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PDN PhotoPlus 2013 Expo Coverage

MB100

New member
He guys, Obviously, I will be attending the PDN PhotoPlus 2013 and would like to cover anything and everything that anyone might be interested in from the show.

If you won't be able to make the show then please let me know via a comment (preferably on my website) what it is you would like me to see and if there is something to specifically test on it.

Some of my expectations and a placeholder article can be found here: http://brianhirschfeldphotography.com/2013/10/21/looking-forward-to-pdn-photoplus-expo-2013/

Best,
BH
 

Shashin

Well-known member
Brian, stop by the Pentax Ricoh booth and see if there is any news on the 645DII. Perhaps some new lenses too.
 

MB100

New member
I will certainly try and see what I can get, though they have barely had the 645D there the past couple of years, I mean you've had to ask to see it and then they drag it out of some cabinet (where it wasn't even on display). However I would love to see them do more with this system considering the wonderful AUTOFOCUS telephoto's they have (among other lenses).
 
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Ken_R

New member
I saw the Sinar display today and they have some cool stuff. The ArTec looked great. I also went by the ArcaSwiss booth and Rod and his wife were there, both very cool and helpful. The Arca system is superb. I got a look at a lot of the accessories for the R system and of course their awesome tripod heads. Awesome pieces of engineering. Very very complete system. Digital Transitions was also present and had a nice Cambo and Arca on display. I went to their 10 year anniversary party yesterday and had a great time and also got see most of their PhaseOne products. Very nice.
 

Ken_R

New member
Also, absolutely stunning prints on the EPSON display. Wow. Generally lots of amazing photography on display on the show. Worth the visit just to see it.
 

Ken_R

New member
And yes, the A7R was there, it is impressive. Very small and compact. Great image quality judging from the impressive 6 foot prints on display. An no, it does not beat the top MFDB's (judging from some stunning EPSON prints on display). No surprise there. The A7R just seems awesome for landscape/travel/hiking where the speed, AF performance and overall features of an SLR are not really needed and the small size and weight are a huge advantage.
 

MGrayson

Subscriber and Workshop Member
Yes - there were D4 heads at the Arca booth. They're still trying to convince us that it's a shipping product. :ROTFL:

The A7R was indeed impressive, but very poorly laid out compared to the E-M1. (Yes, not exactly the same purpose camera, but similar in size and shape). On the plus side, the shutter wasn't as abrasive as the web implies. Of course, it was a very noisy room...

The Epson booth DID have very impressive prints. Especially since half the booths were trying to display amazing prints, and Epson really stole that part of the show. I hadn't realized just how little of the Luster paper's texture was visible when mounted behind glass. I could have sworn that the print was glossy.

--Matt
 

narikin

New member
And yes, the A7R was there, it is impressive. Very small and compact. Great image quality judging from the impressive 6 foot prints on display. An no, it does not beat the top MFDB's (judging from some stunning EPSON prints on display). No surprise there. The A7R just seems awesome for landscape/travel/hiking where the speed, AF performance and overall features of an SLR are not really needed and the small size and weight are a huge advantage.
I like (and have a pre-ordered) the A7R camera, but was very disappointed by how LOUD the shutter is. I appreciate its focal plane, and can't really be compared to Leaf Shutter in the RX1, but it is one of the noisiest FP shutters I've ever heard, and there is no 'Quiet Mode' in the menu either. Yes, if you are out in the wild landscape, who cares, but in an urban situation it draws a lot of attention. I also would have preferred the EVF to be installed NEX7/Fuji style integrated in the body, not in that fake pentaprism housing. Its not a pretty design, for sure.

The Epson booth DID have very impressive prints. Especially since half the booths were trying to display amazing prints, and Epson really stole that part of the show. I hadn't realized just how little of the Luster paper's texture was visible when mounted behind glass. I could have sworn that the print was glossy. --Matt
Careful - Epsons prints were very cleverly lit with tightly directed lights, you had to crane your necks to catch any surface reflection. That will not be the case in normal use or 99% of galleries. That Luster stipple will still show!
 

MGrayson

Subscriber and Workshop Member
Careful - Epsons prints were very cleverly lit with tightly directed lights, you had to crane your necks to catch any surface reflection. That will not be the case in normal use or 99% of galleries. That Luster stipple will still show!
(Sorry this is getting :OT:) I have plenty of Epson Luster prints, and the surface show up plainly in my home, even behind glass. I should have said that I was impressed how they managed to hide it at the show - I could have easily believed that they had just mislabeled the prints.

--Matt
 

Ken_R

New member
Here is one the Sony A7R prints. It looked great. The used the sony/zeiss 85mm f1.4 lens on the A7R.
 

Ken_R

New member
Here are two A7R's, yes, one has a Canon zoom lens. AF is very decent. The Zeiss 55mm f1.8 is awesome. Perfect match to the camera (small and light!) Also a few shots of the impressive RX10. It has a 1" sensor and an awesome 24-200mm f2.8 (35mm equivalent) lens. It has an electronic shutter so its is absolutely Silent!. Sony is just coming out with a lot of innovative products.

