Well one thing was obvious at this years Photokina: the Chinese are here to stay. The number of Chinese companies is growing every two years, but also the professionality of their stands gets better and better. But the best is: their products get better and better. Predominantly they move in the accessory market, but they start to move into the real photographic tools also. For example a company like SLR Magic makes interesting lenses for us photographers. Good quality and looooow prices.
In a previous blog I promised you to check out the electronic viewfinder of the Sony A99. Well let me tell you this: in my hands this felt as a very fine camera. Well built and good at hand. The viewfinder is terrific. One of the best I've ever seen! But.... for action photography I have my doubts. Pull the camera around and you see a slight blurring of the viewfinder. Not the time lag some viewfinders show, but a slight blur. Very good for an electronic finder, but not as good as an optical finder. Petty. For all the rest it's a fine camera, so put it on your list if action photography isn't your thing. Otherwise you're better off with Nikon's D600 or Canon's 6D. Once again the big boys do it all right. And once again there's no serious contender to thes two giants.
I also had the opportunity to play around with Canon's Eos 1Dx. 14 Frames per second! I was stunned by the machinegun sound it produced. Incredible. Meanwhile I think to myself, the number of pictures you get at this speed are killing. How can one manage this? After a day of shooting on a sports venue, you'll find yourself buried with the thousands of pictures you took. Where's the beginning and the end? The total opposite to a more contemplative way of picture taking. Another philosophy. Just shoot around and there'll be something good in between. Something to think about. Not definitely wrong, just different ;-)