Photo World Asia 2008

Photoworld Asia 2008 at the Glorietta Activity Center If in the USA, they have the Photo Marketing Association Trade Show which the world o...

Photoworld Asia 2008 at the Glorietta Activity Center

If in the USA, they have the Photo Marketing Association Trade Show which the world of Photography seems to follow as most photo companies exhibit and reveal their newer models. Here in the Philippines, we have the Photo World Asia. Before, it was called Photo World Manila, I guess for marketing reasons the popped in the “Asia” to make it wider in scope but it really isn’t that wide a coverage. Photo World is also an annual event held usually early February in Glorietta Activity Center, Makati. This year, the event is held from January 31 – February 5. Most local photo distributors have their exhibit booths and most retailers give good discounts and freebies during this event, making it an ideal time to buy new cameras and accessories.

The Olympus Booth at Photo World Asia 2008

Of course, my first stop for this event is the Olympus Booth since I am an Olympus User. There, they are showcasing more on the ruggedness of their cameras especially their Mju SW compacts which are water and shock proof. Also they have the feature rich Olympus e510 entry level and the lightest and most compact DSLR to date, the Olympus e410. Of course you won’t miss the most rugged and toughest DSLR on the market, the Olympus E-3 which local distributor Axis has been heavily promoting lately.

The OlyClub Philippines doing some model shoot

Olympus Philippines has been very generous and active in helping local Olympus Users here, bringing them hard to find lenses and even special prices. Last Saturday, most members of OlyClub Philippines showed their presence there. It goes to show that a lot has been using the brand lately which is very promising.

Lighting setup of model shoot by Jay Alonzo

One of the activity there is a model shoot with a short lecture on lighting by Olympus Endorser Jay Alonzo. I was fortunate to finally meet Sir Jay who has been a known photography figure for years and also a reputable teacher at the Alcove. He also has a small exhibit there using the new Olympus flagship, the E-3.

Panasonic Lumix Booth

Also visiting another 4/3 Format manufacturer booth there from Panasonic boasting their Lumix line of cameras. Again, I was fortunate to be introduced to Sir Chito Vicena, also one of the known local photographers here famous for his works on wedding. He is a Nikon user but also wanted to get the Panasonic L1. When I was looking for my first Digital SLR, I was actually eyeing to get this Panasonic L1 or its twin the Leica Digilux 3 since it has analog controls similar to film cameras. But when the retail price was announced, its 100k++ price tag was too much. Now the price tag was reduced to half and Sir Chito along with others wanted to purchase a unit. According to him, he really like the tone and color it produces as well as the quality of detail.

The Panasonic DMC-L10 cross section display

Panasonic L1 didn’t really hit big in terms of sales. Probably due to its price. A few years passed now they have recently released the Panasonic DMC L10, a more user friendly, somewhat entry level cam. But still, for an entry level, its price is a bit high because of its accompanying Leica 14-50mm 3.5-5.6 Mega OIS lens.

The Panasonic DMC-L10 with Leica 14-150mm 3.5-5.6 Mega OIS lens

Accompanying the release of the Panasonic L10 is the Leica 14-150mm 3.5-5.6 Mega OIS lens with an equivalent 35mm range of 28-300mm. When I first heard of this I thought this would be the ultimate traveling lens. I tried this lens on my Olympus e500 body. For its range, it certainly is lighter and shorter than my Zuiko 40-150mm. This is a very sweet all-around travel lens. Its focusing is not as fast as my Zuiko 12-60mm SWD lens, but I’m sure, in brighter conditions, this could be better. I would really like to have this lens but it’s around 79,000 pesos and I don’t have that amount in my wallet right now.

The Nikon Booth

Of course I wouldn’t ignore other booths there. Nikon is currently displaying its mid-pro Nikon D300. I also wanted to try it, but lots of people were trying it as well, so I decided to move on.

More model shoot at the Canon Booth

Canon’s Booth is just beside Nikon’s. There was a display of the new Canon 40D and its bulky Canon 1 Ds Mark III units. It’s huge! They also have a model shoot there. Fuji has a larger booth as well. I also noticed the absence of Sony and Pentax there.

My friend’s recently acquired Nikon D40

Like I said earlier, during this event, a lot of items can be bought for a discounted price. A friend of mine was able to score a brand new Nikon D40 for only 22000 pesos which I think is really cheap. I was able to play with the camera and it’s pretty neat and very user friendly which made it a popular entry level camera despite not having more technical controls as other entry levels.

My Photoworld Acquisitions

As for my recent acquisitions from the event, I only bought a few additional accessories: a 4gig Kingston Compact Flash card for only Php 1615, A wide-angle Cokin P-filter holder and also a screw-in 72mm ring mount and another 2gig SD Apacer Card for my sister’s camera worth only Php 500. There are actually some other items I would like to buy but I have to control myself. Especially now I have some trips lined up one after another.