Photokina 2014

Photokina 2014, the world’s largest and best technology show for photography and digital imaging, ended last weekend. It is held in Germany every two years and over six days this year about 200,000 people visited the fair in Cologne.  Millions more – including yours truly – followed it on social media, and in the weeks leading up to the show we eagerly devoured the rumours of new cameras and better lens to be launched during the show.

This year, the crisis in traditional photography was particularly apparent.  The smartphone has killed small-sensor compacts, Nikon nor Canon have forgotten how to innovate, and what excitement there was came from predominantly mirrorless segment manufacturers like Sony, Fuji, Olympus, Panasonic and Samsung.

For a long time, digital photography copied traditional film photography. Bigger was better, megapixels were king, vastly expensive medium and full-frame formats were considered essential to achieve the peak of the craft; apprentices trained on the smaller APS-C format but dreamed of ‘moving up’ to full-frame.

It’s hard to believe but most traditional camera manufacturers only began producing Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) cameras after the year 2000; Nikon first, then Canon, Fuji, Kodak, Pentax, Sony etc.

Digital photography soon replaced traditional film photography. Incredibly complex DSLRs were produced, lenses technology exploded, peripheral areas mushroomed and vast fortunes were made by the traditional photography companies who had entered the digital business. The potential of digital photography seemed endless, everyone wanted a digital camera and soon millions of easy-to-use compact cameras were flying off the shelves. A few traditional companies (like Kodak and Minolta) faltered, but many became household names – especially the mighty twosome of Nikon and Canon.

Then smartphones, mini-computer phones, surfaced. Early versions of the smartphone arrived almost 20 years ago but it was only in 2007 that Apple’s iPhone kicked off the huge surge in modern mobile telephone and social media communications. Now it has been estimated that about one in every five persons owns one - and smartphones take digital photographs too!

Consequently, sales of compact cameras have fallen dramatically in the last few years. Japan accounts for about 80% of the global output of digital cameras and in the last three or four years there has been a significant fall in non-premium fixed-lens (compact) camera exports; they seem to have halved between 2010 and 2013. Of course  there was a recession - and many markets had become saturated - but the movement from compact cameras to smartphones and tablets seems clear.

(I must admit that I was a reluctant convert and carried both an iPhone and a Canon compact until very recently when I realised that most casual and unplanned photos were being taken on my phone. Now the compact camera is restricted to ‘events’ I know about in advance).

Interestingly, exports of DSLRs continue to thrive but the real success story is found in the growth of premium fixed-lens cameras – well done Fujifilm! – and mirrorless systems.

Mirrorless interchangeable-lens cameras started about 10 years ago and really took off with the launch of the Micro Four Thirds (MFT) format by Olympus and Panasonic in 2008. Basically, mirrorless cameras, by doing away with the bulky reflex mirror and optical viewfinder of standard DSLRs, enable smaller, lighter cameras. Often, by using a smaller sensor than APS-C size, the typical DSLR size sensor, they reduce size further while achieving more than adequate picture quality - especially in an age where pictures usually end up on social media (rather than being printed) and where many fewer megapixels are required. 

For several years I have sworn by my Nikon equipment but, with the vastly improved performance of mirrorless models, I am switching from traditional equipment to mirrorless bodies. A key factor has been breaking my arm - it’s much easier to carry and use a mirrorless camera. Look at the difference in size between my old Nikon D7100 and the similar mirrorless Sony A6000 – it speaks volumes:

 Both cameras have 24Mp APS-C size sensors but the Sony is less than half the weight and one-third the surface area! ( photo courtesy of the iPhone!)

So, what exciting things were revealed at Photokina, this global window on emerging photographic technology... well, very little...in fact it was a bit of a yawn.

The traddies, Canon and Nikon, each introduced a new larger format camera (an upgrade for the Canon 7D and a widely-forecast space filler D750 from Nikon), anticipated gestures to placate their fans. Interestingly, while both Nikon and Canon have failed to make any impact on the mirrorless segment - perhaps for fear of cannibalising their other product sales - Canon this year launched the G7X, widely viewed as an attempt to mirror Sony’s highly-regarded and best-selling RX100 model.

The real excitement came from the mirrorless segment. Samsung led with the NX1 that shoots 4K video and has the world’s largest APS-C sensor at 28Mp. Panasonic introduced the LX 1000 which leverages a MFT sensor and a zoom lens in a compact package  – and crammed a one-inch sensor in a 4.7-inch phone handset. Sony, the most innovative of all camera manufacturers introduced some brilliant new mirrorless cameras before Photokina and showed new lenses during the show - as did Fuji - while Olympus (rivalling Fuji and Sony in mirrorless innovation) quietly consolidated its position and introduced an exciting new MFT camera module designed to attach to phones and tablets, bringing them the ability to record high quality images.

So, there we are. Digital imaging is growing, fuelled by the increase in smartphones. Traditional large-sensor camera manufacturers are treading water, small-sensor compact cameras are drowning, while the mirrorless segment powers ahead, innovating and changing paradigms.

Roll on Photokina 2016!