New Photo Products Are Coming Soon!

Image courtesy of photokina.

There’s going to be a ton of new photo gear arriving soon from most of the major imaging companies, some of which may blow your mind. How do I know this? Well, aside from a few sneak peeks of upcoming photo products I’ve seen under NDAs (Non-Disclosure Agreements) recently but can’t tell you about yet, it’s mostly an educated guess. You see, there’s a little biennial show called photokina in Cologne, Germany next month (it runs September 15-21) and it’s when photo manufacturers like to debut their newest toys. Oh goodie!

If you’ve been checking out Shutterbug.com lately or visited our Facebook page or followed our new Twitter feed, you’ve probably seen evidence of the coming photokina wave. There have been a couple of new camera releases from Sony, a new digital rangefinder from Leica, some new printers from Canon, a new flash from Metz, a slew of new photo bags from Manfrotto, MindShift Gear and others, and more new accessories than I can count. But this is only the beginning. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see several new digital SLRs and medium format camera systems unveiled in the next month. And some of these cameras just might be game-changers.

Image courtesy of photokina.

Image courtesy of photokina.

Will this new photo gear make you a better photographer? In most cases, no. It’s a pretty well accepted maxim amongst the photo community that’s it’s not the camera that matters, it’s the photographer. I’ve heard this phrase repeated so many times by folks, it’s become an irritating cliché. Of course it’s not about the camera! It’s about having talent, and an eye, and training, and perseverance, and consistency, and a million other things that are critical to capturing great images. But having a good camera certainly doesn’t hurt! And that’s the double-edged sword of our gear-obsessed culture. We might already do something exceedingly well but there’s always that one new toy…er…tool out there we think will help take our talents to the next level.

Which brings me back to photokina. Along with being a “coming out party” for new photo gear, the show is a celebration of photography and, in particular, of photographers themselves. This year, the show is using the slogan “by pros for pros” for photokina 2014 and there will be a variety of educational events, networking services, and lectures designed specifically for photographers. If you’re lucky enough to get to Germany for the show this year, you should check these programs out. But if you can’t make it to Cologne, visit Shutterbug.com during photokina, where we’ll be posting live stories from the show about all those wonderful new photo toys!

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