According to Canon, its recent and first Canon Expo, which took place from 9 to 11 December at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, met with an overwhelmingly positive response.

 

The expo, which was open to all for free, attracted 13 500 visitors over its three day run.

 

Most of the company’s consumers imaging products were on display, along with a select range of its business solutions. Alongside its range of flagship EOS cameras, including the EOS 7D, EOS 5D Mk II and EOS C300 digital video camcorder, the new and extremely impressive EOS 1-D X was also available for users to marvel at.

 

 

Another highlight of the expo included ongoing, informative presentations by a selection of the country’s top professional photographers, including Liam Lynch, Clinton Lubbe, Brian Worley, Riaan Manser, Manus van Dyk, Heinrich van den Bergh, Richard du Toit, Justin de Reuck, Craig Dutton and David Oosthuizen.

 

“When we decided to host an exclusive Canon Expo, we were motivated to offer our existing and potential customers a platform where they would be able to not only experience our products up-close but also interact with the Canon team,” explained marketing manager Michelle Janse van Vuuren.

 

“Even though we do host the Canon Roadshow twice a year in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town and recently also included Port Elizabeth, we only have a limited amount of seats available at these events. For this reason we wanted to give everyone the opportunity to experience our brand and products we have to offer," she elaborated.

 

 

Additionally, the top ten entries from each category of the Canon SA Photographic Competition, which was held leading up to the Canon SA Expo, were displayed, and those who attended were able to vote for their favourite entries. The company enthused that the quality of the 2132 entries were quite astonishing especially considering the off-beat category themes which were Candlelight; Circles; Through a Child’s Eye; It’s in the Detail; and Toy Stories. 

 

The winners of each category will be announced on or after 13 January, at which time each winner will receive a  Canon EOS 5D Mk II and EF 24-105mm f4L IS lens kit. A total of 9415 votes were cast at the expo, while 6330 votes were received through Facebook and the Canon SA Expo website. Those who voted will also stand a chance to win the voter’s prize of a Canon EOS 60D and 18-55mm IS lens kit.  

 

“We wanted to show off some of the photographs to give the entrants some exposure and also to allow the public to see the impressive photographic talent in this country,” added Janse van Vuuren. Glancing through the entries on display was certainly an eye-opening experience for us, revealing just how much photographic talent clearly exists in South Africa.  

 

 

“We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who attended the first ever Canon SA Expo, because without your support we would never have realised how much such a platform was needed. We hosted this event for all South Africans and will continue to offer our loyal and potential customers leading technology in both the consumer imaging and business arenas,” she concluded.

 

In recent news, Canon launched its Cinema EOS system for film-makers.