Photokina 2014

Photokina

For the seasoned photographers and photo-technophiles amongst you, Photokina needs no introduction and it's a biennial, must-do pilgrimage with the added lure of Brätwurst and beer.

For those new to photography or non-techies, it's a global trade fair for the photographic industry attracting thousands of exhibitors and many hundreds of thousand visitors, all keen to market or get their hands on (or at least a look at) the latest advancements in imaging technology.

For me personally, it's all of the above plus an enjoyable reunion with friends.

The past

The 2010 Photokina was my first visit - very exciting!
The 2012 event was not as exciting for me, as I looked towards mirrorless (or compact system cameras) and away from DSLRs. The only real excitements from 2012 were the Sony RX1 and the Fujifilm X100s.

2014

For 2014 my interest in DSLRs (or more truthfully in lenses) was reignited by the recent purchase of a Nikon Df and my overall interest in imagery was rebalanced with an open-minded enthusiasm for all technologies.
2014 - whilst still a tough year for my personal, photographic productivity - was a year where I was able to re-engage with the right tool to take more photos.

Although in my mind I was set to go to Photokina 2014 from the day that the 2012 event ended, it wasn't until a few weeks prior to the show that I booked tickets. Unfortunately the weekend clashed with a pre-booked trip to Barcelona with the family and I almost decided not to go!

I was also suffering from a recurrence of back pain and hadn't really given too much thought into what I would like to see or what I looked forward to at the show.

For this trip, Cristian would join us in Germany as he was already there. Unfortunately Björn was already on the other side of the globe and had never planned to attend. Martin has just recently returned to the UK and is occupied. So it was to be Tom and me.

Day 0

We arrived in the evening on Friday (slightly later than usual as we ended up taking the wrong train to Duisberg instead of Cologne) and met up with Cristian to have a few beers and enjoy some food at the Brauhaus Sion.
Here, Tom acquired his M->NEX Novoflex converter and was finally able to attach his Pentax 43mm f/1.9 lens onto his new Sony Alpha A7s.

Following dinner, we had a short stroll and a low light shootout between the A7s and the Df!
Also see this page, explaining why I like the Df ;-)

Tom with his new Sony Alpha A7s, Novoflex adaptor and Pentax 43mm f/1.9 lens
Nikon Df, 50mm, f/1.8, 1/50s, ISO1800
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Low light shootout!
Nikon Df, 50mm, f/1.8, 1/50s, ISO10000
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Day 1

Up relatively early on Saturday morning, Tom and I headed for Photokina on a roundabout route, grabbing breakfast and takeaway lunch at a nice, local cafe in the old town.

We met up with Cristian and Tohru (from Pentax/Ricoh) and mostly wandered around the larger exhibitors. The highlight of the day for me (and to a similar extent everyone else) was the Panasonic GM5.
It is tiny, has an EVF (if somewhat dark and small), touchscreen and MFT quality.
If it weren't for the fact that I had recently acquired the Df and the added concern that if I were to purchase a GM5 I might not use the Df as much, the GM5 would be next on my shopping list.
Who doesn't want a camera that's smaller (width and height but not depth) than the current or previous Ricoh GR, that is an interchangeable lens system with a large sensor?
The Micro Four Thirds family also has a large selection of high quality lenses to choose from.
For anyone with spare cash for a backup system or even as a primary system I would look at this camera very closely.
In fact my blogging friend Björn probably saw these attributes a while ago and has its predecessor the GM1. I (perhaps foolishly) overlooked the GM1 as it has no EVF.

I also want to add that the Panasonic staff were very friendly and enthusiastic and my favourite bunch during the show.

The palm-sized Panasonic GM5 with kit 12-32mm lens
iPhone

Panasonic GM5 with Leica 15mm f/1.7 prime lens (also to be sold as a kit, apparently). With optional grip attached.
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Panasonic GM5 back, showing the built-in EVF
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With kit flash, sitting next to the Nikon Df for a size comparison. No contest!
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With the 42.5 (ie full frame 85mm equiv) f/1.2 Leica lens and lens hood. The combination was a bit unwieldy but the focus was fast and the bokeh was very pleasant.
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We also briefly looked at the Sony QX1.
It's an interesting "camera" and if you take a step back, not vastly different to the Ricoh GXR, in concept. The "body" is just the sensor, lenses can be swapped and retained and the qualities of the LCD depend on the phone used to link to it via NFC/WiFi.
If I was into astrophotography or photomicrography, I might be quite interested, as I could imagine a light-weight, mount/sensor combination and a wireless LCD to be quite useful in those situations. As for day-to-day photography it would become another gadget that I need to charge. Additionally I would need to keep the phone and QX1 module charge synchronised, otherwise I end up with a camera with no screen or a screen with no camera.
It seems to be popular in Japan and I even saw one recently in Barcelona...but other than being a curious gadget I don't see it being popular with mainstream photo hobbyists.

