Hello

I've just received an email from someone at Museum Folkwang in Essen, Germany, asking for a high res copy of a photo of mine (taken some 30 years ago on a Pentax MX!)

To quote:

"The Museum folkwang in Essen/Germany needs a photograph of the Manchester Central when it was abandoned like the photographs you took in 1981.

link

We need a high resolution copy with 300 dpi on 20 x 30 cm.
Could you provide us with a digital file? How much would it cost for using it in the exhibition?"

I've come across this freelance fees guide which covers possible fees for publication. But that refers to books and publications, but this sounds a different sort of proposition, from what would appear to be a serious museum. Anyone had any experience of this sort of request? They obviously expect to pay me, and even though the photo was taken 30 years ago, it would be nice to have my train fare to Manchester that day paid for (!). Or it could pay towards the K7 I've just forked out for. Then again, I don't want to ask too much, if it means I get nothing.

Any advice would be appreciated!

Thank you.

As a moneyless student, I started off with a Practika MTL3, because at least it meant that I could borrow lenses off my father who had a SP500. So it was natural that when I wanted to graduate to a "proper" camera, it would be Pentax - and seeing no point in getting anything automatic, it had to be an MX. Needless to say it lasted years - I've still got it, 20+ years later. And as they say, the rest is history. When I needed an extra body, I went for a P30. I eventually wanted a bit more sophistication in metering, and was given a MZ-5N for my 40th. And in turning to digital at the end of last year, it was a DS.

So why have I stuck with Pentax? - an obvious reason is that I have built up a collection of lenses - mostly Pentax, but a couple of Tamrons (old style 90mm macro and 500 mirror) for which I have Pentax adaptors. But that's not the complete answer.

Another possible reason is that I am very conservative - I tend to stick with a brand I trust rather than trying out anything new for the sake of it. This may explain why I stuck with Kodachrome 64 for slide film when everyone else seemed to move to Fuji, why I get most of my clothes from M&S, etc, etc. (It may also explain why I have stayed in the same job for 25 years (I thoroughly enjoy it too,and it pays me well, both of which help!). But that too is a bit of a cop out.

So guess the ultimate reason is that, above all, like many people on this forum, I've enjoyed using Pentax - they've been reliable, comfortable to use, and always produced good results. Why change?

Ian

I note that this month's BBC Wildlife Magazine has a full back cover advert for the K100D - about as prominent as you can get (put the magazine down face downwards, and you see it), in what I guess is in the UK at least the highest profile magazine for a key sector of the DSLR market - i.e. natural history enthusiasts. Certainly C****n and N***n see this as prime territory (the same edition has a preview of some of the "Wildlife Photographer of the Year" competition entries, most of which were taken with cameras from those two manufacturers, and none from Pentax).

The heading is "Take it steady!" - and of course, antishake will be very relevant in the amateur natural history photography market, where users will often have long lenses or want high depth of field, but may prefer not to use a tripod.

One such advert won't be enough, but if this is the start of a concerted marketing effort, appropriately focused (pun not intended), it can only be good news for the brand.

Ian

I saw this book on Amazon when I bought my DS just before Christmas (not that I was allowed to touch the camera until Christmas itself ....), and thought it would be useful as I ventured into digital for the first time after years of film SLRs (Pentax of course!). I can't remember when it said it was due to be published, but it was a few months off. But when I checked again a few months later, the date had been put back to October 2006. And JointComms' response from the publisher suggests that it has now been put back even further. Indeed l can't see it on Amazon UK at all now (I don't know what that means for your pre-order, John!)

Perhaps the problem is that Pentax is so busy producing new models that the book's author can't keep up with them!

Meanwhile, a combination of the manual (which I was actually quite impressed by), and more importantly simply trying things out (isn't digital great for that, v film!) means that I don't see a need to buy it even if it was ever published!

Ian