This Year's PhotoPlus Expo: Boola-Boola!

The annual  PhotoPlus Expo held here at the huge Javits Center has always been the premier professional photographic event of the year. I missed last year’s because I was in a somewhat altered state and flat on my back. No, not because of some recreational drug excess but as a result of a bit of surgery: ah, the wonders of modern medicine!

Anyway, all’s well now, but as I wandered aisles of the Javits Center last week, I couldn’t help but wonder if a bit of pain killer might not have made this whole convention just a bit more palatable. I mean, this is supposed to be the place where exhibitors show off their newest and best stuff. This year was a royal disappointment.

First off, I'm at this show because I make my living with a camera and come here - drugs and scalpel not withstanding - expecting a professional show. That means  I'm here to see new products, meet with manufactures reps and possibly make decisions on new stuff to buy.  Maybe to even schmooz with a few old partners in crime.

I din't come to have to fight my way past aisles jammed with clueless armature photographers who think “photo show” means a place to walk around showing off their collection of camera equipment.

That situation is exacerbated by exhibitors who pander to them by posing bimbos in front of their booths for these clowns to drool over as they pretend to photograph them. Nikon’s huge space was so screwed up that it took me a couple of passes through to find the counter with the equipment I wanted to see.

Add to that, many of the major exhibitors made a disappointing showing. A few looked down right stupid. The folks at Olympus forgot to bring along any brochures. Sony presented their newest and much hyped camera. Unfortunately, all they had to show here was a non-working “prototype.” That was the only one they had. They did however have a very expensively printed booklet to give me.

If you did want to find a particular booth, there was a directory of all exhibitors, complete with a map of the hall.  Unfortunately, the the counter with stacks of these books was stuck off in a corner, perfectly placed so that almost nobody saw them.Nice touch.

  The Leica booth ranked high on the down side. Here were the folks who actually invented  35mm photography. For generations Leica produced the absolute finest camera equipment. I still have a couple of 40+ year old Leicas that I used right up until I had to switch to digital format and they are both in perfect working condition.

Today, Leica has priced itself into the boutique market. Their latest is a beautiful looking camera with all the retro styling that made their 'M' range finder line instantly recognizable. Unfortunately, it is made to only shoot black and white.  Realy. And to insure it's snob appeal it and carries an $8000.00 price tag. Lenses extra. The Leica booth was not crowded.

Compliments to Canon, though. No bimbos, no gimmicks, just lots of their equipment and most important a lot of knowledgeable people who did their best to be genuinely helpful.

Many booths were staffed by nice people who were nearly clueless about what they were selling or worse, were selling stuff that made you wonder if one of you was at the wrong show. A few admitted that they were only hired to hand out brochures and scan the badges of attendees for their company’s mailing list. There were booths set up by distributors who handled a multitude of photo products and often seemed to know nothing about them. And couldn't care less. Example: Wien was a company that turned out a succession of good quality and well priced professional lighting accessories for many years. I own a bunch of 'em. Stopping by their booth was always a chance to see something new. This year, the guy at the booth displaying their stuff told me he ‘didn’t handle that particular line.’ He had no idea of what was new this year. Could I come back later?

And there were lots of folk pushing ‘new’ software. Most claimed they could solve problems I didn’t know I had. All their booths had demonstrators putting on a show of just what the new programs could do. One thing they all had in common was that there was nothing particularly new about any of them. And they were all overpriced. Ok, that’s two things.

Among the true junk for sale were quite a few booths pushing what looked like military inspired, over constructed “systems” for carrying cameras. Lots of heavy duty straps, buckles, clips and harnesses, no doubt inspired by the outfitters of Delta Force. The cute babes decked out like GI Janes only emphasized the fact that this is the kind of camera crap made by folks who clearly never used it.

The best stuff of the show was to be found in the small spaces – read that as booth space that was less expensive to rent - along the side walls of the hall. Here were the new gadgets and independent makers. Their wares were often innovative, interesting and yeah, occasionally really stupid, but it was the stuff that made coming here interesting and meeting the folks who invented and developed it all often made it fun.

My ol' alma mater Brooks Institute was - yet again - a no show. Maybe they figured this show was no longer worth the trip.  Ot the tab. So: no reunion party this year. 

Winner for the Most Depressing Booth was the Kodak booth. Kodak? Yeah. Their exhibit at this show used to occupy one of the most expensive and extensive spots, front and center. Kodak was the company that defined photography for over century. Anyone remember that Kodak invented digital photography? And then they sat on that invention because they were making all that money on film and chemicals and figured they’d loose out if we started shooting pictures that didn’t need that stuff. Then to add to the greed, they also started screwing around with their film, flooding the market with ‘grey market’ junk labeled Kodak, but not made in America. I remember having to look very carefully at the boxes to make sure that what I was buying wasn’t made in Brazil, Saudi Arabia or China. Sometimes the labeling intentionally deceptive with terms like “packed in USA.” After a while, I just stopped using Kodak film all together. So did most pros.

So as Kodak sinks into banlruptcy, at this year’s Photo Expo instead of being one of the top exhibitors, Kodak occupied a small space way at the back. The booth was staffed by one guy who's only function that day seemed to be giving out free film. I got a couple of rolls.

On the bus heading back home, I looked through the bag of literature and goodies I’d acquired at the show.
                           
Looking a bit closer at the box of Kodak T-Max, I saw this:

I guess some folks just never learn.......

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