The Noblex Saga

[Jan Faul <jfaul@xxxxxx>]

	I received a Noblex from Noblex today, sort of free (if you don't
deduct the approximately $40,000 in lost travel, film, and processing
expenses) along with a letter which I will now quote. 

	Dear Mr. Faul:

	We received from RTS Inc., New York, your cameras, have checked them
out carefully and found out:
	Ser 2874: We could not notice any flares of light in normal or shift
position of the lens. The camera is OK. Possibly the reflexes are caused
by a backlight character of the photograph.
	Ser. 3626: This camera had a fault, we noticed flares of light (but
this did not depend on shifted lens position!). We regret very much that
you had problems with this camera and would like to apologize.
	We replace this camera for you by Noblex Pro 6/150 UX Ser 3807/021212.
Tubus of this camera is special coated and this will weaken backlighted
effects, but can not avoid them totally.
	Please note our background sheet about backlighted photos.

	So if the camera S/N 2874 didn't have any flaws, why did they find it
necessary to replace it?

----------------------------

Information about backlighted photos:

	When taking backlighted photographs in the direction of a strong light
source, such as the sun, or spotlights, sharply deficed striped may
appear on the negative.
	These bright wrtipes are residual light reflections caussed when the
revolving lens drum mechanism blocks that portion of light which might
normally fall on the film plane.
	Any cameras employing a revolving lens drum mechanism will cause this
"blockage" of light to the entire film plane when photographed straight
on. (That is, directly pointed at a strong light source.)
	To help eliminate this potential problem, the following should be employed:
* 	The strongest source of light should be slightly hidden behind
leaves, clouds, etc. whenver possible.
*	Position the camera at an angle greater than 45 degrees in relation to
the light source.
	The backlight character of the photograph will not be lost when
employing these measures.

	 
	Without getting into the specific numbers, let's just say that they
also know how to cover their asses in Germany. This multipage
explanation does not address the problem, does not recommend a solution,
and does not begin to suggest that there is anything wrong with their
design, engineering, or quality control. All of these areas have been
and continue to be problematic with Noblex. Obviously, when you buy a
$4000 Noblex, your future negatives and transparencies are at risk.
	So how do I feel? Like I've been mistreated and cheated out of a whale
of a lot of money to do their product testing without really knowing it.
Noblex has not come through for me, has not done right in this
situation, and furthermore, RTS (the US importer at RTSINC@xxxxxxxxx)
seems more concerned with their million dollar profits than with
satisfying potentially important customers. Neither Noblex nor RTS have
the same concern for customer satisfaction as any other camera
manufacturer trying to gain a foothold in the American market.

	With any luck, Pop Photo, Petersens, American Photo, and other
magazines will accept my offers to do a review of the Noblex so I can at
least express myself to the unsuspecting public. The yshould be told
about the devil-may-care attitude reflected by RTS and Noblex when it
comes to delivering on their promises. Noblex doesn't really make
cameras -- they make excuses.

	Happy Holidays --

Jan
-- 
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