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Ultimate weekend February 24/25 2017 Emmeloord

February 24/25 2017 is the weekend for the Ultimate Weekend workshop.
This is without a doubt one of the most intense workshops you’ll find anywhere on the market. In two JAM packed days (and an evening) you’ll learn everything about a successful photoshoot you want to know.

 

Every day starts with an intense Q&A where you can ask anything you want to know ranging from lighting, retouching, business, personal etc. the answers will be discussed in the group and incorporated into the live shoot part of the workshop.
The “regular” workshops I teach are already intense and jam packed with information but in the Ultimate weekend we really raise the bar, we will shoot singles, duos, location work, studio work, look at workflow, business tips, building a brand, using social media, using Photoshop, Capture One, Lightroom and much much more.

 

For the early birds we are now running a very special discount of 100.00….!!!!
Normal price for the Ultimate Weekend is 799.00 but for a limited time we offer the weekend for 699.00

 

Price includes
A nice diner with our team in a local wok restaurant
one night at a local hotel
A surprise software suite
and of course all lunches and drinks are included.
PLUS we raffle away several cool hardware prices

 

Visit https://frankdoorhof.com/web/tours/ultimateweekend/ for more information and registration.

Dear Apple…….

I’ve been thinking long and hard about writing this because in all honesty I don’t want to be one of the many sites/guys complaining but because I’m always giving tips and I think pretty pro Apple…. I do have to write this.

 

The day before yesterday we saw Microsoft releasing some really cool products.
In all honesty I’ve tried several Surface Pro incarnations and never was convinced enough to switch, main problem was the OS experience on the screen and the way the stylus responded, it just didn’t felt…. done, it was like “ohhhhhhh almost”.

 
This is something that Apple did great.
Granted in the past Apple was first, with the rest following, slowly others tried to be first with sometime disastrous results (I think it will take a long time for Samsung to recover), but Apple always followed with an answer in the trend of “Ok you tried it, thank you but this is how you do it right”, and let’s be clear they released the Apple Pencil and iPad pro and OMG that’s a product that’s awesome, ok it runs iOS but I’ve done some drawings on it that are absolutely on par with what I can do with a full OS running machine, I’ve always said “if the apps are there there should be no limit for the creative process, IF the hardware is good, and….. that’s where Apple shines”.

 

So yesterday I was ready, Annewiek an me on the coach ready for our new MacBooks, my MBP is still in new condition but it’s a MBP that’s already 2 1/2 years old and I wanted some really cool kickass technology in my MacBook, and it started great…… yeah of course you have released the best iPhone yet (would be weird if it was less), of course 99% of the people are on the newest iOS (it’s Apple so it works so why n0t), of course you have the best OS yet Sierra, again never heard someone say… “well this OS sucks, but the next one…..” so yeah yeah yeah come on Tim give my goodies.

 

So….. 25 years ago the first portable device from Apple and they changed the world…. and yep that was true.
We see the trackpad, oh yeah….. I know where this is going….. it’s going to be awesome, I was now on the edge of my seat for my new creative master power house that will literally obliterate all those people claiming Microsoft was great….wait and see you guys…… this is gonna revolutionize the world, and indeed Tim said the same thing…… the popcorn wasn’t touched and we were both holding sweaty hands on the coach with our eyes focussed on the screen and we didn’t blink a moment….. this was history in the making….. oh my oh my……

 

And …… there it was…….. isn’t it awesome wow wow wow, this is it, LOOK at the trackpad, this is it Annewiek this is gonna change the way we work (wait for it, I’m gonna explain later why we thought that), and that touch strip…… yep even better that we expected, in all honesty this is REALLY a smart move and something that will literally change the way you work, so far so good…… final cut pro demo, great and there we go Adobe on stage…. go Adobe show the world the revolution……….

 

Yep…. and there it all went downwards.
Wait a minute, why is she using her fingers on a trackpad for selections, ah wait they are teasing us….. it must be…… ok love the colors, well done, loads of humor and indeed a nice way to photoshop a new background…. and Adobe leaves the stage….. mmmmmmm of course there will be more…. and indeed…. some music by a Dj, yep again great that new strip, awesome (and I REALLY mean that, it’s not sarcasm). And then the moment…….. well actually not…. where is the “Oh and one more thing…..” no the screen went black and we were left with the feeling….. WTF (sorry) just happened….

