Scottsdale, Arizona Feb 23, 2002
NHS-CON8...
All photos David Swan © 2002

Uli Koch and son Joachim (Germany)	Uli Koch and Paul Schloegel discussing Don's Display	Bill Adams speaking on new RF technology.	Stephen Gandy showing the new Voigtlander Nikon mount lenses	Don Dedera
Don Dedera, Ken Reisher (Kenmar Cam) and Bob Rogen	Al Nelson and Don Gresock	Richard de Stoutz and Robert Rotoloni	Jim Leathem, Jack Kelly and Stephen Gandy	Tom Abrahamsson (Canada) closest
Jim Olsen and Ernst Thiel (Holland)	Bill Kraus, Ken Reisher and Jerry Rold	Peter Lownds (Holland) with crate. Don't ask!	Peter Lownds, Ernst Thiel and Harry Harp
Mike Symons (Canada) and Bob Rogen with Nance Dedera our hostess	Uli Koch gave a slide show based on his new Nikon F book	The stuff	Carol Mikesh and Dave Barth

Report by Robert Rotoloni (reprinted fron the Nikon Journal)

The State of Arizona, and the city of Scottsdale, proved to be fine hosts for the eighth convention of our Nikon Historical Society! They provided us with perfect sunny warm weather and nearly cloudless skies; a great hotel with fine accommodations and a convenient location close to the airport; great support & help from the Arizona collectors society in the way of publicity & attendance; fabulous sights to see for those who wished to (the Grand Canyon, Sedona, Montezuma's Castle and Talies in West); a large turnout of great people & a well organized and run meeting thanks to our hosts, Don and Nance Dedera and our show Cochairman, Richard de Stoutz.

I call this "A Grand Event" because of its proximity to that awesome natural wonder, the Grand Canyon, and the fact that it was a very successful meeting with over 50 members attending, along with quite a few wives, all of whom seemed to have a "grand" time. Feedback has been positive across the board with many telling me they can't wait for number 9!

Within just as few hours of my arrival on Tuesday it was obvious that Don, Nance & Richard were ready to put on NHS-Con8. A fast trip to the hotel to check in and see the facilities told me it was a good choice and would provide all our needs for the meeting. Next, at Don's home I could see that preparations were nearly complete for registration, the Grand Canyon excursion, the Friday evening dinner and the meeting on Saturday. All was in place and ready to go, save for Nance's upcoming hours of preparation for the Friday dinner, which turned out to be a real feast and as great time for everyone. She had so much work to do that she could not accompany us to the Canyon, but had to stay home & "slave" for 3 days getting every- thing together! The result... 60 very happy and well-fed people!

Don arranged to rent a 12-seat van for our run up to the Grand Canyon on Wednesday and Thursday. Fourteen of us made the trip and it was worth it! I for one had never seen it before and ran around shooting about 200 frames or more! Don had arranged everything! Our rooms were waiting for us and even our dinner reservations had been made. So everything came off like clockwork and we made it back to Scottsdale by Thursday afternoon, but not before seeing such things as Montezuma's Castle and stopping for lunch on an Indian reservation. He even had time Friday morning to take us out again, this time to Taliesin West, the final home of Frank Lloyd Wright. It is where he had his school for young architects and where he died in 1959. The school goes on as do many of his traditions making this home a historical & educational event. Well worth seeing.

Friday night was the "Dedera Feast" that pleased everyone in attendance. By Friday nearly everyone had arrived in Scottsdale so there were 60 plus people there that evening. It was a great time for all and I am indebted to Don & Nance for all their efforts!

Bright and early Saturday we began getting ready for the meeting with Don and I in the room before 8AM. We had a lot to do before the opening speaker at 9AM, but members pitched in to help and all went smoothly, a sigh of a well organized event. Things kicked off right on time at 9AM and everything came off as scheduled. We were able to conclude by 3PM so we could get our "white glove" swap meet in with no trouble. We had the room till 5PM so this allowed us 2 hours to trade and sell & brag a little about our favorite camera. It was a good way to end the meeting!

Lastly, we had dinner at 7PM just a few feet from the meeting room and it gave us one last chance to talk and enjoy each others company.

