PhotoPlus Expo 2019

Canon and Nikon are still the twin tent poles of the event.  Nikon still gives out their signature yellow shopping bags but there aren't that many freebies to take home, not like a decade or so ago.  There are still candies and pens to grab but that's pretty much about it.  This year there was popcorn and that's new.

This year the exhibition id doesn't come with a plastic sleeve and I think there's a good move.  You don't need a plastic sleeve.

I played with the D5, some Nikkor glasses.  I am an old man so I don't really get too excited with the Z cameras.  Still I picked up the Fuji cameras; the GFX 100 and a couple others.  I got my hand on the Olympus I like the feel of it but it's a micro 4/3, so it's good on the long end, but not so much on the wide angle end, plus the depth of field is not what it is with full frame; it's part psychology part reality but I would concede chances are I can't tell the difference just by looking at the pictures.  For me, the DSLR still feels faster.  Notice I say feel.  There were instances I didn't know if the cameras were taking pictures or not.  I guess I didn't get the setting right.  I can still feel the shutter if it's shooting fast.

PDN PhotoPlus Expo 2015 Write-up

I don't remember since when the name became what it is today.  I think it used to be shorter.

I wonder what would happen if one day Nikon or Canon decide not to be part of the expo.  They are the tent poles of the event.  Sony actually might be just having as big a presence as Nikon or Canon, especially in the last two years.  Fuji sticks around.  And I don't think Kodak bothers to show up anymore.  Leica got a respectable show booth and gets a bit bigger every year.  It is somewhat comparable to their brand allure.  I am surprised to find Hasselblad but their presence seems a disservice to the brand.  But it is what it is.

Nikon basically provides the most generous display of merchandize for users to play with.

I hand tested or played with the new 24-70 as well as the 200-500.  The 200-500 is slightly outside my comfort zone.  And I wonder how useful it would be for me practically speaking--I am not practical so it doesn't bother me even it's totally impractical.  The thing is big but not too unwieldy to hand hold.  And actually with VR, I think you can acquire pretty sharp images all and all even at 500mm.  The price tag in relation to all things Nikkor is practically free--I know it sounds obscene but if you look at the pro lens price tag, they are sure around $2500.  The 24-70 is a 24-70 and I am not particularly turned on by it.  I guess everybody shoots differently.  My lens combination has always been the 20-35 and 80-200 or 16-35 and 70-200 or some variations of them since last year.  I find them most useful for my liking.  Most of the time I carry one camera and if I feel a bit insecure then I carry two.  I don't know how the 200-500 would fit into my shooting MO.  If the lighting condition is sub optimal you may need a better camera body that can give you better ISO performance than what I have now.  Talking about camera, I am again impressed with the D4s.  I shot mostly between the D4s and the D810 at the expo.  And I have to say I like the image on the D4s' LCD screen better.  It is by no means scientific or objective at all as I hardly go through the settings of each camera.  The exposure and the color seem better on the D4s: no blown highlight and color is vivid and saturated, again on the LCD.  Silly as it sounds I am really sold on the D4s.  I read somewhere the sensor on the D810 is actually better, so what do I know?  My next camera upgrade hopefully is a D4s or a D810.  Maybe my next single digit D camera is the D5 or D5s so it dovetails with my Nikon F5 from the film day.  I can keep dreaming, eh?  Camera choice for me is really a personal choice, it goes beyond specification and rationality.

I probably regret not having my D700 sensor cleaned at $40.  Oh well.  Just don't shoot at f/16.

PhotoPlus Expo 2015

PhotoPlus Expo 2014 p11

Lucas Gilman presents his D810 Icelandic photo trip and more.  Inspiring shots and tips straight from the horse's mouth.  The guy is candid and generous.