 

Ok we needed new notebooks anyway so I decided to order, every day we edit video and photos and our MacBooks are a vital part of our workflow with digital classroom so EVERY single piece of extra speed we REALLY need, so I ordered a 15″ for me and a 13″ for Annewiek, I looked at the price and almost fainted… 5900.00 EUROS and I already did it pretty careful, 16GB in both machines and the slowest CPU but 512SSD, oomph, but ok just breath and press order….oh wait….. crap it’s all USB-C so let’s get the convertors…… let’s see we need.

 

2x USB-C to Thunderbolt for the black magics (Digital classroom)
2x USB-C to USB3 for our wacom and of course a card reader (WHY APPLE WHY)
1x USB-C to HDMI for when I teach…
And here it all stopped…… my common sense kicked in one could say.

 

Rewind.
I’m paying over 4000.00 for my 15″ machine and I get a boat load of convertors and what do I gain… some speed (which in reality is always much less than on paper) and a touch strip……. we ended up ordering only a 13″ for Annewiek and we are going to try some third party convertors first because that saves us over 200.00 for what we need.

 

Ok so what could have happened and SHOULD have happened…. are you listening Apple (Yeah who am I kidding, CLEARLY Apple doesn’t listen).
This could have been a revolution.

 

  1. The trackpad
    Did you see the size of that thing?
    This is what got my heart pumping, imaging having an Apple Pencil and being able to draw on that trackpad, for retouching on the road that would have been absolutely awesome…..

 

And well…. there is actually not an option 2.
Apple delivers a great product, but for the first time (for me) I’m left wondering…. wtf.

 

We’re talking about a company that claims to be a trendsetter instead of a trend follower, it claims to be awesome, terrific, great and the best of the best…. but what it this time delivered is a mess. Let’s see what’s wrong.

 

  1. USB-C
    Don’t get me wrong I think we should all move to USB-C as soon as possible, but don’t take away all USB ports, leave at least 1. I don’t want to drag around convertors for tethering, every single extra connection makes it more prone to errors.
  2. Magsafe
    WHAT ARE YOU THINKING APPLE…..
    Do they not know that when you go to a trade show 99% of the people speaking and demoing are using MacBooks?
    Do you know how many times the magsafe adapter saved my laptop?
    A LOT of time, when someone is standing on my cable it just came loose, now with USB-C I wonder how many MBP’s will actually end up on the floor in pieces.
  3. No Cardreader
    OH MY OH MY, for a company that claims to be in sync with the creative force that build their name HOW could they imagine we didn’t need a card reader anymore?
  4. That trackpad
    Why SO big when you don’t use the Apple pencil, I really wonder how many people will have accidental double clicks, right mouse clicks or weird moves because their hands are on the trackpad…. time will tell. Unless they now want 10 finger gestures the original trackpad was big enough.
  5. No more lit up Apple logo…..
    Ok that’s not a biggy but I would miss that.

 

Maybe Apple doesn’t understand what the pro’s need.
We don’t need a 4mm less thick notebook, we don’t care that it’s a little bit lighter (you know how much gear we drag around), we need a system that works and works everywhere, go somewhere and connect HDMI, if we’re at an event we want to put the card in the machine, download images and send them away, if we want to copy something fast we need a USB stick in the USB port. Now we need to carry around fricking convertors for EVERYTHING we need to do on a daily basis, what if the convertor gets lost…. for a consumer no problem… for a pro it means…. well no demo, no workshop, no etc….. because with only USB-C the machine is useless, there are no projectors in event spaces with USB-C, there are …. well you get the idea.

 

IF Apple would have made the trackpad compatible with the Apple pencil I would have hated the idea of convertors…. but I would have ordered. I for one would feel sick in my whole body for the price but as a pro I want the best and in all honesty where PC notebooks have let me down MANY times due to extreme heat (in the desert), high humidity in Florida, or a little bit of rain in the Netherlands…. my MacBook pro’s have NEVER let me down, the OS is rock solid and the system still likes new after many miles travelled and being used every day while my PC notebook (also a very expensive one) after 2 years looks like it’s 2-3 years old (and that one is used maybe once or twice a week).

