’t forget, a free HLD-7 battery grip worth £189.99 can also be claimed with E-M1 purchases. The full run down of ‘summer specials’ includes £30 cashback on purchase of the M.Zuiko Digital 45mm f/1.8 prime lens, with £100 offered on the M. Zuiko Digital ED 75-300mm f/4.8-6.7 II super telephoto zoom. Both the M. Zuiko Digital ED 9-18mm f/4.0-5.6 ultra wide-angle zoom and the M. Zuiko Digital ED 14-150mm f/4.0-5.6 II all-in-one zoom lens get £120 cashback. T&C’s naturally apply, and can be found at www.olympus.eu/summerspecial On top of all of this, your customers get a free six-month warranty extension if registering their product/s via the MyOlympus online platform. So plenty of reasons to sell Olympus gear this summer!

Get some sales ideas at Olympus-imagespace.co.uk

Dealers! Don’t forget to take advantage of Olympus’ busy and buzzing Image Space website, above, and utilise it as a sales vehicle. There are numerous free and paid for events throughout the year – so feel free to post these on your own social feed to generate interest and encourage footfall. On the site you and your customers can browse blogs of previous events and discover useful technique tips – all encouraging photographers who are considering switching systems to Olympus, or upgrading, to do just that. There’s a big push to get customers hands on with cameras and lenses at Olympus. “We believe that when potential customers try Olympus equipment, the products sell themselves,” enthuses National Marketing Manager Mark Thackara (top). “The website activities and events are well worth sharing with your customers, as is our ‘Test and Wow’ campaign whereby customers can book a free ‘test drive’ of kit. “We are of course open to ideas for future events from our dealer network. If you have a suggestion for an event or would simply like to come along to one of ours, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with the Olympus team and see for yourself what’s involved.”

“We believe that when potential customers try

Olympus equipment, the products sell

themselves…” – National Marketing

Manager Mark Thackara

With your customers heading off on holiday this summer, they’ll be looking for a camera that will stay the course and arrive back with them in one piece. Enter the recently released – and dare we

suggest ‘kid proof’ – Stylus TG-4. Whether you go for coral reefs, wrecks or marine life, the Tough TG-4 should be pitched to customers as a waterproof digital camera that performs to the highest level even in the depths of the ocean. Featuring a super-bright maximum aperture of 1:2.0 the high-speed lens delivers breathtaking shots of your diving or snorkelling adventures, with brilliant colours and bright seascapes. Ready for any outdoor challenge: rugged mountain terrain in sub-zero temperatures, heavy rain showers, snow and sand storms, dark and rough forests, the clever system of seals means the TG-4 functions in the most

The brand’s big push for the holiday season includes its latest toughened travel compact, the Stylus TG-4, backed by time-limited ‘summer specials’ on its OM-D body and lens range…

extreme conditions around the world. Four macro shooting modes, including a unique focus stacking mode, will allow your customers to express their creativity and get super close to insects, flowers, snowflakes to capture them in clear, microscopic style. Available in red or black, the camera has been available for sale since May at £349 SRP.


Olympus Cameras

A new perspective.

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What has continued to motivate us over the years? Outstanding innovation that generates new perspectives and new possibilities. The new OM-D E-M5 Mark II features the world’s most powerful 5-axis image stabilisation system*, producing breathtakingly sharp images even in low light and shake-free movies, all without the need for a tripod.


BPI NEWS PRODUCT FOCUS

Fresh from success at the Patchings arts and crafts festival, and with size offerings

from 6x4-inches at an impulse purchase £5.99 SRP to A4 versions with a choice of premium leather effect (£18.99) or contemporary cloth covers (£12.99) – in both landscape and portrait format – it seems that Fotospeed’s new series of Easybooks has something to offer everyone. These can either be sold as a standalone product to your customers for them to add their own printed sheets, or as a finished product complete with your customers prints installed – a ‘photo gift’ you can make extra margin on. The ‘Easybooks’ are so called because they are a photo presentation product that is, yes, easy to produce. Simply fold back the cover to open the spine, slot the chosen prints into place, and then close the cover to complete the process. “They involve a very simple sprung loaded hinge,” reveals Fotospeed’s Toby Herlinger. “All you have to do is fold the two covers back which opens the hinge up, slide the images in, and release the two covers for it to grip the paper. You’ve then got an instant photobook, or rather ‘Easybook’.” Further sizes include 5x7-inches alongside 4x6 and A4 in the version that comes with no front window. There is a second version that does however, thereby allowing a print to be slipped into the front cover, and sizes here include 6x8, 8x10, 8x12, 12x12 and A4. “They’re perfect for photography students to use for presentations because you can replace the prints one at a time, if something gets damaged for whatever reason or you simply change your mind,” reckons Toby. “You can take that one print out and replace it with a fresh one, as opposed to with a glued hinge, where if you damage one print it’s game over. “It’s very versatile as a sales tool for the trade. They can sell the books in the condition they arrive from us, or add their customers’ prints to deliver a completed product. We’ve spoken to a couple of dealers who have in-store print kiosks and they want to put a display of Easybooks right next to those. A lot of people just get their

prints and off they go; this way they can show the customer that they can spend from £5.99 and get an instant book. The product doesn’t take huge amounts of explaining – so you don’t need a member of staff on hand to explain how it works. These are self-explanatory products.”

Easy to stock, easy to sell

In terms of possibly spotting a gap in the market, Toby relates that the Easybook idea came about because his company is always looking to find what to do with prints. “A lot of customers come to our products at the printing stage – but what are they doing with them next, especially if they’re not presenting it at competition or giving it to a client? We’ve also got our panoramic media which again is presenting something different, as are the gallery wrap framing system and Fotoblocks. The Easybooks are a progression that

may encourage people to print by giving them a nice finished article. At £5.99 they are not only an impulse buy but also a nice inexpensive gift. “Our Fotocards – pre-scored inkjet greetings cards that come with envelopes in a variety of sizes and finishes – are another product that is encouraging people to do something with their work rather than just losing it. Again it’s a nice, simple possible gift idea that comes with templates.” Fotospeed’s Easybooks, like the rest of the products mentioned here, are available now, with all sizes as indicated here already in

For more info on Easybooks or to place an order, call 01249 714 555 or email [email protected]

The Fotospeed Easybooks advantage:● Quick and easy to use, with no additional equipment required● Useful for presentations, portfolios, gifts and much more● Prints can be added or swapped at any time● Easybooks are suitable for all paper types and imaging processes● Available with a ‘window’ cover or without● Normal excellent Fotospeed dealer margins apply

The print media specialist and key trade distributor has just launched a way for your customers to create pro-looking presentations and portfolios with a versatile range of hardcover photo albums in a variety of sizes at value added prices…

Easy sales promised via NEW Fotospeed Easybooks

stock. Box quantities of 10 of the smaller sizes (6x4 or 5x7), or five of the larger sizes, can be ordered at a time by interested dealers. “It’s not big quantities – it lets dealers get involved in the product without asking them for a huge commitment.” And with big name brand ambassadors for Fotospeed product including the likes of Trevor and Faye Yerbury, John Swannell, Joe Cornish and Charlie Waite, your customers will feel confident picking them up too. For more info or to order stock, call 01249 714 555 or email [email protected]

“The customer… can spend from £5.99 and get an instant book. The product doesn’t take huge amounts of explaining – so you don’t need a member of staff on hand to explain how it works”– Toby Herlinger of Fotospeed

Just three steps – left to right – go to making up an Easybook. Open the spine by folding the covers back – insert the print – close the covers and the page is held


Check out the options for sponsorship and advertising by visiting the camera reviews website at www.photographyblog.com

PhotographyBlog.com was born out of passion. Editor and owner Mark Goldstein

originally set up the site more than a decade ago on the back of constructing a showcase for his own photography. “I simply wanted to discover how to build a website,” he modestly recalls. So the original intention was never to create a sister reviews site that would go on to become one of the world’s biggest resources for camera, lens and accessories reviews, technique features and more – now reaching a monthly audience of 1.4 million unique visitors (December 2014). Naturally, the site’s success is more than just a pleasant accident. Running a website as a business involves making the commitment to create a veritable beast that requires constant feeding, its keen, photography enthusiast visitors supplied with constant updates and reams of new content to keep them loyally coming back time and again. In a world that’s 24/7, it’s a job that’s 24/7 too… in order to keep abreast of new equipment updates – and to post the news or reviews first that will guarantee you that all-important spike in traffic. As we suggest, the numbers alone tell the story of how well PhotographyBlog manages to do just that – Mark now joined in his quest by an ever-growing army of trusted freelancers.

An ever growing, ever passionate audience

As for PhotographyBlog’s core audience, well, like any website community made up of enthusiasts, its visitors are wonderfully passionate, fiercely opinionated and commendably loyal; familiar names returning time and again to post in the comments section beneath the reviews, which in turn spin out more excited debate, more content

ADVERTORIAL

One of the most visited and most respected photography review sites on the Internet has been going 10 years strong, catering to a large, global audience of enthusiasts happy to spend time and money on their passion, as editor/owner Mark Goldstein relates

1.4 million reasons why it pays to advertise with

and more traffic to the site. It not only directs photographers to which cameras and equipment to buy, but to what to do with it to get the best results after purchase has been made. And now PhotographyBlog is reaching out to the wider trade – looking to provide the opportunity to access its dedicated and sizeable visitor base. “Although we naturally have a large amount of visitors from the US and abroad, our UK audience still runs into several hundreds of thousands,” reveals Mark. Which, when you compare it with the audience of more traditional media, is certainly far from a number to be sniffed at.

