Is The Photography Show worth attending?

Besides gawking at the latest gear and drooling over kit you can't possibly afford there's a huge amount of value to be had at The Photography Show.

The Photography Show is the biggest photography event of the year in our immediate vicinity. It's the best opportunity to get a comprehensive overview of what's current in the photographic industry. Major brands and retailers are present offering glimpses at their latest innovations and the chance to buy them at a special price; while the various stages host established and up-and-coming professional creatives.

Why do we attend...

As a retailer, our priority at the show is the kit and networking with manufacturers and distributors. So we generally spend our time milling around speaking to people we already know and looking at kit we've already seen. The Photography Show is a fraction of the size of Photokina in Germany or CP+ in Japan so manufacturers tend to save the big releases for those events but it's nonetheless important to have a presence at big trade events. It helps to solidify our working relationships with the brands we retail which aids in providing our customers with the latest kit first and the best offers and support.

We don't set up shop at the event because we prefer building inroads locally, our largest exhibition is as a main sponsor of the Frampton Country Fair. Gloucestershire has a large community of birders, outdoorsmen and photographic professionals due to our location in the Cotswolds. We are fortunate to have an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty on our doorstep which means we don't have to travel far to capture some truly stunning photos.

Why should you attend?

There are some great deals to be had at the photography show but we offer great deals on photo gear year-round. If you keep tabs on our Promotions Page you'll notice that it's never empty and we update it weekly.

The real value for storytellers, photographers, journalists and content creators is the wealth of information to be gained from the speakers on constant rotation at one of the seven stages dedicated to everything from editing to drone flight.

Take yourself back to school...

If you want to learn what gear you need to start a youtube channel, there's a speaker for you. If you want to learn how to get broadcast-quality aerial footage from a drone there's a talk for you. If you want to learn how to use social media to promote your photography business there's an instructional talk for you.

Not only is there a wealth of instructional talks on smaller stages you can gain an immense amount of inspiration and insight from seeing professionals sharing their work process and projects on the Super Stage. The big headline names that spoke at this year's show included National Geographic photographer Ami Vitale, double Pulitzer prize-winning photojournalist Daniel Berehulak and fashion photographer and artist Miles Aldridge.

Hopefully, we'll see you there next year!

Our day at The Photography Show

That being said we took a quick walk around, attended a short talk on audio for video and took a look at a couple of recent releases we hadn't handled in person yet.

Manfrotto

Manfrotto recently released two new backpacks for the run-and-gun cinematographer. The Pro Light Cinematic Expand and Balance will hold all the gear a one-man video production outfit could need on a shoot including a Ronin gimbal system or professional camcorder with a high handle attached.

They also came out with a Pro Light sling called the FastTrack that seemed pretty popular at the show. It combines a crossbody camera bag and camera strap into one ideal for urban environments and shooters who need something low-profile for a CSC and a bit of extra kit.

The below bags are no longer available, check out our other Camera Bags here >

Manfrotto Pro Light Cinematic Backpack Balance
Manfrotto Pro Light Cinematic Backpack Expand
Manfrotto Pro Light FastTrack Sling Bag

Canon EOS M50

The EOS M50 made some waves when it was released a couple of weeks ago purely because it's Canon's first mirrorless that shoots 4K, has a mic input and a vari-angle screen. The major caveat everyone is talking about is the fact that dual-pixel AF is unavailable while shooting 4K. How much does this matter? Not a great deal. If you're routinely shooting 4K video in low-light situations you're likely looking at alternatives.

It's an inexpensive and excellent entry-level option if you're just starting out in photography or video making.

The Canon M50 has now been updated with the new and improved Canon M50 Mark II (Updated again by the R50!)– check it out here >