B&H BILD Show Report

Words and pictures by John Camp

The B&H Photo BILD expo was held in Javits Center in Manhattan on June 17–18, and I happened to be in the city for an unrelated event. With a couple of free hours on the 18th, I hotfooted over to the show—literally hotfooted it, on a morning too warm and muggy be walking around with a camera bag on your shoulder.

The nut graf: Was it worth it? Oh, yes. Not only was there everything on display that you could ever imagine, there was lots of stuff I couldn’t even identify, although there were crowds everywhere, looking and working with the stuff I couldn’t identify.

The doors opened at 9:30, and since I had something to do at one o’clock that I couldn’t skip, I arrived at about 9:35. I got in the door, and got my name tag, but that was as far as I got: the show itself actually opened at ten o’clock, and I was at the back of a crowd that numbered in the many hundreds, lined up outside the interior entrance, and by the time I got in, there were more hundreds behind me.

Once inside, I expected the show-goers would be mostly male, but that wasn't the case; both sexes were amply represented, along with people of all races, ages, and tech preferences, and most of them were wearing cameras bags or carrying cameras. I don’t actually remember being at another event with such cultural diversity. Everything from rednecks to blue suits, with a solid representation of the orthodox Jewish community, whose members include the owners of B&H. The Javits Center is a huge space, and the BILD took up most of two floors.

Biggest crowd overall at a manufacturer’s stand was probably at Nikon, although Canon, Sony, Panasonic and OM also had big displays. The Leica display was modest, but the small stand had a constant attendance, enough that I couldn’t get right up to it. I didn’t see anything really new and significant from those manufacturers. I asked two separate Nikon guys if they had any information about a possible Z7III, and both said, “No information on that.”

The Fuji display. X-E5 tables.

The most intense crowd was probably at Fuji’s large stand, where numerous examples of their new X-E5 were on the tables and available to handle. A Fuji guy told me that the camera would be released in late August, that he expected that it should be released in reasonable numbers—that he didn’t think we would get hung up on insufficient supply, as people have been with the scarce X100VI. I asked him to promise that, but he just smiled. There is a current controversy about pricing on the X-E5—it’s about twice as expensive on release as was the X-E4, and substantially more expensive in the U.S. than in other countries, with at least some of the price hike attributed to the new tariffs. The Fuji guy told me the camera was manufactured in Japan, partly as a way to reduce the price (tariffs on China-made goods are higher for the time being than Japan-made).

X-E5 on left, X-T5 on right. The X-E5 will come
in both chrome and black.

I was impressed enough that I made an on-the-spot decision to buy the X-E5 when it arrives. I currently own two X-T5s, and he told me the guts were similar (same 40-MP sensor.) For me, the selling point was really the size. The X-E5 is remarkably smaller than a X-T5, which is itself a small camera, but the X-E5 still handles reasonably well. (Emphasis on the “reasonably.” I suspect it will be too small for many people.) This thing is small for a full-featured ILC, and with the 23mm (35 equiv.) pancake lens, probably would fit in a pocket, though I had no appropriate pockets with which to try that. In my view, it’s a total, and more desirable, replacement for the X100VI.

The Chinese companies Viltrox and 7Artisans had their lenses on display, and I was surprised both by the range of lenses and by their apparent enthusiastic audiences. I had a brief conversation with a 7Artisans sales guy that left me with the impression these lenses might be well worth trying out.

Judging from the BILD displays, it's possible that we have reached Peak Bag. There were bags by Lowepro/Manfrotto, Pelikan, Gura Gear, Peak Design, Brevite, Swiss Design, PGYTECH, ThinkTank, Tenba, Wandrd, Nomatic, Shimoda, Nanuk and probably more, and as often happens, they seemed to be converging on design and materials. Quite a few of them seemed very well made (and a couple didn’t.) I was carrying an old ThinkTank that apparently isn’t made any more, and which looks like a copy of a Domke; a guy I didn’t know admired the bag, and thought it was a Domke, and when I said it wasn’t, but I wondered if Domke was at the show, he said, yes, he’d seen them, but I never did find their stand.

For me personally, the most amazing things I saw at the show were the Epson large format color prints. Amazing is most of what I have to say about them: they were. I mean, eyelashes that printed out several times the size of real eyelashes, but with perfect sharpness. The only thing I didn’t like was that their display samples were in such wild color that they didn’t look real. A quiet, foggy Suffolk landscape would have been nice. Speaking of which, Hahnemuhle had their printing papers on display, with an interesting range of effects provided by the varying surfaces. Impossible to write about, though.

Guy who posed for me with a 600mm Nikon lens.
Just a guy, not a Nikon guy.

The next most amazing things were the Nikon super-telephotos, which show-goers were allowed to handle, amazing to me because I’d never had my hands on one before. Eight hundred millimeters, and not nearly as heavy as you’d think, though I suspect they’d be a really crappy lens for street photography.

Lots and lots of lighting equipment from all the usual companies.

SmallRig was there with a plethora of gadgetry, most of it probably useful. They may be the most innovative camera-accessory company right now. Peak Design was showing bags and straps, good, innovative stuff that I saw copied in some ways by other manufacturers.