Report by Bill Kraus (reprinted fron the Nikon Journal)

For some of us, NHS-Con8 started a few days earlier. On Wednesday, Don Dedera, convention chairman, escorted 13 of us on a tour of the Grand Canyon. We started by 8am, leaving the Chaparral, traveling up Interstate 17 in a caravan of 2 vehicles, driven by Don and co-chairman, Richard de Stoutz.

The first stop was Montezuma's Castle, a 12th century cliff dwelling. The 20 room pueblo built by Sinagua farmers was our first photo op. From there, we continued on north reaching Sedona at noon. After a brief stop for lunch, we pushed on to the Grand Canyon in time to use terrific sunset lighting against the north rim for our 2' photo op. No one seemed to mind the 35 degree temperature! We ate dinner that evening in one of the finer restaurants built less than 100 feet from the rim!

Thursday started with sunrise lighting the north rim and more spectacular photos to be had. Unfortunately, no one brought a Widelux or a Simonwide to do justice to the vista. However, a few Voigtlander Skopars were seen being used, albeit on Nikon SPs and Bob never took his 20mm Nikkor off the entire time! The morning also included a trip to the Kolb Studio Museum. Emery & Ellsworth Koib started a photo enterprise in 1904 at the edge of the abyss, taking pictures of people climbing or mule-riding in & out of the canyon. This was even before it was a National Park.

On the ride back to Scottsdale, Don added one more treat. We stopped for lunch on an Indian Reservation. The silver & turquoise jewelry was tempting. Unfortunately for the Navajos, the upcoming white-glove swapmeet was foremost in our minds.

Friday morning's attraction was a visit to Frank Lloyd Wright's last home. Recognized as one of, if not, the 20th century's greatest architects, Wright's Taliesin West was again another Kodak moment, as well as an educational experience.

NHS-Con8 officially began Friday evening at Don's home. He and wife Nance greeted & treated all fifty plus royally! It is really a difficult guess at the amount of time & effort they put in, but it had to be a great deal. The cocktail party & dinner were above & beyond the call of duty. A piano player added to the enjoyment. In addition, Don was most generous to display a large number of items from his collection around his home for us to play with! Besides cameras there were also telescopes & surveying gear.

Saturday the meeting was opened promptly at 9AM by Bob thanking Don & Richard for putting the convention together. The first speaker, Bill Adams, talked to the newer technology range- finder cameras, i.e. the Contax G, Konica Hexar & Nikon 35 Ti. He concluded the comparison with 'hands-on' results; slides taken with these cameras & his personal experiences with them.

I then presented 'The History of Nikon in the USA'. Starting with the earliest editorials in 1950 reporting the discovery of the Nikkor lenses by Korean war correspondents, I traced the evolution of the Nikon system using a collection of advertisements from the photographic publications of the era.

Uli Koch provided a sneak preview of his soon-to-be-published book on the Nikon F. He showed many photos from the 3 volume set, which covers all aspects of the system at great length!

Rounding out the morning session, Stephen Gandy and Tom (trigger-wind) Abrahamsson gave a short history of the new Voigtlander Bessa. They described how Cosina has reinvented a state-of-the-art rangefinder system with lenses that now rival the best. There was much speculation about a Bessa 'N' with a Nikon RF mount! (If it happens -you'll see it here in these pages first!

After lunch, Bob gave the keynote speech, enlightening the group with his research on the evolution of Nippon Kogaku from a manufacturer of military equipment to cameras after World War II. The early documentation in letters and early invoices for the first cameras shipped to the USA were captivating!

Peter Lownds did a nice job narrating the final program, another superbly beautiful and artistic slide show by our resident genius Tony Hurst, who could not personally attend but was present in spirit! Tony's slides showed the rangefinder literature that Nikon produced throughout the l950s! Thanks Tony.

The afternoon concluded with a two hour white-glove swap meet for all who attended! The selection of items for sale and for show was awesome and everyone had a great time.

Our thanks also to Nance Dedera for her organization of a special tour of Scottsdale on Saturday for those ladies who were not particularly nutty about Nikons (except, perhaps, for their ultimate estate value!)

Festivities concluded with a dinner at the hotel at 7PM that evening where we all had a final chance to spend some quality time with each other on a social level. You see, our conventions are not just a learning experience... we do it for the fun of it!