Maryland-based OmegaBrandess has a heritage that stretches back over eight decades. The company, which came into being in 1990, has evolved through a series of successful acquisitions and is now run by its current president, Cindy Wesolowski.
While the original Omega drew its name from photography enlargers of pre-WWII, today’s company is one of the largest U.S. wholesale distributors in the retail photo channel. With dozens of vendors and thousands of SKUs, OmegaBrandess offers everything from lens caps to a $6,000 high-end video rig. They are the exclusive representatives to the photo channel for well-known vendors such as Gary Fong, Pelican Cases, Cokin, Kodak and Zacuto, to name a few.
“As a wholesale distributor, we are committed to giving dealers of every size access to product lines from a wide variety of vendors, in one place, with no minimum purchase requirements,” says Jeffrey Seidel, director of Sales and Service. “We do the heavy lifting with the vendors and manufacturers, passing the savings on to our dealers through free freight programs and discounted pricing. We are one of the few remaining distributors with a large sales team in the field, physically calling on dealers.”
Focused on meeting the needs of their dealers’ customers, OmegaBrandess offers a growing selection of products that tie into the mobile lifestyle—particularly Apple iPod- and iPad-compatible products—because of their popularity among professional photographers.
One such innovative mobile lifestyle product is the ioShutter, an easy-to-use product from Enlight Photo, a New Zealand-based manufacturer best known for its popular Orbis ring flash. Introduced at PhotoPlus in October 2011, the ioShutter is the first product on the market that enables photographers to use remote triggering with an Apple iPhone or iPad—without a computer. A cable connects the phone or tablet to the camera and uses the free download app, which requires no technical expertise, to activate features such as time lapse, timer, bulb, ClapToSnap (clap your hands, trigger the camera) and ShakeToTake (shaking the camera triggers the shutter).
“Photographers have the option to choose the free downloadable application or upgrade to professional software, which allows customization of all those functions,” says Seidel. “As long as you have your iPhone with you, you’ll always have a remote control for your camera.”
ioShutter is being featured at PMA@CES, with preorders being taken for models compatible with Canon, Pentax, Hasselblad, Panasonic and other brands. The ioShutter for Nikon and other brands are coming in Q2 2012.
The brand-new Pelican HardBack cases are the only fully enclosed cases designed specifically for tablets and laptops. Of the five cases the distributor highlights, the one most likely to generate buzz is the i1075, a hard carrying case which, when opened, can mount an Apple iPad vertically and hold a standard Apple keyboard, charger cables and headphones. The i1075 can act as a stand for the iPad for easy viewing and typing, without removing the tablet from the case.
Adds Seidel, “The customized iPad interior is formfitting and offers protection unlike soft and other heavy hard cases now on the market. If the fully enclosed case falls into the water, it floats.”
OmegaBrandess is also focusing on its newest manufacturer, DeluxGear, spotlighting a series of products that includes the Lens Guard, a rubberized protective cap that covers the lens, similar to a bumper. As shown in a demonstration video, when a Lens Guard is tossed down a trade show aisle, it absorbs the impact and protects the lens and glass from any damage.
“With protective caps on the front and back of the lens, the whole thing is encased in a rubberized package. Unlike keeping a lens in a separate case, with the Lens Guard it’s ready and available for use,” says Seidel.
For more information, contact Jeffrey Seidel at jseidel@omegabrandess.com.