At B&H Photo, the film department featured too tiny, tinny, overpriced enlargers, and those were the only enlargers I saw all day. The Hasselblad booth was a fraction of its former size; I didn't notice Kodak or Ilford anywhere. Of course, the magazine I edited was a darkroom magazine, so I was more aware of darkroom, photo paper, and view camera manufacturers back then. (Shen-Hao was at the show.) There were fewer lighting suppliers and more purveyors of custom-printed books. Camcorders are gone, but I never saw drones in the old days.
Speaking of magazines, there were none, except for PDN, which had on display an excellent show of photographs. That was probably the most hopeful change of the entire show: in the old days I used to search in vain for some pictures to look at – because I'm always more interested in pictures that I am in gear. I remember shows where there were only one or two small out-of-the-way displays of photographs. At this year's show, there were photographs all over the place. In the Epson booth, at the Leica booth, at PDN... sprinkled all over the show floor.
That was a nice change. Another nice thing to observe: the show seems to be thriving. It felt just as crowded with both exhibitors and attendees as it was back in '99.
When I get back to the office, I'll show you a bunch of pictures, and talk about some specific products. For now, I'm off to Vermont for the weekend for some R&R...and to photograph. Yes, strangely, I even do that now and then. :-)
Posted from my iPhone
Mike
My main reason to go to PhotoPlus every year is to run into people I don't normally see anywhere else, so it was especially nice to bump into you on the show floor yesterday, Mike! I could have hung out chatting all morning, but of course I had to bump into a few more people, so I hope we get a chance to hang out sometime again now that you're based not quite so far away.
Posted by: Joe Holmes | Friday, 23 October 2015 at 09:02 AM
Michael,
I, too had not been to that show since about the same time as you and found similar changes. When you mentioned you were going to roam the place, I thought I'd give it a visit on the chance that I'd meet you there and say hello. Unless you were wearing a bright yellow bunny suit, it was almost impossible to recognize anyone unless they were leashed to a booth. I had though I would have seen you around the Panasonic booth with pool table, but alas, it didn't look like they were playing snooker. I did, by chance, meet the one John Haroldson, tucked away in a plexi repair box of the Tamron booth. To Olympus OM and Pen F owners, he's well know for keeping our OM's alive through his zuiko.com website. Kodak was tucked away in a micro booth selling their cube things... I recognized most of the changes you mentioned along with the obvious new drone segment, but I don't remember that many manufacturer/supplier booths having service crews on hand. There were several. I wanted to check out the new Leica SL in person and see how it compared with what Sony had, but perused the Olympuses longer. Got my Canson swatch book...
Posted by: Bob Gary | Friday, 23 October 2015 at 09:09 AM
The only force that could compel me to go to any trade show again would be a judicial order. And even then I'd strongly consider taking a contempt charge. I spent many years at (non photo) trade shows. I detest them.
But I am delighted that the photo industry still has one. It's a good sign of life and vibrancy.
Posted by: Kenneth Tanaka | Friday, 23 October 2015 at 10:41 AM
Bob Gary, I can't edit comments from my phone, but I wonder if you mean Hermanson, not Haroldson. --Mike
Posted by: Mike Johnston | Friday, 23 October 2015 at 11:34 AM
@Kenneth - For a non-pro like me, it's a blast. Like a circus with an infinity of rings and side shows. Having done many "serious" trade shows in my old corporate life, I know of which you speak. For me, doing this one is more like a brief vacation. The only thing keeping me away this year is my now 9 day old replacement knee.
Posted by: MikeR | Friday, 23 October 2015 at 11:44 AM
Mike, your edit is correct, my mistake. It is John Hermanson.
BG
Posted by: Bob Gary | Friday, 23 October 2015 at 03:13 PM
Trade shows have declined most places. PMA is officially no longer in the trade show business - they routinely had 100,000 attendees and Kodak would spend vast sums on a 20,000 sq. ft. booth. Photokina in Germany still exists, but it is less than half the size it used to be. The small, private shows like PRO and IPI still bring together qualified operators. The general interest shows are under a lot of pressure.
Posted by: Larry Steiner | Friday, 23 October 2015 at 05:23 PM
Adobe and Apple haven't been at the show in years. I wonder, have they gone out of business?
Posted by: toto | Friday, 23 October 2015 at 11:08 PM
Mike:
When you say that you didn't see Ilford there, do you mean the 'old' silver products Ilford or the 'new' inkjet paper Ilford? If the inkjet products Ilford was missing, that's of concern to me - I standardized on Gold Fiber Silk a couple of years ago and the ups and downs of that company concern me.
Even though I have a pretty good stash of GFS on hand...
Posted by: Steve G | Saturday, 24 October 2015 at 02:09 PM
"Party Like It's 1999" ... Jees, when I read that I surely didn't think of photo-equipment (I was 22 then *sigh*).
Btw., people mentioned that before, but you are a writer Mike, defenitely.
Posted by: Andreas | Monday, 26 October 2015 at 05:23 PM