Each year in the UK there is the Photography & Video Show which is usually held at the NEC in Birmingham. And I’ve never attended. Mostly because of the distance from where I live. But this year, 2025, it was held in East London, so much closer for me! So. My first time at the show, what did I think?
As well as film photography I have interests in video production, especially with the YouTube Channel. So I wasn’t short of attention when it came to mooching around looking at all the new tech on the stands. There was everything there if you’re a digital shooter for photography or video, but when it came to film us film photographers had to contend with walking past the same stands over and over again pondering on weather to try that Harman Red film, or maybe Harman Phoenix. Or in my case Delta 3200! More on that soon.
Some said it wasn’t as big as the previous shows at the NEC in Birmingham, but I thought it was HUGE! I certainly got my steps in.
I was only there for one day and I found myself walking around a lot looking at gear that was either way too much for my pocket or gear I didn’t really need or gear that I already have. Possibly the most intriguing part for me was looking at the used camera stands but unfortunately I couldn’t spend any money at the show as my pocket money had been swallowed up with car repairs that same week! But who needs to buy stuff. I was happy walking around taking pictures and chatting to other film shooters and meeting the companies on the stands.
What to do?
When I arrived (after traveling for 4 hours) with my Nikon F3 and a couple of rolls of 100 film I was shocked at how dimly lit the show was! I needed a faster film and so I headed straight to my friends on the Ilford stand and grabbed a couple of rolls of Ilford Delta 3200! I didn’t really have any questions about anything and neither did I wish to play with all the cameras and gear on display so I went off in search for photos. It was nice to see Ilford busy all day!
I would say the show was about 95% digital. I didn’t have a program but these were the stands I stopped at. Ilford, Zone Imaging, TT Artisan, Analogue Wonderland, ORWO, and various used camera stands. There were also some good talks on film.
Pentax were also there celebrating their new camera, the Pentax 17, a camera I have and enjoy. The feedback I could hear was the price of the camera. Retailing at around £450 it isn’t cheap for a point and shoot. You can certainly get more for your money on the used market BUT this is a BRAND NEW Film camera. With all the design, manufacturing, staff, marketing etc how can they make it cheap? I believe they sold out in Japan!
Being Shy
So after an hour of meeting the film stands I headed off to take pictures. I’ve got about four hours before I have to head back home. To catch a ferry!
Even if you are a shy photographer there were people taking pictures all over the show. And let’s face it, no one is going to question why you took their photograph. You’re at a photography show! And because of the dimly lit arena I was looking for photographs which were brightly lit, or at least with lots of white.
This VR stand did make me chuckle. I couldn’t resist getting a few photographs of these people trying out these headsets. They wouldn’t have had a clue.
One day these maybe as popular as your smart phone. So getting these photographs I thought would be interesting to look back on in 50 years! And you can see why I needed the 3200 film. I was shooting mostly at f2.8 giving me a speed of around 1/125th.
I was shooting Aperture Priority. So if you can imagine most of the stands were brightly lit with white walls my meter is going to reflect off this and adjust accordingly without a care for the overall scene. So I nudged the exposure compensation up by a stop. And even the camera itself on this stand wasn’t under a spotlight. I found that bizarre.
And this is James Lane. The man behind 510 PYRO. I have to admire this lad. He is persistent with his developer and eco fixer and attends the show each year. It was nice to see James busy on his stand. Every time I walked past he was engrossed in conversation about his developer. A top chap!
Ilford Delta 3200
So far the film has really saved my bacon! There was no way I would have been able to shoot with the film I had, even if I pushed it. I shot this Ilford Delta 3200 at 1600. So I told my camera I had a 1600 film inside and it metered for such. I did this because I wanted to hold the grain back! And in 510 PYRO they came out looking good. You could say with my +1 stop exposure compensation I was shooting it at 800! And I was happy with the negatives.
Getting Bored
Dare I say I was getting bored at the show? There is only so many times you can walk around in circles before you go on the straight. And thats what I did, straight out the doors and into the streets.
I fancied some fresh air and I found myself around the dock areas looking for photographs for my “Looking Up” project. Still at 1600 ISO (I took the compensation off by now) I had plenty of aperture and speed to play with! It took me a while to compose the photograph below. I decided on this composition of the two buildings giving the illusion that on is wafer thin! Not bad eh! And it looks fantastically dramatic with that Delta 3200 and 510 PYRO.
Heading Home
I spent another hour or so walking around the show, chatting to people and taking a few more photographs before heading off back home. Even though a few asked if I was hanging around for a beer afterwards.
And I only shot a third of the Ilford Delta 3200 which means I have another roll spare. I do actually have some in the fridge but it’s a bit airport scanner damaged! Foggy.
Above all it was a really good day out and shows like this are fantastic for networking, trying out all the latest tech and being social with like minded people. I felt it was a shame there wasn’t more film photography stands but I guess we are in a smaller bubble than the digital world. And there is only so many camera straps, bags, cable releases and lens filters you can have.
What if I had deep pockets that day? Would I have made a purchase? Maybe a couple of nice lenses from the Nikon stand for my digital camera. As for film, I guess I’m lucky to have more than enough to enjoy the hobby. There were some really nice used cameras and lenses on show though. Maybe next time!
And finally my friend took my Nikon F3 and snapped me at the show where I was sitting down packing way before I left for home.
