R
racgordon
Guest
Clearing out some old stuff, I came across a bunch of 8x10s I made in the late 80s when I worked in the Photo Retail trade. It reminded me clearly exactly why I left that particular career.
We had a customer who wanted a comparison set of shots done on a Contax RTSII wish Zeiss T* Glass and a Nikon F3 with specific Nikon Lenses.
My records show Zeiss 25/2.8, 35/2, 50/1.4, 85/1.4, 180/2.8 and Nikon 24/2 35/2 50/1.4 85/1.4 and 180/2.8 ED-IF (All AIS).
I did the B&W shots on Ilford PAN F processed in ID-11 and then made the 8x10 on Ilforbrome (I remember it being the last time I used a non RC Paper).
I also shot a roll of Kodachrome 25 and then sent these out and had Cibachromes made of them.
It was an insane job because there were about 100 8x10s of each lens (Edge, Center, Full Frame, wide open, one stop down, two stops, four stops).
I don't recall how much it cost the customer but the color lab work cost quite a few thousand and I remember thinking that even I could do better Cibachromes than the lab who did it.
What was interesting ( I felt ) that for all the big talk of various vendors and photographers I could not SEE a definitively better lens optic for optic.
I managed to (sneak) some Leica glass into the tests, and there I did see some difference wide open on about two lenses, mostly with better contrast. I also took a selection of second tier Nikon lenses (or rather older cheaper designs) and even then I can see (and my notes tell me, that the only real discernible difference was their wide open performance at the edge (and some minor barrel distortion issues with the 24/3.5).
Anyhow this project took about two weeks and the customer was quite happy to pay a huge amount of money. He explained to me that he was a plastic surgeon and time was money (never forgot that one).
Anyway he took away all the 8x10s and my notes, gave me a $100 buck tip and said he would consider what he would buy.
My boss who was the definition of an assh**e kept complaining that he had not bought anything, and we had had to use all this expensive new equipment. Even when I showed him that he had made money on the deal.
Since I thought the guy was nuts and having me on when he asked me how much it would cost to find out the best camera system to buy I calculated a price that covered all the photo processing costs plus 20%. Then figured out it would take me 30 hours in time - and I was close - took what I was paid per hour and multiplied by three, and as a final kicker added 66% of the selling price of the equipment - this was the normal way of figuring out what to pay for mint equipment in a store in NY at the time. I remember quoting the guy this ridiculous figure, somewhere near $10,000, and he pulled out an AMEX. I remember having to persuade my manager to let me do this and showing him the figures (and knowing he liked me, coz I could answer those tricky questions that some customers had, about things like depth of field) he told me he would get me the the equipment as long as I would ask my girlfriend if I could use her darkroom for the Black and Whites). When I twigged that this way he had figured that there was a lot of extra money to be made that I had missed so I got my girlfriend a new Rodenstock enlarging lens as part of the deal). He argued with me a long time about that afterwards because I had only met my girlfriend by selling her a Leica lens in the store.
Anyway we did not see the Surgeon for a month, and my boss (the SOB who owned the company) would complain every week when I got paid how much money he had "lost" forgetting the thousands he actually made.
Now this was just before Canon introduced the EOS system, and about four weeks later in comes the customer with an EOS brochure. After passing the time of day and generally setting the world to rights, I made the offhand comment about more testing?
He said not he had not really had enough time to do justice to the pictures and analysis and then gave me am order for two EOS-620s and one of every lens canon first introduced and four flashes. For the next year or so every time Canon introduced a new L lens he would be in with his AMEX. The ting I found amazing is he insisted on paying MSRP (unheard of in New York) as he explained some complex issue with how his accountant wanted to depreciate it (I never had the guts to ask him what a 300/2.8L had to do with plastic surgery).
Anyway, after giving me this huge order (it was a lot of stuff and it was all at MSRP) he gave me his AMEX to pay for it all.
I mentioned that some of what he wanted would not be available yet, and he just said to messenger it over to his office when it did, and charge a messenger fee to his Amex when we did this... (Just getting this one past my manager was fun)
I thing we were well into five figures here. I thought nothing more of it, he was a nice guy and a pleasure to deal with, and I went back to selling Minolta Maxxum's and Nikon F3s (not forgetting all those filters).
At the end of the week I was told to go see the boss and got a 15minute pasting on how no good and totally useless I was. Not only had I lost him all that money on all that fancy equipment (which I sold in the ensuing six weeks as demonstrator equipment at almost regular price meaning that the good Dr has already paid him 2/3 of its selling price). Well he then harangued me on why I took an AMEX on a huge order (AMex used to charge about 1.5% more as a processing fee). I think I lost it then and started screaming back at him and sprawling on his wall with a magic marker the actual figures calculating how much money I had made the SOB.
After five minutes I stopped and realized what I had done but I was so A N G R Y at the abuse for making this SOB money (I was young, foolish, and just like photography....... SO glaring at me he said I suppose you want me to say thank you, I glared back and said NO I just want a ***** raise.
Silence........ Nobody swore at this guy or usually argued back at him....
He picked up the phone hit an extension and said "how much is ***** making........, OK well give him 25% more, but only after you have deducted $500 for redecorating". I smiled and said thank you.........
As ever a postscript....
My girl friend at the time was doing photography at FIT and was doing a project taking pictures of people in Big Warehouse Stores, trying to capture the loneliness of modern retail or some such..... A few days later she came back from college and gave me a beautiful 4x5 B&W which she had shot with Her Leica M4-P and 90/1.4 Summilux on pushed Tri-X. What can I say, she had a rich Grandmother! Anyway it showed my boss buying a Gallon of cheap pain on sale at $3 at a Pergament (that will date me). I should have married her for that picture alone, because I slipped it into and envelope with a Note....... I think this picture is worth $497).
