This shouldn't come as a surprise after the MWC trade show was canceled yesterday, but the CP+ trade show in Yokohama, Japan has been canceled.

From the organizers:

Given there is no effective treatment or containment measures to deal with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), organizers of CP+2020 have decided to cancel the event due to overall concerns, mainly the risk to the health and safety of visitors and exhibitors. The event was originally scheduled to be held over 4 days at PACIFICO Yokohama from February 27.

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34 comments

  1. Sad situation. And at the cost of sounding insensitive to the epidemic, I wish the R5 does not get delayed. I pray all goes smoothly and this gets sorted without further loss of lives.
  2. Sad situation. And at the cost of sounding insensitive to the epidemic, I wish the R5 does not get delayed. I pray all goes smoothly and this gets sorted without further loss of lives.
    I doubt the show is a required step in the process of releasing the camera.
  3. I doubt the show is a required step in the process of releasing the camera.
    Of course not. But if the virus spreads, factories will shut down. I suspect there are lots of factories involved in the production of cameras.
  4. Wow! Appropriate but scary that this virus strain is able to have that large a global impact. I have always said it will be a virus that resets us. Not sure if this is the one but I am glad to see all of Asia taking this serious.
  5. Bird Flu. Pig Flu. MERS. SARS. Now Kung Flu. These specialty strains of flu are just gonna keep happening.
    This one was entirely preventable. It started exactly the same way the SARS outbreak did, but instead of banning "wet markets" back then, they did nothing despite repeated warnings from their own scientists of another impending virus.
  6. This one was entirely preventable. It started exactly the same way the SARS outbreak did, but instead of banning "wet markets" back then, they did nothing despite repeated warnings from their own scientists of another impending virus.

    Interesting. What are "wet markets" and why are they so bad?
  7. Bird Flu. Pig Flu. MERS. SARS. Now Kung Flu. These specialty strains of flu are just gonna keep happening.
    They're officially calling the new one COVID-19 (ie Coronavirus Disease 2019) - probably best to avoid terms that point the finger too much.
  8. I'm taking it that Canon were only going to show the new goodies (behind glass) at this show anyway - there was no indication that they were going to release (for eg) spec sheets?
  9. Bird Flu. Pig Flu. MERS. SARS. Now Kung Flu. These specialty strains of flu are just gonna keep happening.
    COVID-19, MERS, and SARS are not flu strains. Coronaviruses are a different family than influenza viruses.
  10. Interesting. What are "wet markets" and why are they so bad?
    A "wet market" is essentially a street market where raw bushmeat and live wild animals are sold. Animals are collected from the wild and kept in stacked cages, tubs, bins, etc. They will butcher and sell almost anything you can imagine -- Deer, rodents, bats, turtles, frogs, snakes, civets, etc, and many are endangered species.

    This virus, like SARS and many other RNA viruses, originated in local bats. At some point it transitioned from bats to an amplifier species (likely civet) and then crossed to humans. If you look at the attached picture from a Chinese wet market, it's easy to see how viruses can easily cross the species barrier. It is the perfect environment for zoonotic diseases.
  11. The coronavirus is indeed a serious concern. (There have been other strains of virus in the past also very serious and causing many deaths). Just yesterday there were 240 "new" deaths (ie deaths occurring that day) in China - marking the largest death toll from this virus in any 24 hour period (doubling the previous high). Some people may be over-reacting in response, but others are not taking the situation serious enough too. There are now some confirmed cases where people who have been in quite strict isolation for 20 days (i.e. after travelling through an infected area) have developed the virus at the end of, or even after 20 days.

    The Spanish flu in 1918-1920 caused millions of deaths (very difficult to estimate the exact death toll due to so many variables, including detection, confusion and even hiding stats from self/other countries during the end of WW1 / The Great War, due to the psychological impact on own population and other countries).

    I am sad for the people who have died, the many many suffering, and of course those who have lost friends and family to this disease.. as well as some of the consequences, e.g. some racism towards people of Asian appearance or origin.

    What this means for photography - in many ways is not 'hugely meaningful' - but is still significant. There are many electronic components of cameras (and lenses) made in China, and indeed, some assembly of gear is also conducted in China... as well as other parts of the supply chain.
    It has already delayed certain manufacturing processes (of electronic and photographic products).

    I'm not being flippant here, but hopefully the coronavirus situation will stabilise, people will get better soon... and, if its at all possible - the production of photography gear can resume.
    Most importantly, though - is that people can recover, and effective treatment can be administered (and hopefully a vaccine can be developed and administered in a timely fashion too).

    I look forward to seeing / reading / hearing more details of the R5, and ultimately testing it, and deciding if I will buy it in due course.
    But in the meantime, I'm very thankful to be healthy, and I pray for all those affected. And I will take photos and appreciate using / enjoying with my existing gear (with that usually being the 80D and a variety of lenses, and at times the M5 too).

    PJ
  12. Of course not. But if the virus spreads, factories will shut down. I suspect there are lots of factories involved in the production of cameras.
    Yep, its already affected Nintendo and Sony has said it might drop their sensor production for a bit. It might well be the sort of reason we got a development announcement instead of the full release CR had been predicting.
  13. Sad situation. And at the cost of sounding insensitive to the epidemic, I wish the R5 does not get delayed. I pray all goes smoothly and this gets sorted without further loss of lives.
    I will be amazed if all these new camera and lens products don’t get lengthy delays and very constrained supply. With no sign of a cure, currently the only way to control this is containment to stop the virus spreading. That means less people working, travelling and more people staying healthy hopefully.
  14. Bird Flu. Pig Flu. MERS. SARS. Now Kung Flu. These specialty strains of flu are just gonna keep happening.
    As long as China continuously fails to learn the lessons from previous virus outbreaks then yes, these outbreaks will continue to happen. Maybe it’s time a China gave up its taste for exotic meats.

    Scientists have now traced the virus to having originated from the animal pangolin brought to China from Africa.
  15. I will be amazed if all these new camera and lens products don’t get lengthy delays and very constrained supply. With no sign of a cure, currently the only way to control this is containment to stop the virus spreading. That means less people working, travelling and more people staying healthy hopefully.
    Time to re-evaluate and make the most of the equipment we currently have ;-) .
  16. That does not make any sense to me. There are hardly any cases in Japan (28 the last time I checked) and the whole Tokyo metro area will not get much less crowded by cancelling a trade show or even the Olympics. I also did not understand why the MWC was cancelled. At the same time you still have long queues at millions of supermarkets around the world.

    Staying at home does not make you much safer unless you really self-quarantine in your house without any contact to the outside world.

    Personally I would be very angry if the Olympics were cancelled. I had to pay about $400 per night for an 11 square metre hotel room in a (at normal times) very cheap hotel and that money is not refundable. For me that is quite a lot of money. I am not rich and I am so much looking forward to visiting my third Olympics after Beijing 2008 and Rio 2016. I did not make any vacation at all last year, because I had to save all my money for the Olympics.

    Of course I do not want to catch the virus, but I do not see how staying in Germany (where we also have some cases) instead of Japan should save me from catching the virus. Actually if you even live in a dangerous country like the US, staying at home might statistically even be more dangerous than visiting Japan, where crime is almost non-existant. Also inside a plane you are statistically safer than outside a plane. So cancelling flights will cause many deaths.

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