 

So what now…. Will I leave Apple…..
No of course not, on the desktop I still think my MacPro rocks, its incredibly fast and I can edit multicam 4K without any problem so it works, the OS in my opinion is the best on the market for stability, integration with iPhones and iPads etc. Apple TV is a great learning tool, we use two in our studio (mostly one) to project my desktop on two big screen TV’s and in 99% of the cases it works flawless so absolutely no reason to switch.
For mobile….. sorry to say but I think for me it’s bye bye Apple.
I’m gonna miss final Cut pro on the road for our video editing but Adobe Premiere is an AWESOME alternative, I used that before FCPx was actually mature enough to start using it, it took some time but I believe FCPx at the moment is one hell of a program.

 

When I see the Microsoft Surface book I just know it’s not gonna work for me, I tried a surface pro 4 and had major issues with it for battery life and the fact that it couldn’t be charged with anything else that their own power supply which meant I had to carry a LARGE block and couldn’t use for example our hyperjuice which will keep my MBP running for 8 hours straight even when using PS. And that was the other problem… when I buy a Surface I want to Photoshop and edit video… and when the battery dies within 90 minutes (it was actually much less but I don’t want a flame war) for me that just doesn’t work, also compared to the Wacom I’m using or the iPad pro the stylus wasn’t up to par… for a consumer it’s great but not for me.

 

But there is another device.
Wacom just released the Mobile studio 16″
A 4K 16″ screen with 94% adobe RGB, a Wacom stylus (so you know it’s good) and all the connectivity I need (not just one USB port like the Surface), with the 4K screen I know PS and Manga studio and Lightroom will leave me plenty of real estate instead of covering a 1920×1080 screen with menus and leaving just a very small space to retouch or draw and I think 16″ is just enough screen and still small enough to use on location… remember I’m a pro user not someone for a MacBook air, it’s a WORKhorse.

 

And indeed I’m willing to use convertors for a device like this, because it also saves me A LOT.
Now I travel with a MBP and a wacom tablet, and that was the norm, but in a day and age where touch screens are the norm I think that the travel wacom tablet would be replaced. With the mobile studio 16 I can travel and use it as a Cintiq when I’m connected to a PC or Mac, and when disconnected it can run on it’s own… there are still some concerns…. does it charge via “USB-C” via the Hyperjuice, how long is the battery life really etc.
And in all honesty I’m a bit worried about going to Windows……
I know my way around windows and I’m pretty technical so no problems there.
But Windows also means that when I change device or hardware there is HUGE change I have to reinstall everything which takes me about half a day to get it up and running the way I want, it also means that we have to start using virus scanners, registries that fill up, weekly or daily updates for the OS, hardware drivers etc. etc. As a former PC user this was one of things I LOVED about macs, worry about what I do and not all about the OS or drivers etc.

 

Will it be worth it?
We will see, but I’m afraid it will be (for Apple).
Imagine having a 4K display that is touch sensitive, a wacom stylus so you can draw and control your software without the need for anything else (I know it doesn’t work that way), just connect a wireless keyboard and you have a laptop, connect it via a dongle to your mac and pc and you have a cintiq… it all sounds almost to good to be true….. if it would run MacOS I would run to the store and buy one, now I will probably just slowly and with a little bit of a sad feeling walk to the store and get me a Wacom…… nothing against Wacom by the way, but switching to Windows is just something I thought I wouldn’t do anymore. I’m however VERY much looking forward to the experience of the mobile studio 16 and who knows if it works great……. no I don’t want to think about that.

 

How could Apple REALLY revolutionize the laptop market
Almost impossible with the surface pro laptops, but they could do it IF they do this.
Imagine having a MacBook pro with the large touch strip and a large trackpad that you can use with the Apple pencil, but wait there is more…. if you’re done with the laptop part you can disconnect the screen and it switches to iOS and you can use it as an iPad pro including the Apple pencil. It wouldn’t be a revolution because Microsoft already has it… but at least it would run MacOs….

