„If one day there are no more slide projectors,

we will build one ourselves.“

Interview with an internationally positioned photo dealer in Munich for selected, high-class analog cameras and
well-maintained, refurbished and perfectly functioning slide projectors.

By Hermann Groeneveld / SilvergrainClassics

Thomas Fladung / Manfred Schmidt, heidi-foto

„Analogue photography and slide projection is still a fascinating and unique medium today. We are convinced of its charisma, the excellent image quality, the durability of analogue slides and black and white images, as well as the simple wokflow that can be carried out in real time!“

Advertising flyer of the company heidi-foto, Munich

Hermann Groeneveld / SilvergrainClassics (HG)

Mr Fladung, Mr Schmidt, thank you for taking the time to give our readers an insight into heidi-foto and to talk to us about the interesting topic of slide projection. You and your company are mainly active in the world of analogue photography. You have beautiful analogue cameras from 35mm to medium format to large format, workshop-tested and with a guarantee, of course. Slide projection with your mainstay DiaVision takes up a large part of your business. Mr Fladung, please tell us how it all began. Who is Heidi?

Thomas Fladung / Managing Director of heidi-foto Munich(TF)

Our company was founded in 1948. After the war, my parents set up their own business as photographers with a small shop in the Laim district of Munich, where we are still based today. The original company name was Heidenreiter. As far as I can remember, it was my mother who thought the name was too long. So it very quickly became heidi-foto. Over the decades, we gradually expanded and moved a few times. I joined the company in 1983, initially taking over another photo shop in our region, until I became Managing Director of heidi-foto. Since 2018, our location with a spacious shop and exhibition area, workshop and spare parts warehouse has been right next to the Laimer Platz underground terminus.

HG

Are you both committed analogue photographers? What are your favourite cameras?

Manfred Schmidt / heidi-foto, DiaVision (MS)

The twin-lens Rollei and the M-Leica are my favourites. An old Canon is also a favourite.

TF

I like all analogue equipment that has character – I have a very broad base.

HG

How do you think the film-based photography market has developed since the advent of digital photography?

MS

At the end of the 90s / beginning of the 2000s, analogue photography was said to be dead. Once high-priced and solid cameras were virtually thrown at you. Today, things are only going uphill. Prices are rising in all areas of analogue photography.

TF

There is only a limited repertoire of films. But you can say that as long as analogue cinema films exist and are produced, there will also be analogue film products. Since this is apparently still in demand, I don’t see any problems. Nevertheless, the procurement of film has become difficult. At the moment, the situation is easing somewhat. However, prices have risen enormously. We now have a relatively reliable supply of black and white and colour negative material. It is still difficult to get hold of slide material at the moment, but there has been a slight improvement in availability.

HG

Are there photographers with professional aspirations in addition to the pure hobby and artistic aspect of analogue photography?

TF

That is quite possible. There are the odd enquiry from a professional who has a problem with their camera. However, we are too far removed from the professional business to be able to judge this conclusively.

HG

Let’s move on to slide projection, which is what today’s interview is actually about. What does your clientele look like who are interested in classic slide projection?

MS

In my experience, two groups have clearly crystallised in the DiaVision sector: Firstly, there is the 50 plus group. They usually have a large slide archive, sometimes even inherited from their ancestors, and want to continue to enjoy their treasures on the cinema screen, usually at home with family and friends. They take the time to look at their pictures again. It is not uncommon for them to first need a proper projector, which they can get from us along with accessories such as a screen designed for slide projection. Then there are the very young ones who come to us and have absolutely no idea about slides. They are simply fascinated by the fact that a small slide can suddenly be projected onto the wall in a huge and colourful way compared to other digital media.

HG

How do young people approach the medium of slide projection?

MS

It’s simple: you get in, take photos on slide material, buy a projector and possibly a photo canvas – and off you go. With a great deal of creativity and artistic ambition. For example, by trying out different film materials, colour, black and white or even materials for cinema films. I have customers, some of whom are under 30 years old, who buy a slide projector with a timer to create an artistic exhibition using classic slide projection.

HG

What expectations do people come to you with?

MS

Often with, “I have an old slide projector, can you repair it”, or, “I’m looking for a decent slide projector”.

HG

Don’t you have to prioritise when it comes to the technological diversity of different projector models?

MS

That’s exactly the point: there was such an abundance of slide projectors in the 80s that we consistently focussed on Rollei, Leica, Zeiss and, in the case of round magazines, Kodak, Leica and Hasselblad. We cannot cover everything. But we also offer a complete service for the brands mentioned.

HG

How can you ensure this service?

MS

There are three of us: one specialist for mechanics and one for electronics. I do a lot of repairs myself – I grew up with them in the 70s.

