Pictures and video from a busy first day at the show
If, like us, you were at the 20th anniversary Focus on Imaging show at the Birmingham NEC today, you could be forgiven for thinking that the Credit Crunch was just a bad dream. The show organisers say the 200+ exhibitor tally is up on last year and there was no shortage of footfall from the public. And show visitors weren't just window shopping, a good many were handing over their money at retail stands. The show opened today and continues to Wednesday, 25th February.
Here's some video from the show to give you some of the atmosphere there:
At the bottom of this page you will find a thumbnail gallery of pictures taken at the show earlier today. Some video footage, to give you a better feel of the show atmosphere is also scheduled to follow. But for now, here's a short summary of what we saw today:
Most of the big name camera brands, including - for the first time in several years - Sony, as well as Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Fujifilm, and Hasselblad, are present, along with other big names like HP, Epson, Sigma, Tokina, Kodak, Microsoft, Phase One, and more. Show deals on gear were, as usual, being offered by the likes of Jacobs, Camera World, 1stCameras.com, Colour Confidence, and so on. Noticeable absentees include Pentax, Samsung, Casio, and GE.
Highlights from the show include the appearance of several newly announced items from Sigma, including their new 18-250 zoom, the latest DP2 large sensor prototype compact, and a mock-up of the forthcoming Sigma SD15 DSLR.
Canon's Spring Collection line up, unveiled last week, from camcorders and compact to their new tilt and shift lenses, is on display and, as usual, the Canon stand is big, bold and very cleverly designed.
Nikon easily win the prize for effort when it comes to poster ads around the NEC, and of course for many Focus will their first opportunity to handle the new D3X mega-DSLR.
Epson's focus includes their range of digital projectors, the living-room friendly Stylus Photo PX800FW wireless all-in-one printer/scanner, which has some novel tricks up its sleeves, the new P-7000 and P-6000 storage viewers, and their extensive photo printer range from consumer models up to the big wide-format behemoths.
Olympus is showcasing the new E-30 DSLR, which is just finding its way onto dealers' shelves and a number of show offers are being highlighted, including free accessories like bags and power grips.
There aren't as many scantily clad ladies wandering around the aisles this year, but to the delight of many, a pair of athletically shaped blokes are balancing things up, their mission - to sell camera insurance! We have a picture of them posing for the camera in our gallery below.
Have you been to the show? Did you spot anything cool? Share your thoughts with us via the DPNow discussion forum!
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