Milestones
Since 1959, we have been setting benchmarks for Indian as well as international manufacturers in our quest for equipping photographers and studio-owners with excellent quality gear at affordable prices. Soni helped build the company on a firm foundation of innovation and persistence, making it truly successful in the Indian photography industry. In the conventional era, external flashg
uns used bulbs that would fuse with a single use making it very cumbersome for photographers to carry a bag-full of flashbulbs for each shoot. This problem challenged the creative mind of Mr Soni. He set to usher in the technology for indigenous manufacturing of flashguns in India, leading to the birth of Problitz and Prolinchrom series of studio lights. (In local markets, these lights are still known as Soni Bhai’s lights)
A significant breakthrough for the group was the signing of the technical agreement with Swiss-based Elinca SA for manufacturing and exports of the Elinchrom brand of studio flash systems in 1983. The nineties saw the company entering into a new field of picture making with the launch of their KLIK brand of cameras. The 35mm compact film camera had its own share of fan following and was positioned at #2, behind the hugely popular Kodak KB 10 range. This however, accentuated the need for expansion, and resulted in the incorporation of Photoquip India Ltd. in the year 1994 with shares listed on Bombay Stock Exchange and Ahmedabad Stock Exchange. Riding the expansion wave, the millennium saw the company entering into a joint venture with Swiss multi-national Gretag Imaging for independent manufacture of minilabs. The two partners set a record of sorts with the indigenous production of an array of Gretag 3-in-1 minilabs, such as Master Lab 740, Master Lab Eco, and Master Flex, and undertook exports of over 300 units. It also successfully installed a base of 390 minilabs across the country within the first year of its operations. Concerned with the high price that Digital Labs commanded, the company decided to venture into R&D in 2001. After an intensive research for over four years, Photoquip introduced the Digital Combo – a complete Digital upgrade kit for the conventional Gretag Master Labs. This revolutionary move resulted in tremendous enthusiasm in an otherwise reluctant market. With more than 260 successful installations across India and 16 installations abroad, Photoquip was commissioned to export 130 upgrade kits in a span of three years. Innovation being a constant endeavour, in 2005, the company produced ‘D-Lite’, the revolutionary Digital light in the Elinchrom family. In fact, it is the only true entry-level flash head, made under strict Swiss Quality specifications and safety standard, exported to over 110 countries worldwide. With digital technology revolutionizing the imaging space, Photoquip was quick to think out of the box and venture into dye-sublimation printing. In order to provide a technological edge, Photoquip decided to enter into a joint venture with Copal and Shinko of Japan to market the printers in India. Further R&D is this field resulted in the development of user-friendly operating software for digital machines such as QUIK STATION and Snapz, an indigenous upgrade/modification for Shinko & Copal thermal printers, in order to upgrade them to standalone microlabs. In 2008, the company set another benchmark by introducing the Elinchrom FX200Ri & FX400Ri - the first Digital Light with an in-built Radio Frequency Trigger. The most recent addition is the introduction of the revolutionary D-Lite FX2, D-Lite FX4, FRX Series, and Master RX, the ultimate ‘wire free-plug in PCB technology’ for digital studio lighting systems
Today, Photoquip manufactures over 275 products for exports and more than 4000 lights a month, emerging as one of the largest producers of studio lights in the world including finished products. Beginning with an initial turnover of 8.7million, the company’s dream run continues with a turnover of over 600 million during the last year, thereby achieving a phenomenal growth, year on year.
