Roger W. Hicks & Frances E. Schultz

In our recent photokina reports (January, 2011, issue) we covered products and trends at the show. Here’s a brief follow-up on some film and paper processing items and information on friends old and new, present and gone.

In our photokina reports we mentioned Kodak’s new film, of course, and Harman’s Direct Positive paper, and...

Let’s be honest. One thing no one would have expected at photokina was a unique new black-and-white silver halide process. But that’s what we got. Well, not exactly brand new. It’s a revival of a technology that hasn’t been seen in decades, quite possibly not in the lifetime of many of our readers: direct reversal paper.

One of the great things about photokina is that you find a lot of “straws in the wind”: not necessarily major introductions from major manufacturers, but intriguing indicators of which way the wind is blowing.

Countless things appear at photokina that are not cameras, lenses, tripods, bags, materials, or lighting and studio. It’s part of the magic of the place. Calling this category “accessories” won’t do, because for most of us, “accessories” consist mostly of small things in blister packs: cable releases, lens caps, that sort of thing. At photokina, it can...