MANUFACTURERS, retailers and suppliers looking to advertise or sponsor the site and reach its 1.4 million strong unique monthly audience should make contact to discuss prospects and opportunities via [email protected] or by calling 0207 2749373. PhotographyBlog can also be found on Twitter via https://twitter.com/photographyblog and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/photoblog2014

“Although we naturally have a large amount of visitors from the US and abroad, our UK audience still runs into several hundreds of thousands…”– PhotographyBlog Editor Mark Goldstein


Now there’s double the reason for specialist retailers to push the Nikon brand to the

front of the store counter and shop window this summer. Last issue we reported that a still-continuing cashback campaign on a quartet of DSLRs, assorted lenses and accessories had been launched. This runs all the way until August 26th, with claims needing to be received by September 30th. The second and fresher bit of news is that the brand has just bagged the annual award for Best Photography Brand from the long-running consumer magazine Which? “To win the Which? Best Photography Brand award is a tremendous reflection on the performance and reliability of Nikon products and the service we provide to our customers,” believes Nikon UK MD John Walshe (top, receiving the award, with Nikon PR executive Nina Fairfowl). “We are absolutely delighted to be recognised by Which? And we’re equally delighted to have achieved nine Best Buys and to be in the top spot for appliance reliability ratings too.” Speaking on behalf of Which? Group, its Chief Executive Peter Vicary-Smith adds: “A Which? Award is our way of recognising the businesses that share our ideals and offer products and services that improve their customers’ lives. Good businesses can truly be consumer champions. By treating customers fairly, businesses will be rewarded

BPI NEWS EXTRA

For further info on the Which? Awards see www.which.co.uk or for more on Nikon’s award winning kit see www.nikon.co.uk

Q: Which? Is the Best Photo Brand? A: Nikon!This year one of the ‘big two’ has bagged the ultimate accolade from consumer rights champion Which? magazine. And, with summer cashback deals currently running, retailers now have two reasons to make the most of this marketing boost…

“We are absolutely delighted to be recognised by Which? And we’re equally delighted to have achieved nine Best Buys and to be in the top spot for reliability ratings too.” – Nikon UK MD John Walshe

was the fact that when it comes to Best Buy cameras, Nikon took some beating. Nikon’s D5500 gains another mark of distinction as the National Museum of Scotland has acquired one for their permanent collection to represent today’s state of the art popular DSLRs – now on show as the final item in their Victorian Photography exhibition in Edinburgh until November 22nd.

Cashback continues until August 26th

As we flagged up in BPI News June, there is also currently up to £60 cashback on selected DSLR cameras, lenses and speedlights throughout the holiday season to tempt any customers who may be considering travelling with a DSLR. Models featured in the promotion include the D3300, D5200, D5300 and D5500 digital SLRs, along with SB-300 and SB-500 flashes, plus four lenses: the AF-S DX Nikkor 55-200mm f/4-5.6G, AF-S DX Nikkor 55-200mm f/4.5-5.6 ED VR II and AF-S DX Nikkor 55-300mm f/4-5.6G ED VR and AF-S DX Nikkor 18-300mm f/3.5-6.3G ED VR. Purchases made from Dixons Travel stores are excluded from this promotion. For more information on the cashbacks, including T&C’s, and details of how customers can submit their claim, simply direct your browser to: www.nikon.co.uk/promotions

Awards 2015

for their efforts with more confident consumers helping to drive growth in the economy.” For those not already in the know, Which? is the largest independent consumer group in Europe with over one million members and supporters. Its aim is to provide trusted independent information that empowers consumers and encourages demand for the best goods and services. The team at

Which? have been evaluating the products and services offered by brands for almost 60 years. Each year they select and publicly recognise those companies that focus consistently on the needs of their customers. The official blurb states that Nikon won the Award because the brand’s digital and DSLR cameras have been top scoring in Which? reports over the past year. Also highlighted

Cashback temptation: D5500, 55-200mm zoom, and SB-500 flash


Tetenal threw open their doors to the trade on the 23rd and 24th June giving visitors the chance to see behind the scenes at one of the UK’s leading distributors to the photographic and print industries.

This was Tetenal’s first Open Day since the arrival of the new SureLab range of inkjet print equipment from Epson, so it was a great opportunity to see not only how the individual elements of the range were shaping up but also how they could work together as a fully integrated system.

Neil Mackenzie, Pro Graphics Account Manager at Epson was in attendance to offer his expert advice and he was extremely pleased with how well the day went,

“I’m always happy to be able to support Tetenal at their Open House events.

With dedicated manufacturers showrooms, with a full range of Epson equipment presented by their enthusiastic and knowledgeable staff, it all makes for a professional and pleasant environment.

Two days packed with individual customer demonstrations and discussions about the best Epson SureLab, or large format, solution for many a different market or application, made for a busy and rewarding event.

I look forward to working with Tetenal at the next one.”

The event was the first held by Tetenal since they became an Epson Authorised Service Centre.

Tetenal’s in-house Technical Support Team completed an intensive training programme run by Epson engineers which enables Tetenal to carry out both warranty and repair work on Epson Large Format printers and the SureLab range.

The Tetenal technical team were also in attendance to offer advice on networking and how the Epson equipment can integrate with existing hardware already owned by many of the businesses who visited.

“We are now able to offer a full service, from initial purchase all the way through to a full maintenance contract” stated Tetenal Technical Support Manager Rob Blanchard.

Although there were a number of deals done on the day with special Open Day Deals being available, the event also gave visitors a chance to take a look at what else Tetenal has to offer the photographic and print market these days.

Product Manager Mark Wilkins took the opportunity to showcase some of his new products including the SunBounce and SunSniper range for which Tetenal has recently become the distributor in the UK and Ireland.

“We’ve had a great deal of interest in these products so we’re really pleased to have the chance to show people the full range. Our gifting products including our new Quick Canvas product also proved particularly interesting”.

The event proved to be a great success and Tetenal Sales Director Phil Barker has the appetite for more!

“We know we have a great range of products which appeal to a wide range of businesses and this was a great opportunity to get to speak to them in a really relaxed atmosphere. The whole event created a real buzz amongst all our staff and I think the visitors felt the same way. We’ll definitely be having more of these types of events”.

Maybe we should leave the last word to Rupert Morley of Niche Frames who travelled up from Bristol. Asked to describe his thoughts on the day he said ”a warm welcome, very informative and great products”.

What more could you ask from an Open Day?

For more information on the full range of products Tetenal can supply call 0116 289 3644 or e-mail [email protected]

Tetenal’s Epson Open Day proves great success

Epson in attendance

Tetenal Hardware Sales Manager Chris Castle together with Rupert Morley of Niche Frames in Bristol

Tetenal’s new technical accreditation

Tetenal Product Manager Mark Wilkins with Igor & Paula from Photoworks Media

Chris Castle with Epson’s Neil Mackenzie (right) and Jamie Turner (left) from 1click-print in Sheffield who purchased his 3rd Epson D700 printer!

Technical expertise

ADVERTORIAL

For further news and information about products and events, see www.tetenal.uk.com


Create the perfect canvas this summer.

© 2015 Kodak Alaris Limited. The Kodak and A Kodak Moment trademarks and Kodak trade dress are used under license from Eastman Kodak Company. Print products illustrated vary by app, software and equipment available in store.

TEL: 0116 289 3644 | e-mail: [email protected] | www.tetenaluk.com

Become part of a brand that is ingrained in popular culture"A heartwarming moment where a picture would save that special memory of the event"

"To save a moment of life on film for posterity"

"Something so picturesque or depicting something so sentimental that a picture should be taken to preserve the moment"

"It means a moment that you would want to remember, a moment worthy of being captured on camera"

"A really touching moment or a memorable moment that should be treasured in a different way"

All the above were answers given when people were asked to give a definition of the term KODAK MOMENT.

Such is the resonance of the term that it has become synonymous with preserving a memory. What other photographic brand could give you that level of recognition?

Manager of the Kodak Express network in the UK & Ireland

So much more than a sign above the door.Being able to have the name KODAK above your shop is just the start of the relationship we look to build with you and your business.

We will work with you to make sure you optimise your profit building opportunities. Our team are available to help you ensure your customers know exactly what to expect when they walk inside a KODAK EXPRESS store. After all, together, we are imaging experts!

Membership of the KODAK EXPRESS brings you;• Full consultation on how to best layout and merchandise your store

• Marketing support to maximise key calendar events

• Access to an online portfolio of branded POS material

• Quarterly bulletins containing retailing ideas and business news

• Access to a team of technical support experts

• Competitively sourced products so you can offer a complete photo retail service

So join us and become part of something special, not just to us, but to people all around the world.

Print and share your Summer Moments

Instant prints, enlargements & more available in-store. © 2015 Kodak Alaris Limited. The Kodak and A Kodak Moment trademarks and Kodak trade dress are used under license from Eastman Kodak Company.

Print products illustrated vary by app, software and equipment available in store.

Q3 2015 UK • www.kodakpictures.co.uk

Summer tans may fade but

memories can live forever

the

Bulletin


NEW Tamrac products for Summer 2015: Anvil backpacks, Arc accessory belt, Corona sling bag

INTRO2020 NEW PRODUCTS PULL-OUT 2015

Intro2020 storms ahead with TamracIntro2020 distributed Tamrac bags have an exciting, go-getting new US owner in Greg Schern of GuraGear, who has re-designed the range from the ground floor up, introducing exciting new products to invigorate the brand and go down a storm with your customers… while over the page you’ll find yet more new Intro2020 products…

“Accessories are where dealers make their profit,” enthuses Intro2020

MD Jim Mackay, who currently has product from 26 different manufacturers to offer the UK photo trade. “We cannot neglect this lifeblood of our industry. For Intro2020, ‘accessories’ means bags and tripods. Tamrac is an old brand name, but boy are you going to see some brand new bags…” Jim and his team have represented Tamrac for the past decade. The distributor kept the faith and continued to do so when the brand quietly went into administration just over a year ago. And now, under new Utah-based owner and serial entrepreneur Greg Schern, President of bag manufacturer GuraGear, the Tamrac name has not only been given a reprieve – it has been given a fresh start. Greg has both bought the Tamrac brand and re-booted it – eschewing existing product lines to create even better new ones with expertise gained growing his own GuraGear and Ogden Made (as in Ogden, Utah) bag ranges. Intro2020 will continue to distribute his newest Tamrac creations, whilst adding Greg’s existing brand GuraGear to its trade offerings too.

