Product test
The new Nikon Z camera system arrives at the end of September
by David Lee
Photokina 18 - a not too boring preview
25.9.2018
Translation: machine translated
I'm off to the Photokina in Cologne. But why actually? What can we expect there?
This week, the Photokina is taking place in Cologne. It is the largest trade fair of its kind, and until now manufacturers have partially aligned their product cycle with the rhythm of Photokina. However, things are currently changing. Previously, the trade fair took place every two years in September. This year will be the last time. The next Photokina will be held in May 2019 and from then on annually. It is not yet entirely clear what impact this will have on the character and significance of the trade fair.
New products already partly known
In general, the significance of tech trade fairs has changed somewhat in the internet age: Whereas in the past, the focus was clearly on products, today it is more on networking.
Many manufacturers deliberately do not announce their important products at the start of the trade fair, as they fear that they will receive too little attention in the general stream of new products. If they launch the products at a different time, they have the full attention of the industry. What's more, secrecy usually doesn't work either.
This is why we were able to report on various new products before Photokina:
Rumours from the rumour mill
Sony has already launched important new products earlier this year: The Sony A7 III and the RX100 VI. Video producer Manuel Wenk, who will be accompanying me at Photokina, still has the faint hope that the A7S III is in the starting blocks. But we will probably have to make do with new lenses.
Mirrorless systems are the biggest topic in digital photography at the moment. The pioneers in this field, Olympus and Panasonic, will also have something in store at Photokina. There may even be another mirrorless full-frame system. Fujifilm could also launch or at least announce a new medium format camera. Maybe even two. There have long been rumours of a more affordable model (although the GFX 50S is already affordable by medium format standards) and a resolution monster with 100 megapixels.
Check out, try out and ask questions
You hear enough from the big manufacturers all year round. However, a trade fair like this is also an opportunity to discover the unknown and exotic. I've missed that a bit recently; a few years ago, manufacturers were more willing to experiment. I remember a 3D compact camera from Fujifilm, a compact camera with an integrated projector (Nikon Coolpix S1000pj) or compact cameras with tiny interchangeable lenses (Pentax Q). Even the Lytro, which I tried out years ago, no longer exists. Not even the company still exists. My impression is that the time of weird to pointless gadgets is over, but I'm still happy to be convinced of the opposite. Perhaps the whole thing has just shifted and is now more likely to be followed by Kickstarter projects.
But we'll certainly be looking at the big camera manufacturers too. After all, we want to play around a bit with the new mirrorless systems from Canon and Nikon and get up to speed with the others as well. We'll also have a critical question or two, and maybe we'll even get an answer.
Is there anything you think we should definitely take a look at?
The cover picture is from the Olympus stand at last year's Photokina
David Lee
Senior Editor
David.Lee@digitecgalaxus.chMy interest in IT and writing landed me in tech journalism early on (2000). I want to know how we can use technology without being used. Outside of the office, I’m a keen musician who makes up for lacking talent with excessive enthusiasm.
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