The Photography and Video Show is held every year, alternating between The London ExCeL and the NEC Birmingham and this year, it’s at the NEC! Personally, I prefer this location. Living in Northamptonshire, it’s an easy trip just jump on the A14, which now flows nicely into the M6 following the improvements completed back in 2017.
For anyone working in or even just interested in photography or videography, it’s an event well worth attending. Many of the major manufacturers and suppliers are there, making it a great opportunity to get hands-on with new kit or even make a purchase while taking advantage of show offers. And once you’ve explored the gear, there are plenty of talks and live demonstrations to dive into as well.
I try to attend every year for both the talks and the tech, and this year was no exception. I went in with a clear plan to research and hopefully purchase a couple of additions to the kit bag:
- An audio recorder that can plug directly into a DJ or venue soundboard
- A camera monitor to improve viewing and composition while filming
Starting with item one audio. I already have a range of microphones, but I wanted to add a dedicated recording device that can capture a clean feed directly from the DJ or venue’s sound system. Why? While my current microphones do a solid job, I occasionally have to deal with echo, which can take time to clean up in post. I’ve also had situations where a speaker has accidentally interfered with the recording.
Adding a secondary recorder gives me a much cleaner audio source, while still using on-person microphones as a backup. It’s a win-win: improved audio quality and greater reliability on the day.
After chatting with the team at Wes Photographic one of the larger suppliers at the show I decided to go ahead and purchase the Tascam X8 along with a selection of cables. I’m looking forward to putting it through its paces and seeing the results of this upgrade soon!
Whilst the audio recorder was top of my list, the monitor was less of a priority and not necessarily something I expected to purchase on the day. However, that quickly changed after attending a talk by a fellow wedding videographer on the Atomos Shinobi II monitor.
I had already done some research beforehand, and this screen was on my shortlist but the talk was informative enough to help make that final decision. Safe to say, it resulted in another purchase! I’ll be putting together a separate blog post later in the year once I’ve had more time to properly test it in real world scenarios.
With the key purchases complete, the rest of the day was spent attending a variety of talks and demonstrations, with plenty of notes taken for future research. This year, I definitely focused more on the educational side of the show than anything else.
With the event returning to the ExCeL in London next year, I’ve already booked accommodation to turn it into a two-day visit something I’m really looking forward to.
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