As Photokina just closed its doors, it is time to make a small recap.
Here are , in my opinion, the 5 things to remember about this Photokina :

1/ Higher traffic for less products

Granted, I have not seen visitors numbers but it seems to me that this edition was even busier than in 2012. This is an opportunity to experience German sense of organization, which is flawless. However, I am a little bit disappointed by the number of significant products introduced at Photokina.
On the camera side, we have mostly the NX1 the new Samsung APS Flagship, a new compact with a m4/3 like sensor from Panasonic (or the Leica clone), the Canon g7x a blatant copy of the Sony RX 100, a refresh of the Fuji X100.

2/ Nikon and Canon are off their game.

This Photokina edition has proven to those in doubt that Nikon has decided that DX camera users must be entry-level photographers and instead of introducing , at last, a successor to the D300s, brings us yet another 35mm sensor body.
Canon brings a new DSLR but is lagging behind Sony in terms of sensor.
As I mentioned before, both brands do not seem to think that the competition of the smaller brands can threaten their sales situation (they are wrong).

3/ wifi and 4 K Video

Both wifi and 4K video seem now to be “de rigueur” for all expert compact cameras and higher end mirorrless. So, whether you want these features in your camera, it is coming.

4/ Death of a sensor

This Photokina confirms a big trend for smaller cameras. The 1/1.7″ sensor which was, only  a few years ago, generally associated with “expert” point & shoot cameras, is nowhere to be seen. To be thorough one could add that the 2/3″ sensor from Fuji is “on life support”. These days “serious compact” means a sensor size with a minimum 1″ sensor up to APS size sensor. This is obviously driven by the competition from the bottom of smartphones but it also illustrates how Sony managed over a period of 2 to 3 years to take over the market for which used to be called medium sized sensors. As for one, I am always amused when I read the same reviewers who, over and over, described the m4/3 sensor as small now calling the 1″ sensor very big or huge (despite the fact that the former is twice the surface of the latter).

5/ Do you want my picture… Seriously ?

This trend, I admit willingly, makes my teeth cringe but is hard to ignore. Almost gone are the cameras (compact or DSLR’s alike) with fully articulated LCD but no new camera this fall, even the supposedly “expert” models seem to escape the new craziness for self-portraits, a.k.a “selfies” for the Internet nerds.