I attended the first day of the 2022 Photography Show at Birmingham NEC on Saturday 17th September 2022.
This is the first such show I’ve been to since March 2019 when I bought my current camera, the Nikon Z7.
I had booked tickets for the 2020 show but thanks to that virus thing, it never happened.
I didn’t bother last year as the show was a much smaller affair due to travel restrictions and the uncertainties around Covid (many exhibitors and guests travel from different countries).
So what was the show like? What did I learn? And what did I buy?
What was the show like?
The show was great – it was fantastic to wander around and browse.
In particular, it was really good to have the opportunity to handle different cameras and accessories and have a play, antibacterial gel at the ready of course.
What did I learn?
Leading up to the show, I was hoping Nikon would have a new camera on offer and one which would be a better offering for wildlife. Yes, there is the behemoth the Z9, but I want something smaller, akin to the Canon R5.
However, in the knowledge there had been no announcements, I pressed some of the Nikon reps and found out that there’ll be no new cameras from the Nikon camp until 2023.
I did hold the mighty flagship professional Z9 but wow, it’s a heavy beast at 1340 grams plus lens, and handling one really did confirm to me that I would not like that bulk.
Also, I can’t justify the cost for my type of photography and such cost would have to mean the camera would need to suit all my photography genres, and be my ‘one and only’ camera body.
I also had a hands on with the crop sensor Z50, a really nice small form factor body (like a baby Z6/Z7) and with great ergonomics as a walk around camera.
I had a play with Nikon’s retro body the ZfC and it was good but fiddly and quirky.
I’m not sure why it’s got physical and satisfying tactile dials for all the main settings except aperture. Possibly because it is replicating the original Nikon FM2 and lenses for that had an aperture dial on the lens itself.
Passing by the Sony stand, I had a quick look at the A range of bodies and thought the grip and ergonomics were a lot better than I had thought.
The Fuji stand was one I visited 2-3 times as I wanted to learn more about their new X-H2 and X-H2S cameras. The latter has a stacked 26MP APS-C sensor and can shoot at 40 frames per second. The handling felt good and the reps were very knowledgeable.
One of the reasons the Fuji felt good is that the ergos and dials are not too dissimilar to Nikon bodies.
While I was there (several times!), I had a play with all of the Fuji cameras.
I really enjoyed the handling and feel of the Fuji X-S10 and the fixed lens X100V and it made me think that these camera are great for walk about cameras or an EDC (Every Day Camera).
The Fuji rep said that many photographers have one of these Fuji cameras for just that purpose and quite a lot are Canon and Nikon shooters. Was he trying to tempt me?
Of all the photographers in the world, you can bet the majority are in the combined Canon/Nikon camps, or Canikon as it’s sometimes called!
This reminds me of the time my brother and I were kids, and our Dad took us to see a fortune teller in Great Yarmouth. “One of these lads will be a footballer” she said. Not specifying what that meant other than playing the sport, it was a reasonable gamble one or both of would play football!
I wandered past a camera reseller to see there was £500 off a Fuji X-H2S camera and lens bundle.
With temptation stirring inside of me, I went and had a coffee to calm down a bit and reflect, before my credit card starting to repeatedly peek up out of my wallet like some riskier version of whack-a-mole!
I had a few more wanders around stalls to make sure I had taken in everything of interest.
I stopped by and listened to a talk by Jo Bradford on the quick editing mobile app Snapseed which I think is really good. Jo has authored some books on this topic as well as ones on taking good photos with your smartphone.
I called in at Kase filters to enquire about infrared filters but they have no such product on offer right now, with a little hope there may be something next year. I checked on the Wex stand but a Hoya screw on one wasn’t in stock. I walked passed Haida but didn’t really want one of those.
In terms of accessories, there were some interesting products:
* Reusable hand warmers (the gel packs you squeeze to produce heat)
* Smartphone grips to improve handling
* A filter system which has a flexible and resizeable filter surround for easier use with different lenses
* I also saw a charger system which can be used for all different battery and device types, for which you purchase modules to suit the types you need
The usual free magazines and brochures were scooped up for later reading.
There were a couple of companies who specialise in photography expeditions, whether it be UK based domestic animals like squirrels, eagles, badgers or worldwide trips for polar bears, penguins or on Safari trips, it was interesting to find out more.
I noted that I need to buy some lottery tickets for the bigger trips!
There were a few charity stalls which I skipped by – while I don’t mind making a donation, they all want a direct debit these days.
It was interesting to call by and chat to the RSPB folks who were able to give me some useful locations to visit for our forthcoming holiday in North Wales, with one location already on our to visit list.
What did I buy?
I managed to control my gadget lust impulse urges and did not buy any camera or equipment.
Despite one stand rep saying to come back and see him for an even better deal, I resisted. In the end, buying a different brand of gear had me worried about the risks of switching again. Plus I had a sense of buyers remorse already brewing.
The sensible side of my brain tells me to wait until next year to see what Nikon has to offer.
With the club POTY competition topics published and round one being urban life, I did pick up a book on street photography.
When we’re planning our holidays, I usually refer to some books to plot visits of good photo locations. If available, I’ll buy the Fotovue book of that area, alongside the smaller more portable photographers guide book – see below:
As these books were on offer at the show, and my credit card had stopped shaking with the fear of being maxed out, I bought a few of these books to top up my collection, reminding me that Iceland was on the bucket list.
With the threat of a large scale purchase kept at bay, I had one last sweep round, and headed for the exit area.
Onwards and upwards…