 

I really CAN’T imagine that Apple couldn’t pull something like this off.
Making a touchpad compatible with Apple pencil should be no problem at all, making an iPad pro connect to a MacBook body with the smart connector should be ABSOLUTELY no problem, and in fact you don’t even need a smart connector because programs like Duet also manage with just a lighting adaptor. Now leave the card reader in and one USB port and you would literally have my dream machine.

 

Years ago the MBP was my dream machine.
They server me (and Annewiek) very very well, they NEVER let me down, the NEVER crashed on me during a vital moment, when on stage or on a shoot I don’t want to think about if my hardware will keep working, I want to focus on my work and not on hardware. Today I’m afraid it’s the end of an era, the era where Apple was the best choice for the creative force. Apple is now a company that in my honest opinion is charging pro prices for consumer aimed gear, a pro machine with dongles and no card reader because it can be 4mm thinner is something NO pro in the world is waiting for….

 

Sorry Apple.
Wacom, here I come……. (I think).
Feel free to leave your options and thoughts.

 

5 Day deal

Sometimes we get these amazing deals with the question if we are willing to share them with you…. with this one we just said “DUH… of course”, the link to the deal btw is https://5daydeal.com/ref/FrankDoorhof/

This 5 day deal is incredibly interesting and gives you a load of videos to learn for almost nothing.

Let’s see very quickly what’s in the pack.

60+ hours of video material
450 lightroom presets
15+ photography e-books
380+ overlays

And with the likes of our friends Joel Grimes, Lindsay Adler, Trey Ratclif, Zach Arias, Karen Hutton, Brian Matiash and many more you just know it’s good.

In total you get a deal of 2500.00 for 97.00 which in my opinion is almost unbelievable (I saw what’s in there :D). So make sure to check out the link  https://5daydeal.com/ref/FrankDoorhof/

Take a week off and lock yourself inside your room and start learning 😀

Photokina so far…

Unless you have been living under a rock, you probably know Photokina is in full swing, well actually tomorrow is the last day.
We’ve been at Photokina since wednesday but I have to be honest we didn’t have much time to look around, most time was filled with meetings and my seminars at the BenQ booth (thanks so very much for visiting and being amazing guys, we really love you).

But…..
We still had some time to walk around and in this blogpost some of the things that caught my eyes.

Let’s start with the ABSOLUTE winner of Photokina….. FujiFilm.
It’s been a rumor for a LONG time… FujiFilm is making a medium format camera, and in all honestly when people tell you for years at one point you just don’t believe it anymore, especially when other brands are releasing the camera and FujiFilm wasn’t, well as it seems now…… they were creating a whole new system, new lenses, new camera and they did it “right” now the right is spelled “right” because I didn’t yet get my hands on one, but I’m dying to do, this seems to be the “perfect” camera for guys like me. I absolutely love medium format and am shooting with the Mamiya/Leaf system at the moment and I will not sell my Credo60 for a crop sensor Medium Format but my system is flawed in high-iso and “portability”, the FujiFilm version seems to solve this all.

So where does it stand?
Well I think it’s a weird kind of place.
Will it appeal to the people already shooting Medium format?
Well heck yeah, the price point is very low compared to let’s say a PhaseOne camera + 50MP back, but in all honestly the Phase One system is a proven one and it works great (I use it myself), but it’s also bulky, doesn’t boot instantly and you don’t even think about walking around with it in New York. Now if you’re shooting a crop sensor Phase One you will probably be tempted like crazy by the Fujifilm, it’s way more compact and lighter, has the same quality sensor (I suspect the same awesome Sony sensor) and it has already a nice line up of lenses.

If you’re shooting a full frame medium format system you’ve invested a lot of money (like I did) and the system is breathtaking so I’m not jumping ship to get the FujiFilm, however……

When you’re shooting 35mm full frame you also won’t be jumping up and down to get the new camera, it’s still heavier, it’s not suitable for all kinds of shooting, and in all honestly if I look at my A7RII I can’t see it beat that camera for usability and compatibility.

