Impressions from the Photokina 2012

[Kent]

Two days ago I went to the Photokina in Cologne.

Here are some snaps...


Several of the really interesting item were still in pre-production status, so we could not try them. 🙁

Sony SEL 4/10-18 OSS (for NEX)


Sony RX1 (full frame sensor)


I liked the NEX-6, though. It does not have some features that the "7" offers but it's a good cam nevertheless.

Sigma was very open and friendly again.
There were a lot of lenses to try:



This photo was shot with the new DP2 Merrill:


The 100% crop is pretty impressive:


But the ergnomics are not as nice and the AF is pumping a lot. 🙁

Sigma offered two boothes with different subjects in order to simulate "real" photos. A great idea!


Then I went to Fuji to compare the X-Pro 1 with my M8:


That X-Pro 1 feels great and the 1.4/35 seems to be a very nice lens:


But here you see the problem of that cam: the AF!

Crop:

A hit-and-miss (rather a "miss" here).


Schneider-Kreuznach offered some nice lenses for filmmakers and close-up fans.

 

[Kent]

Samyang was not in a cooperative mood and sent all German guests to Foto Walser (where you can buy Walimex lenses).

Fisheye for NEX.

Lunch break was good for some other snaps...









At the Canon booth, I wanted to look at the new 6D and the EOS M.






And again I was not allowed to use a card in either of those cams. Boooh! :x

At Voigtländer I realized that it is extremely difficult to focus with an f/1.1 lens (Nokton 1.1/50) on an M8. 😉

And when I came to Hasselblad, I had a laugh!

This is the "Lunar" ("Lunatic", rather). It's just a NEX-7 with another body. And it goes for - believe it or not - €5000,-!!!

:shock: :lol: :lol:

 

[Kent]

Then I went to Zeiss.



Again they were very friendly and listened to what the visitors said. Well done, Zeiss!

Even senior scientist Dr. Nasse took the time to talk to guests at the booth:


The nes Zeiss series for NEX is very, very tempting!


The last booth (hall, rather) I went to was Leica:


I don't know if it was because I had an M8 dangling around my wrist, but they were also very friendly, just like in 2010!

I was able to play a little with the new "M" but I could not take photos on my own card. 🙁


I really liked the Summicron 50:



(Shot with my M8 and the 50 Cron.)

And the deco of the Leica area was very nice.


I met a friend from the German Leica Forum there and we spent some time talking about new gear.

We called it a day and had a nice dinner near the Cologne Cathedral.


My conclusion?

Fun as always, but too many items still in pre-production mode.

 

[Maximilian]

Thanks for sharing! Almost like being there.. 🙂

 

[Ronald_H]

I share the sentiment regarding the Hasselblad 'Luna'. Forced, tasteless, poorly executed. Had to wait in line a considerable amount of time to get my hands on the new M, but got to try it with the R adapter and a zoom lens and EVF. Actually works very well, including focus peaking. It is noticeably thicker than a film M though. The Leica stand was the best of show and the people were very friendly and helpful. They even tried my Summicron DR on an M to see if it worked! Alas it doesn't really, you cannot focus to infinity. The Fuji stand was also nice, with their 'lens bar', a load of XPro-1's and XE-1's with non native lenses on them. Also had a chat with people from FOMA, even bought some rolls from them.

I never realized how HUGE the Photokina is though. We walked the halls for 6 hours straight and still didn't see everything.

 

[kmallick]

Thanks a lot for posting this report. Those pictures are awesome and made me feel like I was at the Photokina.

 

[Out to Lunch]

Not an event I'd like to attend and so many thanks for sharing your impressions! Peter

 

[Adanac]

Great round up of the show - thank you for taking the time to take and compile the images and your thoughts.

This is an instant classic:

Even senior scientist Dr. Nasse took the time to talk to guests at the booth:

If Dr. Hubert Nasse will consent to framing and focusing using the rear LCD "finder", it's good enough to me. At times.