Here a few lines I’ve received from a friend, a longtime Photokina enthusiast who had this to say (we initially planned to meet up in Cologne for the world’s biggest photography industry exhibition, yet on short notice I had to commit to other obligations):

Dear Daniel,

You did not miss much by not going to the Photokina. My friend and I had plans for two days there, but decided in the afternoon of the first day that we had seen practically everything that was worthwhile. It was significantly smaller than two years ago, when it was already smaller than the one before it, four years ago. Many veteran Photokina goers were commenting on that. Another thing to note was a relatively poor quality of the photography in the booths of the manufacturers, as well as the mini exhibitions.

The signs of the times. Budgetary constraints? People relying more and more on the Net than a “real world experience”? The industry’s general poverty of imagination? The price the industry pays for photography’s mainstreamization?

Go figure. Looks like it was mainly a Leica exhibition with mildly exciting announcements. But why always expect the even more exciting. I’m perfectly happy with the capabilities of today’s current gear.