So for who is it, and why do I call it a winner?
You have to think differently for this answer.
For example.
I absolutely LOVE the look and feel of a medium format camera, but I also love the feel of a 35mm FF camera, when I shoot in the studio I often opted for my Mamiya/Leaf system, and when walking the streets or traveling I use my A7RII and I’m 100% happy, however in the studio I often think…. I wish my Phase One would behave like my Sony, and when walking the streets I always wished my files would look like Medium format…. well there we have it. The FujiFilm camera is JUST that.

For someone like me it will be a hard sell, although I already called Fuji that I want to test this camera as soon as it’s available because I strongly think this will be the game changer, and I’ll tell you why.

Forget sport shooters and birders for a moment.
Forget people that are always complaining.

Now this is my GUESS, but I think I’m not far off.
This sensor is a Sony sensor similar to the ones found in the Hasselblad, Pentax, Credo, Phase One etc. And that’s a REALLY good thing because that sensor is kick @ss, it’s without a doubt (next to the 100MP) the best image quality I ever saw from a camera. So if that’s true (and I think it’s 99% true).

This camera gives you a very usable high-ISO range, good 1080P video and stunning (and read STUNNING) images with very high dynamic range, absolutely gorgeous colors and detail you’ve never seen before (unless you’re used to medium format), don’t think it’s about resolution by the way, a medium format camera with 40mp will blow away a 35mm with 50mp, compare a Canon 5Ds with a 33MP back and I’m sorry for the Canon but they are far behind, but that’s the magic of Medium format. But enough about that, I don’t want to ramble.

Now look at the form factor, it’s a really small camera (compared to other MF cameras), and it’s VERY light, the lenses are also relatively (and read indeed relatively) small, again compared to other MF offerings. What I could see you can compare it to a Canon or Nikon with/without grip with similar lens sizes, but instead of shooting 35mm you’re shooting MF files.

gfx_front_63mm__evf-6f7a0466c5cc2801

So for whom is this camera?
If you’re shooting 35mm and you want to have the absolute best in quality but you don’t want to break the bank for a full sensor medium format system, and you don’t want a “bulky” camera (by the way I love bulky in cameras), and you want to be able to actually shoot exactly the same way you’re used to on 35mm…., well this probably is your new camera.

If you’re shooting an old MF back and don’t have the money for the newest 100MP back and newest body with fast autofocus, but everytime you hold your 35mm camera and lust over it’s fast focus, portability and size…. well this is probably your new camera.

Fujifilm does take a risk with a complete new system but I think they can pull it off.
Years ago I was literally in love with the FujiFilm system, I used their X-Pro1 and X10 and X-E1 (which I labeled the Sexy one), the only reason I left FujiFilm was the fact that they didn’t tether, the resolution stayed at 16mp (and I needed/wanted more) and the base ISO for RAW was ISO200, and my strobes didn’t work (small flash), but it was with pain in my heart that I left, because during the time I owned the system my lenses were 300% faster and my X-E1 was twice as fast… without paying a dime, all done in software. So I wouldn’t hesitate for a minute to get the new camera.

So for me (and many with me) the Fuji is without a doubt the showstopper for Photokina 2016….
But that’s not all of course.
Sorry for spending so many letters on one camera.

Gopro
Is releasing their new drone, Karma (interesting backstory actually) but I won’t put that online 🙂
The disappointment was that all drones flew at Photokina, except the Karma, but it does look very interesting. Also seeing the market share GoPro has and the name almost has the same effect as Aspirin, when you need a headache pill you ask for Aspirin while you probably don’t realize that that’s actually the brand Bayer, and what you get is often not, so when you ask for an action cam you often just ask for a GoPro…. so I think if their drone is good, other brands will have a hard time.

In all honesty I switched from GoPro to the Sony Action cams and think they give a better bang for the buck and are smaller, but that’s up to you to decided.

lume_cube_1

LumeCube
Not exactly new, but ever since I got a LumeCube a few days before Photokina I’m over the moon with the opportunities and after a meeting with LumeCube on Photokina I’m 100% sure this is a system I’m gonna invest some time in and incorporate it into my work and workshops, and I’m convinced it will blow people away. I’ve been shooting some random portraits today at Photokina with two of them and people constantly ask us what those incredibly bright lights are, and after that they run to hall 9, where LumeCube is located.

