Panorama Plays Well in Steel City

Panorama Plays Well in Steel City

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Surrounded by a sea of black and gold—and with a cloud-dotted pale-blue sky above—photographer Nathan Haler opened his panoramic lens and absorbed for eternity a moment in Steelers history.

Got it.

Blakeway Worldwide Panoramas ascended to the upper deck on that glorious Sunday afternoon and embraced in one iconic photograph everything that makes Pittsburgh fans come back week after week to cheer on their beloved Steelers.

Now the Steelers are offering for sale this breath-taking view of their home: a panoramic masterpiece capturing the long-anticipated return of Ben Roethlisberger to the lineup. Big Ben and the Steelers didn't disappoint, manhandling the Cleveland Browns on Oct. 17 before a packed house.

“Everything came together perfectly—for us and the team,” said Jim Blakeway, whose Minneapolis-based company has been using its sole marketing rights to photograph Heinz Field and 30 other National Football League stadiums. “Ben's triumphant return at quarterback against a longtime Steelers' rival, combined with great weather and photo conditions made for a fabulous artistic and athletic result.”

These images of Heinz Field and other league venues “are getting rave reviews from fans,” said Chris Schlemmer, head of retail online sales for several NFL teams. “Our customers love it because the photo is an extension of a fan's game-day experience. They've been able to capture a memory that can last a lifetime.”

Along with their remarkable views, these NFL panoramic photos are attracting sales by the thousands thanks to incredibly affordable pricing. Spanning more than 3 feet in width and more than a foot in depth on high-quality, acid-neutral paper, these wall-dominating images are priced as low as $30 (plus tax and shipping). Standard and deluxe framing are also available for ordering. www.panoramas.com

HP Designjets Across the Pond

Ensuring long-term survivability and profitability in today's imaging industry requires a blend of attributes that embrace solid business acumen, an ability to fulfill customer needs and continued investment in the latest digital printing technology.

One company that can genuinely lay claim to having successfully harnessed all three is Nottingham (UK)-based exhibition and display graphics company, John E Wright & Co. Ltd.

From modest beginnings dating back to 1900, the fourth-generation company is now a flourishing enterprise with a $9 million annual turnover. Today, it is the leading supplier of services and supplies to the CAD and graphic design communities throughout the Midlands region.

According to John E Wright's managing director, Tony Barnett, its arsenal of HP large-format printers is instrumental to the company's success, securing repeat business and winning new customers. The most recent acquisition is the HP Designjet Z6200 Photo Printer, which features aqueous-based HP Vivid Photo Inks, delivering high-quality output and the highest speeds of large-format printers in its price class.

Condé Offering Unisub Panoramic Panels

Condé Systems, Inc. has added Unisub's Panoramic/Storyboard Photo Panel to its DyeTransË™ family of sublimatable products. The company explains that the 9″x18″ ChromaLuxeË™ Photo Panel is just the right shape for a favorite panoramic photo, uniquely cropped image, or grouping of photos that don't fit the aspect ratio of standard-sized photo panels. The 5/8″ MDF panels feature black Chamfer edging, black backing, and pre-drilled key holes for hanging either horizontally or vertically. Visit www.conde.com for additional information.

With an emphasis on dye sublimation technology and the sublimation transfer process, Condé Systems claims they have now become “one of the recognized leader in the personalized products market by offering everything needed to get into the photo gift business, including transfer systems, production software, blank imprintables, transfer paper and supplies, and instructional videos.”

The company adds that during all stages of product selection, sales and post sales, Condé offers expert knowledge and superior customer support.

Memjet Arrives on the Inkjet Scene

You've certainly heard of inkjet and laser when it comes to printing technology, but we bet you haven't heard much about Memjet (www.memjet.com)…until now.

The San Diego company of the same name has spent the last few years perfecting their new printing technology and their hook is simple—printers that are blazing fast as well as economical.

The company tells us that their Memjet-powered printers can spit out high-resolution (1600×800 dpi) color prints at 60 pages per minute, compared to rival office laser printers that can do 60 pages per minute but not in color and inkjet office printers that can do color but at around half those speeds.

The company plans to sell printers through other brand name manufacturers—a la the “Intel Inside” model. At the big Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, computer manufacturer Lenovo announced their plans to hop on board with printer products planned for later this year in China. Memjet claims they have several other announcements planned in the coming months involving U.S. plans for product launches.

The key to the technology is a page wide print head with more than 70,000 ink nozzles, 17 times traditional print heads. The Memjet printers can deliver more than 700 million drops of ink per second on a page. They proudly claim more than 3000 global patents.

At CES, Memjet showcased its technology across several different kinds of printers, including photo retail set up as well as printers for professional packaged labels, and an interesting large-format configuration. Both the speeds and quality of each were dazzling. In addition to faster speeds, Memjet told us its inks are more affordable, about a nickel per page, versus 12 to 25 cents for laser toner by comparison.

Canon Launches New LF Category

Canon recently announced the addition of five new large-format imaging solutions to its imagePROGRAF lineup with the new imagePROGRAF (iPF) MFP imaging systems. Aimed at the technical document market, these new models offer users an affordable solution, providing fast and effective large-format image capture-to-output. The new multifunction systems will add a new class to Canon's current three lines of large-format printers.

The new Canon iPF MFP imaging systems provide a new type of large-format color system with a wide range of features and workflow solutions making for an extraordinary value to many different types of printing environments. The technical documents user, such as architects, engineers and sub-contractors, can take advantage of the many technological advancements incorporated into these low-cost systems. The Canon iPF MFP imaging systems include a Ci C40 color scanner with a 40-inch scan width for A0, D and architectural E-size scans, true 600dpi optical resolution, scan speeds up to 10 inches per second in monochrome, instant productivity from power on with no warm-up time, front document exit for easy retrieval and face-up paper feed with automatic size detection.

“Canon is excited to offer this new category of large-format solutions with multifunction capabilities that help meet the needs of technical document users,” said Jim Rosetta, Vice President and General Manager, Large Format Product Division, Imaging Systems Group, Canon U.S.A. “Now, the technical document market has the versatility of having color MFP solutions under $10,000 with color input as well as output.”

GigaPan for Panoramic Capture

An interesting new imaging accessory product that is all about large-format output was recently introduced by a company called GigaPan (www.gigapansystems.com) that aids greatly in the capture of large panorama images.

The GigaPan Epic Pro is a compact robot that automatically pivots and triggers an attached camera to capture hundreds of images, which combine into an extremely detailed panorama.

While this is an enthusiast endeavor, the original $349 model last year did not support enthusiast SLR cameras, but only pocket cameras. The follow-up $449 Epic 100 accommodated larger compact cameras, but only those up to three pounds.

Now comes the Epic Pro robotic camera mount, designed specifically for DSLRs. Available in April, the $895 “professional grade device” is strong enough to hold a camera and lens combination up to 10 pounds, the company says, with a magnesium chassis and aluminum arm. The robot itself weighs less than eight pounds with its battery pack.

The mounts have a 360-degree panoramic range of motion, camera tilt, elevation settings and an illuminated display for shooting night-time panoramas.

The included GigaPan Stitcher software combines the shots into high-resolution panoramas comprised of billions of pixels.

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