Sneak peek: Photokina 2008

Leonard Goh | Apr 24, 2008

One of the largest biennial photo/imaging tradeshows, Photokina, is going to be held from September 23-29 in Cologne, Germany. The organizer, Koelnmesse GmbH today briefed the press in China and Singapore on key figures and trends at the upcoming show.

At press time, over 90 percent of the show space have been booked, with over 100 new exhibitors stated. To accommodate the rising numbers of exhibitors and companies which are having larger booths, Michael Dreyer, vice-president of Koelnmesse Asia Pacific, mentioned that the space for this year will be slightly larger compared with the previous Photokina. In 2006, the show welcomed a total of 162,492 visitors. The figure for this year is expected to be the same, if not, more.

The interest in photography is expected to be driven by the low-cost of cameras and the instant gratification of digital imaging. In 2007, approximately 776 million image-capturing devices were sold worldwide, of which 629 million were camera-phones, 126 million digital cameras and 21million camcorders. 10 million units of dSLRs were sold in 2007, a 17 percent increase over 2006. These figures are set to increase in 2008 by 10 to 20 percent.

On Photokina's Web site, it predicts that personalized photo books, digital image storage solutions, HDMI and digital picture frames are expected to be some of the more popular things that visitors can look out for. But the star of the event has to be the cameras. As Oliver P. Kuhrt, executive vice-president of Koelnmesse GmbH, said: "The development of digital cameras has reached its peak (in terms of resolution and specifications), so it will be interesting to see how the innovations by the big players are going to help." Markus Oster, vice-president of Communications and New Media Shows in Koelnmesse GmbH, added that for this year "digital imaging output will be the biggest thing", and this covers to printers and digital picture frames among others.

The show space will be divided into five areas: Visual Gallery, Image Input, Image Processing, Image Storage and Image Output. Besides showcasing the latest imaging technologies and products, the show will also exhibit prints by renowned and upcoming young photographers. An international business forum titled Memories on Demand will also discuss how digital imaging is making an impact on the consumer's lifestyle.

Closer to home, there are over 70 exhibitors from Asia, of which the majority are China companies. To this, Oster mentioned that there is a increasing amount of exhibitors and visitors from Asia. Also interesting is the Singapore Pavilion, organized by the Singapore Photo Trade Association. In 2006, 12 Singapore companies participated in the tradeshow. This year, seven companies have signed up and the association is expecting more.

This will be an interesting trade event especially for avid shutterbugs. So far, we understand that Samsung will be unveiling its successor to the GX20 dSLR and perhaps Sony's flagship full-frame dSLR may finally make its formal appearance there, too.

Although it is five months to kickoff, we're expecting more updates to come. Watch this space as we bring you the latest news on Photokina 2008.

Filed under: Digital Cameras
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