I have been attending the CP+ Camera & Photo Imaging Show every year since 2011, and this marks my 6th time. My thoughts from last year are here – CP+ 2015 Camera & Photo Imaging Show and Aviation Photography Seminar.

I feel that the number of visitors to the venue increases every year. In an era where the economic environment is relatively depressed, the camera market remains quite vibrant, so the CP+ exhibition operation is very successful.

2016 is an Olympic year, so various manufacturers have launched their flagship products, such as Nikon’s D5 and D500, and Canon’s 1DX2, etc. The Canon booth even invited gymnasts to perform live, allowing visitors to experience their latest technology firsthand.

My activity pattern was mainly listening to seminars, looking at photography exhibitions, and occasionally trying out new products. Of course, this year, I still focused on the theme of aviation photography.

First, I watched a seminar by landscape photographer Junji Takasago at the SanDisk booth. I had seen his work in a certain magazine before, for example, the photo below left a deep impression on me. Coincidentally, he also took out this work to introduce today.

Shigeru Yoshida’s explanation on using Photoshop techniques was very helpful. Although I certainly don’t have the artistic cells of these professionals, it was still very helpful to learn how they perform RAW retouching. Yoshida said that photos must be printed out to improve photography skills better, and I fully agree.

Koji Nakano gave an explanation of the D500 at the Nikon booth. Last year, I complained about Nikon, so I switched my equipment to Canon. Therefore, even though the D500 is indeed an excellent machine, I could only look at it from the perspective of a bystander.

The works used by Koji Nakano this time were mainly shot in the United States. Both the photo above and the one below were taken in Alaska.

Looking at the D500, I feel that APS-C cameras have gained market recognition again. Because 2 years ago, it seemed everyone thought Full Frame was the only choice. But after products like the 7D2 came out, Nikon finally realized the value of APS-C. Pity it’s a bit too late though..

Finally, I watched Haruhiko Ozawa’s explanation at the Canon booth. According to him, the APS-C 7D2 has become his first choice for his work. For example, he took a total of over 80,000 photos in 2015, of which more than 70,000 were taken with the 7D2! And in most cases, the lens used was the EF100-400mm F4.5-5.6L IS II USM. (Using the same equipment as the master, I can only blame my low level for not taking good photos.)

The works introduced by Ozawa were all taken in places where ordinary people can shoot, such as the observation deck of Haneda Airport and several famous shooting spots nearby. These locations have been introduced on this site before. However, the photos taken by the master are just different, For example, in the photos above, I have taken similar ones at the same locations, but there is still a huge gap in weather selection, lighting selection, composition, shooting timing, etc. There is too much room for improvement.

In addition, one of Ozawa’s amazing strengths is that he doesn’t use RAW, only JPEG is fine. Also, he doesn’t have software like Photoshop on his home computer, so he doesn’t do post-processing on photos, so it really is “what you shoot is what you get”. This is really too powerful and magical! The subject of photography is truly endless.

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