Klaus-Peter Kappest

The icebreaker voyage from Spitzbergen to the pack ice at the edge of the Northern polar icecap was one of the most impressive journeys of my life. I hadn't actually intended it to supply material for my Leicavision tour; the pictures were supposed to be just for my agency. That's why I took most of the photos on this trip with the M8 and the digital module on my R8 and not with the traditional analog technology I normally use for preparing a Leicavision show. However, what happened on this trip was such an exciting story that it just had to be told.

So far I had always projected unedited original slides in my Leicavision shows on Norway via the Hurtigruten route, Sweden and Finland. Now for the first time I faced the task of digital projection if I wanted to use my shots of Spitzbergen as the culmination of my new Leicavision show "Scandinavia - Insider Tips for Trips to Northern Countries".

Up to that time I had yet to see a convincingly arranged digital projection show with satisfying picture quality. I always found that digitally projected images showed far too little detail and in particular, failed to distinguish slight differences in tonal value. Leica's introduction of the new Pradovit D-1200 projector at the last photokina was perfect timing for me as it promised to solve exactly the problems I had been having with digital projection to date.

I had the privilege of trying out one of the first of these projectors in the cinema of my home town. The 9-metre projection screen displayed a detailed, sharply focused image with a vibrancy and differentiation of colour I had never experienced before with a digital projector.

Since the beginning of 2009 I have been using the Leica Pradovit D-1200 on tour. Besides my own assessment, the considerable feedback from the audiences also enables me to take stock. The reaction of the public is downright exuberant: "The reproduction quality sets new standards", "I can't tell the difference from the image quality of a slide", and especially "How can such a small, lightweight device project such a bright, vibrant and sharp image?"

After six weeks on tour with digital technology, I would sum up my initial experience as follows: Every professional projection technology currently on the market has its strengths and weaknesses. There's no perfect solution. For rooms where an image width of max. seven metres is adequate, however, the Leica Pradovit D-1200 offers the best compromise in technical terms. When image quality is the key criterion, there's no real alternative to this product. But image quality is not the only criterion where Leica's projector is a step ahead. In the everyday touring business, size and weight of the equipment also play a major role. In these two disciplines, Leica is the absolute winner.