One Roo More Or Less

Our Australian readers will groan at that pun, but at least they will be rewarded when they come to the end of this blog post...they will get to turn off the computer and go and get some work done. The North American and European readers may puzzle at the image and the title.

Well, the farm cart that you see is a traditional one that was used in Australia since before the turn of the last century. It was also adopted for use in wartime for water supply to Australian troops. As they gathered around it to draw water for their sections, they would pass the latest gossip...or rumour...amongst each other. Thus any unconfirmed bit of  news or plan - that might very well prove to be false - was termed a furphy.

We have them here in the photographic trade as well. Of course a lot of them can be rejected out of hand as nonsense...the planned introduction of the atomic powered helicopter bubble car camera that made full chicken dinners out of a little green pill has long been exploded. Apparently that was disinformation put out by the LOMO company when it was still run by the Soviets to prevent sales of the similar product by the Flapoflex company in America. The American one did sell in small numbers in Florida and Minnesota but was never a commercial success. The organic fur-covered slime monster camera took all the sales...

And that is how it still works, but this time the manufacturers merely have to prod the enthusiasts who write for the internet and let them do the speculation and/or lying to each other. There are enough people in the " don't-know " to make it work. The people in the companies that really ARE going to introduce a new product - or delete an old one - are probably bemused by what the enthusiasts say to each other. Possibly they make notes on it and steer the R&D department into new fields.

Whatever, we can definitely say that rumours always prove to be either right or wrong or none of the above. If we predicate our purchases upon the forum wrangling we might miss out on opportunities to get real equipment right now and then to go out and use it to make images that can never be repeated.

Think about the chap who went out to Lakehurst, New Jersey one evening to take a picture of the German zeppelin HINDENBURG  as it came in to land. He probably had an old Speed Graphic and a couple of plate holders that his editor had given him. Now, he could have been at home reading the trade press predicting the next fast lens and how much better it was going to be to take pictures of airships and he might have waited...

Oh...

Just Announced - Flapoflex Rangefinder Range Increased

Just in via the Flapoflex Rumours website:

Flapoflex Corporation, makers of the famous Flapoflex D, are set to announce a distinctive range of retro-boutique cameras that take the discerning purchaser back a century. These are fully functional digital cameras using the latest pixels but they have been configured to yield results that make you turn the page.

To see more, we hasten to add. Drawing upon the sort of image quality that made Fox-Talbot famous and Nadar drink heavily, the new Flapoflex Retro Rangefinder cameras feature sensors that disregard most of the optical information and concentrate on the nostalgic emotions of the photographer's great granny.

The Flapoflex Retro S only produces sepia-toned images. The on-board noise generator  and the patented Vignett-O-Matic assure an image that never gives too much away. You can hide an entire chorus line of Tilley Girls in the bokeh. It has been described as round and brown.

But it doesn't stop there. It never does. Internet rumour mills are like that. You will also be able to purchase the Flapoflex Retro C and the Retro F for blue or green-tinted images. Apparently the files are all recorded with roughly brushed edges and peeling emulsion.

You may want to look at a tripod with these new cameras as the shutters are limited to B and 1/4 of a second. Don't be too worried about the sunshine as the ISO is .06 and the maximum aperture is f:22. You may want to avoid using the cameras at basketball games.

Best news of all is the price of the new Retro range: 150 Guineas in the US, 700 Reichsmarks in the UK, and 25 US Golden Eagles in Europe. No sense having a retro camera that you have to buy with modern money.