Tamrac acquires entrepreneurial spirit

“I’ve been in the photo industry my entire entrepreneurial career,” Greg reveals to BPI News. “Previously we’ve stayed small and nimble with our bag offerings and sold direct to consumers. But we made a decision a couple of years ago to scale things up and needed a really good brand to scale into. The Tamrac brand became available, which was perfect timing for us, so we acquired it. We’re not afraid of taking risks and trying new things with an entrepreneurial spirit. “We work hard every day to build value into our bags and are never done improving,” he adds with a

smile. “We have facilities around the world now; not only in Odgen Utah, but also in Hamburg, Ho Chi Minh City and Guangdong. We moved the production of Tamrac bags from China to Vietnam because the skill level of sewing is really high there and the production capabilities are world class.” Going forward, Greg sees Tamrac’s target market as being the DSLR and mirror-less camera user. “We don’t pay a lot of attention to the compact camera market, which, although not as a big a market as it used to be, is still huge. But if we look at IDC market data, it shows that the decline in SLR sales is much less than compact – SLRs dropped just 7% this year with mirror-less cameras making up for some of the shortfall. Cameras are still a big market, worth $5 billion in western Europe alone. People using smartphones who didn’t previously consider themselves photographers are now getting into it. And for 50% of all camera sales made, there is an add-on camera bag sale.” Greg – and Intro2020 – clearly see that there is life in the specialist kit bag yet, and it’s potentially the easiest sale to piggyback on the purchase of a camera for the photo retailer. So, in the year since GuraGear took over the Tamrac brand, it has initiated a complete redesign to offer dealers an even more compelling product to sell. “We acquired Tamrac because we wanted to revitalise a great brand, apply our low cost operating structure and up-scale all of our brands,” says its new owner. The first fruits of this new labour revealed to BPI News are the Tamrac’s pro photographer pitched ‘Anvil’ bags with ‘Arc’ accessory belt. “We wanted to focus on professional bags first, because it’s an aspirational market. The bags are still black, because black sells to professionals. In fact, in our experience, black sells more than any other shade of bag by 8:1. But we can do a lot more than just a black bag – what’s on the inside is what’s important…”

Greg Schern ofTamrac displays

the newAnvil Slim backpack

Create the perfect canvas this summer.

© 2015 Kodak Alaris Limited. The Kodak and A Kodak Moment trademarks and Kodak trade dress are used under license from Eastman Kodak Company. Print products illustrated vary by app, software and equipment available in store.


Become part of a brand that is ingrained in popular culture"A heartwarming moment where a picture would save that special memory of the event"

"To save a moment of life on film for posterity"

"Something so picturesque or depicting something so sentimental that a picture should be taken to preserve the moment"

"It means a moment that you would want to remember, a moment worthy of being captured on camera"

"A really touching moment or a memorable moment that should be treasured in a different way"

All the above were answers given when people were asked to give a definition of the term KODAK MOMENT.

Such is the resonance of the term that it has become synonymous with preserving a memory. What other photographic brand could give you that level of recognition?

Manager of the Kodak Express network in the UK & Ireland

So much more than a sign above the door.Being able to have the name KODAK above your shop is just the start of the relationship we look to build with you and your business.

We will work with you to make sure you optimise your profit building opportunities. Our team are available to help you ensure your customers know exactly what to expect when they walk inside a KODAK EXPRESS store. After all, together, we are imaging experts!

Membership of the KODAK EXPRESS brings you;• Full consultation on how to best layout and merchandise your store

• Marketing support to maximise key calendar events

• Access to an online portfolio of branded POS material

• Quarterly bulletins containing retailing ideas and business news

• Access to a team of technical support experts

• Competitively sourced products so you can offer a complete photo retail service

So join us and become part of something special, not just to us, but to people all around the world.

Print and share your Summer Moments

Instant prints, enlargements & more available in-store. © 2015 Kodak Alaris Limited. The Kodak and A Kodak Moment trademarks and Kodak trade dress are used under license from Eastman Kodak Company.

Print products illustrated vary by app, software and equipment available in store.

Q3 2015 UK • www.kodakpictures.co.uk

Summer tans may fade but

memories can live forever

the

Bulletin


For further details and to order stock of all of the items covered in our comprehensive four page pull-out, please speak to your regular Intro2020 contact NOW or get in touch direct on 01628 674411 – www.intro2020.co.uk


The Anvil line up – named, according to its owner and originator after a particular type of thunderstorm cloud – “they’re powerful, beautiful clouds” – currently consists of six bags. “The older Tamrac Expedition series was the market inspiration for Anvil, but that’s where it stopped. We’ve done a complete re-design. We wanted to reduce the bag’s weight by 30% and for it to be adaptable. We also wanted to make sure it was easy to use, as everyone’s needs are different: hence we have six bags in the series.” The sextet comprises three ‘standard’ bags in the Anvil 17, 23 and 27 – the numbers referring to the internal capacity of the bags in litres – along with ‘slim’ versions in the Anvil Slim 11, 15 and Super 25, which are 3cm less deep, so therefore capable of being readily stored in overhead lockers on aircraft as hand luggage, whilst also being better suited perhaps to mirror-less cameras, such as the Fuji ‘X’ series line up. The taller Super 25 model meanwhile is suggested as being ideal for a pro-sized DSLR with telephoto lens up to 600mm attached. “We’ve used ten different densities and types of foam in the bags to in fact make them up to 35% lighter overall,” Greg enthuses. “Why take that level of care? Because it matters. Bags are supposed to not only protect the cameras and lenses but also be comfortable, because they’re on us all day. We’re about making better bags – not just ‘another bag’.” Tamrac’s new owner further reveals that it takes pride in finding the best in class materials for the bags’ construction, using Cordura fabrics and YKK zippers. Clearly a lot of care has been taken to ensure the bag offers reams of flexibility as well as being able to serve multiple purposes. Each Anvil bag also has its own ‘Arc’ waist belt system – the ‘Arc’ apparently referring to an arc of lightning, in keeping with a meteorological naming system. “Your bag can expand with you as you need it. It’s about trying to find dual purposes for all our features in order to make them more useful. All the belts come in three different sizes, though the medium one fits 85% of all people.” All the Tamrac Anvil bags are capable of fitting 15-inch laptops, as

well as camera tripods. What’s more, in terms of extra sales for dealers beyond the bag and belt, there are nine different ‘Arc’ accessories, including filter pouches and lens cases, which will fit all the major brands. “We don’t believe in a closed system,” reasons Greg. The other part of your sales pitch is that all of the bags have polyurethane coatings and are water resistant; they also ship with seam-sealed rain covers.

“Good things are planned for Tamrac”…

The second new Tamrac bag range unveiled for now is the Corona. This is based on Tamrac’s old Evolution series of sling to backpack conversion bags. “The old idea was great but what it really needed was a dose of 2015,” Greg reasons. Corona is accessible from both the front and the side and can convert into a sling. There are three sizes available and again the numbers attached to the various models indicate the volume of interior space available. As mentioned at the outset, Intro2020 will be supplying both GuraGear and Tamrac to the trade going forward, with a new over-hauled Tamrac website live as you read this. “Good things are planned for Tamrac,” its new owner promises, adding that roller bags are planned for the Autumn, with a couple of other further surprises due to appear before then.

“We’re about making better bags – not just ‘another bag” – new owner of Tamrac, Greg Schern of GuraGear, Utah, demonstrates the Arc pack belt system and accessories

Right: Anvil Super 25showing the shoulder

harness from the front, with Arc waist

belt included

Smallest Anvil 17 (litre) backpack

Tamrac’s presentation covered the full new range of Anvil backpacks.


For further details and to order stock of all of the items covered in our comprehensive four page pull-out, please speak to your regular Intro2020 contact NOW or get in touch direct on 01628 674411 – www.intro2020.co.uk

Strapping stuff from Optech

Another important accessory for the camera dealer is the ‘humble’ camera strap. New here from Intro2020 is Optech’s 2015 range, the brand leader for straps according to Intro’s Pete Mott. “This is quite an important profit area for dealers,” he adds. “It’s an easy add-on to sell to the end consumer, and, as it doesn’t say the make or model of camera being used on the strap, as with say a Canon or Nikon, it’s also less obvious to prying eyes that the customer is using an expensive camera.” Stock is available now of a new Optech Mirrorless Strap (code 8210) obviously aimed at mirrorless camera users, SRP £17.99, and a Mirrorless Sling style strap in black (code 8355) for £22 SRP, which utilises the lugs on the camera for attachment. Also new is the Optech Utility Sling Duo in Black (code 8354), which is ideal for those carrying two cameras at once, at SRP £37. Finally there is the Optech Triple Carrier (code 8365), for carrying up to three cameras, or two bodies and a pair of binoculars, which makes it ideal for those combining the hobbies of birdwatching and photography.

