Canon Pro Photo Solutions 09

After last year's road test of the Canon 5D Mark II, the guys at 1000 heads and Canon offered me another great possibility: be their guest at the Canon Pro Photo Solutions on Tuesday 27th October in London. The Pro Photo Solutions is the largest event for professionals photographers and has been a great showcase of technology, solutions and seminars.

I was proud to wear a badge that identified me as "Blogger" and not as Visitor or Exhibitor. Someone also asked me how it feels to be a blogger, but I think that he thought that this was my day-to-day job. Unfortunately this blog does not pay me the rent, but for a day is nice to be 100% what you feel inside: a Blogger and a Photographer! Another note I should add is about the photos that will go with this post: maybe I should have focused more on capturing the whole audience, the many things going on, the stalls and the many technological tools, but this is not who I am. I like people, I like portraiture and I had the possibility to play with THE Canon portrait lens, so I underlined the people over there. This is my photography.

Expectations As you may know, I am not a "Professional Photographer" in the sense that I do not earn my living with my camera, nevertheless I consider myself one, as it is what I do for pleasure every free moment. This difference has always pushed me to highly respect those who have been brave enough to step in the market and I am always keen to listen to the words of those in the business. I expected the Pro Photo Solutions to be a half way between a showcase for Canon products and a meeting point for professionals. In some ways my expectations were confirmed, in some others I think Canon missed a leading theme, in order to grab more steadily the audience attention... but of course this only if you want something to be perfect. Truth must be told saying that Canon organized everything perfectly: kudos to them!
The Products product wise Canon could not have done anything better: all their technology was there, ready to be touched and tested. Every lens, every camera, still or video. This was Canon's showcase and it has been a winning display in my opinion. One of the things I did was to weight in my hands the new 7D and the 1D Mk IV. The first one seems really well built and it demonstrates that Canon learned from the experience of the 5D Mk II. Some buttons are better placed in the body, in particular the ones to take videos, and the weather sealing/body seems great. The 1D Mark IV felt great in my hands. Coming from the 5D Mk II I did not notice a huge difference in the weight, and if I like the fact that my camera is smaller, the integrated battery pack with its dedicated shutter button on the bottom is a great option. I was not able to test the camera apart from few seconds, so my feedbacks are few and more focussed on feelings than facts. The autofocus seems to be coming from a different world: in the beginning I did not feel it right, but then I managed to get in touch with it and I have to say that is another world. Then I touched the shutter release and the camera stopped being a camera and become a machine gun. Of my 5D Mk II I am not extremely proud of the shutter button, as it is very soft: I am more into the almost-manual button where you feel the half press and then you trigger the camera with a clear depression of the button; the new 1D seems better from this point of view.

Seminars I appreciated the fact that Canon proposed different types of seminars, from those more oriented to technical photography, to those more into business. Ideas and realisation were there, you just had to pick the right one for your taste. I decided that I wanted to hear something inspiring, that I would have not needed a technical speech, so I went for Annabel Williams's and Catherine Conner's "Connecting creativity to Bank Balance". The session topic was changed, nevertheless I enjoyed very much the business and passionate approach to photography they gave us.
Exposition Not having a lot of time (I was there only one of the two days) I decided to skip other seminars, focussing on the exhibition in general. Many of the stalls present were displaying solutions for Canon users, some shops and some interesting alternatives like Hasselblad cameras. Every needed was covered and if you were into technological gadget the Canon Pro Photo Solutions was the right place to be.

Critiques? I think Canon did a great job with this exhibition and I hope I will be able to become used to many more in the future. I think the critiques may come from personal expectations and personal need. I would have loved the Pro Photo Solutions to be a better networking moment, with Canon to play the role of mediator, but I feel this was not exactly the target of the exhibition, so I cannot count it as a "missed opportunity".
An unexpected gift On our arrival Canon had a gift for us: two lenses to test for a week! I have been really lucky to end with one of my dream-lens, the 85mm f/1.2 MK II, plus the new version of the 70-300. I have to admit that I mounted the portrait lens the minute I got there and I did not removed it since. I will review the lens and the personal feelings about it in the next days, but I can anticipate that it is one of the best lenses I have ever used!

Conclusions If I had missed the Canon Pro Photo Solutions 2009 I would have missed a very interesting event. I have to say Thank You to Canon and 1000 heads for the possibility they gave me, without asking anything in return. Last year they allowed me to test the 5D Mk II and I ended buying it, I feel this time I will not be able to afford any other toy, but still I have some pretty clear ideas of what is in my wish-list.