Focus on Imaging draws big crowds

Olympus Focus stand
The Olympus stand at Focus on Imaging drew large crowds

This week has been all about Focus on Imaging. The photographic trade show takes place every year at the NEC in Birmingham and gives people the chance to have a touch and try with the latest photography gear coming onto the market.

The big draws this year were the Nikon D800, Canon EOS 5D Mark III and the Olympus OM-D, all of which saw a flurry of activity around their respective stands.

We attended the show to get first-hand action with some of the new gear, have a chat with manufacturers and bring you some new videos.

Take a look at all the big stories from the past week, each with links to the full story.

Canon news

Well, we'd all been waiting months (maybe even years) for Canon to upgrade the revolutionary Mark II, and finally, last Friday the announcement came that the 5D Mark III was about to be unleashed.

We spent some time with it to bring you our hands-on Canon EOS 5D Mark III review, which also contains a video to explain all the headline specs.

Although some may have been expecting a higher megapixel count, David Parry explained to us why 22 million pixels is enough, and also why it has no articulating screen.

Meanwhile, we pitted the Nikon D800 vs the Canon 5D Mark III, and looked at whether you should buy a 5D Mark III or go the whole hog and catch the 1DX.

Nikon news

Although Nikon didn't have anything we hadn't already seen at Focus on Imaging, it was a good opportunity to have a chat with some of its key players.

Jeremy Gilbert, UK marketing manager told us that there was still the possibility of a pro Nikon 1, depending on feedback, while he also claimed that the D800 pre-orders had been unprecedented.

Simon Iddon, product manager for the Nikon 1, also confirmed that it was 100% committed to the system, ahead of a new set of lenses which are in development.

Fujifilm news

There was a huge buzz around the X Pro1 at Focus and when we got back to the office to find a review sample had come in, we were naturally very excited to see if the camera managed to live up to all the hype.

We're very happy to report that the camera was able to out resolve full-frame cameras including the Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Leica M9 and Nikon D700.

Read our updated Hands on: Fuji X Pro1 review to get a fuller explanation and see some sample images shot with the camera.

Olympus news

Another stand that had lots of excitement was the Olympus stand, helped in part by a couple of Strictly Come Dancing dancers.

Although the OM-D was in short supply, we managed to get some more time with it to add a video to our Hands on: Olympus OM-D E-M5 review.

Also this week, Mark Thackara told us that he believed that a large sensor Canon CSC would be a mistake.

Sony news

Sony didn't have its own stand at Focus, but we still managed to get hold of Paul Genge from Sony UK who talked to us about upcoming products.

He confirmed that a full-frame SLT camera is coming, and appeared to indicate that SLR development had stopped for now.

Panasonic news

Another manufacturer that wasn't at Focus was Panasonic, but we still had a quick chat with the UK's Barney Sykes who claimed that the Micro Four Thirds sensor is better for image quality than larger APS-C size sensors.

Sigma news

Finally, Sigma also saw some buzz around its stand, as it debuted a number of new lenses and was showcasing the new DP1 and DP2 46 million pixel compacts.

MD Graham Armitage told us that the production of new compact system camera lenses was a bit of a leap in the dark, but he'd be very surprised if Canon didn't enter the mirrorless market very soon.

That's it for this week, we're all off for a lie down in a darkened room to try and shake off our Focus flu. If you have any opinions on this week's happenings, be sure to let us know in the comments box below or contact us via Facebook or Twitter.

Amy Davies

Amy has been writing about cameras, photography and associated tech since 2009. Amy was once part of the photography testing team for Future Publishing working across TechRadar, Digital Camera, PhotoPlus, N Photo and Photography Week. For her photography, she has won awards and has been exhibited. She often partakes in unusual projects - including one intense year where she used a different camera every single day. Amy is currently the Features Editor at Amateur Photographer magazine, and in her increasingly little spare time works across a number of high-profile publications including Wired, Stuff, Digital Camera World, Expert Reviews, and just a little off-tangent, PetsRadar.