When it comes to third party lenses, Intro2020’s Tamron brand is at the forefront. New here is the SP 15-30mm f/2.8 Di VC USD (right)which is described as the world’s first f/2.8 wide angle zoom with image stabilisation, and has been designed with the latest breed of 50MP DSLR in mind. “Because the pixel size on the chip is small, a smaller amount of vibration will deliver camera shake,” Peter Mott suggests. Tamron Sales Manager Jerry Martin adds: “Tamron are pushing the boundaries. That’s changing customers’ perceptions – and the quality is rivalling the camera manufacturers’ own. Tamron is the go-to brand when customers are looking for high quality at a reasonable cost.” Pro features include Vibration Correction and weather resistance. With the above in mind there is also a summer cashback offer on four selected Tamron lenses, which runs until August 15th, and offers up to £100 cashback. “This is one of the biggest cashback offers we’ve run,” says Intro2020’s Jerry. The optics that fall under the offer are: the 16-300mm f/3.5-6.3 VC PZD; SP 24-70mm f/2.8 VC USD, SP 70-200mm f/2.8 VC USD; and SP 150-600mm f/5-6.3 VC USD. A further offer is ‘buy

Also suitable for the bird watching market here is the new Sub 65, a 3-in-1 tripod (above), monopod and hide clamp in one with video head. At £139 SRP it suggests good value and offers a 4.5 kilo capacity. Alternatively if your customers are more interested in shooting video, direct them to the DV7000n video tripod, which Intro2020 says is the biggest selling entry level video tripod, with a 6 kilo capacity and SRP £130. It also features a Vel-fl09 fluid head for smooth panning action.

Stable news from Velbon

Those in the trade will be aware that Velbon is the largest Japanese tripod manufacturer, and all its products come with the benefit of a five year warranty. Celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, in recent years it has been number one or two in GfK data for UK sales according to Intro2020, which also has a service centre with parts for classic Velbon units going back 30 years.

New products for 2015 include: the Ultra 353 Mini Q, an aluminium travel or table top option designed for CSC cameras that comes with a ball and socket head for £90 SRP; the Ultra 355, a simple to use tripod for mirrorless cameras at £90 SRP; the Ultra 455, aimed at entry level DSLR users that offers a split-able centre column and three way pan and tilt head, levelling indicator and finger tightened legs for £120 SRP; plus the Ultra 655, a set of legs suitable for use with DSLRs or scopes for £100 SRP. A possible extra sale with the latter is a boom arm at £80. This is a full height tripod but is really lightweight with it at 1.3kg, thanks to aluminium and magnesium alloy construction. “Our dealers really like the reliability of Velbon products,” enthuses Jim Mackay, “they get very few tripods coming back that are faulty. Plus Velbon only makes tripods. Last year a record number of tripods were sold under the Velbon brand. People getting started in photography want to buy a good quality tripod brand and that brand is Velbon.”

Summer lens cash backs from Tamron

a Tamron 10-24mm lens and get a Hoya Circular Polariser worth £60 free’, with the pitch from Jerry being: “make your skies look like holiday brochures too.” Tamron lenses come with a five year warranty, and, should a repair need to be made, these are typically turned around within three days. A possible added sale here is a new Aosta branded lens case for the likes of the 150-600mm in that it is 30cm deep and 12cm in diameter, with a mid-height divider. SRP is £30.

Jerry Martin of Intro2020 demonstrates the Optech Utility Sling Duo for carrying two DSLRs at once.

Centre column with removable hide clamp on

versatile Velbon Sub 65 Tamron 15-30mm on a mirrorless full frame body using a Canon fit adaptor

Summer smiles: Jerry Martin, Jane Nicholson, Jim Mackay, and Peter Mott of Intro2020 in Hamburg for their July 2015 product launch. Summer cashbacks from Tamron, below.



To view all 26 brands currently distributed, point your browser at www.intro2020.co.uk

First in the field

In terms of further new exciting Intro2020 distributed product, there is the much trumpeted Lytro Illum ‘light field camera’ that lets users alter the area of the image that is in focus after the shot has been captured – in effect pulling focus. The news here is that not only is there a ‘massive’ new firmware upgrade for the camera in Lytro Desktop 4.3, that ensures the camera is quicker to use with faster AF – but also a new accessory too in a TTL flashgun for the Lytro at £200 SRP, which is available now.

stabiliser’ which according to Peter “comes in lovely packaging” with a GoPro mount adapter and a phone adapter for a very affordable £59.99 SRP. Related pitches to your GoPro-owning customers should include twin chargers available for both the Hero 3 and Hero 4 products, plus a plug-in microphone for GoPro with mini USB and phono connections that is priced at £29.99 SRP. There is even a lens protector kit for the GoPro Hero range, whilst both phone and action camera owners should also be directed to the Digipower Quikpod selfie stick range. A high-end, flagship version in the Selfie Extreme (shown left) offers a whopping 52-inch reach and is set to retail for £70 SRP, whilst in total there are four Quikpod selfie stick options of various lengths, starting at £19.99 for the 20-inch variety. All of which should add some inches to your bottom line in terms of potential profit. For further details and to order stock of all of the items covered in our comprehensive four page pull-out, please speak to your regular Intro2020 contact NOW or get in touch direct on 01628 674411.

important for the photo market. It’s coming to fruition much faster than I thought. Soon it could be as much as 20% of your business. Younger people are growing up with the moving image much more than the still image, although, for the creatives, the still image market will still be there.”

Re-fuel your profits with Digipower

As if all these new Intro2020 distributed products weren’t enough – there’s more still. The US company Mizco, established 1987, and based out of New Jersey, is offering its 60-strong product line up of Digipower and re-fuel branded batteries, chargers and photo related accessories to the UK specialist. For example there are 20 battery items bearing the Digipower name, which Intro2020 tells us is certified by Apple for use with its iPad, iPhone and iPod. In general terms, Digipower is the brand name for all travel related products, whilst for anything related to GoPro it’s ‘re-fuel’. “Multi chargers are a massive business,” General Sales Manager Peter Mott adds. “They’re usually a ‘distress’ purchase for someone about to go travelling. Flagged up from the range is the InstaSense smart device charger, which as it sounds charges batteries to their optimum level, for whichever device is plugged into one of four USB ports. “Nobody else has got this technology in the market,” enthuses Jim. Also available now for stocking are a range of camera-dedicated batteries – including several for GoPro action cameras – plus dedicated cables for Apple devices (including a USB-to-micro USB lead) and an in-car charger. Re-fuel as a brand name covers batteries for

That’s all folks! Jim Mackay of Intro2020 gives the thumbs up to another great annual product launch for the UK specialist and photo trade media.

What’s cooking with Cokin

On the horizon meanwhile are a fresh set of Cokin Nuances ND glass filters (below) aimed at videographers and filmmakers, but for which an official launch date and pricing was still TBA as BPI News went to press. Featuring “pure glass with high transmission values,” Intro2020 views the new range as “an important step for Cokin.” Jim Mackay places this in context by explaining: “Video is now very

Sandro Fulgheri, EMEA Managing Director of Lytro, uses the updated Illum.

GoPro Hero 3 and 4 cameras which sit on the back of the GoPro and are waterproof to 40 metres. The six hour battery is £49 SRP, the 12 hour version £100 and the 24 hour version £149. “GoPro isn’t going to go away,” reassures Peter Mott. “In terms of successful marketing they have really got it.” Leading on from this surmise, another re-fuel product is the Steadicam-like ‘action camera

“Multi chargers are a massive business” – Peter Mott, Intro2020 General Sales Manager, on Digipower products


BPI NEWS EXTRA

Whilst the manufacturer’s latest cashback deals are currently still running

until August 19th on a whopping 28 previously released products (see www.canon.co.uk/summercashback) there is exciting news of some new gear too. Having teased its development with a technical announcement back in February, Canon has properly unveiled the PowerShot G3 X, hitting shelves this month. The premium compact is notable for a one-inch sensor offering a 20.2-megapixel resolution and a 25x optical zoom (24-600mm equivalent in 35mm terms). This has inspired Canon to claim that the G3 X offers the longest focal length on the market for a camera with a one-inch sensor. Not surprisingly the company sees its possible audience including wildlife photographers. UK SRP is £799. BPI News sat down with Canon’s Product Intelligence Professional David Parry and Public Relations Professional Stephanie Kelly in London (pictured below) to find out more.

Close encounters of the 3rd kindHave enthusiast customers who shoot wildlife or sports and need to get close to the action? Direct them to the new PowerShot Canon G3 X, boasting a 25x optical zoom plus option of further accessories to sell, including a slip-on EVF…

isn’t quite so important: it’s more about the versatility of the flip up screen for shooting a multitude of subjects. Getting a different angle on something can change the perspective massively.”

Sell it on its own, or sell it with an EVF

Also included on this model to please enthusiasts are a focus peaking feature and, since what’s missing here is an eye level viewfinder, it’s compatible with the optional EVF-DC1 accessory (SRP £249) that provides the chance for dealers to make an additional sale. Wi-Fi and NFC connectivity also feature, as does 5.9 frames per second continuous capture (for up to the available capacity of the card in use) for anyone thinking of the larger zoom for shooting sports. Battery life is around 300 shots from a full charge. “I feel that the G3 X would be really useful for people who do wildlife photography,” David continues. “They may have an SLR at the moment, but this would be a great back up or second choice, because in comparison it’s really small and lightweight and will give you the kind of image quality and depth of field that you associate with an SLR. It also could be really useful for people who maybe find SLRs intimidating, but would like a similar specification to a bridge style camera, albeit with an image quality that is a little more ‘serious’. “Maybe their primary interest is bird watching and wildlife and photography is a secondary interest. This will help them enjoy their hobby a bit more. Also, a 600mm lens on a SLR will cost you around £4,500, whereas here you’re getting that range in something much smaller and lighter weight for a lot less money. “I also think this will be of interest to camera clubs members. Not only is it small and light but you can do all types of photography with it, thanks to the wide focal range. It’s very similar to EOS in its control layout and feel which I think is quite nice because once your customers have got to grips with this, it would be quite easy to step up to the EOS range eventually...” www.canon.co.uk

Your Canon G3 X sales pitch: one-inch sensor compact with 25x optical zoom aimed at enthusiast photographers

“This is an awesome range to have on a one inch sensor camera,” David enthuses, explaining that the new G3 X sits between the G7 X and the G1 X Mark II in the current Canon line up. “The 25x zoom is giving your customers a focal range that would be quite hard and expensive to match on an SLR. The other aspect that is really exciting is the Full HD movie capability. Because of the one-inch sensor the video quality is absolutely stunning. You can get that cinematic look and blur

the background as well as control the audio. You can also put a different microphone on there for more professional results.” Attendant features of the dust proof and drip proof zoom model include a tilting or flip-up 3.2-inch screen with 1.62-million dot resolution – again, something Canon claims is the highest spec in its class. “People who really enjoy fishing also really love the concept of the 180° flip-up LCD screen. They can get a ‘selfie’ with the fish they’ve landed. And with wink detection they can wink at the camera and it will take their picture. The reaction is ‘Oh my God, that’s amazing’ – and that sells it to them.” But for this sort of camera the ability to shoot selfies

Forward facing screen bonus

“The optional EVF-DC1

accessory (SRP £249) provides the chance for

dealers to make an additional sale”


Following huge success last year, we’ve decided to bring back Future’s Canon and Nikon Complete Gift Packs in August, writes Future’s Head of Content & Marketing Matthew Pierce.

