the unofficial Cosina-Voigtlander User Community

Okay, word association time again. Ready?

Robert.

(Smith! Disentegration is the best album ever! Woohoo!)

No, sorry. Well, you are probably right about the album, but wrong person. Wrong website. If you said "White" then you're in the right place.

So who is Robert White? He's the owner/operator of...wait for it...Robert White, the premiere retailer of photographic goods in the UK, both traditional and digital. Don't believe me? Check out a copy of Black & White Photography magazine and look for his spread of used kit. There's a lot there to lust over. Oh, and he also happens to be the UK distributor for Cosina-Voigtlander, too.

In his own words: Oh dear, questions questions...........I will do my best for you: We are a really mixed bag of a business. We sell just about every film based RF product but we also sell many, many digital products. I have 9 staff to feed. This morning, we sold an EBONY 8 X 10 to a professional and have sold two Mamya ZD kits. What a contrast.

Now on to the Q&A...

Q: Can you give us a little bit of your history as a retailer?
A: I started on my own in 1982 when traditional products really did keep me going, I called the shop ROBERT WHITE "Precision Photographic Equipment" and endeavoured to stock all that was best, I sold all the best brands and lots and lots of traditional darkroom materials, every morning I would be off to the Post Office with parcels of paper, chemicals that other dealers could no longer be bothered to stock.

Q: How long have you been a distributor of Cosina-Voigtlander products?
A: Since 2004.

Q: What made you want to become a distributor of Voigtlander cameras, lenses, and accessories?
A: We were Europes biggest reseller of Voigtlander cameras and Cosina came to us and asked if we would like to become the distributor for the UK. We jumped at the chance!

Q: Are you a photographer or photographic items collector as a hobby? If so, where do your interests lie (i.e. landscapes, pre-war Leicas, etc.)?
A: I got into the industry because of my interest in photography which started when I was a schoolboy with my EXA 500 camera. Today I like using a Voigtlander with Black and White film in city locations. I use a Mamiya 7 with Velvia to project when I go away to interesting places and I do use a Nikon Digital SLR when I follow my other hobby of classic motorcycling. I also do collect interesting cameras from the past such as Leica, Zeiss, etc... .

Q: In the time that you have been in the "photography business", how have you seen the perceptions and use of rangefinder-type cameras change in your region?
A: We have seen the RF camera go from being mainstream, to apparently dying, to resurging with the Voigtlander brand and now with the Leica M8, steaming ahead again, it is good news for us.

Q: How would you characterize the current state of traditional photography in your region?
A: At the present time traditional photography is not really growing but our sales of film is growing. That I put down to more and more retailers deciding there is no demand.

Q: How do you see the digital and traditional photographic mediums co-evolving in the future?
A: Digital is taking more and more of peoples interest, the mobile phone is the biggest threat, younger people seem to "not bother" about photography as a hobby, which is a real shame, one has to wonder what future generations will have to look at when they want to see what their parents, grandparents looked like or how they enjoyed themselves. People complain about shoeboxes of photographs they never look at, but the truth is they do every now and again and can have a laugh at past events and reminisce about past holidays, etc. We have gone from paintings, to glass plates, to black and white film to colour film and now digital. Put on a computer and chances are they will never be looked at and then wiped off. The professional market to which we cater for with high-end cameras from Hasselblad, Nikon, Canon, etc is very much digitally orientated. The enthusiast still likes the benefits of traditional photography, you only need to look at the work of past masters such as Ansel Adams to realize why.

Q: How are you involved in the traditional photographic community in your region?
A: We support camera clubs and run competitions featuring traditional products. And of course we sell just about everything they need to support their hobby.

Q: How are you involved in the traditional photographic community-at-large?
A: We endeavour to support the community with advertising, showing the market still exists, and supporting forums such as the Leica Forum.

Q: If you could ask Cosina to produce one product under the Voigtlander badge, what would it be?
A: Ironically, despite our keeness for traditional products I would love them to bring out a digital RF camera. We really miss the Epson RD1S. If we can get people to use an RF camera then we are on the road for them to think about using film as well as digital.

Editor's Note: Thank you so much for your time and support, Robert! Next week, Q&A is with Chii Fei, online retailer and distributor for the Singapore/Malaysia region. There are more interviews in the weeks to come, too.