CEIF Photofair, organized by AIPTIA and co-organized by the Asian Photography and Imaging Magazine, was held in Pragati Maidan, New Delhi from 8 to 11 January 2015. The event was inaugurated by Hori Masaki, head of digital imaging, Sony India; Nitin Goyal, CEO, Tamron India; Puneet Chadha, director market development – graphics solutions business, AsiaPacific and Japan; Hewlett-Packard Asia-Pacific; Yasunobu Nishiyama, managing director, Fujifilm India and committee members of AIPTIA. A large number of visitors met with the approximately 200 exhibitors including Canon, Epson, Tamron, Fujifilm, Ricoh, Sony, HP, Xerox, and Monotech who showcased their products and services at the event.
The CEOs Forum on the opening day of CEIF Photofair was an interesting discussion on the state of the industry and the roadmap ahead. The moderator of the lively debate was Bhavya Desai, editor and group head, SAP Media and Asian Photography. Indigo Business Solution’s Appadurai described how his business was entrenched in the wedding photography-related business. “For us it’s been a brilliant story and we grew in double digits. When we started out we never imagined the business would take off like that, especially with customers in small tier-2 towns like Rewari in Haryana which could invest Rs. 3 crore in an Indigo,” says Appadurai.
At the CEIF Photofair, HP showcased its Indigo 7800 digital press and its applications for the first time in India. HP also showcased the work of 48 HP Indigo customers on a wide variety of substrates including glossy, matt and textured papers, as well as photo and other non-paper substrates. Apart from HP Indigo 7800 digital press, the company showcased the entire gamut of HP’s photo printing offerings including HP Latex 300 Printer series and HP Indigo 5600 digital press. HP showcased the applications of 60-inch large-format inkjet printer – HP Designjet Z6800 Photo Production Printer, along with HP Designjet Z2100 Photo Printer and HP Designjet Z5400 PostScript ePrinter. HP also set up an engaging photo experience zone at its stand, encouraging visitors to explore the various photo printing possibilities with the latest HP Indigo digital printing technology.
“Designjet Z5400 PostScript ePrinter is a device which is meant for hard core photographers, and users do not need any special skill sets to take print on these machines. It comes with built-in software specialities for image management. It has built-in spectrometer and standard post script which results in scalability from portfolio perspective,” says Mahesh Soni, country manager, Designjet, GSB, HP India.
“The HP Indigo WS6800 digital press and HP Indigo 7800 are on a similar platform,” says Appadurai. The Indigo WS6800 digital press is the third generation of the Indigo WS6000 digital press series, offering great productivity, versatility and advanced color management and was demonstrated for the first time in India at Labelexpo India 2014. “WS6800 is a roll format machine meant for packaging – labels, flexible packaging, shrink sleeves and lamitube printing. On the other hand, the HP Indigo 7800 is a sheetfed press used for commercial printing, publishing and photo printing,” says Appadurai. “Although the two presses are built on a similar platform, their functions are different; moreover, the HP Indigo 7800 can also be used to print folding cartons,” he adds.