Gift Packs keep on giving

If you missed the first packs when we published them in November (possibly because they sold out insanely quickly!), these were premium priced, bagged packs featuring loads of value for DSLR enthusiasts of

both Canon and Nikon systems. They flew off the shelves before and after Christmas - in fact, to our great pleasure, we saw that the rate of sale continued strongly well into January for both packs. This time round, we’re changing the contents slightly to keep them fresh and relaunching them both on 8th August.

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BPI News is your mouthpiece to the industry. Send your news to [email protected]

Olympus’ toughened series of shock proof/freeze proof/water proof digital compacts was memorably launched a few years back by a TV ad in which, after giving it a kick about, a young lad of 4 or 5 shoved a

muddied camera under an outside tap to give it a rinse; a simple yet effective pitch that any customer could comprehend. These days, with the rise in market popularity of the ‘action camera’, you’re more likely to see the latest ‘Toughs’ glamorously associated with alpine skiers or scuba divers. The TG-4 looks the part; it’s more Monaco than Margate, whether in its bright red livery (page 8) or more subtle black with red detailing (above) we had in to play with. At £349 SRP, another advantage to stocking it is that there are a host of additional accessories, including underwater housing and fisheye or tele converters, to piggyback on a sale. Hoping to prevent ingress of anything nasty both the TG-4’s battery/card and output port compartments are protected by double lock doors. Said battery is charged in camera; there’s no standalone mains charger provided, just a USB cable, mains lead and AC adapter that sits in between. The lens – here sporting a bright f/2 aperture – is further protected courtesy of an internal zoom mechanism, the equivalent of 25-100mm in 35mm terms, that at no point protrudes from the camera. Added to this, built in Wi-Fi not only allows for cable-free image sharing, but also for the TG-4 to be controlled via your customers’ smartphones if downloading the Olympus OI Share app. With no eye level viewfinder, images are composed via the 3-inch, 460K dot LCD. Max image resolution is 16 megapixels from a backlit, standard size 1/2.3-inch CMOS chip, whilst surprisingly Raw shooting is offered alongside JPEG, as is Full HD 1080p video. This being an Olympus camera we also get a smattering of Art Filter digital effects to try out – seven in all. One of our only gripes is the small controls at the camera’s rear – typical for Olympus, but more fiddly than normal to use if you’ve wet hands. Whilst this isn’t going to challenge an OM-D or PEN for picture quality, the appeal is the ability to capture pictures in conditions that you’d otherwise worry to use a camera in, and in the case of the TG-4, look reassuringly robust whilst doing it. This adds up to a perfect contender to make a sale as the schools break up and the travel season gets underway…

BPI NEWS PRODUCT OF THE MONTH

PhotographicBritish

Industry newsOlympus Stylus Tough TG-4

The Nikon pack will feature our best-selling 228 page Master Your Nikon bookazine (normal price £14.99), plus an accompanying 40 minute video training DVD (normal price £19.99). A set of 8 tips cards for readers to use on location, plus an A1 Nikon poster featuring some of the most iconic cameras in their proud history, completes the pack. Similarly, the Canon pack carries the Master Your Canon bookazine and video training DVD, 8 tips cards and a useful Canon Portrait Posing Guide. Both packs launch on August 8th and retail at £19.99, representing a huge discount on the individual items. Presented in heavweight opaque bags, they’re a substantial package that feel as impressive as their contents, and they offer readers the ultimate practical collection for their Canon or Nikon DSLRs. These packs are aimed firmly at the beginner end of the market, and will teach new DSLR owners how to get to grips with their camera, master the basics, and then develop their skills. Whether readers want to learn from the pages of the bookazine, or prefer to watch video training, these jargon-free gift packs let them learn at their own pace and in a simple step-by-step format. They’re the perfect gift packs - and will remain on sale well into the Christmas preparations. For readers, the Complete Canon and Nikon Gift Packs are the ultimate starter packs for their new hobby. For retailers, they provide a unique opportunity to offer premium-priced titles to both complement and drive new Canon and Nikon DSLR sales. If you’re interested in discussing the commercial opportunities, please contact [email protected] or call on 07765 401381.

BPI News | July/August 2015 21TEL: 0116 289 3644 | e-mail: [email protected] | www.tetenaluk.com


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NEWS EXTRA

Until September 7th, Panasonic UK is offering a quartet of promotional

incentives to those customers considering purchasing a 4K shooting camera or camcorder – including the CM1, GH4, LX100, FZ1000 and HC-VX870 – with further non-4K models also included in the deal comprising the TZ70, TZ60, LX7, FZ200, FZ72 and TZ57.

Make 4K while the sun shines with PanasonicThe electronics giant plugs its 4K range via cashbacks, five-year guarantees, free selfie sticks and free cases – all designed to drive footfall to photo specialists…

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*Promotional period: 25/06/2015 – 07/09/2015 (Claim Deadline: 31st Oct 2015). Promotional terms apply, please see panasonic.co.uk/promotions

Limited to qualifying products within the maximum value stated in the terms and conditions.Leica is a registered trademark of Leica Microsystems IR GmbH. Leica DC lenses are manufactured using measurement instruments and quality assurance systems that have been certified by Leica Camera AG based on the company’s quality standards.

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The first part of the pitch is the lure of cashback, with up to £100 offered on selected models. The camera phone-like CM1 for example comes with £50 cashback, while it’s the full £100 back for anyone purchasing the GH4. A further compelling incentive for customers this summer is a five-year guarantee. This specifically covers the new DMC-G7, LX100, CM1, GH4, FZ1000, TZ71, TZ70, TZ60 plus HC-VX870, HC-VX970 and HC-X1000 camcorders. Alternatively if your customers plump for a GF7, TZ57 or SZ10 during the promo period, they’ll get a free selfie stick with it. The fourth part of the pitch is that selected models including the GX7 also come with a free camera case to keep sand at bay this summer. “These latest imaging promotions, running from now until the 7th September, should encourage those considering Panasonic products to invest in one of our award-winning cameras or camcorders this summer,” believes the brand’s UK Head of Imaging Marketing Barnaby Sykes. To claim the cashback on qualifying Lumix, Lumix G camera and camcorder models, participants (aged 18 or over only) must complete the online registration form at www.panasonic.co.uk/promotions 28 days after product purchase. The claim deadline is set at 19th October. Further info on which camera falls within which deal can be had by emailing [email protected] or calling the helpline number on 0800 072 7649.

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We covered the fact that lighting brand Profoto’s portable B2 off-camera

flash has won Best Pro Lighting System at the TIPA Awards back in May’s BPI News, having only been launched in March. Now the manufacturer has announced a summer-long offer on the same acclaimed unit, which kicked off on July 1st and runs through until September 30th, giving existing or would-be Profoto dealers a good long period in which to really push the brand. “Sales of the B2 have been excellent since launch, but by putting together this great offer we want to maximise possible sales of the B2 250 Air TTL throughout the entire summer period, whilst giving retailers a real opportunity via a sizeable free accessory offer to pitch to customers,” Marketing Manager Matt Wilson tells BPI News. The deal is that your customers purchase a Profoto B2 250 Air TTL ‘To Go Kit’ (product code 901109) or B2 250 Air TTL Location Kit (product code 901110) and they receive a bundle of OCF light shaping accessories free of charge. The freebies include the OCF 2ft Octa (code 101211) worth £100.00, the OCF Speed Ring (code 101210) worth £60.00 and the OCF Grid Kit (code 101030) worth £60.00 – with a total value of £220 combined (all prices quoted being exclusive of VAT). This is equivalent to 15% off the ‘To Go’ kit and 11% off the ‘Location Kit’ price.

