Have we experienced our last Photokina? The show has been suspended until further notice
- Thread starter Canon Rumors Guy
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I really liked the photokina environment. I visited it maybe 5 times -
for me just traveling 40 km at that time.
I will never forget the situation when a friend of mine - working on the
photokina temporarily - got her hair in the AF gear of a stripped EF lens
demo model.
And we fiddled to separate her from the display model without breaking
the model or sacrificing to much hair! (~1988)
Or eating a chicken steak on the terrace while wild birds gave some interesting
target for AF systems (~2010). While the steak tasted great I always was a
not really relaxe. What if some falcon or eagle wanted to taste a little
bit meat? But maybe they do not their more earth bound buddies.
Sad story that this fair might be over - but maybe a consequence of a market
spinning faster and faster ... to get the news more shiny gear instead of
using the tools as tools.
for me just traveling 40 km at that time.
I will never forget the situation when a friend of mine - working on the
photokina temporarily - got her hair in the AF gear of a stripped EF lens
demo model.
And we fiddled to separate her from the display model without breaking
the model or sacrificing to much hair! (~1988)
Or eating a chicken steak on the terrace while wild birds gave some interesting
target for AF systems (~2010). While the steak tasted great I always was a
not really relaxe. What if some falcon or eagle wanted to taste a little
bit meat? But maybe they do not their more earth bound buddies.
Sad story that this fair might be over - but maybe a consequence of a market
spinning faster and faster ... to get the news more shiny gear instead of
using the tools as tools.
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It is fun and energizing going to a good convention. We are told over and over that things can never go back to normal. Really? Why would that be? Even without the virus, attendance at social gatherings of many types has been going down. We are so obsessed with checking our smartphones and streaming video while waiting for delivered take-out, why bother going out?
I belonged to a good photo club. The members started aging out. They resisted efforts to bring in younger photographers, but I and a few others persisted. And then Covid-19, and they loved Zoom, and decided almost right away even after the virus passes they will remain virtual to save driving evenings. And the club wouldn't have to spend $35 a month for a conference room with projection equipment...I had to quit.
I belonged to a good photo club. The members started aging out. They resisted efforts to bring in younger photographers, but I and a few others persisted. And then Covid-19, and they loved Zoom, and decided almost right away even after the virus passes they will remain virtual to save driving evenings. And the club wouldn't have to spend $35 a month for a conference room with projection equipment...I had to quit.
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Though living in Germany I never found the time to go there.
One additional reason may be because I have worked on fair booths several times before and I found it too stressing on fairs.
But that just me.
Seeing that other fairs are still successful (in times w/o COVID-19) the question is, if it is the concept or the market that isn't working anymore for the photokina.
Seeing the numbers the market for sure is causing trouble. But seeing how many pics and vids are taken today I'd say it also the fair concept that's outdated.
One additional reason may be because I have worked on fair booths several times before and I found it too stressing on fairs.
But that just me.
Seeing that other fairs are still successful (in times w/o COVID-19) the question is, if it is the concept or the market that isn't working anymore for the photokina.
Seeing the numbers the market for sure is causing trouble. But seeing how many pics and vids are taken today I'd say it also the fair concept that's outdated.
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This is not surprising. The large shows here in the US have been crumbling for many years now. The internet has been the root cause of much of it. I went to Photokina back in 1971, I think it was, where Canon introduced the F1 line.
but shrinking sales has made it difficult for companies to afford this. Back in the olde days, it was much cheaper to exhibit at these shows. Costs are gotten out of control though. The pandemic has destroyed much of what we’ve taken for granted.
but shrinking sales has made it difficult for companies to afford this. Back in the olde days, it was much cheaper to exhibit at these shows. Costs are gotten out of control though. The pandemic has destroyed much of what we’ve taken for granted.
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I did a write on this and it's a weird announcement .. and it's .. well, based upon fictional data. I obviously don't run PK, but if you wanted an example about how to kill a trade show, photokina is object lesson #1.
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unfocused
Photos/Photo Book Reviews: www.thecuriouseye.com
I'm surprised that there isn't a business model that could work. With the decline in brick and mortar stores, I would think that a show where consumers could go and actually see cameras and lenses first hand would be sustainable post-pandemic. Tamron used to (maybe they still do) have a traveling show to showcase their lenses, but it was tied to local camera shops, which are all but dead now.
Other hobbies have successfully developed traveling shows that hit major convention centers and draw people from hundreds of miles away. I'd certainly travel to Chicago, St. Louis or Indianapolis if there were a show where Canon, Nikon, Sony, Fuji, Sigma, Tamron, etc., were exhibiting. Possibly needs to be under the auspices of a retailer like Adorama or B&H.
Other hobbies have successfully developed traveling shows that hit major convention centers and draw people from hundreds of miles away. I'd certainly travel to Chicago, St. Louis or Indianapolis if there were a show where Canon, Nikon, Sony, Fuji, Sigma, Tamron, etc., were exhibiting. Possibly needs to be under the auspices of a retailer like Adorama or B&H.
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It might be because photo companies don't want to pay the huge costs preparing for a show like this in a declining market. It's a shame tho.
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About 25 years ago I went to MacWorld Boston. It was a great experience. I met interesting people, saw demos of Be machines and Kai Krause’s presentation on his software. I asked an author whether she had seen this great article in the Washington Post that I had read on the way up. She said it was an edited-down version of a chapter in her book. So I bought the book, and she autographed it. It was also a fun trip otherwise. I looked forward to going to another one. Before I got back, Steve Jobs moved it to NYC and soon closed it down. The West Coast version lasted a little longer.
Those now seem like more innocent distant times.
Those now seem like more innocent distant times.
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My goodness KPT plugins! I'd totally forgotten about that, for it's time a quirky interface, I loved it. Made me rethink about interface design which i was doing a lot of with business software back then. Tbh I was actually more interested in how it worked and interacted with the user than what it actually did!
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For the price of a trip to Germany (flight, hotel, etc) I could just rent the equipment.
I live in a big city, under 500,000 people. There are three big shops that sell photography equipment, three labs (read: sell film, develop, and scan / print, one also specializes in Lomo), a shop that specializes in old used equipment such as FD lenses, a small school that runs photography courses (has a few rooms for classes), etc. The larger metropolitan area has several more shops, e.g. Canon's official importer.
Yes, the 1 hour shops are gone, but Tamron wouldn't have a problem finding a shop to showcase their lenses in.
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You can see it in a different light too. Thousands of visitors come to a stand during the fair. Much more than the potential customers in the big cities.
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Our Metro area is about 600,000 but the last Pro camera shop which began in 1908 has stopped selling cameras totally, They have gradually transitioned to very profitable high end audio Video and high end Kitchen small gadgets and appliances. They are still on the Canon Authorized list but have dropped all the brands.
So, we have big box stores, mainly Best Buy and Costco selling consumer cameras for the most part. We have to buy from Seattle now at Glazers or Kenmore Camera as the closest physical pro Camera store. There is also Robi's Camera Supply near Tacoma. Some of these stores have hard to find products like the EF to RF adapters.
So, we have big box stores, mainly Best Buy and Costco selling consumer cameras for the most part. We have to buy from Seattle now at Glazers or Kenmore Camera as the closest physical pro Camera store. There is also Robi's Camera Supply near Tacoma. Some of these stores have hard to find products like the EF to RF adapters.
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