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Photokina - now's the time to book

17 March 2016

Photokina - now's the time to book

This weekend sees The Photography Show opening in Birmingham opening its doors once again.  Since taking over from Focus, it's actually been a good show with attendance from all the major manufacturers and suppliers.  In other words, everything is there under one roof for you to see.  If you have never been, try and get to it.  Saturday is usually heaving, Sunday is quieter but if you want a bit of space, try one of the weekdays.  Monday's best as less people and exhibitors still have energy and enthusiasm left in them!!!  It's held at the NEC so pretty central.

Why are we not there this year?  We simply decided to do something different and arrange one-to-one meetings with our customers this year to talk through their needs.  I'll actually be there the whole way through the show - some of the manufacturers have kindly loaned me their stands to base myself on!

Anyway, the point of this blog post was to talk about another show - Photokina.  Photokina is held bi-annually in Cologne, Germany around late September (after IBC in Amsterdam).  The quickest way to describe it (if you've been to the Photography Show) is to take that and scale it up about 5 times.  Photokina is massive.  It's based over 11 halls of which 5 are on two levels.  The manufacturer stands are just enormous with plenty of kit to get your hands on.  The sheer number of exhibitors means it is absolutely impossible not to find something of interest (usually that you never knew you were interested in!!) and the nature of it being Europe's number one show means there are a huge number of international exhibitors that you just wouldn't see at any UK show.

Hall Plan

Don't go thinking that video is excluded.  In 2014 there was masses of video content and indeed one of the Theme Worlds for 2016 is 'Creating Unlimited' which covers video and film technology, accessories and post-processing.  In fact I much prefer the video content at this show as it's less about crazy expensive film and broadcast equipment and more about trying to produce that content for the best value and is usually full of innovation.  2014 was definitely the year of aerial photography in a couple of the halls - I expect there will be even more this year!

So why am I talking about it now in March?  Very simply - it involves travel and that just gets more and more expensive the closer you get to the show!  NOW is the time to book - I did on Monday!

 

Dates

The show runs from the 20th to the 25th September 2016, opening times are 10am to 6pm.  Tickets aren't available yet (advance ordering starts 1st May) but expect it to be 46EUR for a day (29EUR if you book in advance) and 80EUR (48EUR) for a 2 day ticket.

 

Getting there

Bad news (for me at least) this year is that Easyjet have stopped their flights from Gatwick to Cologne.  So for those down South, the only direct options are from Stanstead (Eurowings, RyanAir) or Heathrow (Eurowings).  Eurowings also do direct flights from Edinburgh.  Those in the Midlands would need to travel via Hamburg.  Cologne is the quickest (about 15 mins) to get to the Kolnmesse and it's incredibly easy.  That's not to say you can't use Dusseldorf or Frankfurt but both are around 50mins away by train and you've then got the extra cost of travel.  If you're interested in learning more on how to get there by train, have a look at these instructions.

I'm actually going by car this year.  I'm far closer to the Channel Tunnel than Stanstead so the by the time I'd be boarding my flight, I'll be well across Belgium.  The trip isn't too bad (as long traffic around Brussels behaves itself) - about 4 hours from Calais.  There are plenty of underground car parks though budget 15EUR a day to park.  

 

Staying there

The reality is you can fly round Photokina in a day.  it will be a long day, your feet will be sore and you may well miss things but you can do it.  It clearly keeps the costs down.  If your budget can stretch to it, it's worth taking two.  Without the time constraint, you can actually enjoy it far more, not constantly looking at your watch (as hours just vanish!).  Cologne is also a lovely place to stay - the Cathedral is quite spectacular and the riverbank is beautiful, especially if you get a clear evening to stroll along it.  Clearly from a photo point of view, there are plenty of opportunities to be had.  This is just a shot from my iPhone in the morning on the walk over.

Cologne Cathedral

There are two ways to stay in Cologne during Photokina - the expensive or cheap way.  As I have to justify my own expensives, I choose the latter but that doesn't mean compromising.  Avoid hotels - pure and simple.  They know Photokina is in town and some charges are ramped up by 200%.  My advice is to use AirBNB.  I use AirBNB all the time now and it's brilliant (I use it for IBC in Amsterdam).  I'm paying 55EUR a night for a flat in the centre of Cologne with parking (and wifi, coffee machine - two important things when needing to write up reports end of day to post!).  Now these won't stay available for long and so I would advise booking early.  You can stay further out and travel in - really depends on availability and your budget.

Nothing in Cologne is too far away from the centre but public transport is excellent with a good Metro and overland train service.  If you can't be bothered to walk across the river to the Kolnmesse (it's a 10-15 minute walk - actually quite nice if it's a lovely morning), trains leave regularly from the main station.

 

It's not the cheapest trip but it is worth doing at least once to experience - you will never see anything like it in the UK.  For me, it's also a great chance to catch up with friends and colleagues from around the world (and to abuse a little bit of hospitality from manufacturers - Sigma's lunch offering was delicious as you can see!).  

Sigma stand

 

I'm looking forward to it!  If you can, try it yourself!  You can find out more details at Photokina's website.