The cool thing about the Lumecubes is that you don’t need to use it with the great iPhone app, where you can actually use them as external strobes for your iPhone (how fricking cool is that) but you can also use them on manual mode, with 10 settings between “ok it’s bright” to “oh my take those things away”, as mentioned I’ve been using two of them for some portraits and they really give a lot of light. Here is one quick example of Annewiek and some other casual people during Photokina shot with two of them.

photokina-2-september-24-2016__dxo

photokina-13-september-24-2016__dxo

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Tethertools
As you probably know we are one of the distributors of Tethertools so we know some stuff before a show, and of the things that got me really excited was actually now introduced and called the case Air. Finally a really small usb device that makes shooting tethered wireless a breeze, at the moment only for Canon and Nikon, but me being a Tethertools distributor and ambassador trust me Sony will follow…. This is without a doubt a device that will take the market by storm because of it’s price and performance and the long battery life (6-9 hours). Of course it does much more just tether, it will also let you control your camera and do live view and the pricing…. around 158.00 euros (ex VAT) which is in my knowledge one of the best priced options on the market.

ca

Black Magic
Both products I saw were definitely not new, but will change the way we work the coming weeks/months (I hope). The first is the ATEM, a product that has been on the market for quite some years and makes it possible to connect several HDMI/SDI cameras to a switcher which now can be controlled by their software or via the iPhone/ipad and outputs the signal via USB or HDMI. For us this will be great for the Digital classroom broadcasts, because we will feed the cameras into wire cast as one signal and only have to do PIP (Picture in Picture) and full screen and my desktop, so it makes it a lot more fool proof and less sensitive for problems. Anyway that’s an older product (but still wanted to mention it).

The other product is also older but somehow always flew under my radar until I saw it in action, and that’s DaVinci Resolve. Actually as I’m typing this I’m downloading it.

For all the videos we create (and we do A LOT) we now use a mix of Adobe Premiere and Final Cut Pro X, both product I love but both also have some flaws which we work around, mostly in grading and giving images a certain look. Both products also cost “a lot of money” especially if you don’t earn money from your videos.

The cool thing about DaVinci resolve is…. that it’s free.
And when you see what it can do…well it’s very hard to believe they offer it for free, so I’m downloading it now and will be testing it the coming weeks with new episodes of our videowebpodcasts and who knows……

Some small things
Photokina is always cool for the “weird” stuff, the Chinese manufacturers who sell stuff that is bordering on gadgets, stuff that I don’t trust and products where I go…. “mmmm I’ve seen that before” you can really score some good deals here, although buying it can be a REAL problem, often it’s a matter of pointing to an image, pointing towards yourself, holding your wallet and asking several times, “how much” or just showing money and looking like a big question mark….. I ended up with a new lens for my iPhone 7Plus for extreme wide-angle for 15.00 euros, and in all honestly it does work very well (me happy)

We also bought a second wireless mic system on UHF for 150.00 which is a ridiculous low price, but we tested it on the tradeshow floor (before buying) and much to our surprise it worked flawlessly up to 40 meters,….. wow. And don’t worry I won’t be using it myself, I’m over the moon with our high-end senheiser, but for that kind of money I can 6 of the Chinese ones, we bought it for the spare occasions we have guests or if we want interaction with our models during live broadcasts, and for that kind of money… well you can’t really go wrong.

ledgo-lg-600

LedGo
This was the first time for me I met the great people behind LedGo, a company that has been very good to Digital Classroom by helping us out with lighting, and are now using most of my images in their brochures and banners. We recently got their Fresnels and they are stunning. During Photokina I also took a long look at the rest of their line up and I must say that if you’re looking for led panels make sure to check out LedGo, i’ve seen a lot of competitors on Photokina and some are terrible, some are very good but will cost you an arm and a leg, and LedGo just seems to find the right balance between cost and great performance (highly recommended).