B2 or not 2B

Whilst that’s the carrot, here’s the pitch as involves the product itself. As regular BPI News readers will be aware, the Profoto B2 Off-Camera Flash can be utilised for a wide variety of lighting setups in both on and off-camera operation. It has TTL and HSS compatibility with both Canon and Nikon cameras, but, place it in manual mode, and the B2 also works with most other brands. The 250Ws B2 Head can be set in a wide 9-stop energy range and has a fast recycle time ranging from 0.03 to 1.35 seconds. The B2 can also be used with Profoto’s entire


To get up to speed and watch videos illustrating what the Profoto range is capable of, please visit www.profoto.com/ontolightshaping

Profoto launches B2 summer special dealProfoto’s portable and powerful B2 off-camera flash won Best Pro Lighting System at the TIPAs a couple of months back. Now it’s launched a summer offer to maximise sales of that, and bundled free accessories worth a whopping £220....

assortment of Light Shaping Tools, so photographers can choose from more than 150 different tools and shape the B2’s light into any light imaginable. As Profoto’s own Product Manager Johan Wiberg said back in our May edition: “Our ambition when we first started designing the Profoto Off-Camera Flash system was to create a solution that pushes the boundaries of what can be achieved on a fast and hectic on-location shoot. We closely observed the needs of wedding and portrait

photographers and decided to try to make their jobs a little easier. Now, looking at what we are offering, I dare say we’ve succeeded.” The B2 can be seen as a lighter, more portable counterpart to Profoto’s B1 off-camera flash, successfully launched back in 2013, and itself a former TIPA winner. Comprising a battery pack and a head, with the battery light enough to be worn on the shoulder or hip, the B2 can either be mounted onto a monopod or camera bracket to allow the photographer to keep moving

and working relatively fast. The head is of the same size and weight as a speedlight, while being five times more powerful, so immediately the kit’s advantage is plain to see. Specialist retailers looking to add Profoto lighting solutions to stock and sell should contact [email protected] or call 01442 204919 for further details. It’s also worth mentioning the company has a 0% consumer finance option – available until 31st August, which it tells us it can ‘facilitate’ through dealers. www.profoto.com

Above: An assistant for top British wedding photographer Simeon Quarrie holds a B2 head in a Profoto Umbrella Deep XL Silver for a wedding shoot in Cancun. See Simeon’s video on using the B2 system - http://www.profoto.com/blog/videos/at-the-speed-of-light-with-simeon-quarrie/

B1, B2 heads, and accessories


With its £50 summer cashback offer continuing for purchases of the 10-

20mm f/3.5 EX DC HSM lens until July 31st, the Japanese lens specialist has unexpectedly unveiled a further exciting new optic, which neatly slots into its ‘Art’ lens line-up. The pitch to your enthusiast photographer customers is that the Sigma 24-35mm f/2 DG HSM Art (Hyper Sonic Motor) is the world’s first large aperture full frame wide-angle zoom offering f/2 brightness throughout its focal range. It basically covers the range of three fixed focal length wide-angle lenses (24mm, 28mm and 35mm). The company suggests its new sharp shooter for 35mm full frame DSLRs builds on the concept of the previously released 18-35mm f/1.8 DC HSM Art lens, which was the world’s first to offer f/1.8 brightness throughout its own zoom range for APS-C size sensors.

One zoom covering three fixed focal lengths

A large diameter zoom lens covering the full frame image sensor, equipped with a brass bayonet mount, the 24-35mm f/2 DG HSM Art, which is yet to be given a price or a confirmed release date, will be available in promised Sigma, Canon and Nikon fits, with bundled accessories including a case and a petal type lens hood (LH876-03). “Sigma was determined to create a zoom lens that offered the same brightness and resolving power as a fixed focal length lens – in short, one providing the highest level of optical performance,” Sigma UK’s Graham Armitage explains of the newcomer. “It overturns the common, conventional perception of a zoom lens. Now your customers don’t have to carry three wide aperture fixed focal length lenses in their camera bags to get the desired result – they only need to zoom in or zoom out. The Sigma 24-35mm f/2 DG HSM does it all, with that f/2 aperture providing beautiful ‘bokeh’ or background blur at any focal length you choose. What’s more it’s from the same stable as our award winning 24mm f/1.4, 35mm f/1.4 and 50mm f1/4 lenses.” Other aspects of the lens’

BPI NEWS EXTRA

The optical specialist has unveiled what it’s calling the world’s first large aperture full frame wide-angle zoom, 24-35mm offering f/2 brightness throughout its focal range. BPI News discovers more…

Get your fill of Sigma’s full frame 3-in-1

Equipment imported by Sigma Imaging UK Ltd comes with the added benefit of a 3-year warranty. See www.sigma-imaging-uk.com

performance worth sharing with your customers include a minimum focusing distance of 28mm and a suitability for close up shooting, dynamic portraits with attractive shallow focus and flattering background blur and deep-focus landscape photography – in other words, angles of view equivalent to three wide angle lenses without actually having to change the lens on the full frame camera at any given time. Naturally advanced and innovative technologies have been deployed in the creation of the Japanese made Sigma 24-35mm f/2 DG HSM Art, which is comprised of one FLD (low dispersion) glass element and seven SLD (Special Low Dispersion) glass elements, of which two are aspherical lenses. The combination is said to minimise chromatic aberration and field curvature, with ‘breath-taking’ quality promised even at the widest aperture. Handling wise, an inner focusing system is said to eliminate front lens rotation, thus allowing use of circular polarizing filters and making the lens especially convenient for shooting video, a Super Multi-Layer coating reduces the possibility of flare and ghosting, whilst the provided lens hood can of course be used to block out extraneous light. Also offering silent high speed auto focusing, there is the further ability to select full time manual focusing by simply rotating the lens’ focusing ring whilst auto focusing. The new lens is also compatible with Sigma’s USB Dock to provide a degree of future proofing and allow for Firmware updates, whilst it was evaluated using Sigma’s own ‘MFT’ (modulation transfer function) measuring system known as ‘A1’, using 46 megapixel Foveon direct image sensors. “The trade are always telling me they’re artists of one type or another – so they’ll be glad to know our Art line delivers high-level artistic expression,” promises Graham. “The rendering performance is astonishing whether we’re taking about shooting landscapes, portraits, still-lifes, close-ups, or general snaps. In short the 24-35mm f/2 DG HSM is perfect for the kind of photography that unleashes the inner artist.”

Flyers and advertisingcontinue topromotesales thissummerwith the10-20mmf/3.5 EX DCHSM

“The new Sigma 24-35mm f/2 DG HSM Art is from the same stable as our award winning 24mm f/1.4, 35mm f/1.4 and 50mm f1/4 lenses...”– General Manager Graham Armitage



Check out the current dye sub line up for events or retail at www.mitsubishielectric-printing.com

Mitsubishi: plentiful print options to ‘dye’ forMitsubishi CP-D70DW, CP3800DW and W5000DW printers offer compact footprints yet big output capabilities – either for a photo retailer looking to add a minilab service, or a professional

photographer seeking to install one in their studio or use it for events.

BPI News finds out more.

you to add profitable new services to your business, such as double side photo books, wall and desktop calendars, greetings cards, and just about any product that needs to be printed on both sides. This obviously avoids the need for any additional labour otherwise involved in cutting and sticking the print both sides. While being compact, the CP-W5000DW offers speed, large paper capacity and multiple print sizes. It comes with Mitsubishi Electric’s one-of-a-kind paper path switching method, never before seen in a small-size duplex machine. Mitsubishi also offers software to enable retailers to make the most of their business. One of its latest innovations in this area is PhotoSuite Studio, a cost effective, fully featured retail software solution that is said to be easy to install and use, which was developed with the

dustproof. Speed wise, swiftest output is approx. 7.7 seconds for a 3.5x5-inch print.

Thermal ‘currents’

Alternatively printing up to 8x12-inches at 300dpi is the new 8-inch roll fed dye sublimation thermal transfer printer, the Mitsubishi CP3800DW. Once again, with a compact, lightweight and robust design it is said to be ideal for event photographers, pro studios and

photo retail, naturally. It’s further described as being easy to use; connect the photo printer to a laptop or PC or Mitsubishi’s range of kiosk solutions. Full colour bleed to edge photos are offered. If you’re a business wanting to get into the photo books market, however, then a further fresh device worth exploring is the W5000DW, again from Mitsubishi and pitched as a ‘printing workhorse’ for the desktop. The theory is that this will allow

Top left, W5000DW; above, D70DW, below, CP3800D W– right, splash screen for PS Studio PC software

current CP-D70DWS dye sub printer in mind. A further bonus is that the software is available as a five day trial. Once purchased however, the PC based system enables you to offer customers an array of photo based products including 6x6 format instant prints, photo ID, EasyGift greeting cards, EasyGift calendars and EasyGift albums (photo books). For those retailers or their customers who have branched out into the event photography business there is further PhotoSuite Events Software, available, again PC based, and via which you can automatically capture, edit, print, and share any event. It also allows photographers to increase their business by offering untapped new services. For more on all the above, please head to the URL below. Trade enquiries meanwhile should be directed to Mitsubishi’s UK branch office at Hatfield on 01707 276100.

When it comes to printers offering a compact footprint and swift

output – whether for installing at retail to add another string to your business’ bow or recommending to a photographer customer to use for events or even studio work – Mitsubishi is undoubtedly a major, and moreover long-term, market player, with ads and advertorials in all the key photo titles to drive interest and generate footfall for its dealers. In terms of photo printers and software to go with them – including PS Events and PS Studio – there are quite a few options to choose from. First up for your recommended inspection is the Mitsubishi CP-D70DW. This device measures 446mm in depth and a compact 170mm in height, with an extremely low breadth of 275mm. This means, suggests the manufacturer, it only requires 40% of the volume of space of its comparable previous model. Also saving space is the front-loading construction, with the ability to quickly load the PC and Mac compatible CP-D70DW thanks to a simple extension of the filling unit. Whilst the footprint is relatively unobtrusive it is nevertheless able to hold substantial volumes of photo paper to deliver high capacity printing up to 6x9-inches in size at 300dpi. Furthermore any business running such a machine will be delighted to hear that it consumes less than one watt of power in its featured automatic standby mode. With an advanced cooling system built in, the product is further


There’s a new first lady of the PMA: Georgia McCabe has come out of retirement

following a career that latterly took in photofinishing solutions at Fujifilm to help revitalise an industry facing well publicised challenges.

BPI News: The last we heard from UK PMA Director Don Kennedy, there had been a big shake up of PMA in the States, with your own appointment and the wider canvassing of industry opinion. From that feedback you’ve devised a four-point plan for taking the trade forward. Perhaps you can talk us through that?