Cristian and Tohru inspecting the QX1 APS-C interchangeable lens module
Nikon Df, 50mm, f/2.8, 1/50s, ISO250
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The group of 4 experienced the usual "concertina effect" of Photokina, separating and joining at various points.
One of the gadgets that Tom didn't get to see was the Western Digital My Passport Wireless drive.
Just as cameras are starting to acquire more advanced wireless abilities, other peripherals seem to be making similar advances.
One painpoint that I experience is wired external storage. Although I'm slightly more disciplined about backups now, I find that the wired backup strategy doesn't entice me to backup my photos (or anything else) with sufficient frequency. I've looked at NAS solutions in the past but have stayed away, as they can be large, expensive and slow.
I also wasn't that keen on a device that I could only use at home and not during travels.
The WD My Passport Wireless is a step closer to what I'm looking for. A high capacity, portable, wireless storage device that I can backup to (or restore from) without being tangled up in wires.
The only advancement that I really look forward to is SSD - to give me higher assurances that mechanical failure won't lose my photo library.


I also made a solo foray to the Sigma lens stand (whilst Cristian and Tohru looked at the Sigma DP Quattro). I won't repeat their (or my) opinions about that camera here but from users and ex-users of Ricoh cameras, we're used to good ergonomics and performance.
Back to the lens. The optic that has interested me even since the last Photokina is the Sigma 180mm f/2.8 macro lens.
I used to own the Nikon 60mm f/2.8 micro...but found the working distance far too short.
For beauty photography (makeup closeups) and insect photography I always wanted a longer lens. The Sigma 180mm is the lens for me but I'm still hung up over the price (which is well-justified) and the amount of use it would get, being a specialist lens and not a day-to-day one.
As a bonus the lens can be used for telephoto duties too. It has 3-way focus selector (for macro, medium and long work) and a tripod collar.

Here's one sample I took using my Df. The watch belonged to one of the Sigma employees who kindly posed his wristwatch for me.

Closeup of Sigma employee's Seiko wristwatch using a Sigma 180mm f/2.8 macro lens
Nikon Df, Sigma 180mm, f/4.2, 1/200s, ISO250

Cristian also borrowed/hired a Fujifilm XT-1 all day.
The XT-1 brought back memories of what happened in between the 2012 and 2014 Photokinas. I bought and sold the X100s and lost $$$, much like Tom did between 2010 and 2012 with the X100!
The specs and body are nice (on paper) but somehow the LCD is a bit "flickery", the focus is hesitant and it has the Fujifilm behaviour that made me sell the X100s.
It's a shame because I want to like the Fujifilm cameras but we simply don't get on.


Day 2
Day 2 was slight less casual and had a slightly more desperate last-day-of-Photokina feel to it.
We revisited the Panasonic stall as well as the Sony booths and some of the smaller, accessory retailers.
The Sony booth wasn't as exciting as last year's (no RX2!), although it was bright and buzzing (as before). Some of the more traditional companies (Leica, Nikon and especially Canon) seem to have slightly darker areas or sections with a lot of colour, making lenses and equipment harder to inspect.


Tom and I also tried bags, straps and other gadgets.

Aside from acquiring a newer, thinner Black Rapid Metro strap (to replace my current Artisan and Artist Easy Slider and ageing Black Rapid RS-3), Tom and I each bought a GoWing lens holder.

Without knowing exactly what I wanted, this is what I've needed - a third hand! It's basically a strap attached to a device that can hold 2 lenses, back-to-back. When you want to change lenses, you simply detach the current lens from your camera, attach it to the lens holder, detach the second lens from the lens holder and attach it to the camera. No rear lens caps involved, no finding a flat, clean, steady surface, no putting anything down. Watch the video in the link above to get a better idea.
Simple and genius...I had thought about similar devices in the past but never quite got this far. Currently they have Nikon, Canon, Sony A and E mounts. No M mount, unfortunately, perhaps.
I bought a Nikon mount (of course) and Tom bought an E mount holder, planning to use it with further M->NEX adaptors.
As an added bonus (at least in my mind) it means that you can carry 2 (not-so-large) lenses in the bag in the same compartment where you could previously only carry 1. Because they attach back-to-back, you don't need to worry about the lenses bumping into each other during transport.
They were looking for distributors at this year's show. I hope they do well.


