Surprising Absences at Photokina 2020

[Mike Farley]

Photokina used to be THE biennial event for the photographic industry when all the big names came together in Cologne, Germany. Held in September, there were always major releases from the manufacturers timed to coincide with the show. Everyone wanted to display their best wares to the thousands who attended. Then the organisers decided to make it an annual event, held in May. The first of these was supposed to be staged this year, a few short months after the last of the biennial shows in September 2018. Clearly, coming so soon it did not hold much appeal and was cancelled. Now the organisers have announced that Nikon, Leica and Olympus will be absent in 2020. The story is from PetaPixel, link below.

https://petapixel.com/2019/09/17/nikon- ... kina-2020/

The biggest surprise is Leica. As a German company, it always put on a good display on its home territory and usually had a hall to itself. As one of the major players with its new mirrorless Z system to promote against the likes of Canon and Sony, Nikon's decision is puzzling as well. Clearly it thinks there are better options. Olympus' will be less missed. Its sales are comparatively low and it appears to have stalled when it comes to releasing new models. Its latest offering, the EM1X, is essentially a souped up E-M1 with what seems like a limited market. Nevertheless, is some of the gloss coming off Photokina?