HG

If you need a rare spare part for an old projector, do you search the Internet?

MS

No, I can find it in our cellar. With the amount of spare parts we still have in stock, we were of course helped by the fact that we were able to take over their entire stock of projectors and parts when Rollei went bankrupt. Collecting is also an important point. Our expertise naturally helps us to recognise the value of an old device that is perhaps destined to be scrapped.

HG

Which projector do you recommend for which application?

MS

If someone only wants to look at a few old slides occasionally, they are ideally equipped with a single-image projector from Leica, for example. The devices are robust and easy to use. If someone frequently looks at slides because projection is an integral part of their presentation style, there is no getting round a Rollei MSC twin. Because everything else, such as the classic single image projection with light / dark changes, is simply too tiring. The uniform, film-like viewing of images comes not least from our digital media and is a matter of course today. The Rollei MSC twin is ingenious. It fulfils this requirement exactly. And it is easier to use than a mobile phone: insert the magazine, press the button and off you go.

HG

Are slide projectors still being produced?

MS

Yes, there is indeed a manufacturer. But I don’t call it a decent slide projector. For considerably less money, the customer would get a much higher quality, workshop-tested slide projector from Leica or Rollei. It would be mechanically much better in terms of the problem-free handling of different magazine formats. Not to mention the optical performance, which is many times higher.

HG

What if one day there are no more slide projectors when your cellar is empty?

MS

Then we’ll build our own slide projectors. That’s an idea I’ve had in my head for a while. I also know that we could do it. But there’s nothing concrete, nothing we should speculate about right now. However, I can definitely imagine that a company in the photography industry will at some point set out to build slide projectors.

HG

Is your company positioned internationally?

MS

Oh yes – 50 per cent, with international shipping of course. Incidentally, only around one per cent of our sales in Germany are made via our retail shop. Everything else is done by mail order. We can send a slide projector around the world three times without it breaking.

HG

What does the return to old, analogue technologies mean for you personally?

MS

I like to compare it to listening to music. Today, you can stream any song in the world to your home or digital device for little money. I like to go to the effort of putting on a record, listening to music through an old tube amplifier and good speakers. I’m not even interested in quality, but in the experience factor …

TF

… for the celebration …

MS

… exactly. It’s the same with slide projection: I have to darken the room, pull up the photo canvas, switch on the projector – then the fan noise comes …

TF

… and there it is again, the cinema feeling of the 70s, 80s and 90s. A personal computer can’t offer that. It starts with the shutter sound of an analogue camera, a Hasselblad, a Leica, a Minolta XD 7 or a Nikon FE 2 – there’s nothing like it today.

HG

Sooner or later, analogue photographs find their way into the world of digital images, at least in part. Scanning or photographing with a digital camera is now part of the workflow of many analogue photographers. Do you feel this competes with slide projection?

TF

No, not at all. Of course, the hybrid workflow in analogue photography, i.e. the subsequent digitisation of films, is absolutely justified. Feeding social media with images is one point. High-quality prints are another application, including the prior optimisation of the image result on the computer. The charm of digital processing with its many possibilities is undoubtedly there. A perfectly exposed slide projected onto a high-quality photo canvas with a high-quality projector produces a brilliant, colourful and luminous image. You would have to invest a lot of money to achieve this digitally with a high-performance projector. I am convinced that the simplicity of the slide and the brilliance it ultimately conjures up on the screen cannot be surpassed so quickly.

MS

In my opinion, a big mistake is often the assumption that the digitally projected image shows the real colours of the subject. In order to achieve at least approximate colour fidelity, a complex and expensive calibration of all digital devices in the process chain is required, from input to output. The slide, on the other hand, is indeed simple and inexpensive to handle.

HG

What about the durability of slides?

TF

If stored properly, cool and dry, the slide will still retain its brilliance in 50 years’ time. Can digital image data survive 50 years undamaged? This will certainly be possible, but not without a great deal of technical effort and constant, at least selective, quality control of the data.

HG

What would you like to see from the photography industry?

MS

Films, slide projectors and photo canvases. There are not enough films, they are too expensive. Today, screens are designed for beamers and no longer fulfil the quality criteria of classic slide projection by a long way. Slide projectors have almost completely disappeared from the market. However, if analogue photography continues like this – the trend curve has been going slightly upwards for a few years now – then we will be happy and satisfied.

TF

And we can make our customers happy – that is very important to us.

HG

Mr Fladung, Mr Schmidt, SilvergrainClassics says, thank you for the interview. We wish you much continued success.

Don’t miss the current issue of SilvergrainClassics

The current issue 25 of SilvergrainClassics contains the comprehensive article Supporting the Renaissance of Slide Projection – Projectors, Films, and the Right Accessories. You should definitely read this if you are also fascinated by slide projection.