Europe v USA approach to usage of accessories and chemicals for photography

[cliveh]

I may be wrong, but from reading posts on this site over many years, I get the impression that photographers in the USA are far more dependent on gadgets and chemical additives than us folk in Europe. Would you agree?

 

[konakoa]

How so? Could you clarify what gadgets you're thinking of? Myself I like pre-packaged chemistry (Xtol) and I do make a few formulas from scratch with bulk raw chemicals, yet I only follow the formula and don't add anything unnecessary.

 

[BrianShaw]

Stirring the pot again? Good luck…

 

[Milpool]

Stirring the pot again? Good luck…

Seriously. Stirring the pot is so bourgeois.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

I may be wrong, but from reading posts on this site over many years, I get the impression that photographers in the USA are far more dependent on gadgets and chemical additives than us folk in Europe. Would you agree?

We do like our McDonald's Big Macs.

 

[Chuck1]

Better living through chemistry (and accessories)

 

[MattKing]

Who can tell?
It may be that the respective memberships of posters on APUG/Photrio tend those ways, but it isn't clear that that is representative of how the different worlds differ.
I do know that my dropping into FADU from time to time reveals a world that is a bit more similar to the photographic retailers and groups that I was around in the 1970s and 1980s than Photrio is, but I think that simply tells us more about who posts on the two sites.

 

[mshchem]

I hardly use a battery let alone a gadget. I have a Stopclock timer I bought a couple years ago, it's on an enlarger I use infrequently, that's the newest gadget I own. I used a sheet of that "new fangled" resin coated paper today to make a proof sheet of 12 exposures from a Hasselblad.
I do have a Jobo.

Oh Gadget, I use some $50 used toy Spynet IR goggles and they are da bomb! Guilty as charged!

 

[Kenny Harrelson]

Stirring the pot again? Good luck…

I prefer to be shaken, not stirred. I do use those new-fangled Magicubes once in a while.

 

[mshchem]

I prefer to be shaken, not stirred. I do use those new-fangled Magicubes once in a while.

Once again no batteries

 

[koraks]

gadgets and chemical additives

Can you clarify? What kind of gadgets? Where in the photographic process would the chemical additives (and of what kind) come in?
So far, I don't really see a pattern. I see mostly individual differences between photographers. Some like simplicity, constancy and stick to the book. Others are fervent tinkerers. I've never noticed a geographical pattern to it; it mostly seems to be related to personal temperament.

Also, I do see a temporal pattern in that there's a growing cottage industry of gadgets, apps and even chemistry that has emerged over the past 10-15 years. This mostly has to do with the combination of low barriers to entry for new sellers/producers; you can start selling stuff all over the world without much of an investment, right form your own attic or cellar. Combined with globalization of supply, this has made it possible for private individuals to import bulk chemicals, have electronics manufacturing work performed at low cost for small batches, and many other aspects of industry that used to be reserved for larger business entities.

 

[cliveh]

Also, I do see a temporal pattern in that there's a growing cottage industry of gadgets, apps and even chemistry that has emerged over the past 10-15 years. This mostly has to do with the combination of low barriers to entry for new sellers/producers; you can start selling stuff all over the world without much of an investment, right form your own attic or cellar. Combined with globalization of supply, this has made it possible for private individuals to import bulk chemicals, have electronics manufacturing work performed at low cost for small batches, and many other aspects of industry that used to be reserved for larger business entities.

This could be what I was refering to and perhaps it has no USA/Europe divide.

 

[koraks]

Ah, in that case, that might just be it - and it's a trend I definitely do see. Think of outfits like Cinestill (who arose to prominence from nowhere), Reveni Labs (@Reveni-matt) and perhaps also CatLabs as more formalized businesses, and of course @dkonigs with his Dektronics that's also starting to gain a recognizable position in the market. But also many lesser-known and sometimes smaller initiatives along the lines of what @MCB18 does here with non-standard film types, not to mention the legions of sellers and small-scale manufacturers or repackagers active on platforms like eBay.

At this point we see so many of them pop up that they are starting to pose a challenge for Photrio as well as we have to re-think the divide between regular forum contributions/discussions and commercial activity, with the lines between these two frequently blurring as new players announce their products here on the forum or engage in pre-commercial market research. While this was quite rare only a few years ago, presently it's an almost weekly occurrence where we see new market entrants register on the forum and attempt to engage with the community for getting new products out there, or gearing up to do so.