I haven't been to a photography show for a very long time. In fact, it’s quite possible the last one was in the analogue era. I had tentative plans to visit Photokina in 2020, but we all know what happened then.
So with this year’s UK based Photography and Video show taking place in Birmingham, a significantly closer location to me than London, I decided to take the plunge and spend two days there.
As a professional photographer I was given free entry, for my wife it was £18 when booked in advance online. The event was held between the 14th and 17th of March this year (2026) and I attended on Sunday the 15th and Monday 16th. Going on Sunday turned out to be a good decision, more on that later.
The Major Brands
Many of the major camera and lens manufacturers were in attendance, some with more impressive stands than others. The two biggest, perhaps as you might expect, were Sony and Canon. These stands as you might expect were perpetually busy and getting access to some of the equipment on show was time consuming.
That said, both exhibited pretty much full line ups of both photography and video based lines as well as pretty much their full complement of lenses. They both had elevated stands where photographers could try out longer lenses whilst looking above the hordes on the exhibition floor. Canon also had a separate stand for their printers.
Another very busy stand was Fuji, particularly with the younger generation. They also were showing their full range including their impressive video lens line up.
Interestingly two of their more recent niche products did not seem to be drawing much attention. The first was the Fujifilm X-Half, a half frame vertical format camera, the second was the Fujifilm Instax Mini Evo Cinema Instant Camera, a bizarre device designed to look like an old 8mm cine camera. It shoots 15 seconds of video and has a built-in Instax mini printer. Presumably trying to build on the back of their Instax printers, it seems a very odd piece of kit.
The Nikon stand was also very busy but a little smaller and less impressive than the others. Of the two major third party lens manufacturers, Tamron and Sigma were very well represented. Most of the manufacturers had show “specials” available. These were tied in with two of the three big photography retailers in the UK, London Camera Exchange and WEX Photographic. Both their stands were massively busy all the time, interestingly many people seemed to be lined up at the trade in sections of these retailers.
Smaller and Niche Brands
One area where photography shows like this shine is the showcasing of some of the more niche brands. The power of social media and YouTube has introduced us to many niche photographic products, many of them extremely useful. However, with them often being sold only online via their own websites of Amazon, it is often difficult for us photographers to get a good impression of them.
There were stands for a number of companies that I have bought from including Neewer, Smallrig, Peak Design and others. Because these companies and their stands are smaller, it was often easier not only to get a closer look at the products, but also have a decent conversation with the staff.
I was able to look at a number of products that I was interested in but were reluctant to buy directly from Amazon without actually trying them.
Also amongst the niche stands were organisations like Greenpeace, Guide Dogs for the Blind and the Civil Aviation Authority. I was able to get some useful information on drone classifications from the CAA. In a nutshell, if DJI wishes to reclassify EU drones to the UK class system, the CAA will not stand in their way. Interestingly DJI was not present at the show.
Several more niche lens companies were also present. Samyang had a good selection to test, their 35-150mm looking like a good rival for Tamron’s 50-150mm. Sirui had a range of their well regarded video lenses on show.
The Analogue Section
Interestingly, one fairly significant corner of the hall was devoted purely to film photography. Here, the biggest player was Ilford, who have introduced several new films recently, including a first foray into the world of colour C41 film. It was also great to see old classics like Patterson still being sold.
There were several stands selling used analogue cameras, some with prices that certainly made me wince.
Overall the Analogue corner was perhaps not the busiest part of the show but it was well attended by companies and devotees alike.
Seminars
One of the main reasons I decided to go to the show was to watch seminars and tutorials. There were dozens available over the four days touching on all aspects of photography. Like the show itself the seminars were often packed, standing room only. The more popular ones required you to arrive at least 20 minutes early to stand a chance of getting a seat. That said I saw a diverse range, including portrait photography, lighting, analogue film choice, and several video editing seminars, all of which has given me some food for thought.
Two of the bigger seminar stages came from software companies. Capture One who not only did editing seminars but also portrait photography and Adobe who mainly concentrated on editing both photographic and video.
Another area that we could perhaps drop into the seminar section was the good number of dedicated photographic book retailers at the show. There was a vast selection of books available on all photographic subjects, however the prices did not seem heavily discounted for the show. On top of that they had photography organizations such as the Royal Photographic Society and the Guild of Photographers, photographic training companies and photo tour agencies.
Final Thoughts
At the top I said that going on Sunday was a good decision. The reason for that was it was Mother’s Day here in the UK. I heard through the grapevine that Saturday had been extremely busy so arriving on Sunday and spending the full day there was a good if unintentional decision.
I returned to the show on Monday and it was unbearably busy. This is perhaps, because on the last two days, students went free. Indeed the overall crowd did seem younger. I only lasted another 4 hours before calling it a day.
I managed to escape the show without splashing any huge sums of money. Tempting as some deals were, a quick Google on my phone revealed that I could probably still get similar prices at home using sites like the amazing Camera Price Buster. The biggest expenses at the show was food and coffee both of which were suitably expensive.
Would I go again? Yes but perhaps not for 2-3 years. It was a good experience, I got a lot out of the seminars, and the tactile feel of testing potential new equipment was invaluable. However, it’s not a cheap trip, either driving or taking public transport. It's an expensive journey and then adding in the price of two nights in a hotel it’s a significant sum. That said, it was an enjoyable and educational experience.