Georgia McCabe: As an industry we have a few challenges we’re all aware of. I’ve been in the photo industry for many years; I’m old. My last job was as Senior Vice President at Fujifilm. We developed all of the software for the Frontier systems and all the software for the kiosks. And then we built all their online system. After I retired from Fujifilm in 2006 I went into consulting along with my husband Scott Brownstein, one of the chief inventors of Photo CD. In November last year I was asked by the PMA board to do an analysis and decide what PMA should be ‘when it grows up’. After we did that, they offered me the job in January…

Q: So you came out of retirement to help save the industry, Georgia?

A: Exactly. We have a big battle ahead of us. The first thing that I was challenged with was how should PMA be re-organized? Back in the heyday, we’d hire the Las Vegas Convention Centre and totally consume it…

Q: Indeed. When I started in the photo industry 15 years ago PMA was always the big annual show to go to.

A: Right. Well it’s not like that anymore. Recently PMA has been

partnered with CES, which was kind of sad, because CES is so massive, with hundreds of thousands of people, yet photography was mixed in with mattresses and windscreen wipers. You couldn’t really find anything that was telling you what the future of photography and our industry was or could be. So we needed to restructure. I closed down our headquarters and held a strategic two-day retreat in Washington DC, where we brought in 20 stakeholders representing all aspects of the industry – the camera side, the output side and the software side. We discussed what the industry needed and what we could do to better service it. What came out of that meeting was that there was a real need for somebody to pull everyone together. And we came up with four strategic ‘pillars’.

Q: Before we get into that Georgia, I’m intrigued to know what the challenges facing the industry were identified as?

A: Ah, there’s so many… well, obviously it depends on where you’re coming from. If you look at the specialty retailers they’re feeling the pain because people just aren’t printing these days. If you talk to the camera dealers, they’re feeling it because people use smartphones. If you talk to the software developers, they’re feeling pain because their customers are demanding so much from an integration standpoint. It feels like the industry has become so fractured. Even the photographers are frustrated because of the ‘mama-razzi’…

Q: You’ll have to explain that one to us.

A: (Laughs) A ‘mama-razzi’ is a woman that loves photography, who goes out and gets a DSLR to take a couple of pictures of her kids, shows her friends, and then when they say “wow, these are great, can you take pictures of mine?” – all of a sudden she wants to

be a photographer and starts booking weddings.

Q: We’re talking about amateurs coming into a professional market…

A: Right, and they’re willing to charge less and provide digital files. The photographers don’t like that. The whole industry, no matter where you’re coming from, has drastically changed. So we need to look at what we need to do. The photo industry is not dying. Consumers are taking more pictures than ever. Last year they captured and shared more than 10 times the number of images that were captured at the peak of the analogue business. I believe there are opportunities now that are greater than perhaps they were back in the late 1800s, when George Eastman started evangelising photography but first had to educate the consumer about it. Right now, personalised images are by far the largest source of traffic on social media. Then there is the “cloud,” which my husband refers to as the ‘digital landfill’ in the sky… and there are a lot of new players – including Google, Apple and Amazon Prime – that we didn’t know before. Not all of them understand the responsibility inherent in capturing and storing precious photographic moments so that people will be able to access them in the future. Did you see the articles about Vint Cerf’s (Google Vice President) comments, as he was making this same point?

Q: Yes, about the 21st Century becoming a digital black hole…

A: We actually had a conversation with Vint and although he was talking in general terms about digital information, he did point out that, from a photographic standpoint, the safest solution might be to just print your images. So I do believe that PMA can play a really important

role and help the industry as a whole. The first of our four action points involves how we empower businesses to effectively sell to and serve the consumer. We’re going to provide tools and resources to help our members build their business and create enthusiasm from the consumer for photography products, services and equipment. The goal is to create a better direct connection between the consumer and the service providers. So in May in the States we held National Photography Month. We built a site which you can access via celebratephotos.com and we posted tips and tricks for consumers to take better photos and show how they could turn them into creative products. We also added content for the trade, including sample Facebook posts, tweets and press releases. We saw a lot of the trade actually using

TALK OF THE TRADE

UK retailers/manufacturers can contact Georgia & her team via: Photographic Marketing Association International 7918 Jones Branch Drive, Suite 300, McLean, VA 22102, USA. Tel: 001-800-792-9287, email: [email protected]

BPI News speaks to the new CEO of the Photo Marketing Association Georgia McCabe on her whistle-stop tour of Britain, France and Germany to discover the challenges to the US photo market are the same ones faced by its European cousins – and find out what we do about them…

Re-born in the USA: New CEO re-boots PMA to reflect changing habits


those resources for their own sites and emails. So we’re going to continue doing that and expand it out beyond the United States. Since it’s a website, it can be accessible from everywhere and used for different campaigns…. Oh my God, there are so many different creative ideas.

Q: The issue is finding the time and the money to get them all done.

A: Yes, and the second pillar is to advocate and promote industry interests. (UK PMA Director) Don Kennedy has been working with the government to find a better solution to their plans to let people use ‘selfies’ for passports and driving licenses, rather than going to their local photo store for ID photos. Don has been lobbying and working to develop prototype

software that still encourages people to use their photo stores, while eliminating some of the headaches. In terms of different types of events, we’ll be doing a business and technology summit in September in conjunction with Mobile Photo Connect, which focuses on what consumers really want to do with photo in a connected world. Leading into that we’ll be focusing on business issues such as how to market to the ‘millennials’ generation and what are the missing technological pieces that we need to be worried about and supportive of.

Q: What is the PMA’s position on smartphones? A threat or somethingthat should be embraced?

A: I personally think you can’t ignore it., but we clearly must continue to

re-invent ourselves to stay relevant by considering what photo output people want from phones and how will they get them. Personalised photo products represent a huge market. We cannot ignore the fact that people are going to use their smartphones, so we have to adjust accordingly. As a retailer you have to have a reasonable and simple way for people to get a photo to your website and choose products in very few clicks. I don’t see it as a threat though obviously it’s having an impact on the camera market. But I believe there is still a real opportunity for those people to survive, particularly with the new era of cameras. And so the fourth ‘pillar’ is to create, support and evangelise industry guidelines, workflows and conventions that allow for simple consumer interaction for photo products and services.

Q: Taking of conventions, do you think we could see a re-birth of PMA as a convention in its own right, or is that gone now?

A: Absolutely. Hopefully in 2016. It’s something we are exploring and would love to consider doing. We do have Photokina next year, but we will certainly be looking at that andalso how we can partner with people who put on conventions. We’ll be looking at all those alternatives. We are not going back to CES. We need to have much more of a focused strategy. And that doesn’t involve being spread around Las Vegas, so you need Segways to get to where you want to go. The other thingwe’ll be doing is running a ‘Photo Guru’ show – we haven’t nailed down the exact name, but one thing that came out of our survey that our members wanted was a way to help educate the consumer, whether they’re on a smartphone, an iPad or a DSLR. So we’ll have consumers come in for 90 minutes or a couple of hours and we’ll teach them things as simpleas the rule of thirds and other better picture taking techniques. And I actually hope to be doing that here in the UK. I want everybody to understand that the European market is essential for us…

BPI News: We’ll watch this space!

UK retailers/manufacturers can contact Georgia & her team via: Photographic Marketing Association International 7918 Jones Branch Drive, Suite 300, McLean, VA 22102, USA. Tel: 001-800-792-9287, email: [email protected]

“The whole industry, no matter where you’re coming from, has drastically changed. But I believe there are opportunities now that are greater than perhaps they even were back in the late 1800’s”– PMA CEO Georgia McCabe

Re-born in the USA: New CEO re-boots PMA to reflect changing habits


The allure of becoming a member of Fujifilm Digital Imaging Service (FDIS)

extends beyond existing minilabs and photofinishing businesses. Installing a Fujifilm Drylab and a kiosk – or three – is a way of broadening your business, extending your customer base and, ultimately, expanding your profit. Supplied branding and point of sale material can also give your store a bold re-fresh that will catch the eyes of customers new and old. In short, there is plenty of flexibility to create a retail experience you’ll be proud of and to which your customers will want to return time and again. Don’t just take our word for it, though. As a way of underlining the above, we’ve spoken to a couple of retailers.

Cartridge and Personalised Print World in Andover, Kent, which started out as a cartridge re-filling company, is a recent convert to the Fujifilm cause and photofinishing as a key business element. “We originally installed a second hand Noritsu mini dry lab; the thinking was that we could offer passport photos, so we installed it in the shop and advertised ourselves as such,” recalls manager and owner Mark Simmonds. “After a year we were doing well on the passport photos alongside other photographic printing, but we weren’t doing huge amounts until Jessops closed. That was good news for us. The reason we then got involved with Fujifilm was because our Noritsu machine developed a fault with its print head and was going to cost us £8,000 to fix. Instead, Malcolm Tullett our Swains rep suggested that we consider a new Fujifilm machine. “I went up to Bedford to have a look at it. We soon realised that for the volume of printing we were doing we needed to go for the big, new DL650 – it was more money than we were originally thinking, but the benefit more than outweighed the investment. This led to us re-brand the front of the store as a Fujifilm Digital Imaging Service centre, although we still call ourselves Cartridge and Personalised Print World. Up until now a third of

BPI NEWS EXTRA

To learn more about the latest features of Fujifilm’s Imagine Mobile App go to fujifilmimagine.co.uk/ mobile to download or contact Peter Wigington on 01234 572138 or [email protected] for more

Rejuvenate your business with FujifilmNew signage and new services can do wonders for footfall, as a couple of recent converts to Fujifilm’s Digital Imaging Service (FDIS) network are discovering – while the brand also released its latest update of its Fujifilm Imagine Mobile App to further invigorate sales…

our business has been photofinishing – and that’s probably soon going to be half of our business.” Mark also has two Fujifilm Imagine kiosks and plans to add a third in the run up to Christmas – as last year he witnessed queues for the machines. “The last two years the sale of photos and frames as Christmas presents has been massive. And we encourage customers to download the Fujifilm Imagine Mobile app onto their phone so they can upload pictures at home and then just come in, log in on the kiosk and start printing.” Are people getting that ease of use message, we wonder? “I think they are. Some customers will only want two images from their mobile, which we can Bluetooth, so won’t bother with installing the app while in the store – they just want to get in and out. To those people we give a business card with a QR code and our own details and suggest they upload their pictures before they come in, to which the reaction is usually ‘oh, that’s a good idea’… it’s slowly growing…” “Fujifilm are also very good in terms of technical and software support. If we get an issue with a kiosk they’re either at the end of the phone or on email. I have to say that whenever we’ve flagged something up, sometimes literally within five minutes someone’s on the kiosk remotely sorting it out for us. “Since we’ve had the machine, which is two months now, there have been two FDIS promotions. We get sent a full set of point of sale for these. That’s resulted in people coming in and saying “I didn’t realise you did this, or did that…’ even though we’ve been here 13 years. People are re-discovering us or actually think it’s a new shop. We can’t fault Fujifilm. “People recognise the brand and buying into the FDIS marketing support package has been very beneficial to us.”

