A concise round-up of new product updates, international snippets and other interesting stuff from the wonderful world of photography: Spectra no more…Leica tariff increase?…New Peak Design bag range…
Spectra no more
Polaroid Originals, the company which holds the licences for Polaroid instant photography technology, has announced it has stopped manufacturing film for, ahem, ‘wide format’ Polaroid Spectra cameras.
Polaroid Originals has pointed the finger at the fragility of the 30-year old cameras: ‘With three decades behind them, these wide format cameras are now coming to the end of their useful lives. Jamming and frequent breakdowns are now affecting the majority of these cameras, and unfortunately, this is not something we can influence with our film.’
But if you have an old Spectra in good working order there’s a small window of opportunity – you can still purchase film from the final batch, which will continue to be on sale for a month or so. The Polaroid Australia website still has Spectra film for sale for $40 a pack on its website ($40 for eight instant photos? – Ouch!).
Leica tariff increase?
The Office of the US Trade Representative is imposing 25 percent tariffs on hundreds of product categories of products made in Europe, including lenses and speedlites, and photographic paper and photo products including photos, lenses, and speedlites. Cameras seem to be exempt.
The move, which will presumably see a hike in US prices for lenses from Leica and Leitz, among others, and photographic and inkjet paper from Germany’s Felix Schoeller, one of the last photographic paper makers standing, follows a WTO ruling that permitted the US to retaliate against the EU’s subsidy of aircraft manufacturer, Airbus.
Hmm – could this be an opportunity for local retailers to switch tables on the likes of B&H and Adorama and sell into the US market?
New bag range from Peak Design
Peak Design has released a new Everyday series of backpacks, messenger and sling bags and totes in capacities from three to 30 litres.
The latest bags feature a new outer fabric that is 100 percent recycled, along with new exterior UltraZips, which are built to withstand decades of use. Updated MagLatch and catchpoints are sleeker and more ergonomic and new external carry strap connectors are lower profile and easier to use with more tie-down points.
Internal spaces provide customisable protection via easy-to-configure FlexFold dividers. The latest bags also come in new colours, with Midnight Navy and Bone plus an updated Charcoal option joining the traditional Black, Tan and Ash colours.
The new range is as follows:
– The Everyday Backpack Zip, a simpler form of the regular design in 15 and 20 litre sizes;
– The Everyday Backpack, a re-vamped design available in 20 and 30 litre sizes;
– The Everyday Messenger, a 13 litre shoulder bag that is highly adaptable;
– The Everyday Sling, a new design for compact and mirrorless camera systems that comes in 3, 6 and 10 litre sizes;
– The Everyday Tote, a classic tote bag designed for carrying photo gear, available in 15 litre capacity;
– The Everyday Totepack, a new hybrid backpack-tote design offered in 20 litre capacity.
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