PhotoExpo Plus 2014

Or PhotoPlus Expo, whatever!
Being a VIP, self-proclaimed of course, and cheap I got to pre-register and just pick up the expo badge when I got there.   But the lines for pre-registered attendees were longer much longer than those for on-site registration.  Adding to the confusion and crowd was the many marathoners who were there to pick up their bibs.   But nobody should get confused with who is who, one is lean, mean and healthy and the other is just like yours truly.  The lines weren't moving just like the morning traffic of Manhattan.  It was uber ridiculous.   Anyway I just waited in a shorter line that is meant for  on-site registration.  I noticed I wasn't the only one.  The woman behind the counter asked for an ID and printed out my badge.  No begging required.   I was then on my way to candy land

PhotoPlus Expo 2014

It's this time of the year.  All the camera nerds congregate on the midtown west at Javits center gawking at camera equipments.

Sony a7R

just click the label below to see more of Sony a7R ...

pdn PhotoPlus Expo 2011 - Miscellaneous

Leica, so expensive only retired LIRR pensioners on disabilities can afford them.

Lady has been on Expo since time immemorable.  Video rig for Nikon DSLR.

Pulitzer Prize winning wildlife photographer ...

Is spelling out the word professional so hard?  Stingy film give-away.

Real camera, man.  Real camera.

Rockwell's archenemy ...

Big man on a smaller venue.  Vincent Laforet, he's still presenting the same old slide show he does every year since 1900.  They just seem a bit staled, albeit good.

Watch out, BMW is onto the photography business.  Or is it Mercedes-Benz?  Oh no, it's another clever ripoff design from my fellow country men.  If BMW and Mercedez have an illegitimate son, that's going to be TRIOPO, it's tripod except misspelled on purpose.  I want a TRIOPO.

It's not camera shake, it's 3D Handycam.  Look something's popping out.  3D glasses mandatory.

pdn PhotoPlus Expo

The Canon 1DX naked.  It feels light in the hand

Basically it's a machine gun.

Imaginary conversations follow ...

"I don't know much about this ... I just had an hour training on this but it shit I mean shoot like a machine gun.  It's just freaking awesome."

"Does it focus?"

"You mean does it focus right?  Correct?  I don't have a clue but it has like 100 focus points so yes.  Anyway, it shoots like a machine gun so it's just awesome."

On another more serious, disturbing and disappointing note:  Nikon has no new flagship products on display.  And alarmingly some of the products I tried on were iffy.  I tried the million dollar Nikkor 35mm 1.4 with nano coating and the shit just didn't autofocus on a D700.  OKAY, the guy thought it might be the camera.  Then mounted it on a D7000.  Still no good.  Then tried on another smallish DSLR, then the thingy came alive.  This just confirmed what I read online.  Good thing I never bought the million dollar 35mm f1.4 with that special nano coating.  So the lens or the camera or some combination thereof was kind of iffy.  (Some say it's just bad contacts, well if I pay $2000 on a lens and $2000 on a body I want them to just work and not to have to get out an eraser to clean the contacts.)

pdn PhotoPlus Expo

I don't go out much and when I take pictures outside I just do it on my own.  I don't know it has become a trend that people use lens hood and like to have them pulled back or actually mounted in reverse.  I think that looks pretty odd.

Make sure the lens hood doesn't cover the front when shooting ... so what's the point of using a lens hood?  I just don't get it.

Smallish lens hood

Biggest lens hood

pdn PhotoPlus Expo

Nikon always has the best models each and every year.

The Nikon 1 camera seems pretty nifty and speedy in operations.  I was shooting with the Fuji x100, I had some unrealistic expectation of that thingy.  And it turned out not what I thought.  I am old school and I thought the camera doesn't have the right mass for its size to inspire confidence, I'm sure it's easy on the hands and shoulders.  The write speed is just atrocious.  Everything seems slow.  But I do like the view finder.  And Nikon 1 seems pretty smart or I am just not so informed and aware of current technology, the viewfinder just comes to life when I put my eye and look through it so I think that's pretty darn smart.  I always enjoy a good viewfinder.

1 in vomit pink

V1 in black and with flash