It’s that time of year again – The Photography and Video Show is back from March 16-19 in Birmingham, so make sure the dates are in your diary.

In this constantly evolving industry, it is crucial to stay ahead of the game. The Photography and Video Show provides exclusive and innovative perspectives to transform your business. It’s an opportunity to learn in-depth strategies from award-winning pro photographers and connect with potential clients on a different level. 

The show offers a range of high-profile speakers, exclusive bargains and hands-on access to the latest products. From beginner-level tips to business-related advice for pros, there’s something for everyone. And if you want to take out a subscription to Digital Photographer, now is a great time to take advantage of our special show-only offers.

Talks

Get ready to be inspired by some of the biggest names in photography, all in one place. Join us for free talks on three different stages: Photo Studio, In Motion Studio and Shoot to Inspire. Confirmed speakers I think are worth making an effort to see include:

Click here to discover many more.

Workshops

Unlock your potential as a photographer by learning from the best in the field. The show features numerous photography workshops, covering everything from photographing newborns and travel photography to safari skills. With guidance from experienced pros, these workshops offer a wealth of knowledge and expertise to help you hone your craft.

Masterclasses

In addition to all the free talks available, there is also a series of Masterclasses you can attend for a modest fee. 

The Photography and Video Beginners/Turning Pro Masterclass is specifically designed to help beginners and aspiring photographers improve their skills and knowledge, and is priced £10. 

The Pro Forum focuses on pro photography, offering insights and tips from experienced pros in the industry. These cost £10 for one session or £15 for both. 

For those who want to learn more from top-level photographers, Specialist Masterclasses offer in-depth knowledge and techniques from the best in the field. These are available for £25 each.

Deals

Get your hands on the latest gear innovations from over 250 top brands. Witness live demonstrations and test new products on the spot so you can see the extraordinary results for yourself. 

Expert exhibitors will answer your questions and provide technical advice to help you upgrade your gear. Take advantage of unbeatable discounts from top retailers, including Camera World, London Camera Exchange and WEX.

Check out the 2024 exhibitor list here. 

What’s on for pros?

The event has a lot to offer professionals who are looking to improve their business. With four days of technology, insightful talks and networking opportunities, you can gain valuable knowledge and skills to optimise and perfect your business. For further information and to get a comprehensive overview of all the activities and sessions taking place, click here. 

I’m a huge fan of minimizing the camera gear I need to pack for a video shoot. While my Sony a7siii will still have its place in my kit for the next few years, when I don’t need the highest-quality camera, I’ve been gravitating more towards the much smaller, yet very capable DJI Osmo Pocket 3.  

The Osmo Pocket 3 is DJI’s third update to the lineup that makes capturing smooth, high quality content easy and fun. It’s marketed as a pocket-sized camera with built-in stabilization that’s great for filming everything from fast moving action, vlogging, or cinematic shots without the need for a traditionally bulky setup like my mirrorless camera and DJI Ronin RS3 gimbal. 

In the past, these small all-in-one gimbal cameras have been great for more casual video content, but they’ve been held back by their smaller sensors which struggle in low light or high contrast scenes. That said, DJI really stepped it up and the Osmo Pocket 3 feels like a more professional tool that can either be a really reliable A-Camera, or more easily be used alongside your other mirrorless cameras. But is it worth your money?

It devilers some big performance upgrades, though it comes at the expense of increased size and a much higher starting price. See my reasons for whether you should buy or skip the Pocket 3 below:

Reasons to buy

Larger 1” CMOS Sensor

The first reason I think you should buy the DJI Osmo Pocket 3 is because of its larger 1-inch CMOS sensor, which is a big deal. Compared to 2020’s Pocket 2’s 1/1.7-inch CMOS sensor, the Pocket 3 is able to capture better video and photos, especially in low light where its predecessor and most of its competition continue to struggle. 

Aside from the increased brightness and detail and lower noise, the Pocket 3 can now change its focus point allowing you to get that nice blurry background depth of field look that you’d expect from higher end cameras. Whereas the previous Osmos’ video quality were on par with smartphones, the Pocket 3 is now more comparable to a small point and shoot, but of course with the added benefit of a built-in gimbal with powerful subject tracking.

Higher frame rates & support for picture profiles

The next reason you should buy the DJI Osmo Pocket 3 is its support for higher frame rates and more professional picture profiles. You can now shoot crisp slow motion in 4k 120fps while the Pocket 2 maxes out at 4k 60fps.

For a lot of creators, though, the other big advantage here comes with the D-LOG or HLG that allows for increased dynamic range and more flexibility in post-color editing. If you don’t mind the extra effort, this helps you really dial in your look. 

Battery life & faster charging speeds

A final reason you should buy the Pocket 3, and something everyone can appreciate, is its longer battery life and super fast charging speeds. It has a larger 1300mAh battery that can easily get you 2-2.5 hours on a single charge depending on what mode you’re filming in. I manage to get a full day of use when shooting a mix of shorter clips and a few 1-2 minute longer ones at 4k 24fps and some 4k 120fps. It also now supports fast charging to 80% in just 16 minutes and 100% in 32 minutes. If you don’t mind splurging even more you can extend run time by about 60% with its optional battery handle. 

