The Swedish Fortress Stands Secure - HB Defend Their Honour

Looks like the internet has struck again.

Inaccurately, of course, and anonymously, and with the worst possible motives*. But the victim has fought back.

Someone somewhere posted rumours that the finances of Hasselblad were in trouble.

Hasselblad themselves - with the authority of Ian Rawcliffe, the CEO of the company - have instantly quashed this. They are in damn good shape, they have an excellent product in their new medium-format camera, and they have new products coming in the pipeline.

Visitors to their stand at the forthcoming Photokina will be rewarded with glorious images and glorious devices to play with. Professional users of this brand will always be rewarded with the best working system there is.

Note: The Backstabbers Guild Of Australia never indulges in rumours about cameras. We recognise that the internet market is saturated with this form of nonsensical speculation already and we prefer to confine ourselves to more exclusive treachery.

* Commercial advantage. Rivalry. Moolah.

The Cold War Heats Up - With Kodak

Relax - no need to go into the fallout shelter just yet. The Russians are only annexing their neighbours and we don't live that near them. Just don't go investing your superannuation in Lomo camera shares....

Actually, I am not sure if it is the increase in international tensions or just a clever ploy by Rochester to get money from the government, but I note hat there is a new aerial film format being introduced later this month. Apparently digital imaging from near-space just does not have the resolution that film can provide, so they are going back to flying over  potential targets and photographing them with regular cameras. The RB36 has been mooted as the best platform.

Of course these are not just "regular" cameras - they need to have a big format to pack all the information in. Thus the new film format. Rumour has it they use colour negative film, but I don't know what emulsion.

I've asked a friend who works at Corrigan AFB if he can get me a roll of it to test out. I am not quite sure if my Linhof monorail camera will take it, but this sort of opportunity is too good to miss. I'll report whatever success when the film arrives.

Uncle Dick

Tomorrow Is The Big Day

If you have been following the saga of the new Nikon camera that is due to be announced, remember that they promised to tell us the entire story on November 5th. So far we know no more than you do, being restricted to Nikon Rumours and whoever has been flying kites on the internet. Rest assured as soon as we know we'll tell.

Try to get some rest until tomorrow.

Smoking Hot Fresh From The Rumour Mill

Never mind the Canon rumours. Never mind the Nikon rumours. Never mind the Fuji, or Olympus, or anyone else's rumours. They are nothing, now that the Flapoflex Rumour mill is up and running.

Flapoflex goes far beyond speculation about a retro-styled camera - Flapoflex cameras are retro all the way through, from the glass-like substance used for the lens to the sensor overlain on genuine mahogany, harvested while the Philippines were still Spanish. Style that ravished them in the Gay Nineties can still set hearts aflame. Flapoflex remembers the look! Flapoflex remembers the feel! Flapoflex remembers the MAINE!

There is no portion of the rumour market that Flapoflex does not serve, from the persons who want more supposed bokeh than their brother-in-law to the tourist who may or may not be going to Asia, Africa, and Alaska in two days time. If you want the latest fantasy, before anyone else gets it, un-touched by human hands, at a price that is less than the internet, look to Flapoflex. At Flapoflex we invent the future...we just never bother to file the patent application.

Now a lot of kill-joys point out on the other rumour sites that their respective companies experience delays and setbacks in camera production. Tidal waves, Allied bombing, roach infestations...these have all been cited as reasons why people cannot have what they want when they want it. Sometimes we suspect that these epidemics and devastations are nothing but a made-up excuse for lack of management expertise. I mean, how hard is it to organise a new camera in a cloud of radioactive dust? I mean, really...

Flapoflex adopt a different attitude. We refuse to supply what you want but we do not hide behind the weather or the economic situation. You don't get what you want because WE SAY SO. It is good for your character. And it is good for us, too. If we keep you continuously dangling on the line with hints and mock-ups and mysterious advertisements, you will be far more receptive to the next model of the Flapoflex that we bring out with the LCD screen that is 0.2 mm larger on the diagonal and hinged to the right to catch you in the eye. 

Hey. That's a rumour. Are ya hungry, boy? Are ya? Sit up and beg...