And lastly some Leica eye candy!

Leica had a beautiful display but they had an awesome off site all day event at Go Studios on 39th st. (beautiful penthouse studio!) where I used a S2 (best viewfinder and focusing screen of any digital camera) with a few of the lenses and they also lent me an x vario to use for 4 hours on the streets of New York. Very cool people.
 

Ken_R

New member
Here is Rod Klukas of Arca Swiss. Very helpful, great person. He had all of the key products on hand including the new E Module.
 

Ken_R

New member
Sony also had some awesome prints from the D800. But the first one is from a Coolpix A! (guess the photographer taped the ND filter to the front of the lens since I do not think the built in lens has any filter thread)

The last print is from a Sigma SD1 Merril. The color was outstanding. They had several SD1 prints and they looked great. Resolution was much better than I expected, very nice.
 

Ken_R

New member
And last but not least Digital Transitions had an awesome off site party/event on Wednesday at Highlight Studios on 30th street. They raffled off some nice items, had a studio set-up on one level with profoto lights, model and backdrop + a Phase Back and camera to use with many of the lenses available for the system. Doug was there answering questions, giving demonstrations and had a nice quick tips session with C1 Pro. The president of Phase One was there and even gave a nice speech! There was a lot of good food and drinks and everyone had a great time.

DT also had a nice booth at the Expo where Lance and Doug were kept busy explaining the different options regarding medium format digital. They were basically the only ones at the show with Medium Format Digital gear (along with Arca Swiss) and a lot of folks were stopping buy to check it out. Here are some images! Notice they also had the Rollei Hy6 on hand since they are also going to be selling it from now on. I handled the camera and it handles great. The AF worked very well and it really felt like an extremely well though out and sorted out camera. Eric Hiss ( The official US dealer of Rolleiflex and Rollei Professional Cameras and Lenses including the new Hy6 Mod2 and FX-N TLR ) was there also available to chat about it. Overall a great group of people!
 

Ken_R

New member
Nice writeup, thx Brian!

Overall I agree that there was nothing truly groundbreaking revealed at the show but there were a LOT of good products there and the reps there were for the most part helpful in answering questions and informative. The people at the main companies booths were a mixed bag. (Sony, Canon and Nikon). Some were not adequate at all.

I think the images on display were worth going for. There was a lot of high quality work printed and some were very large prints. On the prints one could really tell the difference between the medium format gear, the 35mm full frame and the crop sensor bodies. Upon close inspection the images from the 4/3 cameras really can't match the work from 35mm full frame yet. You can really see it on most images that the detail is not there yet and the pixel quality is just a notch below. The D800/E and A7R prints were amazing but again upon close inspection, specially the portraits the skin rendition just can't match the work from medium format digital gear. They still have a somewhat digital look to them. Keep in mind most of the images shown were made by some of the worlds best photographers using the best lenses made and perfect technique and processing and printed very large.

Also the show was much more than just cameras and lenses and there were a few gems in the show like the Inovativ equipment carts among other products.

Overall the PDN Photo Plus Expo was not a huge show (NAB in Las Vegas is Humongous in comparison) but it was good.

Yes, a few key companies were missing like Pentax and Profoto (recently separated from MAC group) but most of the big players were there.

I was amazed at how packed the Canon counter was. They had a bunch of lenses for people to try so that might be why but still they had nothing really new or exciting there. I was really impressed with their printers. They can produce some extremely high quality prints. Their samples were really excellent. The Nikon and Sony booths were much more civil in comparison even though a LOT of people wanted to get their hands on the A7's.
 

MB100

New member
I suspect Canon was popular considering their presence in the cinema market, and the fact that everyone thinks they are a filmmaker (and they very well may be).
 

Ken_R

New member
One thing was clear. Mirrorless cameras are the future, actually the present and Canon and Nikon's offerings are really weak in that segment. Actually I did not even see a Canon M there although there were probably a few around. Sony really did a great job with the A7 and A7R. Not perfect but man they are really a step ahead in the right direction. Panasonic's GX7 has received very good reviews and it is a great option and feels good in hand but it looks dated design wise. Fuji and Olympus have some great mirrorless systems. A lot of people are really tired of having to carry large slr systems and the M43 systems offer a much more compact and light alternative and image quality is really not that far off from Full Frame 35mm digital. IMHO the APS-C and EF-S formats are obsolete since the M43 image quality is at least equal and the 1.5/1.6x format really does not offer any of the significant size and weight advantages that a smaller sensor might allow. Really, large slr lenses and slr bodies only make sense when the resolution and high iso performance and overall image quality and af/speed performance advantage is large enough to make it worthwhile. Right now only the top Full Frame DSLRs deliver that with the Nikon D800/E and the Sony A7R (well its in a class of its own since its mirrorless) leading the way in image quality.
 
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