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New ALPA products presented at the 2010 Photokina:

ALPA of Switzerland have presented a whole range of new products at Photokina 2010. Each item is completely integrated into the existing modular system and compatible with the first camera from 1998.

All new products will become available in Q4/2010 or Q1/2011 at the latest.

ALPA 12 STC

The new ALPA 12 STC (Stitching/Shift Travel Compact) is the youngest member of the ALPA 12 family. It will set the benchmark for compact technical cameras - especially in the class of truly hand holdable instruments. The ALPA 12 STC is of course prepared mainly for digital use. All shift movements are mounted on roller bearings.

The ALPA 12 STC allows the traveling photographer free hand operation as well as fast, convenient and reliable stitching and shifting (geared and free-wheeling) on tripod. As all other ALPA 12 models the STC is completely integrated in the modular and extensive ALPA 12 platform. All movements got realized with roller-bearings - not the cheapest but definitively the most precise, stable and long lasting way.

Details

* Size (body only): 134 mm (H) x 145 mm (W)
* Weight (excl. handgrip): 600 g
* Shift capacity: max. 36 mm (2 x 18 mm) horizontal OR vertical

ALPA Sync Release

All digital backs need a synchronization between the shutter and the back. In addition some Phase One and Hasselblad devices need a "wake-up" signal before the exposure. ALPA offers with the ALPA Sync Release a large and unique selection of synchronization solutions - for the first time really optimal for tripod and freehand use.

ALPA HPF High Precision Focusing Rings

Certain photographic applications need an extremely differentiated scale focusing - e.g. when using a laser distance meter. ALPA offers with the ALPA HPF rings a unique and retrofittable solution for these requirements which is - in contrast to other offerings - truly usable in freehand operation.

ALPA iPhone® holder

The new ALPA iPhone® holder allows the technophile photographers using their iPhone® 3/4 and iPod touch® (later also others) a secure and firm mounting of their device on top of an ALPA. It fits all ALPA 12 models. It can be used in several positions:

* horizontal, symmetric
* horizontal, minimum prallax
* vertical, minimum parallax

Possible applications:

* electronic viewfinder (ALPA recommends apps like "Viewefinde Pro" or "ProCamera")
* as GPS logger
* as control unit for electronical shutters and the like
* as digital notepad
* other apps are under development

ALPA Lens Corrector (reloaded)

ALPA will release new distortion correction profiles of over 90 third party lenses/focal lengths for the all free ALPA Lens Corrector. This Photoshop® plug-in allows the distortion correction at it's best including movements. Why for free? Just because we love what we are doing! With first priority there will be an update containing the new ALPA lenses from Rodenstock and Schneider-Kreuznach and the most common digital backs plus various lenses of 3rd party manufacturers for dSLRs and Micro 4/3 cameras.

New Lenses:
Rodenstock HR Digaron-W 4.0/32 mm
Focal length: 32 mm
Aperture: f 4.0
Shutter: Copal 0, others on request
Image circle: 90 mm
Distortion: < 2.6%, correction profile for ALPA Lens Corrector (free)
Filters: E86 mm
Weight: 990 g

Schneider Super-Digitar 5.6/28 mm XL
Focal length: 28 mm
Aperture: f 5.6
Shutter: Copal 0, others on request
Image circle: 90 mm
Distortion: < 0.5%, correction profile for ALPA Lens Corrector (free)
Filters: with adapter E95 mm or E112 mm
Weight: -

Posted by at 8:14 AM | Permalink

Sanctuary

September 23 - October 30, 2010

Gagosian Gallery
980 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10075
212.744.2313

From the Gagosian Gallery website:
Sanctuary, a group of forty-one black-and-white photographs, is the first that Crewdson has produced outside the United States. Digitally photographed and produced with minimal reworking, it is also his first black and white series since Hover (1996-1997). Shot on location at the legendary Cinecittà studios in Rome, he has moved beyond the construction of the surreal human drama that drove previous series.

Sanctuary is virtually devoid of human presence. Instead, Crewdson has made the abandoned outdoor film sets the subject of, rather than the mere setting for, his pictures. Moving through the empty streets of "Ancient Rome" at the beginning and end of the day, he has captured the palpable atmospheres of melancholy lurking at every twist and turn, cloaked in shadow or suddenly illuminated by a shaft of daylight. Although the links to the great chroniclers of urban environments such as Eugene Atget and William Eggleston are evident, Crewdson has added a new layer to the genre by searching for his particular form of verité within the artificial leftovers of cinematic reality.

Crewdson's imaginary stems from the impulses that have shaped the surreal visions of American artists from Albert Bierstadt to Stephen Spielberg. In the past he sought particular locations where he could create psychologically charged tableaux vivants that conflated empirical observation with artifice, like film stills from films that never existed. These photographs were often the result of weeks of preparation, a method with parallels in film production. In previous series including Twilight (1998-2002) and Beneath the Roses (2003-2007), feelings of alienation and anxiety, and oddness pervade meticulously staged scenes, exposing the hidden dramas embedded in normative suburban existence.

In Sanctuary, Crewdson's focus on scenographic architecture as the principal subject underscores the illusory techniques that he has previously used to construct his scenes and actions. The series contains certain characteristics of a documentary film by which is exposed the hidden life of movies and their artifacts that remain once production has ceased. In several images the underlying structure of the façades and scaffolding of decaying sets is exposed; in others, period buildings are framed by cobbled streets and open ground now overtaken by grasses and weeds; ruined statues, the odd graffiti on a wall, puddles of rain water, and other detritus further emphasize the eerie absence of life that these images convey, heightened by the ambient light of dawn and dusk. The intimate scale of the black-and-white photographs serves to further intensify the poignancy of each deserted scene.

Posted by at 8:00 AM | Permalink