18th April, 2010 - Photo Fest 2010
Posted by Seamus Long
On Sunday 18th April I headed to the Crowne Plaza, Santry, home to Photo Fest 2010. With 13 different seminars and a long list of exhibitors I was looking forward to a photographic feast. I arrived just before 11 a.m. and as arranged met my friend Mark, a Dublin native. He was interested in acquiring a Digital SLR and wanted to avail of the opportunity to check out a few particular models (cameras, that is!) at the show.
We arrived a little too late for the Canon Software seminar so we headed into the exhibition area. First stop was the Canon stand and straightaway Mark got his hands on the 1000D. He had it pretty well researched on the web in advance and it lived up to his expectations. It was easy to navigate, light, compact with sizeable LCD monitor. The user friendly Picture Styles option would also appeal to other family members. Canon had the full range of cameras and accessories on display; in fact they had one of the biggest stands at the show but weren't selling directly to visitors. Nikon were also present with their full range. I was impressed by their 400mm telephoto lens. I'm convinced I could see my house through it! Sony also had a significant presence as did Bowens and Panasonic. Many of the other well known photographic brands such as Sigma, Mamiya, Cokin and Adobe were represented by resellers. DLK Photo Supplies had little by way of cameras at the show but had a full price list of a cameras (in Euro) while Barker Photographic were mainly selling accessories. Bermingham Cameras were very busy with a good range of cameras (in particular, Canon, Nikon and Panasonic Lumix) and accessories at competitive prices.
Before lunch we attended the Canon EOS Range seminar. The intended presenter, Dave Newton, couldn't make it due to the flight ban and was replaced by Dave McKane from the Institute of Photography. He has a very good knowledge of Canon cameras as he does the official training on behalf of Canon. He gave a good run-down on all their SLRs, their main features and differences from one model to another. Did you know that the 5D, which has full HD Video recording, has been used to film the TV series 24 and an episode of House? It is popular with movie directors because it gives a very shallow depth of field, a feature which would cost EUR250,000 in a film movie camera. It's also used to record car crash stunts where the risk of damaging a camera is high, as it is cheap to replace relative to film movie cameras. Dave also told us about the woman who complained that when she looked through her camera viewfinder none of the scenes were in focus but when she subsequently reviewed them on her computer they were all sharp. Dave's advice: When you buy a camera adjust the viewfinder dioptre setting to suit your eyesight!
After a tasty lunch in the bar, we went back into the exhibition area. Mark checked out the Canon 1000D on the Bermingham Cameras stand. He was offered a very good deal which was on a par with Pixmania's price. And they said the offer was good until Tuesday. He also liked the Lumix G2 and was tempted by the price. The touch-sensitive LCD is a unique feature and is also easy to use. However, the Live Viewfinder is a poor substitute for the real thing - there is no mirror - and this also drains the batteries very quickly.
Guy Gowan is renowned for his seminars and training video DVDs on Photoshop - he seems to know how best to realise the software's potential. He presented five different seminars throughout the day. On a previous occasion I attended his Process Workflow seminar. On Sunday his HDR seminar piqued my interest. As an indication of his popularity, the room was full at least 10 minutes before the seminar start time and the man wasn't even in the country....! The volcanic ash left him stranded in Amsterdam so he was live via the internet. He showed us how to create a HDR photo from a single image without the end product looking fake. He deliberately overexposes the highlights at time of shooting and does the rest in Photoshop. While the Photoshop process only takes a few minutes he galloped through it a couple of times which made it impossible to write down the details. While he was able to see and hear the audience, the fact that he wasn't in the room led to little or no interaction so asking him to repeat it more slowly wasn't a realistic option. But then Guy has to sell his training courses and DVDs. He certainly is a Photoshop guru and uses the software in innovative ways.
There was an abundance of Photo Album and Digital Photo Book companies at the show. These were mainly aimed at the professional wedding photographers who had the opportunity to assess the many samples on display. I met local pro Sean Kelly checking out the merchandise. Wacom were demonstrating their current tablet while OnOne Software were demonstrating their time-saving Plug In Suite for Photoshop, Aperture, etc. to help make tasks easier and give best results.
The Irish Photographic Federation had its own stand. Sean Casey and Des Clinton were doing a good trade selling the Photography Ireland 2010 book. Among the many fine photographs is Droumluska by our club member, Teddy Sugrue. Well done Teddy.
I finished off the day by having a chat with Helen Burke from Irish Photo News who organised the event. She was very pleased with the response to the event. She said she was conscious of the need to cater for both the amateur and professional photographer by giving a good mix of exhibitors and seminars.
Overall, I enjoyed the experience. There was better variety and more exhibitors compared to my previous visit a few years ago. The number of seminars alone made it worth the entry fee. The fact that I was helping my friend in his quest for a camera gave me a particular purpose (or focus!) and this added to the experience. And while he didn't decide at the show, the Lumix looks like getting the nod.
