BRIEFS: March 14

Big sale on dry labs…Changes at ACMP…Nikon wins VR patent case…Great ball of photos…

Big sale on dry labs
Local DNP distributor JA Davey has announced a sale on DNP Fotolusio NL2000 dry minlabs, with savings of up to 50 percent off listed price.

The NL2000 can produce up to 1000 photos per hour. Inside the NL2000’s print tower up to four DNP dye sub printers can be housed, for scaleablity and a variety of print sizes up to 8×12-inches.

It offers a low total cost of ownership (especially given JA Davey’s current sale), low maintenance and energy costs, and simple operation. Daily maintenance basically consists of turning it on in the morning and changing consumables.

The 300dpi dye sub DNP photos are resistant to water, scratches and UV light. The NL2000’s flatbed scanner operates at 4800dpi. A print sorter and backprinter complete the package.

Footprint is 0.56m². Contact Jon McBriar at JA Davey for further details. Email: jonmcbriar@jadavey.com.au; ph: 03 9646 5488.

Changes at ACMP

Sacha Walters, the face of the ACMP for the last decade, has resigned from her role as administrator, with Sydney accountant Brian Katzen taking on the role under the new title of CEO.

The resignation had been kept under wraps by the ACMP until the announcement of the appointment this week of Mr Katzen, and will come as a shock to many in the industry who have enjoyed working with Sacha Walters over the years.

Ms Walters has been a ubiquitous and always cheerful presence at the ACMP, and tireless in organising regular workshops, developing policies on copyright, leading ACMP’s involvement in trade shows, developing the ACMP Better Business Bible, and day-to-day liaison with members, trade affiliates and sponsors, and the media.

Although the role has been a part-time one, Ms Walters has been generous – perhaps over-generous – with her time, enabling the 400-member ACMP to achieve far more than it would have been able to if she had simply delivered the 20-hour-per-week effort required.

The ACMP, established in 1991, acts as a united voice for Australian professional working photographers. It focusses on providing members with an understanding of the more complex business issues associated with professional photography such as copyright, contracts, legal protection and insurance, via regular seminars and publications like the Better Business Bible.

‘The ACMP is truly saddened by this resignation, as Sacha will be looking to further her own opportunities within the photographic industry as well as to grow her own business. After such a long time and we all wish her well and success in all her endeavours,’ ACMP president Lisa Saad noted in a statement (the first to be released by the ACMP under the new administration)

Nikon wins VR patent case
The district court of Tokyo has ordered Sigma to pay around US$14.5 million for infringing on patents related to Nikon’s VR lens-stabilisation technology.

Nikon was seeking around US$116 million. The case stretches back to 2011 and relates to six Sigma lenses. Nikon secured the patent related to VR technology in 2002.

The judge estimated that the VR system made a contribution of 15 percent to the profits Sigma made on the lenses, and the $14.5 million awarded represented that portion of profits.

Goodness gracious, great balls of photos!

Photokina this year will once again he home to the world’s largest photo-globe, this year celebrating ‘175 Years of Photo Moments’  using huge quantities of photos from all around the world.

Within the framework of the 175th Jubilee of Photography, this co-operative international promotion from 2010 and 2012 will be repeated, but with a new approach. At the beginning of 2014, a worldwide call was issued to populate the globe with photos from the present and the past (it must have missed Australia!), which will be arranged by year of exposure. This will allow a pictorial journey covering decades and continents, which will also reflect changes in the language of images.

The photo-globe will be located in the passage-way between Halls 4 and 5, occupying an area of over 400 sq m, with thousands more photos arranged underneath the globe.

To find out more, go to www.photoglobus.de/en.

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