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2026-08-03 Fujix Photo-Video Imager FV-7

I acquired two rather exceptional devices at one thrift store in one visit. I found an Xtool inspection scope for $9 and a Fujix Photo-Video Imager FV-7 for $11. I found the inspection scope required a Xtool device to connect to so it could be used, and they are out of my price range. So let’s just stay with the equally useless—I don't have a power supply for it—FV-7.










    Many, many years ago I worked for a wedding /industrial/commercial photographer. He had cameras that went from 35 mm to 8 x 10, a studio with track lighting, a full darkroom with film and paper processors. The photography end he handled with me acting as an assistant. There was a full time darkroom person too. The booking and all the sales were handled by the photographer’s mother.








    And that brings us to the subject of how you sell the wedding photos to the bride and groom. The normal practice at the time was to have the 4x5 proof’s available in flip page viewing books. The better photographers would print up a good selection from the wedding as really big prints and display them in ornate frames. The frames were slip-in or spring loaded so the “viewing” could be changed between scheduled wedding customers. One would be aiming for adding to the wedding coverage charge several thousand dollars in sales in wedding albums for the couple and both sets of parents as well as smaller albums for brother’s and sister’s, good friends, members of the wedding party and finally the huge enlargements in very expensive frames. 






    It was a delicate matter doing the follow-up sales. There was also a matter of some customer’s who had no problem taking even poor proofs and having them copied so they could make up their own prints. Our studio charged $23 for an 8 x 10 print. You could have a copy negative made for $1-2 and then 8 x 10 prints could be ordered for $3-5 each. This was a very dangerous problems as the quality of the copied prints were what potential new customers would see as examples of your work and that was both out of your control and possibly damaging to your reputation.


    Weddings are expensive undertakings and the time you are trying to get an order is the time all the bills for the wedding couple are becoming due. One local studio started to insist on being paid in advance for the wedding package—one to five locations, 24-print large albums and four or more small gift albums—and a cash deposit at the time of booking for the follow-up enlargements. They wanted $1500 for the follow-up enlargements.


    The cost of preparing all the proofs and the salesperson’s choice of enlargements for the frames was a gamble. Say none of the really large enlargements were purchased. You might have it written into the original contract you had the right to use the large prints for display purposes, but how many display prints do you need? And even at cost, factoring in the paper, chemistry, processor maintenance and the darkroom person’s salary the loss could become a serious threat to the studio’s existence.

    We are finally getting to the Fujix Photo-Video Imager (FV-9). This cute device allowed the photographer the option of transforming negatives from 35 mm to 2¼  (or proofs for that matter) into positive video that could be displayed to the customer. There would be no material costs for proofs or enlargements. The customer wouldn’t be able to get proof prints copied. 
    The only minor problem was the size of display monitors. The really large LED and plasma screens were yet to appear. Yet displaying the customer’s wedding images on a large colour television was always better than proof prints.
Below are some internet references to the Fujix Photo-Video Imager FV-7—


Fujix Photo-Video Imager FV-7

    Transferring still film images to video is rarely easy. Lighting, framing, dealing with negatives–all can make the task more work than it’s worth. Fujix’s innovative FV-7 ends all that, making it easier than ever to integrate stills into your video production.
The FV-7 has everything you need to shoot transparencies or prints–built-in CCD camera, 2x zoom lens, fluorescent lights, color correction circuitry and composite or S-video output. Black and white negative, color negative and color positive camera modes handle any kind of artwork.
The end result? Still film-to-video transfer with no fuss.
1994 Best Product of the year awards

Grab That Image

    If you're a photographer and work in the digital realm, you probably have a digital camera, a reflective scanner, and a slide scanner. While the FV-7 Image Capture Device from Fuji won't entirely replace your existing equipment, it lets you preview and digitally capture almost any type of color picture, from 35mm slides to live action. Photos, transparencies, and 3-D objects are easily transferred from the 2-pound device to any computer with video-capture capability. Fujix FV-7: US$995. Fuji Photofilm USA Inc: +1 (201) 507 2500.
Dec 31, 1995 · Fuji's (914/789-8100) $995 Fujix FV-7 has a 2x zoom that also focuses at infinity. Fuji supplies a cut- film holder for 35mm negatives…



 

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