Photokina 2008: a (shutter) bug's life

Köln Messe/Deutz became a photographer's Mecca this past week. Photokina is supposedy the biggest expo of everything that has something to do with photography, from the latest digital cameras to specialty lomography picture clips. I'd like a special mention to Frank, without whose generous offer of a free ticket I couldn't go to the biennial photography event.

I'm lucky enough to be doing my internship in Bonn, a 30-minute train ride to Köln. The huge compound of the expo site probably covers the size of the subivision where my family lives in Las Pinas, or probably even more expansive. With this ekistic generosity, getting lost within the halls is not surprising. I didn't mind because it's also a way to discover the booths and squares, albeit an inefficient one. It is impossible to cover all the halls, all 11 of them, within a day. I only visited about 5 halls. Now I know why the event sold multiple-use tickets.

I give my most-creative-stall award to Zeiss with one of their booths in the shape of a lens. Let's talk about the camera, which takes center-stage in this event. The much-publicized Panasonic Lumix G is indeed something to talk about. It should be the smallest and feature-packed prosumer (or is it an SLR?) camera to date. I got to play with it and it is a bit heavy for its size. Even then, with its small body that comes in different colors, changeable lens, and a swivel LCD, and impressive picture quality, Santa, I want one for Christmas! Many also toyed with Lensbaby, uhm, lenses and the new Nikon D90.

I especially enjoyed the free photo-ops of models and dancers, demo products, and photography tutorials. While I drooled over the cameras, I just contented myself with taking photos and caressing them. There were lots of give-aways and gimmicks in the form of bags, calendars, free prints, and contests. If I had it my way, I would visit the week-long expo at least three times, just to cover all the exhibition halls (and get more freebies!). Maybe in two years' time. Auf Wiedersehen in Photokina 2010!

A bit more photos in my flickr.