The end of an era

[GrahamS]

Graham, those elves you mention are everywhere!

[Bennybee]

Been at the Photokina a few times when we (JVC) had a booth there. Wonderful event - lots to see and to learn. Will miss it. So sad that another part of my/our past is gone.

[titrisol]

PART 2 is even worse
The Japanese website Asahi reports that Nikon is ending the production of cameras in Japan and moving all production to Thailand. This is simply Nikon's attempt to cut costs as much as it gets. Don't think this is enough to make them stay in the business.
https://slashdot.org/story/20/12/21/178 ... n-in-japan

[GrahamS]

Nikon only made the F6 and the D6 in Japan. With the demise of the F6 last month, it makes no sense to keep all the overheads going for just one camera model, the D6.

[melek]

I attended many Photokina shows and this news comes with great sadness and a lot of nostalgia. It was a very iconic event, and many of the more noteworthy (read scandalous) happenings took place, not in the Messe, but in the hotels and restaurants in and around Cologne. Like the time one delegation had a fire hose fight that flooded their hotel. One of the principals of the company that I represented closed a major deal with a customer and laid on a dinner party at which the customer was guest of honour. When asked what dessert he would like, the customer demanded strawberries and cream. Being September, strawberries were not in season and therefore were not available from the restaurant kitchen, so a junior member of staff was given a fist full of money and told to take a cab and search the town for strawberries. It was 23h00. He returned an hour later with a kilo of ripe strawberries and delivered them to the kitchen. When I asked him where he had found them, he told me that he had seen a girl in the red light district using strawberries and cherries as a prop and he went there and gave her $100 for a bag full. He was a very resourceful guy and we had a very satisfied customer! ...

That was a fun(ny) story about the strawberries, Graham. For better or for worse, the world today is more sanitized, and there are fewer stories like this.

Photography has become imaging, and the smartphone pushed out the point and shoot, just as digital pushed out film.

There is still a need for "real" cameras - still and video, so I suppose everyone will move to the Consumer Electronics Show.

I'm always sorry to hear about the demise of an industry trade show, particularly one with such a rich history.