Reasons to skip

It’s expensive now

The first reason you may want to skip on the DJI Osmo Pocket 3 is because it’s relatively expensive now. Considering that you can buy a renewed Pocket 2 Creator Combo for half the price at $259, which comes with the battery grip, a wireless mic and a bunch of other handy accessories, you may second guess if the newer model is worth that extra cash. 

You’ll have to cough up $669.00 to get the Pocket 3’s Creator Combo, which is putting it into a very premium category and no longer the easy affordable pick it once was. For more casual users, you can probably stick with the Pocket 2 and not miss out on much. 

Not as portable or easy to use

I also think the Osmo Pocket 3 isn’t necessarily the right choice for someone looking for a camera that prioritizes portability and simplicity. Don’t get me wrong, the Pocket 3 is still very much both of those, but it is worth mentioning that it sees a noticeable size increase and is now about 60g heavier than its predecessor. With its larger sensor, more usable rotatable screen, and bigger battery, I think this is well worth the tradeoff, but a lot of people won’t. 

Tied in with this, as great as D-Log and HLG picture profiles are, to make the most of them, they need more time to color grade in order to “look right”. Personally, this is one of my favorite parts of the edit, but for those who just want something that looks good out of camera, the advantages with the Pocket 3 are less realized when just sticking with the Standard preset. 

You don’t really need an “all-in-one” camera

Finally, if you’re someone who is either after more of a point and shoot or a dedicated action camera, the DJI Osmo Pocket 3 and similar all-in-one cameras may not be the best choice. A point and shoot will usually have the advantage of true optical zoom and higher pixels for better still images. 

Similarly, as great as the stabilization offered by its gimbal, for intense action, an “action” camera like the Osmo Action will be the way to go. Aside from their increased ruggedness and waterproof rating, they offer far more mounting options without worrying about the camera falling off. The Osmo Action 4 may not be as impressive in low light, but it has incredible stabilization and even has the same 10-bit D-Log M, but with the added benefit of a wider field of view if that’s what you’re after. 

Buy or skip?

For $519, I would buy DJI Osmo Pocket 3. The improved picture quality with better low light performance and increased dynamic range, combined with its support for creating a more “pro” image, not to mention its longer battery life, faster charging speeds, and its larger rotatable screen are all worth the premium asking price compared to its predecessor.  

That said, as great as it is, I would only recommend going for the more expensive $669 creator combo if you know for sure that you’ll use the included wireless Mic 2 and Battery Grip. While the Pocket 3 is no longer the simple recommendation I used to make to anyone looking for an affordable, fun, and capable video camera, the 3 offers so much more now. 

With its super deep discounts, the Pocket 2 is more appealing than ever, but if you see yourself needing a combo gimbal/camera with some of the best video quality you can get in this form factor, the Pocket 3 is hard to beat.

For many of us, it’s a taboo subject to shoot in auto mode. I mean, we want to surely have creative control over our images so that we can make exactly what we have in our minds. But truth be told, many of us shoot in aperture priority anyway. So why not just go to full auto? That’s the thought process that I had during my yearly staycation at the end of last month. In those two weeks, I felt creatively recharged while channeling some deep grief, sadness, and frustration. It came from my wanting to get back to basics. And one camera really helped me do that much better than any others: the Canon G1x Mk III.

I’ve talked about this camera at length before, and if you want to understand that conversation, I recommend that you check out this article that I wrote. But this isn’t the time or the place for me to do that. In fact, this isn’t a gear article. It’s an article about creative liberation that the current state of the photo industry doesn’t give us. They’re too busy catering to content creators, and not enough on photographers.

With this camera I was able to do a lot of very fun things. It gave me the scene mode, which many Canon cameras have even today. You can see more of these images on my Instagram or even on my VSCO. Specifically, I embraced the Toy Camera mode and let the camera do what it wanted to do while doing exactly what I wanted to do. In this mode, it gives a Lomo-like look along with a bit of a film simulation. The ISO doesn’t go above ISO 800 and the brightest the lens goes to is f2.8. So a lot of different things can happen. Sometimes this meant intentional camera movement. At other times, I used prisms, mirrors, and lens filters to make images that truly resonated with me. In this way, the tool became a creative collaborator of mine.

As I walked around NYC, I tapped into my own creativity to feel the moments that were happening in front of me. Not everything was a hit. But when I got a nice photograph, it was something very special. Not having to worry about all the technical features that get in the way really helped here with just making better images.

There are moments when you’re walking around a city at night where when you look at the light and the scene in front of you, you’re awestruck. It’s how people fall in love with Times Square or Christmas lights during the holidays. Sometimes the lights are installed for this reason while at other times, they’re happy accidents. But when you look at a scene, you realize that it’s all about the quality of the light. Combine this with a study of how toy camera photographs look. Then finally, top it off with your own emotional awareness of the moment. That’s how you get a photograph that can’t be made by an AI imaging algorithm at all. It can try, but it’s never going to be the same as mine.

A human being can understand the moment in time and emotions in a scene while an AI requires someone to truly be able to articulate those to get exactly what they want.

At times, I looked at the lights and due to my kerataconus-based eyesight, I was able to tell if something would look great or not when it was “smeared.” By that, I mean that when there is intentional movement with a slow shutter speed that the image would look like an impressionist painting.

The result is images that feel both familiar yet ethereal — as if they’re part of a dream that we can’t quite remember or put our fingers on.