Winner of saddest booth: Kodak. Tiny point-and-shoots with almost nobody looking at them. A way to get the telephone off your camera….

Lots and lots and lots of video gear, and lots and lots and lots of equipment for manipulating videos. I don’t do video, so I didn’t know anything about it. From watching people talking about it, and handling it, I came away with the impression that you could make a full-scale, in-theater movie with the gear being shown. Nikon had a Red section.

A guy was selling a complicated machine (for around $3,000) called the Film Toaster for transferring film negatives to digital, apparently using your own DSLR. Interesting, but I think Kirk Tuck has figured out how to do it for $12.15, if you bring your own camera.

James Currie, birder, giving a birding talk

The show also featured individual speakers for various companies, some of the talks pretty good, some not. Familiar names like Scott Kelby, Peter McKinnon, Chris Niccolls of PetaPixel, and so on. Some booths had models, but few people seemed to be paying attention to them—the speakers were much more of an attraction.

Model; note the guy with a long lens

There were speakers on bird and landscape photography, wildlife in general, night photography, on Lightroom and storytelling, using drones, filmmaking both in the artistic and business perspectives, fine art black-and-white, portrait lighting and light painting, etc. At least a hundred topics—the stuff you can see on YouTube, but in person. Most disregarded speaker, as far as I could tell, was one who gave basic photography lessons, like what ISO is, the exposure triangle, and so on. If there was anybody in the place who didn’t know that stuff, they’d wandered in by mistake.

Overall? The show was reminiscent of a county fair for photographers of all kinds. And somehow, the whole show gave off a photographic vibe. There’s a look to photographers—practical clothing, practical shoes, practical hats, things you can get dirty and throw in a washing machine—along with an intense interest in imaging of one kind of another.

The show is well worth going to, if you happen to be in Manhattan next year when it’s going on. And worth traveling for, if you’re a pro with a tax deduction.

John

Longtime reader John Camp, who lives in New Mexico, is a former reporter. He shoots Nikon and Fuji, and writes thriller novels under the pen name John Sandford.

Original contents copyright 2025 by John Camp. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. (To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below or on the title of this post.)

Featured Comments from:

David Elesh: "I arrived the first day at 10:30 for an 11 a.m. session and the line outside for those registered and with a QR Code stretched around the Javits Center in a double row. My impression of attendance was in the thousands. In the 11 a.m. Lightroom session, people filled every available space. The next day, Joe McNally's lighting session had to turn away people for lack of space. The size of the crowd in the vendor area made movement difficult. When I left at 2, many were still filing in. If one was unclear about the dramatic effect of social media on the market for cameras, video, audio, and related equipment, BILD was an education."

Scott Parsons: "This sounds exactly like the PMA shows of the '80s and '90s that I attended. Lots of excitement around new products. The memories come flooding back."

Tom Burke: "I used to go to the equivalent shows in the UK, but gave up nearly 10 years ago—there was just too much concentration on very expensive hardware.

"This year I weakened and went to The Photography & Video Show, at London's Excel Centre. I made a point of not visiting the major manufacturers' stands. The camera I already have is beyond my capabilities to use it to its fullest, so there's no point in thinking about another one. And the price of new lenses to fit the new mirrorless mounts continues to rise.

"Instead I looked for the small and interesting booths, also just chatting to the people working at them. I found two that impressed me and ended up buying from both of them. One was PlatyPOD, which makes a range of small accessories for small cameras and smartphones: two low-level tripod replacements, a ball head, and various other things. There I met Larry and (I think) his wife, the designers and founders. PlatyPOD is a US-based company but they decided that this show was worth crossing the Atlantic to attend. Their small booth did seem to be quite busy, and they seemed to be doing good business. I'm pleased with the equipment I bought from them.

"The other was Adaptalux, a macro lighting system. Again, the booth was staffed by the company's founder and product designer, and I was impressed enough to buy a starter kit.

"These shows are probably the only way that an ordinary photographer can get to meet these interesting and enterprising people. I think I'll go again next year."

Chris: "This was a great show and it was a return to the size of the pre-COVID PhotoExpo. The attendance was very good. My impression is that people were delighted to effectively have PhotoExpo back after a four-year gap. There was a BILD in 2024, but that just wetted the appetite for something altogether more impressive. It was very good to see all the major brands represented, including Chinese brands such as TTArtisans and Laowa. It was impressively well organized and I give credit to B&H, obviously combined with a professional meeting organizer. This was a meeting that I found quite interesting to photograph too. The range of people attending was impressive. As so often, I remain astonished at the expensive equipment many young creators tote about. Clearly some must be doing well, but many I assume have easy access to credit. From my perspective I will be attending next year. I attended PhotoExpo for 10 years, so it was great to have BILD to replace it."

Comments

[Aaron]

From the side by side picture, the X-E5 is not too much smaller? And it’s only one hundred grams or so lighter than the X-T5, for worse EVF, LCD, and shutter mechanism. But it’s certainly sexy looking.

