Re: [Leica] Archiving question

["Anthony Atkielski" <anthony@atkielski.com>]

From: Paul Klingaman <pklingaman@hotmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday, September 22, 1999 19:58
Subject: Re: [Leica] Archiving question


> If there is not currently a product, just out of curiousity,
> how many out there would be interested in such a product?

I would.  I need something that will help me track both digital and film
photographs.  It doesn't actually have to hold the photographs themselves (e.g.,
thumbnail images), but it should hold other data, including:

- - type of photo (pure digital, scan from film or print, transparency, negative,
print)
- - date and time taken
- - film used
- - camera used
- - lens used
- - two or three tiers of searchable subject categories
- - a way of tracking the location of the photo, no matter how it is stored:
 -- negative (strip number or roll number or something)
 -- transparency (mounted or unmounted)
 -- CD-ROM (for scanned or digital images)
 -- file name (for scanned or digital images)
 -- print number or name or box or whatever
- - a unique identifier for every photo, automatically generated but modifiable,
unique key
- - description
- - copyright
- - licensing information
- - release information

And probably lots of other stuff.  I've been fretting over this very thing for
several months, now that I have more and more photos (several thousand) to
organize, but I haven't come up with a good architecture thus far.

Has to be easy to enter and retrieve data, with plenty of relevant search
features.

> What would you pay for this program?

I'd expect to pay between $200-$300 for a suitable product.  That's what
programs like Extensis Portfolio cost.

> PC-based, or MAC?

PC-based, for me.

It has to be compiled code.  I won't run products that require VB runtimes or
Java engines or junk like that.

> All proceeds would go to the purchase of new leica gear, of
> course.

In a year or two, you could get yourself a Noctilux.

By the way, if someone can suggest how to store slides developed as unmounted
strips of four exposures per strip, in plastic sleeves, I'd be interested in
hearing ideas.  I get my slides (and negatives) developed that way for ease of
scanning, but I have no place to put them, and I just have piles and piles of
envelopes with all these film strips inside.  It's hard to manage.

  -- Anthony