A couple of classic cameras amidst books

Herb Keppler's wisdom

On the joys of collecting:
"Among the many things I resent about digital imaging is the slamming of the door on one of my favorite hobbies, camera collecting. Aside from getting a discontinued model cheap to use as a backup, can you tell me why someone would be excited about buying an obsolete digital camera for any purpose other than to use as a doorstop?"
(Popular Photography & Imaging, August 2007)

Film is here to stay:
"No, no, dammit, film is not going to disappear, so stop writing me scaredy-cat letters about how 'we duffers are gonna fade away silently clutching the last rolls of Kodachrome to our breasts.'"
(Popular Photography & Imaging, September 2007)

Relating a comment by renowned photojournalist Alfred Eisenstaedt:
"After Nikon introduced the first motordrive-compatible in 1954 (2.5 fps), I asked Eisie if he ever used a motor. 'Never,' said Eisie. 'It might miss something that this would have caught.' He wiggled his shutter release finger at me."
(Popular Photography & Imaging, April 2007)

If you were alone on a deserted island and could only have one camera and lens, what would it be?
"An all-mechanical Nikon F with a coupled selenium meter (no battery) and a 105mm macro lens to photograph flora and fauna, big and small, and to take a fine portrait of the person who rescues me!"
(Popular Photography & Imaging, August 2006)

Herbert Keppler: 1925-2008

Remembering a great photographer, journalist, savant, mentor and gentleman...

Herbert Keppler -- Herb or Burt -- was known throughout the world for his extremely popular columns Speaking Frankly and SLR in the American magazine and arguably the world's most read photography journal, Popular Photography. During his 57-year career as a writer, editor and publisher of photographic magazines, which earned him a worldwide reputation as one of the most respected and revered authorities in the photographic field, he also did a lot to popularise Japanaes cameras and Japanese technology.

On 4 January 2008 Herbert Keppler died peacefully in his sleep, after a short illness, at Phelps Memorial Hospital in Sleepy Hollow, New York, with his wife Louise, daughter Kathy and son Thomas at his side.

Read Jason Schneider's tribute to Keppler here:

In Memoriam: Herbert Keppler, 1925-2008

Some memorable quotes from the old master:

The Wit and Wisdom of Herbert Keppler

For Pop Photo's special Burt Keppler click here

Quotes from Giants # 2

Ansel Adams

"""""

A photograph is usually looked at - seldom looked into.


There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer.


Dodging and burning are steps to take care of mistakes God made in establishing tonal relationships.

When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.

You don't take a photograph, you make it.

A great photograph is a full expression of what one feels about what is being photographed in the deepest sense, and is, thereby, a true expression of what one feels about life in its entirety.

The negative is the equivalent of the composer's score, and the print the performance.


"""""

Henri Cartier Bresson

The photograph itself doesn't interest me. I want only to capture a minute part of reality.

The creative act lasts but a brief moment, a lightning instant of give-and-take, just long enough for you to level the camera and to trap the fleeting prey in your little box.

Photographers deal in things which are continually vanishing and when they have vanished there is no contrivance on earth which can make them come back again.

"""""

Dorothea Lange

While there is perhaps a province in which the photograph can tell us nothing more than what we see with our own eyes, there is another in which it proves to us how little our eyes permit us to see.

"""""

Eudora Welty


A good snapshot stops a moment from running away.

"""""

Mary Ellen Mark

I just think it's important to be direct and honest with people about why you're photographing them and what you're doing. After all, you are taking some of their soul.

"""""

Pentax K10D

Last year, in a letter to the editor of Better Photography, among India's leading magazines devoted to matters photographic, I wrote as below. (BTW, I still subscribe to the views expressed here!)

=====

As a longstanding reader of your magazine, I was disappointed with this year's first head-to-head group test of the three consumer DSLRs from Canon, Nikon and Pentax, which is featured in your current issue.

Specifically, my grouse is the short shrift given to the Pentax K10D in the face-off with the Canon EOS 400D and the Nikon D80. As you no doubt realize, there are several ardent users of Pentax cameras in India, as well as an abundant supply of lenses and accessories that can be had for fairly reasonable prices in the secondhand market. Pentax is one of the few camera companies to have maintained backward compatibility with its lenses for its digital offerings, so much so
that you can still use -- with certain limitations -- the screw-mount lenses that date to the era of the Spotmatic. Thus, there is more than cursory interest in what Pentax has to offer in the digital era for Indian consumers.

In your group test, the only thing you found acceptable with the Pentax K10D was its handling and ergonomics. Contrast this with what the world's leading photography magazines and sites had to say:

"The features of the Pentax K10D are sure to amaze Pentax lovers, and the photo world in general...Pentax has seriously raised the bar with the K10D...Best for: Any kind of shooting, particularly in less-than-ideal environments and weather. And a real boon for Pentax owners longing for a higher-end DSLR...Bottom line: Pentax's reputation as the lightweight among DSLR makers is officially obliterated with this well-made, fine-performing, highly satisfying
camera." ---- Popular Photography

"The K10D offers several unique benefits the majors can't match including image stabilization with every lens, pro quality dust/weather/moisture seals, two RAW formats, and an automatic dust reduction/removal system - all at a very competitive price. Serious shooters may have a few issues (like Pentax's lack of long glass), but for many photographers - including those with a closet full of old FA, KA, or K-mount lenses, the K10D may be just the camera they've been
looking for.." ---- DigitalCameraReviews

"We were happy with the K10D's image quality. Our test images were consistently well exposed and had good color saturation...The K10D offers a lot of camera for under $1000.00 USD - with 10.2 megapixels of resolution, body-integral Shake Reduction (SR), automatic dust removal, a weather-proof body, 3fps continuous shooting performance, dual battery grip option and great image quality – it's an easy choice over the K100D for those seeking a more advanced dSLR camera system." --- Steve'sDigicams reviews

"The pictures are of a very high quality, thanks to the SAVOX VIII and the PRIME processor. The JPEGs from the camera could have been a little sharper and the white balance could react more accurately to certain light sources, but there is little reason to complain. Pentax did very well with noise." --- Let'sGoDigital

In contrast, your review says "the Pentax just did not reach the last mile." Your ratings for Value for Money and your conclusion that "it all boiled down to the money" are even more difficult to fathom since nowhere are prices (either MRP or street) mentioned. So how are readers expected to make an informed decision?

For a magazine that normally finds every camera to have some value and is invariably "recommended", your treatment of the Pentax K10D appears unfair and unjustified.

Film Cameras Officially Dead In Japan

According to a report in Wired magazine by Charlie Sorrel, So few film cameras were sold in Japan in the last two months that the trade body CIPA (Camera & Imaging Products Association) has stopped compiling sales figures. According to Amateur Photographer, only 529 35mm film cameras were made in Japan in February. We're not sure how that figure was reached, but if we compare it to CIPA's own figures, it looks like there really were only 529 actual cameras sold, an incredibly low number.

CIFA's figures are only compiled for member companies, and the last update for film was in January (subsequent reports list figures for lenses only). But here's how they break down for January. New digital still cameras sold: 5,417,563, up 128% from the previous year. New film cameras sold: 1580, a tiny 2.8% of those sold in January 2007.

So, in Japan at least, film is now a niche product. We still don't think it will die, though, anymore than CDs killed vinyl. Film will just be one more boutique process for the curious. We predict that there will be a resurgence in 2018, and all the cool kids will be carrying Instamatics, writes Sorrel.