Photography show march 26
Discussion
Went at the weekend, took my lad who's getting into photography. And we were both pretty disappointed - arrived when it opened, left by 3pm and we'd been clutching at straws to get that far. 2 years ago I was there until the end and still didn't get around everything.
- Stand-wise, there were a lot more offering 'photography tours' (at what appeared to me to be a massive premium over the equivalent non-photography tour), and a lot fewer offering interesting bits of supplementary kit, or with show discounts.
- OEM-wise, everyone is now wholly-invested in mirrorless architecture. I don't want to start the debate here, but D-SLRs are dead and if you've got one still they don't want to know you until you "upgrade" to a (very expensive*) mirrorless camera.
- WEx / LCE had piss-poor second hand content - 90+% of their visible stands and apparently all the stock out the back was new kit. 2 years ago there was a lot more 2nd hand stuff for sale.
...but the kicker was the talks. 2 years ago I took away quite a lot of useful information - about composition, about ways to think/look, about software. This year the talks (with few exceptions) fell into two categories:-
- Old (& a few younger) photographers rambling on, Grandpa Simpson style, about their careers without providing any insight into how they take photos / compose / etc., how they made their breaks into pro, or provide any useful suggestions to us budding amateurs. It all felt aimed at 'groupies' rather than at people who might want to follow them up or at the very least try to learn from the experts.
- Retailers showing us all the great things we can do "if you buy our expensive kit".
* I had a debate about a problem I'm having with my R7 (which was MARKETED as an action camera and perfect for sports, wildlife etc), where the Canon tech told me that it was effectively a budget camera and the software in it was too slow for what I wanted to do with it, which was lock-onto the targets (those it was sold as being able to track) in less than a second because I keep missing shots because the software spends ages arguing with itself about what I want to photograph. Canon tech completely contradicting Canon marketing department I guess is nothing new but it's still galling to find the company dropping a shoulder and saying "you should have spent more money with us".
- Stand-wise, there were a lot more offering 'photography tours' (at what appeared to me to be a massive premium over the equivalent non-photography tour), and a lot fewer offering interesting bits of supplementary kit, or with show discounts.
- OEM-wise, everyone is now wholly-invested in mirrorless architecture. I don't want to start the debate here, but D-SLRs are dead and if you've got one still they don't want to know you until you "upgrade" to a (very expensive*) mirrorless camera.
- WEx / LCE had piss-poor second hand content - 90+% of their visible stands and apparently all the stock out the back was new kit. 2 years ago there was a lot more 2nd hand stuff for sale.
...but the kicker was the talks. 2 years ago I took away quite a lot of useful information - about composition, about ways to think/look, about software. This year the talks (with few exceptions) fell into two categories:-
- Old (& a few younger) photographers rambling on, Grandpa Simpson style, about their careers without providing any insight into how they take photos / compose / etc., how they made their breaks into pro, or provide any useful suggestions to us budding amateurs. It all felt aimed at 'groupies' rather than at people who might want to follow them up or at the very least try to learn from the experts.
- Retailers showing us all the great things we can do "if you buy our expensive kit".
* I had a debate about a problem I'm having with my R7 (which was MARKETED as an action camera and perfect for sports, wildlife etc), where the Canon tech told me that it was effectively a budget camera and the software in it was too slow for what I wanted to do with it, which was lock-onto the targets (those it was sold as being able to track) in less than a second because I keep missing shots because the software spends ages arguing with itself about what I want to photograph. Canon tech completely contradicting Canon marketing department I guess is nothing new but it's still galling to find the company dropping a shoulder and saying "you should have spent more money with us".
kestral said:
Phone cameras are killing the big camera photography game.
Soon there will be a big pile of big cameras that have become usless other than as a paper weight.
I'd have thought that phones would have hit little cameras, not big ones. Big ones can still do things phones can't.Soon there will be a big pile of big cameras that have become usless other than as a paper weight.
I think that's a load of bull too.
The best phone camera will still be limited by optics. Software / AI will increasingly be able to 'fake it' pretty well, but that only matters if you're the sort of person who's happy for AI to fake the success you can't. I suspect most people who own DSLRs, mirrorless or even 4/3rds aren't that sort of person...they're the sort of person who takes pride in doing something well for themselves - just like the people who'll spend ages at home crafting a home-cooked meal rather than buy a premium ready-meal from the supermarket, only with more money and less sense!
