Review of DPI Show in London

On Thursday June 26, Kickstartnews Managing Editor Howard Carson and I attended the Digital Photo & Imaging Show at the Business Design Centre in Islington (London, UK). My first impression on entering the show was one of disappointment as it seemed a little on the small side. However, my mood improved as we made our way around the show. There were a few manufacturers present who were showing their solutions and we managed to spend some valuable time, one-on-one with the reps. On the software front there were a number of vendors showing their wares including Apple and Adobe. OnOne and Nik Software were also there showing their respective photoshop plug-ins and running continuous demos. A number of distributors and resellers were also on hand demonstrating other solutions. The live theaters from Adobe, Apple and DPI were running all day and were well attended, often with crowds spilling out into aisles. Printer manufacturers were there in force with large booths from Canon, Epson and HP well manned and equipped with the latest in large format printers. Nikon were notable in their absence, disappointing really as there were plenty of pro users in attendance. There were the usual publications and associations present and it was nice catching up with some of them. The BPPA, BIPP and The SWPP were there looking for new members and spending time with existing members. Magazines such as F2, The BJP, Digital Arts Magazine and Macworld were on hand, giving out free copies and selling subscriptions. I was pleased with Canon's presence at the show as they were demonstrating a start to finish capability which other manufacturers lack. We noted that Canon was able to demonstrate a complete solution for photographers from capture and acquisition through to output. In addition to their pro cameras and output solutions they also had their projectors and pro video solutions on hand for demo. Other exhibitors included Skillset, who were there discussing their training programs for Digital Skills, photography and creative workflows. It's definitely worth checking them out. A number of retailers and resellers such as AJ Purdy, The Flash Centre, The Pro Centre and Rapid Group were there promoting their wares and services and selling discounted products and providing some excellent show specials. Other vendors included Wacom who were demoing their excellent tablet solutions. Computer Unlimited were also in attendance demoing solutions from Corel, Datacolor, Shiraz and Vertus. The lecture program and seminar at the show was full and offered many useful and valuable insights. Speakers presented lectures and seminars useful to photo-libraries, portrait photographers, on documentary photography, celebrity shots, visual journalism and on the art of photography. Overall the show was small in scale but big on delivery, We were able to spend some valuable time with the companies we wanted to see. I hope that next year's show will be similar in nature but somewhat larger in scale. Nikon should really be there, as should a few more third party software and hardware vendors.