Prinz filters japan

Espasol · Jul 29, 2015

Hi! As part of the kit that was gifted to me there were several B/W filters included. The yellow filter says "Prinz Made n Japan"

I have never heard of this company. Does anybody know anything about this company? I can't find any info on the net.

Is this filter any good? It seems ok but I have my doubts.

Thanks

Sirius Glass · Jul 29, 2015

I have used their filters. They are ok but I prefer other brands such as B+W and Heliopan.

rrusso · Jul 29, 2015

I think one of my easels is a Prinz, but no, never heard of them before I got it.

Pretty decent quality.

MattKing · Jul 29, 2015

This Photo-net thread may help: http://photo.net/filters-bags-tripods-accessories-forum/00C9fF

Espasol · Jul 30, 2015

MattKing said:
This Photo-net thread may help: http://photo.net/filters-bags-tripods-accessories-forum/00C9fF

Thanks! If the filters were made by Chinon, they should at least be decent. Though I'll probably save up for something better.

elcabezagrande · Jul 30, 2015

I think that Prinz was the house brand for the Dixon's department stores in the UK, if I recall correctly.

AgX · Jul 30, 2015

Yes, it was.

Jeff L · Jul 30, 2015

I saw a very simple enlarger once that said Prinz.
Take one shot with, and one with out the filter. If you can't see a difference in sharpness, you're good to go.
My opinion.

f8&bthere · Jul 30, 2015

Prinz was a brand/trademark of Amcam International of Oakbrook, IL. They were an import/export marketing group like Vivitar, ProMaster, etc. who sold their branded/rebranded photo products all over the world.

Just as Vivitar and ProMaster sourced their lenses from many different manufacturers [Sigma, Tokina, Tamron, Cosina, Kiron, etc.] Amcam/Prinz also sourced their products from a variety of OEMs.

Who actually made your particular filter likely depends on which Japanese OEM submitted the lowest bid to Amcam that year.

AgX · Jul 31, 2015

Interesting to learn that one brand-name was used by different companies.

f8&bthere · Jul 31, 2015

AgX said:
Interesting to learn that one brand-name was used by different companies.

It isn't the case that the name was "used by different companies" but rather that many different stores and chains bought Amcam/Prinz products to sell to their customers.

The reason that so many companies bought products from marketing groups like Vivitar, ProMaster, and Amcam/Prinz, was so that they could offer a wide range of accessories at a lower price-point. These products also had a much higher profit margin for the dealer than the equivalent products from name brands such as Nikon and Canon.

A camera store might have made $5 off of a Nikon 52mm 1A filter that retailed for $30 but would make $10 or more off of an equivalent Promaster or Prinz filter that retailed for $20.

AgX · Jul 31, 2015

I'm not shure about that. To my knowledge Dixons used "Prinz" as their own brand (for stuff they imported themselves), and not for stuff they got from another importer who already used that brand.

And Dixon once owned "Prinz" and "Prinz-.." tradenames in Britain.

f8&bthere · Jul 31, 2015

AgX said:
I'm not shure about that. To my knowledge Dixons used "Prinz" as their own brand (for stuff they imported themselves), and not for stuff they got from another importer who already used that brand.

And Dixon once owned "Prinz" and "Prinz-.." tradenames in Britain.

Dixon's may have had an exclusive agreement or even a partnership arrangement with Amcam [American Camera] to import Prinz into the U.K., but I purchased Prinz-branded accessories in a couple of different independent camera stores in the U.S. in the early 1980's and I assure you those stores weren't importing that stuff from Dixon's.

What's interesting is that the idea that Prinz was Dixon's "own brand" shows that Amcam's [and Promaster, etc.] marketing scheme worked as they were intended to provide stores with more affordable and more profitable alternatives to name-brand equipment while fostering a "store brand" identity.

Many an American photo customer bought "Promaster" lenses thinking they were an exclusive brand to the store they bought it from.

Here is a link to the current U.S patent and trademark registration for Prinz and Amcam going back to 1965.

Linkhttps://trademarks.justia.com/745/83/prinz-74583253.html

And here are a couple of photos of both older and newer Prinz filter boxes showing the Amcam [of Northbrook, IL] ownership of the Prinz trademark.

AgX · Aug 1, 2015

What I wanted to say is that different companies independently may have registered the same for their very market.

But it may also be that Amcan and Dixons were strongly enough related to each other to do so in agreement and were sharing products.

So far documents allow to deduce both.

f8&bthere · Aug 1, 2015

AgX said:
So far documents speak against this.

What "documents" exactly do you feel "speak against this"?

How about an international list of PMA exhibitors as published in Popular Photography in 1979, 1980, 1981 and again in 1982, etc. showing Prinz as a subsidiary brand of Ancam International?

What exactly is it about the link to the U.S. patent and trademark office showing the history of Prinz as a registered trademark of Amcam International of Northbrook, IL starting in 1964 did you find unconvincing?

A similar search of the U.K.'s IP Office shows that Dixon's first applied for use of the Prinz name in the U.K. in 1968 and was given a U.K.-only trademark approval with no corresponding symbol protection. It seems pretty clear that Amcam International made an exclusive marketing deal with Dixon's for sale of Prinz branded photographic products in the U.K.

https://books.google.com/books?id=q...age&q=amcam international+photography&f=false

[shrug][/shrug]

AgX · Aug 1, 2015

I know how to read patent office documents of different states and these allow one make both deductions.

Ian Grant · Aug 1, 2015

Dixons were using the Prinz brand name on TLR cameras etc in the very early 1960's, 4 or 5 years before AMCAM registered the "Prinz" name in the US. Dixons by 1962 were large enough to be listed on the London stock market and by the late 1960's they had over 100 UK stores and a very large mail order business.

They also had a US company "Dixons US Holdings Inc" which they sold in the 1990's, this was a retail/distribution company.

"Dixon's may have had an exclusive agreement or even a partnership arrangement with Amcam [American Camera] to import Prinz into the U.K." is very far from the truth

It would appear that Dixons were distributing their Prinz branded products themselves in the US, so that may well be the link to AMCAM they probably owned them. The US division made a loss of $34 million in 1993 and was restructured, this may be when the company was sold off which would tie in with the Prinz trade name changing ownership in the US in1994.

Ian

Ian Grant · Aug 1, 2015

Just to add Dixons opened a buying centre in 1957 and set up their US company a year later, this is the point where they went from being just a retailer to an importer selling through their own stores in the UK and using their Prinz brand name.

They sold Dixons US Holdings Inc in December 1993 to Fretter Inc. By that time Dixons in the UK had ceased being a specialist photo store and had expanded into electrical goods Hi-Fi and TV etc. They'd largely stopped importing their own brand photographic items and instead were having electrical goods assembled in the UK under Japanese sounding names like Matsui.

Ian

Prinz filters japan

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