What WILL hit the market is if prices keep rising well ahead of wage inflation. The second hand market already appears to be firming up, both for the last of the D-SLRs and for the better mirrorless bodies.
In that regard it feels rather like the car market - lots of new tech that a lot of buyers don't NEED*, lots of software that's allegedly much better but in the consumer-level implementations is still buggy or slow, and the products have a shorter battery-life and are likely to have a shorter shelf-life**, but tough-luck - consumers can now only buy the expensive new tech not the more proven older tech.
* More than one pro at the show said "there isn't a bad camera out there", and IMHO that applies to pretty much anything from the last 8-10 years.
** What's the lifespan of an always-on mirrorless sensor vs an on-demand D-SLR sensor? And yes, I know it's often the shutter mechanism that fails first.
The best phone camera will still be limited by optics. Software / AI will increasingly be able to 'fake it' pretty well, but that only matters if you're the sort of person who's happy for AI to fake the success you can't. I suspect most people who own DSLRs, mirrorless or even 4/3rds aren't that sort of person...they're the sort of person who takes pride in doing something well for themselves - just like the people who'll spend ages at home crafting a home-cooked meal rather than buy a premium ready-meal from the supermarket, only with more money and less sense!
What WILL hit the market is if prices keep rising well ahead of wage inflation. The second hand market already appears to be firming up, both for the last of the D-SLRs and for the better mirrorless bodies.
In that regard it feels rather like the car market - lots of new tech that a lot of buyers don't NEED*, lots of software that's allegedly much better but in the consumer-level implementations is still buggy or slow, and the products have a shorter battery-life and are likely to have a shorter shelf-life**, but tough-luck - consumers can now only buy the expensive new tech not the more proven older tech.
* More than one pro at the show said "there isn't a bad camera out there", and IMHO that applies to pretty much anything from the last 8-10 years.
** What's the lifespan of an always-on mirrorless sensor vs an on-demand D-SLR sensor? And yes, I know it's often the shutter mechanism that fails first.
Camera sales are up from the slump since 2020. Compact camera sales are up. I seem to remember a report that it was by 30%. Micro four thirds cameras were up by a greater amount than other digital cameras. Second hand prices are hardening.
In other words, 'proper' cameras are not dead yet. However, there are a precious few manufacturers, which is always bad as limited choice kills enthusiasts, and we've had little this year: a weird looking video-like camera and a near £5,000 Leica. That's more or less it. Lots of lenses and accessories. Surely accessories must be the boom bit of photography. My local camera shop's backpack area is like baggage reclaim at Gatwick.
The high quality of cameras is hurting the business. I have a 15-year-old Panasonic GH2 that I would still use had I not loaned it to a granddaughter for her GCSE. My G9's shutter-count must be getting near a record, and my G9ii takes most of the pressure off it. Why change them? The GH2's 16mp sensor is good enough for A1 prints and would stretch to A0 with a bit of post. The video is lacking a bit now, despite it being mainly a video camera, but no one would notice the difference on YouTube. Why should I buy another body? I like the Olympus series, but they offer me nothing I haven't already got more than sufficient of.
I can get 100mp images from my G9ii, and they're great fun. Practically useless for me, thankfully, as I'm running tight on storage. What more do I need?
In other words, 'proper' cameras are not dead yet. However, there are a precious few manufacturers, which is always bad as limited choice kills enthusiasts, and we've had little this year: a weird looking video-like camera and a near £5,000 Leica. That's more or less it. Lots of lenses and accessories. Surely accessories must be the boom bit of photography. My local camera shop's backpack area is like baggage reclaim at Gatwick.
The high quality of cameras is hurting the business. I have a 15-year-old Panasonic GH2 that I would still use had I not loaned it to a granddaughter for her GCSE. My G9's shutter-count must be getting near a record, and my G9ii takes most of the pressure off it. Why change them? The GH2's 16mp sensor is good enough for A1 prints and would stretch to A0 with a bit of post. The video is lacking a bit now, despite it being mainly a video camera, but no one would notice the difference on YouTube. Why should I buy another body? I like the Olympus series, but they offer me nothing I haven't already got more than sufficient of.
I can get 100mp images from my G9ii, and they're great fun. Practically useless for me, thankfully, as I'm running tight on storage. What more do I need?
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