Mark Simmonds, owner of Andover’s Cartridge & Personalised Print World, top – the shopfront branding is now for the Fujifilm Digital Imaging Service more than the original name, and with the new systems installed that is also where the business is growing.


To learn more about the latest features of Fujifilm’s Imagine Mobile App go to fujifilmimagine.co.uk/ mobile to download or contact Peter Wigington on 01234 572138 or [email protected] for more

Clifton Cameras signs up to FDIS

Richard Swan, Commercial Manager at Clifton Cameras is another recent convert to the Fujifilm FDIS network who can’t sing its praises highly enough. “Up until now we’ve been a photographic retail business and a destination store for pro and high end equipment. We also have a very big mail order department. Those markets are clearly decreasing as rapidly as the profit margins… so we’ve been looking at how we add value in other areas. The most obvious one was minilabs. We used to do printing when it was 35mm and APS – and felt there was the opportunity again to offer print. Because Fujifilm Imagine software provides an instore, online and mobile platform it gives us a number of options and the opportunity to increase footfall in the store. Presently our customers are 70% mail order and 30% retail. If we had just put in another minilab without the Fujifilm Imagine Online kiosk solution we would still only be touching 30% of our customer base. We have back office access as well, which gives us full control over the bespoke Fujifilm Online kiosk system created for our website. One of the benefits of this is that we’re able to create promotional codes. If we decide to do a voucher for a free 10x8, it takes 30 seconds to get it ready.” In terms of how Clifton Cameras promotes the Fujifilm Mobile App to its customers, it has a landing page for its Fujifilm lab that explains exactly what it can do. “The premise is ‘free your photos’, because we’re all very guilty of saying ‘my Mac’s got 10,500 pictures on it’. The store has a very large window that allows us to communicate messages to passers by. We don’t put product in there, so it is a straightforward view into the shop with 7ft high letters and obviously when people place orders with us online we include leaflets and literature with regards to the app, saying: ‘this is how you do it and this is what it will do for you’. “We try to communicate that to everyone. Our FDIS business consultant recommended a launch day for the new photo services and provided a Fun Day pack. So we handed out balloons with one of our staff members dressed as

“Fujifilm tends to have all avenues covered. And their technical and software support service is really key. We know that we can pick up the phone at any time and they are able to assist us.”– Richard Swan, Commercial Manager, Clifton Cameras

the character ‘Finepix Fred’ – who along with ‘Smartphone Sam’ are promotional Fujifilm costumes you can hire out for these kinds of events.. It certainly creates a lot of interest.” It becomes clear that the appeal of Fujifilm is that it offers a full solution for retailers. “It tends to have all avenues covered,” Richard agrees. “And their technical and software support service is really key. We know that we can pick up the phone at any time and they know exactly who we are and are able to assist us. We’ve got two of the touch screen kiosks in the store and then a DL-650 dry lab and Epson 9890 printer that will allow us to do 44-inch width paper sizes. We’ve done window posters for local businesses as well as gift wraps.” Clifton Cameras has also branched out into offering events photography – introducing another market for prints. “We covered a local girl’s football tournament with 39 teams. We photographed all of the games and uploaded password protected pictures that the teams could come and look at. We are able to set up bespoke areas online so they can place an order and receive the prints the next day. Events

photography was something we fell into as we have our own training academy. Again, we spoke to Fujifilm and asked ‘how do we…?’ and they said ‘how about this?’ They’ve designed it so it’s bespoke. It’s a trial at the moment but I don’t think anyone else in the network has done quite as much as we have with it.” The key message is, once again, as a Fujifilm customer and a FDIS member your business and your customers have the offer of both flexibility and convenience. Leading on from this, further news this month includes the fact that the much-praised Fujifilm Imagine Mobile App has been updated to version 3.4.1. The latest version has some exciting new features including the ability for customers to submit a full size image for print rather than one that is just cropped to a specific size, for example 6x4 or 5x7, which the minilab operator can then adjust.

Users can also crop an image on their own device during the order process. And probably the most important update from the retailers’ point of view is they can now set up specific promotions (50 prints for £7.50) or enable promotional codes to be entered against orders.


We could print another advertorial where Nedis’ National Sales Manager

Alastair Wilson encourages retailers to stock a new raft of products citing great value yet high quality goods and high profit margins as the reason for doing so – or we could simply get a retailer to share their success with Nedis’ Camlink and Konig branded items by way of real world, from the horse’s mouth case study. We’ve gone for the latter option this issue and invited the owner manager of Northampton-based photo specialist Skears Photographic, Steve Skears, to share his experience of stocking and selling Nedis products with the rest of the UK retail trade – that’s you, dear reader. “We do the standard things such as tripods and universal battery chargers with them – but of late we have taken on wireless headphones, retro radios and pedometer style watches,” says Steve. “We look for things that are new but the trouble with the photographic trade is that there is rarely any margin in anything. So you always have to look hard for something slightly different. In terms of Nedis margins, I find them very reasonable – you’re not quite hit as hard as you are by the margins on say Canon or Nikon, or Manfrotto with the tripods. With Nedis we’re talking about profit margins as high as 30% of the sale price, which in photographic terms is huge; elsewhere you’re usually down to 3%, which is crazy. “Even if they aren’t major sellers for your business the Nedis products are at least something that is a bit different in the window that encourages people to come in. For example people ask us about the radios, because that’s an unusual product that we don’t normally sell. It encourages customers to come in to talk about them – and once you’ve broke the ice with a customer they become a customer. You’ve just got to look for something different on which you can make margins that will entice customers to come in.”

A call to action… cameras

Camlink branded camera bags and Konig action cameras are two further product lines that have

Order now to boost summer seasonal sales – call 0116 253 0325 or speak to your area sales representative

Skears steers toward Nedis UKBPI NEWS PRODUCT FOCUS

makes it a bit easier, so it’s quite straightforward. We can order on a daily basis if we want to. Its generally a little and often approach and when Alastair comes around he tells us about product that we’ve not yet found on the website.” Also being seriously considered at Skears is the Thonet and Vander line of speakers, as the shop has just installed a 4K Panasonic TV for demonstrations. “With the speakers not only do you have the 4K picture quality from the TV but you have the sound quality to match it as well,” Steve Skears marvels. “In terms of the power output for the price they look very, very good.” Get in touch with Alastair Wilson, your local rep or any of the Nedis team to enquire about any of the above now on 0116 253 0325.

been doing well for Nedis and its customers lately. The same is true for Skears. “We do well with them over Christmas – everyone wants GoPro but not everyone can afford them. People buy them for children. With something that costs £300 or £400 they don’t want to leave the youngster with it. “They’re more liable to pay £70 or £80 for a camera that is still good quality. That’s a good Christmas present price but we do well with them all year around as people do still want them for canoeing or whatever.” Another new Nedis product recently added to stock at Skears is the in-car dash cam (above right). “We just ordered those from Alastair last time he was in – it’s a bit of a buzz product at the moment that most

people are using so hopefully those will go well as well. We’ve also got some of the Camlink camera bags, the sales of those are perhaps more dependent on the manufacturer’s name. We do reasonably well with Camlink tripods and their universal battery charger sells very well.” In terms of a typical customer for Skears Photographic, Steve says that there isn’t one. “It’s a right mix. We deal with a lot of professionals in the vicinity but we also deal with people who want to spend £50 or £60 on a compact. It’s a traditional camera shop so we go from one extreme to the other. The nearest competition for us is in Milton Keynes.” Another advantage is that orders placed with Nedis are delivered within two or three days. “We can order online as well now, which

“With Nedis we’re talking about profit margins as high as 30% of the sale price, which in photographic terms is huge.”– Steve Skears, owner Skears Photographic

Specialist retailer Skears Photographic has woken up to the fact that distributor Nedis UK offers a wealth of high margin product lines that sit comfortably alongside the traditionally photographic. BPI News finds out more from owner Steve Skears…


Formore information please call

01234 572138and speak to PeterWigington or email [email protected]

YOUWANT: YOU NEED:

YOU GET:

Passports& Visas

90%

Canvas& Posters

MARGIN*

MARGIN*

60%

PhotoGifts

MARGIN*50%Albums

& Frames

MARGIN*65%

Printsfrom cameras &mobile phones

MARGIN*65%

*Gross margins shown are an average across all FDIS stores and will vary depending on selling price. These figures are shown as a guide only and do not represent a guarantee of gross margin, profit or loss by Fujifilm UK Ltd.

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BPI News July/Aug 2015