Category: News

News from around the world covering photography topics. These include technology developments, new product announcements, events news and more.

The Video and Photography Show goes to London for 2025

After ten years, the big annual UK photography event, the Photography and Video Show, is moving from the Birmingham National Exhibition Centre to London Excel, starting on Saturday, 8th March and running until Tuesday, 11th. But don’t worry if you prefer the Midlands venue, the plan is to alternate between London and Birmingham in future years.

If you aren’t familiar with the Photography and Video Show, it’s not just a camera show where you can touch and try the latest gear, though over 250 brands are represented in one way or another. There are also seminars and talks, with more than 25 guest photographers and filmmakers lined up at the time of writing. There are also special creativity areas as a part of the Creator Con, including talks and presentations by leading content creators.

A flavour of the Photography and Video Show

 

The usual big brands, like Canon, Sony, Nikon, OM System, Adobe, Pentax, Tamron, Sigma, Fujifilm, Epson, and so on, will be there, along with many other large and small firms showing their accessories and services.

The show takes place just after the big CP+ trade show in Japan, so lots of new cameras, lenses and other exciting new products unveiled there will be shown in London during the event, for the first time.

Many of the publishers of photography magazines will be there, hopefully with some great subscription deals. We also hope the big gear retailers, including Camera World, LCE, and WEX, will be battling each other on great show-price deals.

If you are sure of going, it’s best to purchase your tickets online and book any seminars or talks in advance.

For more about the show, check out the official Photography and Video Show website.

DxOMark hails the Oppo Find X7 Ultra as the Android smartphone camera to beat

Smartphone cameras just keep on getting better, as confirmed by imaging test laboratory, DxOMark. Their new champion is the Oppo Find X7 Ultra, which ties for first place with the Huawei Mate 60 Pro+, on 157points.

Since the Huawei Mate 60 Pro+ is prevented from running Google services, and, therefore, runs Huawei’s own HarmonyOS, instead of Android, the news means the Oppo Find X7 Ultra is the undisputed top DxOMark tested Android phone.

DxOMark test interchangeable cameras, lenses and smartphones in test laboratory conditions. Results are presented in a way that enables measured performance ratings to be compared easily from model to model, and even over time.

Accordoing to DxoMark: “The Oppo Find X7 Ultra shows excellent results across all test areas, and especially stands out in portrait capture, thanks to natural and accurate colors as well as high levels of detail in all shooting conditions.

“With a 50MP image sensor across all four camera modules, including a large 1″ main camera variant, the device delivers detailed and noise-free images. The two periscope cameras offer exceptional zoom capabilities from 3x to 6x and beyond, across all light conditions.

“Bokeh images in portrait mode show accurate subject isolation, as well as excellent color rendering and high levels of detail, thanks to the use of the 3x tele module in this mode. The Oppo Find X7 Ultra is an excellent device for capturing photos and videos of friends and family. Finally, while it uses SDR-8-bit format for video instead of HDR, the video quality remains excellent with accurate exposure, dynamic range, and vibrant colors, even in low light.”

To see the whole review, check out the DxOMark Oppo Find X7 Ultra page.

 

The Photography and Video Show 2024

After a break, last year, The Photography and Video Show returns for 2024 at its usual Birmingham National Exhibition Centre (NEC) venue. The doors open on Saturday, 16th March, at 10AM, and close, each day at 5PM, until Tuesday, 19th March.

Apart from Pentax, all the big camera brands will be there, including Canon, Sony, Panasonic Lumix, OM System (Olympus as-was), Fujifilm, and Nikon. It will be interesting to see if the latter will include an exhibit of RED digital cinematic cameras, after Nikon’s recent revelation that it is to acquire the company.

On the lens front, regulars Tamron, and Sigma, will be showing their optics, while less familiar, up and coming, marques like Laowa and Irix will also be at the show.

The Photography and Video Show is also the place for special show bargains, with all the top retailers, like WEX, LCE, and Cameraworld fighting it out for your business.

Don’t forget there will be a lot of stands showing accessories, from flash to filters and tripods and monopods, as well as bags, printer paper, and much more. Talking of printing, Epson will be there.

Studio is a key word at the show and there are normally on-stand tutorials featuring pro photographers and models.

Software is, naturally, a big aspect of digital photography, and Skylum, and Adobe will be there, with the latter demonstrating its latest Creative Cloud still and video software tools, with another buzzword – AI – at the top of the agenda.

One stand I expect will be very busy is L195, where Just Serving Photographers will be running a sensor cleaning service – first come, first served.

Many of the photography magazine publishers will be at the show, so look out for special offers and goody bags for subscription sign-ups.

Finally, there are lots of live presentations, tutorials and talks that you can attend – find out more here.

The show is never a disappointment – it’s highly recommended. It could even revive a flagging photography mojo!

You can find out more at The Photography and Video Show’s official website.