[Kenneth Tanaka]

Thank you for this report, John. But I have to admit that it gave me a PTSD-like moment. Part of my first job out of school was to represent my company at large trade shows like this. (Not photo-related.) After a year of so of working booths and giving talks throughout the continent I'd had it. It felt like I'd just done a military hitch. Not something for an introvert like moi.

But these once nearly-extinct trade shows can be a good way to actually see and touch lots of stuff in a short time. If I was going to be in NY during BILD I'd likely plan to visit...and take some meds beforehand.

BTW, encouraging to hear your enthusiasm for the X-E5. I pre-ordered one, too. I suspect that the rep was right; it's basically an X-T5 in drag. But that's good!

[hugh crawford]

I used to go to all those shows, and would have gone to this if I were not on the West Coast at the moment.
When I did, I always thought the little booths with some unexpected products from out of left field were great. Adapters, weird mounting systems, and light modifiers. Fake icecubes and icecream. Remember the Hosemaster? that was fun.

[Chris Kern]

John Camp wrote: I was impressed enough that I made an on-the-spot decision to buy the X-E5 when it arrives. I currently own two X-T5s, and . . . the guts [are] similar (same 40-MP sensor.)

I also have pre-ordered an X-E5—not so much as a back-up for my X-T5 (although it will also serve that purpose) as because I increasingly incline toward smaller and lighter as I get older and achier; on the former dimension, I’m somewhere between Mike and John. I also now prioritize ease-of-use over image quality. It would be difficult to find any “serious” camera that didn’t meet my image-quality requirements. Even my cellphone does fine in a pinch. But my tolerance for ill-designed controls and menus is rather limited these days.

[Herman Krieger]

It reminds me of the Photokina in Cologne, that I used to visit regularly in the 1960s.

[ronin]

FWIW, the X-E5 is not priced substantially more expensive in the US than in other countries. In fact, it's essentially priced the same. For example, while in the US it's priced at $1699:

Australia: 2,699 AUD equals 1,752.73 USD
UK: 1,249 Poundequals 1,694.27 USD
Germany: 1,550 Euro equals 1,791.26 USD

Fuji priced its new X-Half in the same synchronized manner across markets. I wonder if this is Fuji's new "global pricing" approach.

[Dean Johnston]

Hi.

“…surprised both by the range of lenses and by their apparent enthusiastic audiences. I had a brief conversation with a 7Artisans sales guy that left me with the impression these lenses might be well worth trying out.”

Of course, these comapanies make lenses in a range of mounts, and 7Artisans (& TTArtisan) do so for Leica. I’m in the demographic of those who get criticised in some (vocal) quarters, as I own a Leica M but no Leica lenses. Over the years I’ve heard various arguments expressing the degree of my idiocy for this state of affairs.* I don’t care. I love rangefinders. I don’t love spending money.

The Cosina Voigtländer lenses I’ve used to date have been fine. Some I think are even great (despite their apparent lack of pixie dust). But, the new 7Artisans and TTArtisan lens are very appealing. Some are reportedly less than stellar, but the two I have, one from each company, are pretty good. Sharp enough for modern full frame sensors (well, for most, and certainly enough for my M), fast at f1.4 & f1.25, very solid and well made.

And, importantly for me, much much more friendly on the money front.**

It will be interesting to see how they and Viltrox play out. Will they become ‘mainstream’ and more expensive? How will other companies react, if at all, as more and more realise they are astounding value for the money?

But whatever, I dig them.

Peace,
Dean
* to be fair, I’m usually silently listening to general discussions I stumble across. Been a while since anyone has directly stated I’m ‘missing out’
** in equivalent US dollars and for my pair, $5023 vs. $382 & a mind blowing $14,778 vs. $501

[Robert]

“In my view, it’s a total, and more desirable, replacement for the X100VI.”

There seems to be much hype around this camera - why around the XE-5 and not the XE-4? The comment above seems to ignore a number of unique attributes of the X100-VI that appeal to many other photographers, that this new camera lacks, even if they are not considered important be the poster - hybrid viewfinder, leaf shutter,, built in ND filter, superb fill-flash, weather-sealing, smaller, faster lens matched to the body. It seems to be written by someone who simply ‘does not get’ the X100 series.

[John Camp]

Response to Ronin:
The UK, Germany and Australia have sharp VATs 20%, 19% and 10% respectively) which drives up the price of the cameras, as does the American tariff. Canada has a 5% VAT, which is like the sales tax in most states -- and on a body-only price, you can order an X-E5 from the Canadian Camera Store for $1999, which would be about $1455 in American dollars, as opposed to the $1699 price at B&H, or ~250 less.

In response to Aaron: The camera actually feels and (in person) looks much smaller than it does in the photo. At 14oz, it's almost three ounces lighter than the X-T5 (at 16.8 oz.) -- not quite 20% lighter. It's 1.56 inches thick, compared to the X-T5's 2.5 inches, close to an inch thinner. It's two tenths of an inch less wide, so about the same, but more than an inch shorter (because of the fake mirror hump on the X-T5.) When you add it all up, and on top of the fact that the X-T5 is a fairly small camera itself, the difference is striking. Most of that, of course, is a matter of personal perception -- to me it seems very small.