I never had that $500 deducted.
Oh to be young and look innocent!
We had a customer who wanted a comparison set of shots done on a Contax RTSII wish Zeiss T* Glass and a Nikon F3 with specific Nikon Lenses.
My records show Zeiss 25/2.8, 35/2, 50/1.4, 85/1.4, 180/2.8 and Nikon 24/2 35/2 50/1.4 85/1.4 and 180/2.8 ED-IF (All AIS).
I did the B&W shots on Ilford PAN F processed in ID-11 and then made the 8x10 on Ilforbrome (I remember it being the last time I used a non RC Paper).
I also shot a roll of Kodachrome 25 and then sent these out and had Cibachromes made of them.
It was an insane job because there were about 100 8x10s of each lens (Edge, Center, Full Frame, wide open, one stop down, two stops, four stops).
I don't recall how much it cost the customer but the color lab work cost quite a few thousand and I remember thinking that even I could do better Cibachromes than the lab who did it.
What was interesting ( I felt ) that for all the big talk of various vendors and photographers I could not SEE a definitively better lens optic for optic.
I managed to (sneak) some Leica glass into the tests, and there I did see some difference wide open on about two lenses, mostly with better contrast. I also took a selection of second tier Nikon lenses (or rather older cheaper designs) and even then I can see (and my notes tell me, that the only real discernible difference was their wide open performance at the edge (and some minor barrel distortion issues with the 24/3.5).
Anyhow this project took about two weeks and the customer was quite happy to pay a huge amount of money. He explained to me that he was a plastic surgeon and time was money (never forgot that one).
Anyway he took away all the 8x10s and my notes, gave me a $100 buck tip and said he would consider what he would buy.
My boss who was the definition of an assh**e kept complaining that he had not bought anything, and we had had to use all this expensive new equipment. Even when I showed him that he had made money on the deal.
Since I thought the guy was nuts and having me on when he asked me how much it would cost to find out the best camera system to buy I calculated a price that covered all the photo processing costs plus 20%. Then figured out it would take me 30 hours in time - and I was close - took what I was paid per hour and multiplied by three, and as a final kicker added 66% of the selling price of the equipment - this was the normal way of figuring out what to pay for mint equipment in a store in NY at the time. I remember quoting the guy this ridiculous figure, somewhere near $10,000, and he pulled out an AMEX. I remember having to persuade my manager to let me do this and showing him the figures (and knowing he liked me, coz I could answer those tricky questions that some customers had, about things like depth of field) he told me he would get me the the equipment as long as I would ask my girlfriend if I could use her darkroom for the Black and Whites). When I twigged that this way he had figured that there was a lot of extra money to be made that I had missed so I got my girlfriend a new Rodenstock enlarging lens as part of the deal). He argued with me a long time about that afterwards because I had only met my girlfriend by selling her a Leica lens in the store.
Anyway we did not see the Surgeon for a month, and my boss (the SOB who owned the company) would complain every week when I got paid how much money he had "lost" forgetting the thousands he actually made.
Now this was just before Canon introduced the EOS system, and about four weeks later in comes the customer with an EOS brochure. After passing the time of day and generally setting the world to rights, I made the offhand comment about more testing?
He said not he had not really had enough time to do justice to the pictures and analysis and then gave me am order for two EOS-620s and one of every lens canon first introduced and four flashes. For the next year or so every time Canon introduced a new L lens he would be in with his AMEX. The ting I found amazing is he insisted on paying MSRP (unheard of in New York) as he explained some complex issue with how his accountant wanted to depreciate it (I never had the guts to ask him what a 300/2.8L had to do with plastic surgery).
Anyway, after giving me this huge order (it was a lot of stuff and it was all at MSRP) he gave me his AMEX to pay for it all.
I mentioned that some of what he wanted would not be available yet, and he just said to messenger it over to his office when it did, and charge a messenger fee to his Amex when we did this... (Just getting this one past my manager was fun)
I thing we were well into five figures here. I thought nothing more of it, he was a nice guy and a pleasure to deal with, and I went back to selling Minolta Maxxum's and Nikon F3s (not forgetting all those filters).
At the end of the week I was told to go see the boss and got a 15minute pasting on how no good and totally useless I was. Not only had I lost him all that money on all that fancy equipment (which I sold in the ensuing six weeks as demonstrator equipment at almost regular price meaning that the good Dr has already paid him 2/3 of its selling price). Well he then harangued me on why I took an AMEX on a huge order (AMex used to charge about 1.5% more as a processing fee). I think I lost it then and started screaming back at him and sprawling on his wall with a magic marker the actual figures calculating how much money I had made the SOB.
After five minutes I stopped and realized what I had done but I was so A N G R Y at the abuse for making this SOB money (I was young, foolish, and just like photography....... SO glaring at me he said I suppose you want me to say thank you, I glared back and said NO I just want a ***** raise.
Silence........ Nobody swore at this guy or usually argued back at him....
He picked up the phone hit an extension and said "how much is ***** making........, OK well give him 25% more, but only after you have deducted $500 for redecorating". I smiled and said thank you.........
As ever a postscript....
My girl friend at the time was doing photography at FIT and was doing a project taking pictures of people in Big Warehouse Stores, trying to capture the loneliness of modern retail or some such..... A few days later she came back from college and gave me a beautiful 4x5 B&W which she had shot with Her Leica M4-P and 90/1.4 Summilux on pushed Tri-X. What can I say, she had a rich Grandmother! Anyway it showed my boss buying a Gallon of cheap pain on sale at $3 at a Pergament (that will date me). I should have married her for that picture alone, because I slipped it into and envelope with a Note....... I think this picture is worth $497).
I never had that $500 deducted.
Oh to be young and look innocent!