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ExpoImaging
Good friends of us of course and always deliver cool new products, like a new landing plate for drones (in all honestly I couldn’t land on it if it was 1×1 mtr, but some can, and yeah I can fly a drone, just precision landing is tricky with the bouncing yneec) and Photokina saw the “semi-official” release of the “Frank Doorhof flash bender” which was great succes, so I’m very honored to have such an amazing product with my name on it, and even more that so many people asked for it and loved it.

Lenses
Of course there are a lot of new lenses from Sigma, Lensbaby, Tamron etc. etc. But in all honestly I’m never that interested in a lens that is measurably sharper, or is a 500mm, but that’s very personal, I love the lenses I have and that’s what I use. I did see a very interesting 56mm at Lensbaby which I have to test soon 😀

And last, but certainly not least…..
Sony
Sony finally released their new flagship the A99-II.
According to a lot of people the A-mount was death, but Sony kept saying “no” and indeed they released a camera that Canon wish they would have released (no harm meant to Canon, I love them, great company and really nice people), the A99-II is so jam-packed with goodies you would almost sell all your gear and switch to Sony (but hey I’m a Sony ambassador of course), but without kidding, this is one fricking amazing piece of gear.

Personally I fell in love with the A7R-II and the smaller form factor so I’ll probably skip the A99-II and wait for the rumored A9 but I will probably test the A99-II sometime this year (I hope, although with Sony you never know :D)

BenQ
It’s no secret I absolutely LOVE BenQ monitors.
They deliver great quality and performance for a very friendly price and are constantly innovating, on photokina they launched their newest 32″ monitor for video with HDR (*YEAH, this is HUGE) and Adobe RGB/sRGB/Rec709 etc. etc. etc. this is one killer monitor for people working with video and literally will blow some competition straight out of the water.

Sekonic
I love light meters and Sekonic released a brand new one, which I hope to be testing soon. The 878.
A brand new meter which also meters HSS (not hypersync or HS, because that’s impossible) and gives you even the flash duration, of course Elinchrom is inside so you can work seamlessly with your strobes (if you use Elinchrom, and otherwise use another radio module) and the best thing… it has a 1 degree spot *YEAR THANKS SEKONIC.

 

pffff I probably forgot a load of things, but I think I got the highlights.
Some things that I really missed?
Well yeah.
I’ve been filming my vlog with the Sony RX100MKIII which I absolutely love, but I want to switch to 4K (to also get my material in sync with what Annewiek films) and of course I can get the RX100MKIV but I really hoped Sony would be releasing the MKV during Photokina, so I was rather disappointed by that one.

With Internet and all the rumor sites, most of the things were already known of course but still both Sony and FujiFilm really blew me away (the rest I already knew a little bit)

Overall Photokina is still the biggest tradeshow I know on Photography, but I also have to note that compared to previous years it seems to have lost a lot it’s attraction. There were MUCH less speakers and live shoots, although the big brands had their own stages the “smaller brands” really were much less active than previous years. And than whats left is actually something that has a double feeling.

Being at Photokina is awesome, being able to speak there is awesome. But as a visitor, if you take away a lot of the speakers what’s left is an INCREDIBLY busy tradeshow where it’s almost impossible to talk about the products with the manufactures for the simple reason it’s WAY and WAY too busy, plus most people are more interested in talking with “friends and business contacts” than with new clients, I literally walked away on at least 4-5 booths because the representative kept talking very familiar with another person and just plain ignored us, and he was not talking business while we were interested in some products…. well we will contact them after photokina.

Photokina is a huge “circus” and a GREAT one, I wouldn’t want to miss it for the world, but I think you guys at home see the same stuff we see, the real cameras were behind glass, the ones you could shoot with are also available at your local retailer (or at least very soon), and the speakers were still plenty but a lot less than previous years, also it seems there was a real hit in the English speakers, because most what we heard was German, and although the tradeshow is in Germany I think this is a HUGE mistake, for the simple reason I heard more Dutch and English, and other languages than German.

Anyway… Photokina rocks, it’s awesome and I’m totally satisfied with one more day.
But I long for the smaller much more accessible trade shows like Photoshop World, Professional Imaging etc.

I hope you enjoyed my ramblings about Photokina and always remember, these are my opinions and although I promise you I will never post something with my sponsors or friends influencing my writings, the products I use are of course the products I do have an extra interest in.