Day X (day 1 and day 2)
Not really worth too much of a mention but I/we also visited many other stalls during both days, including Nikon.

I had hoped to try the Nikon 58mm f/1.4 on my Df but they wouldn't allow lenses to be tried on personal cameras. The one I tried happened to be on a D4s and it was very nice, although I reached the conclusion a while ago that the 58mm was too long for me for a "standard" lens.
I also wanted to try the Nikon 50mm f/1.2 AI-S lens but the staff didn't seem to know that it existed or that it was still currently in production. I wish staff at events and in shops knew more about what they were selling or at least showed some interest in wanting to find out. Again kudos to the Panasonic staff who asked around for information they didn't have. The Nikon staff flatly refused to acknowledge existence of the 50 f/1.2.

We passed through the Canon stalls but being a Nikon user on top of Canon not announcing anything of particular interest (ie brand switchers), they could have not been present and it wouldn't have made a difference.

Zeiss was interesting to Tom, who seemed to be keen on their Loxia lenses. I was slightly curious about their Otus line but at several thousand pounds/euros/dollars per lens (3 to 4) it's out of reach for all but the keenest of photographers. Add to this, they are manual focus on cameras with no focus peaking.

The Samsung section was quite impressive, despite my continued lack of real interest in their cameras. Some of the more established manufacturers had better watch out. Whilst Samsung may be a relative NKOB (new kid on the block), they're learning fast and their latest NX1 is spec'd up to the hilt. I played around with it briefly and it has everything you might want: WiFi, tilting, touch-screen LCD, bright EVF, weather sealing...the kitchen sink.
However it feels like too much like a gadget and not like a camera to me. I don't know why that is.

Leica was as niche as usual, charging more for an LCD-less, digital rangefinder (the Leica M Edition 60). We tried some of the other crop sensor Leicas too, including the T and various others that I can't easily remember. As exotic as they are, they are simply out of my price range and not flexible enough for what I want to do (day-to-day, street, studio, macro).


Conclusion
This was an interesting Photokina, for me.
Whilst I'm interested in switching from DSLR to a CSC, I don't see anything tempting yet.
The Panasonic GM5 is the most interesting camera this time around and despite the sensor size, Micro Four Thirds is still very tempting as it seems to have fulfilled its initial promise of high quality in a small package.

Ultimately each of us four photographers use different equipment. Tohru is bound by his Ricoh/Pentax loyalties (and we sort of expected him to show with a Pentax 645Z attached by wrist loop) and uses the excellent Ricoh GR. Cristian also uses the Ricoh GR, NEX 3 (replacing his stolen GXR) and will soon have a GXR and M mount to use again. Tom now uses the A7s. Martin and Bjorn both use the RX1 and A7R, with Bjorn also using the GM1.
It's a great time for photographers with some excellent tools out there.

Bring on Photokina 2016 but in the meantime, happy shooting!



A small selection of other photos taken over the weekend...

Coloured lights
Nikon Df, 50mm, f/1.8, 1/50s, ISO900
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Waving hello, on the Segway tour
Nikon Df, 50mm, f/2.0, 1/1600s, ISO100
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Way too much for way too long
Nikon Df, 50mm, f/2.0, 1/1250s, ISO100
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A Samsung girl
Nikon Df, 50mm, f/1.8, 1/320s, ISO100
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Giving instructions on how to pose
Nikon Df, 50mm, f/1.8, 1/50s, ISO280
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Good buddies
Nikon Df, 24mm, f/1.4, 1/60s, ISO1800
RAW conversion to jpeg, white balance corrected

Me, holding Tom's A7s
Nikon Df, 50mm, f/1.8, 1/50s, ISO7200
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One the Rheinauhalbinsel, on the way towards the Chocolate Museum
Nikon Df, 50mm, f/1.8, 1/50s, ISO3600
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On the same bridge, different perspective
Nikon Df, 50mm, f/1.8, 1/50s, ISO2500
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Late night party and disco
Nikon Df, 50mm, f/1.8, 1/50s, ISO8000
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