My visit and report on Photokina 2008 Germany

mathan · 09-24-2008, 02:36 PM

Hi Every one
Just came back from Photokina, and already writing some thoughts and info’s about the exhibition. I am just a new bee, so sorry for some mistakes. Well after arriving in Cologne correctly on opening time on the second day I was making my way to find some interesting things and get my hands on some nice dslr’s.
There is so much to say, but I will keep it short.

First about Pentax.
Had the opportunity to hold the new K-m model which is an entry level dslr. The woman in the Pentax booth told me that, it had no weather sealing + no upper lcd. It felt much lighter than a k200d. But otherwise almost same functions.

Olympus: Olympus booth was not that big, but you could check out all their dslr on full test. Today I am 100% convinced that the focus on the Olympus system is the fastest I have ever tested, and I did test a lot of cams today. It was lighting fast, second would be Sony.

Sony and Canon: Well Sony and Canon as the big players had the biggest booth. Canon had the new Full frame 5d II and Sony the Alpha 900. I am sorry for not testing the 5D, but had the chance to shoot with the 1ds Mark III, and this was a machine gun. The Sony Alpha 900 was handling good, and the viewfinder was much better than the Alpha 350, but the cam was not my taste.

Nikon: Nikon had their new D90. This cam was really good built. Looked almost same as the D80 + that nice HDMI output. Had fun playing with it. I also made some shots with Nikon’s D3. Did I say the that it’s viewfinder was so big, I thought I was looking out of a window.

Sigma and Tamron: These lens manufacturers were also playing big roles. Noticed that Sigma hat their new modified 18-270mm super zoom and 10-24 wide angle. Just added some extra mm, comparing to the current models. The 18-270mm looked also much bigger than the 18-250 and 18-200 which almost look alike.

Samsung: Samsung was not that good according to my opinion. They just had some lcds, eneloops and 2 20GX. But the did have plenty of compacts. The Samsung dslr felt 95% like a Pentax.

Adobe: Adobe had also a big booth. They did plenty of superb tutorials on Lightroom 2.0 and the new upcoming Photoshop CS4. The guy explained that after talking to lot of photographers, they made the workflow on CS4 much easier now. No more menu searching. Anyway Lightroom 2.0 was so sweet.

There were also lots of Chinese companies. Some had nice products, like camera bags etc, but most of them were poor made.

Conclusion: For me clear winner was Pentax and Olympus, because Pentax had the best booth and did even more advertisement than Canon and Sony. So don’t worry that Pentax will go bankrupt ;-) Loved it. Olympus did the best job letting use all their models in front of a yellow jeep with sand (pict. On flickr). Really was nice spending some time there.

Sorry for some grammar mistakes (never talk English in Germany)
Also created my new flickr account with pics of the Photokina incl. Pentax k-m, and lots more. So please visit. (Photos were just shot with a Canon Compact)

Flickr: Mathan.K's Photostream

Flickr: Mathan.K's Photostream

Just post if you have any questions.
Thankyou for your time.
Mathan

paolojackson · 09-24-2008, 02:53 PM

Wow looks like a great time. Thanks for sharing. The "sandproof" display is awesome.

dosdan · 09-24-2008, 03:33 PM

Thanks for the report, Mathan. Your grammar is very good. What was the handling like on the Olympus & what did you think of its viewfinder?

Dan.

mathan · 09-24-2008, 03:37 PM

Hi Dan

Viewfinder on the E 520 felt like a K200d. But much bigger and brighter on a E3. No upper lcd on the Olympus but much faster Autofocus.

*PFH* · 09-24-2008, 03:37 PM

Interesting reading, thanks for sharing.

opiedog · 09-24-2008, 04:06 PM

mathan,

hi. did you get the chance to handle the new Km ? what do you think of it's AF ?

tnx
jordan

Kunzite · 09-24-2008, 04:31 PM

Too bad I didn't managed to meet any of you, besides carpediem007. Probably we passed next to each other few times, a "club badge" should be mandatory at the next edition

I'll throw in my 2 eurocents:
- Pentax booth was not that good, IMO. Yes, you can see and play with their products, including the 60-250mm f/4 (but not the 55mm) and the ring flash. You can see the K20D in the "desert" or "jungle", and the worst kitsch ever, you should know what I'm talking about. But that's all.
Other brands will use professionals to make workshops, and even building an artificial scene you can use to test the cameras. Hopefully next time they'll have more space, and more interesting stuff.
However, you could see the Pentax bags all over Photokina. Let's say that's good enough... for now.
- I'm not impressed by the AF or lower end (i.e. not E3) Olympus cameras. In fact I could not find anything interesting from Olympus (except for mockups of the new micro4/3 camera and the lower-than-E3-but-still-good-enough DSLR).
- With 800 euro you can buy a nice A3 printer who can make good-looking black&white prints.

mathan · 09-24-2008, 06:06 PM

@ Kunzite
I aggree with you, that you couldn't test all the gadgets in a high manner like Olympus or Sony, but I still had a good chance taking a look at the models I liked. You could feel free to use. For me the AF on Olympus felt fast even on the E 520. Still I like Pentax, because of their better lens models, upper lcd etc.
Did you notice, that the Nikon booth was the poorest. You had to wait in line, to get a glimpse.

@ opiedog

Thus Iam new to Dslr didn't feel any difference on AF using a 18-55 on the K-M. A Pro would have. K-m only got 5 AF Points.
Anyway the K-m is like a stripped down K200d with no weaher sealing, no upper lcd and bit lighter. Range goes to ISO 3200 + 3,5fps still only 4Raw's. Thats almost like the K200d's 2,8 fps.
Really aimed at the rookies. A match for Nikons D60

*k100d* · 09-24-2008, 06:53 PM

thanks for the report mathan!
wish i could go to a photokina

*nupentaxian* · 09-24-2008, 09:31 PM

nice coverage...Looking at your shots, i think im in love...w/ Samsung's model

BrendanPK · 09-25-2008, 12:06 PM

Was that a Silver lens next to the A900???
And who said silver lenses dont look good.
I never was a big fan of silver bodies, but lenses, I love them

*k100d* · 09-25-2008, 01:34 PM

prolly the 70-400G

JCSullivan · 09-29-2008, 12:36 PM

@Kunzite and Mathan

With tongue firmly in cheek - where you guyz at the same exhibition!

*Blue* · 09-29-2008, 01:11 PM

Originally Posted by mathan

Hi Every one

Conclusion: For me clear winner was Pentax and Olympus, because Pentax had the best booth and did even more advertisement than Canon and Sony. So don’t worry that Pentax will go bankrupt ;-) Loved it. Olympus did the best job letting use all their models in front of a yellow jeep with sand (pict. On flickr). Really was nice spending some time there.

O.K. That's not a Jeep. Its a vintage Toyota Land Cruiser. That's sort of like calling a Pentax a Fujica.