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Photokina Coverage, September 23-28, 2008
By Jason Heller, September 24, 2008 @ 04:00 AM (EST)
by Sharon Rainis, Fantasea Line
A few words about Photokina
Every two years some 160,000 visitors from 140 countries attend Photokina to fact-find the entire range of products and services in modern image communication. Dealers, professional end-users and private enthusiasts, as well as opinion leaders, take advantage of this unique communication platform to discover the latest products and trends.
This year is the 13th Photokina show, while the first one was held in 1950.
With its approximately 1,600 exhibitors from all over the world and clear focus, Photokina is the world’s only trade fair where the entire spectrum of the photo and imaging market is presented - for consumers, specialist users, and professionals, and from image capturing to image output.
Considering the fact that around 325 million digital cameras, 60 million camcorders, and 1.59 bil¬lion camera phones are supposedly in use by consumers around the world, the extraordinary size of this show is not surprising. The presence of 6,000 accredited journalists from 68 countries also documents how important Photokina is as the international pilot fair for imaging.
A few words about Photokina
Every two years some 160,000 visitors from 140 countries attend Photokina to fact-find the entire range of products and services in modern image communication. Dealers, professional end-users and private enthusiasts, as well as opinion leaders, take advantage of this unique communication platform to discover the latest products and trends.
This year is the 13th Photokina show, while the first one was held in 1950.
With its approximately 1,600 exhibitors from all over the world and clear focus, Photokina is the world’s only trade fair where the entire spectrum of the photo and imaging market is presented - for consumers, specialist users, and professionals, and from image capturing to image output.
This year’s show is a special one for all underwater photographers and underwater photography manufacturers. Visitors to the 2008 Photokina Show will be treated to the first-ever “Underwater Imaging World at Photokina”. Covering more than 250 sq. meters, the experience-oriented event in Hall 5.1 showcases the fascinating world of underwater photography. In cooperation with the partner organizations ColorFoto and Taucher.Net, first-time exhibitors from the underwater photography sector and established companies from the photography and imaging industry are showing underwater photography enthusiasts and those interested in learning, how they can shoot good images underwater.
September 22nd, Day Zero
Like all other exhibitors on the Photokina Show, underwater imaging exhibitors arrived a day before the show began to establish and design their booths. This was also a great opportunity for all key players in this domain who haven’t met each other since the last diving or photography exhibition, to get together again, to mingle and to catch up. For some of us it was the first time to reveal the face behind the name of well known colleagues.
A very well designed booth was established by Sealife, who prepared ahead a poster as large as the wall behind the booth. Electronic frames were placed around the display, as well as Sealife’s housings and accessory products.
September 23rd, Day One
They say that the first day of the show is always the slowest one, and so it was. Some of us expected some hectic traffic, and instead, we found ourselves in quite a relaxed day, which eventually turned out to be a good thing, as we were given the opportunity to invest more time and energies in those visitors that approached our booths. Some of the visitors were photo dealers and some were consumers, all of them driven by a tremendous thirst for new products and technologies. Following the advice of a Taucher.net representative, which was an inevitable part of planning the underwater imaging world, exhibitors should not get used to this phase, as tomorrow things will look a little differently, as a lot of traffic is expected at the show.
Day 2, Setpember 24th
As predicted by the event managers, the second day of the Photokina show was much busier than the first one. Many consumers as well as photo dealers attended the show today, and all halls on the show’s floor, no matter how distant they are from the main entrances, were all pretty crowded.
The Underwater Imaging World was busy as well today, and many visitors attended the different underwater photography booths. The events stage, which is located at the middle of this section, hosted a few events which attracted even more traffic to this section. Many photographers and underwater photo exhibitors were interviewed on the stage, while fascinating underwater images and videos were projected on a large screen.
As promised by Dennis Wilson, visitors also got the chance to win free underwater photo equipment by diving into the aquarium that was filled with water and placed near the stage. During the afternoon, our events host officially declared that any underwater cameras that are thrown into the aquarium can be retrieved and then kept by visitors who volunteer to get a little wet. Volunteers were asked to enter the dressing room and put on a wetsuit and were then sent to the aquarium. However, after retrieving their free gift from the bottom of the aquarium, they discovered that they were still far from completing their diving career. Press photographers who documented the event made these lucky visitors dive over and over again and did not allow them to exit the aquarium till they managed to hold their breath long enough for the photographers to capture the perfect image. This way or another, the new diver eventually walked out with a new private underwater camera!
