Btw. Next year the photo show is in NEC.
Just came back From it and I rather it was in Excel London.
After the event there was a amazing sunset over the docks.
You could not do that in NEC as it's in the middle of nowhere.
Plus there was famous toggers doing photo walks.
It's a prime spot really and transport is sooo easy to get to.by car or public transport
Just recovering from my day at the Photo Show. I was a little reluctant to travel south and thought about a boycott with the move away from Brum. But that’s chewing my nose off as there was lots I wanted to see and do. Also used as a test to see if I can get into London cheaper with the family for days out and photo days in the future. £40 from Rugby and £3 parking all day. £10-£15 in petrol (or less if I took the electric).
Had to think about transport as engineering works on my route. Drove part to Rugby for an hour and 15, hour train into Euston, 30 minute tube and straight to the Excel before opening.
Gear, got a chance to play with 400-800mm and 16mm on Sony. 16mm is sweet. Won’t be buying the 400-800mm. Another play with the 300mm f2.8.
Having picked up the A1ii before Xmas and deciding pointless keeping value of 2x A1 in the bag recently offloaded by A1 mk1. I am dithering again between A7cR and A7RV for a 2nd body for the studio and street stuff so it gave me opportunity to play with both. Great to chat with the Sony guys.
Also had a play with Viltrox.
Played with the bazooka that is the Sigma 300-600mm. Also a good play with Fuji offerings.
Plenty of photo opportunities with lots of sets and models.
Lots of learning. Sat in on Adobe with talks from Joel Grimes, Lindsay Adler and a couple of others whose names escape me. Little too much aimed at content creators and setting up for business on the other stages. Sat in on the Sigma stage for Joe Cornish. Sony stand for Terry Donnelly sports tog.
Lots of inspiration and ideas always gets me buzzing.
Godox stand with Emma Finch, Graham Curry and Gavin Hoey. Opportunity to have a trigger and get some shots.
I am into printing so used it as an opportunity to pick the brains of the Canon print folk and good look at the paper choices.
Jumped on a mono photo walk at the end of the show and had a really good wonder round the docks.
I blag a free ticket but even without it’s great value to get to look, play, see and do under one roof.
I have heard a couple of things about potentially London And Brum alternate years and also London every 3rd year. London wont put me off going in the future.
Not sure if it was the space or layout but didn’t feel as busy as NEC.
Show deals were poor. Maybe because it’s day one. £2299 A7CR, £2599 A7RV. £600 off the 300mm. Very little in the 2nd hand sections and prices high. Viltrox weren’t selling unfortunately - unless you are there on Tuesday when they will sell the stock on the stand - so potential for a possible bargain.
Only ball ache is if you were buying a lot or big for me to carry across London rather than straight to the car at the NEC. But the credit card stayed in the wallet on this trip.
Really need two days to get the best which I do at NEC, drive one and jump in with someone else for a second. If it is in London again I will probably grab a hotel and do two days and get into London with the camera. One of my favourite places to shoot. Soo many opportunities. With the new tested travel route into London I saved around £80-£100 on a train ticket and parking.
I would highly recommend.
) so can now process the RAW files from the A6700 - still nothing too exciting to share but here's a Crow. Given it was shot at ISO2500 it has come out pretty well I think 
It tells you on the Sony site but you can’t update from 1.32 directly to 3.00 you have to do it in stages or it will brick your camera. I can’t remember what all the different updates have brought but I don’t think any have been ground breaking, the only major difference I can remember is the new menu structure, and that once updated you can then do future updates via SD card rather than having to connect to a computer.
