New print film at Photokina 98

Had a sort of mini-demo with the Reps from Leica, Kodak Pro, Fuji and contax .today. Got to sort of look over the shoulder at a confidential memo (he was aware of it-just not officially). The TTL M6 Hm is $2295. They are not continuing the Non TTL cameras. The 90 M is Apo and Asph.

I whined to the Kodak rep about the loss of Ektar 25 and sapping the contrast out of the new PRN. He said not to complain until after Photokina(wink, wink).

I have been looking for a color print in 120 size and w/ the loss of reala and RG25, a hole developed for a fine grained saturated c-41 product available in 35 and 120 (sort of like to get one film and stick to it) Fuji Rep gave me a Superia 100 in 120 size supposedly a new formulation and told me to watch for NPC soon.

Contax sort of confirmed the 2 1/4 story.

.

Roy - I am confused by the postings that talk about Reala in 120 no longer being available. I bought a brick of it from my local dealer last week. Are they simply going through existing stock, or is the information unfounded? Regards,Bob

???

<p>

>The TTL M6 Hm is $2295.

Does Hm mean "high magnification"? This camera has been on the market for some time.

<p>

>They are not continuing the Non TTL cameras.

What non TTL cameras??

That film thing is a little spooky. RG25 and Reala are to entirely different animals, so I wonder what Kodak is up to. Probably getting rid of some old VR-100 film they found in a warehouse but giving it a different name. Superia in 120, hmmmm, have to try that.

 

<p>

 

NPC sounds interesting also - thanks for the tips!

 

<p>

 

//scott

The current Leica M6 and M6hm are both non- TTL as of next week all Leica M's will be TTL. Since the HM was just introduced 6 months ago it should be a rarity. Reala 120 is not sold in the US if you are buying some it is either old or gray.

Roy, you are misinformed about Reala 120. I bought 15 rolls from B&H several weeks ago, which had an expiration date sometime in 2000. I just ordered 10 more rolls yesterday. It is readily available from other dealers as well. What is not any longer available, I'm sorry to say, is 220 and sheet film.

Here's the result of some earlier research on this subject from a few months ago. I think this information is somewhere else on this site, but here goes again.

 

<p>

 

While Reala is still readily available today in 120 in the USA, it may not be readily available everywhere for long. It's off the list of films at the Fujifilm USA web site (35mm is the only size specified in the US market), and the color film review in the July/August issue of Photo Techniques magazine says that Fuji has pulled 120 and 220 Reala from the US (replaced by NPS 160, which now incorporates Reala's four-layer technology). Reala is still marketed in 120 and 220 overseas, which means that the mail order houses probably will still be able to get gray market Reala for you, but your local camera store may not. Of course, your local store may be able to get remaining US stocks for a while (my local store expected to be able to continue to get it for a little while). I hope that helps clear up the seeming contradictory information, and I hope that Fuji changes its mind.

The comments about Leicas are nonsense, which makes the rest of the data here quite suspect. The M6 and M6HM meter TTL, as have all Leica rangefinder cameras that have included meters in the body. If Roy Feldman wants to continue to insist that Leicas do not meter TTL, check this page for the facts: http://www.leica-camera.com/m_system/mcam_e.htm.

TTL Flash metering-Jeff

Thanks Jeff. I though I was losing my f%*@ing mind! Maybe these guys mean TTL flash? I doubt it.

Thanks Roy.

To try to clear up the conclusion, the current Leica rangefinders use TTL meters for ambient light measurement. There are two cameras available; the M6 and the M6 0.85 (commonly known as the HM for High Magnification). Both these cameras have now stopped production, and will be replaced at Photokina with new versions incorporating TTL flash metering, plus a few other minor changes. The TTL flash metering is lifted from the Leica R8 (SLR) apparently.

 

<p>

 

Simon.