As predicted by the event managers, the second day of the Photokina show was much busier than the first one. Many consumers as well as photo dealers attended the show today, and all halls on the show’s floor, no matter how distant they are from the main entrances, were all pretty crowded.
Someone forgot to help this poor guy out by defogging his mask!
The Underwater Imaging World was busy as well today, and many visitors attended the different underwater photography booths. The events stage, which is located at the middle of this section, hosted a few events which attracted even more traffic to this section. Many photographers and underwater photo exhibitors were interviewed on the stage, while fascinating underwater images and videos were projected on a large screen.
As promised by Dennis Wilson, visitors also got the chance to win free underwater photo equipment by diving into the aquarium that was filled with water and placed near the stage. During the afternoon, our events host officially declared that any underwater cameras that are thrown into the aquarium can be retrieved and then kept by visitors who volunteer to get a little wet. Volunteers were asked to enter the dressing room and put on a wetsuit and were then sent to the aquarium. However, after retrieving their free gift from the bottom of the aquarium, they discovered that they were still far from completing their diving career. Press photographers who documented the event made these lucky visitors dive over and over again and did not allow them to exit the aquarium till they managed to hold their breath long enough for the photographers to capture the perfect image. This way or another, the new diver eventually walked out with a new private underwater camera!
Visiting the Nikon Booth
Well, it’s hard to call it the "Nikon booth”, and it would be probably more proper to call it the “Nikon arena”. This Nikon section included many stands, displaying different Nikon products and also offering visitors the opportunity to test the new products themselves. Unsurprisingly, this section was so busy that you practically had to stand in line in order to put your hands on any of the new cameras.
At the entrance of this arena, Nikon established a fashion studio in which visitors were shown how Nikon professional products can be used to capture fascinating fashion shots. A sexy model was brought in for this, and the photographs taken by the professionals were displayed on a wide screen that was placed on top of this stand.
Shot taken with the new Nikon D90
Another camera showcased was the Nikon D700 DSLR, the full frame little brother to the D3. It shares the 12.1 MP full frame sensor and has the same processing engine. However, the D700 camera’s shutter release is good for 150,000 exposures, while the D3 camera’s shutter release is good for 300,000 exposures. Another difference between the two cameras is the viewfinder prism and the slower burst rate on the D700 camera.
Nikon also proudly displayed it’s Coolpix P6000 camera which features a 13.5 megapixel CCD, 4x wide-angle zoom lens (28-112mm equiv.) with optical stabilization and a hot-shoe connection for an external flash. The rumor is that this is going to be Nikon’s next star compact digital camera. Did I mention that Fantasea already has a housing for this camera?!
Some news from Fantasea Line
Fantasea Line showcased for the first time their new underwater flash, which was specially designed for compact digital housings and hasn’t been given a name yet. The flash features four different pre-flash settings, to cover the needs of all compact digital cameras in the market, including Nikon, Canon, Sony, Olympus, Fuji, Kodak, Panasonic and more. It features a guide number of 20, and therefore is compatible for both macro and wide angle shots.
Beyond the "X-Flash", Fantasea continued to showcase their new generation housings, and were especially proud to display their FP-6000 Housing for the new Nikon Coolpix P6000 camera, which hasn’t even hit the market yet.
Fantasea also added a new macro lens to their product line, which features a 55 and 46mm thread. This lens is an aspherical one, which means that super sharp images can be taken with this lens. It is also made of plastic, and is therefore considered to be more durable.
Fantasea also added a new macro lens to their product line, which features a 55 and 46mm thread. This lens is an aspherical one, which means that super sharp images can be taken with this lens. It is also made of plastic, and is therefore considered to be more durable.
Tomorrow I plan to visit the Canon section and find out what hot-from-the-oven products they are showcasing this year. Considering the amount of visitors I had to struggle with on the Nikon arena today, perhaps I should spend my time this evening by doing something efficient like making myself an armored coat!
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Tobi Bernard
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Tobi Bernard is originally from Germany where he trained and worked as a graphic designer. He migrated to New Zealand in 1991 where he merged his passion for the underwater world with his creative interest through underwater...
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