IFA has spent most of its 102 years being a show about televisions and washing machines. That is changing. The 2026 edition, which runs from 4 to 8 September at Messe Berlin, is expanding its Creator Hub for a second year, and the announcements already landing in our inbox suggest photographers and video creators have rather more reason to pay attention than usual. Full details are on the official IFA Berlin site.
Here is what we know is coming, based on what manufacturers have told us directly.
Hollyland: two new wireless microphone systems
Hollyland is bringing the most substantial creator-focused line-up we have seen confirmed so far, debuting at Booth H20-131.
Two new LARK wireless microphones lead it. The LARK A2 is the ultralight option — an 8.5g transmitter recording at 48kHz/24-bit, with three-level AI noise cancellation, an auto-level limiter and a safety track to protect against distortion. A five-minute USB-C charge gives an hour of recording. The LARK M3 is the more serious system, supporting four transmitters and four receivers with four-track independent recording — which is what makes a multi-person interview genuinely editable rather than a compromise.
Alongside them, the VenusLiv Air 2 live streaming camera adds 4K60 UVC streaming, and two new Solidcom intercom systems arrive: the C1 Air with an open-ear headset design, and the SE 2 with 20dB dual-microphone noise cancellation and a 3.5mm port for monitoring camera or mixer audio.
AgfaPhoto and Kodak: the analogue corner
GT Company, the licensee behind AgfaPhoto and Kodak-branded photographic products, will be at Hall 20, Stand 157 — a few steps from Hollyland, which tells you where the imaging kit is clustered this year.
It is showcasing AgfaPhoto, AgfaPhoto Print, Kodak and ELLE HOME. Given GT Company launched its UK film development service earlier this summer, we would expect more on the analogue side — a segment that has gone from written-off to genuinely growing in the space of a few years.
Hypershell: wearable exoskeletons
Slightly left-field, but interesting for anyone who carries heavy kit up hills: Hypershell will announce its next outdoor exoskeleton at the show. These are powered hip-assist devices designed to reduce the effort of walking and climbing under load.
Whether that is genuinely useful for a landscape photographer hauling a bag and tripod to a summit, or a solution looking for a problem, is exactly what we would want to find out in person.
The computing angle worth watching
One category we would keep an eye on that does not obviously look like photography news. IFA is traditionally where PC and laptop makers do their second-half refresh, built around new Intel, AMD and Qualcomm silicon.
That matters more than it used to. The current generation of compact AI machines — the sort we have been covering in our mini PC coverage — are genuinely capable editing machines, and several of the brands making them exhibit at IFA. Expect more AI-PC marketing than substance, but also some real hardware.
Audio is the third pillar alongside computing and smart home, and the story there is how brands handle AI features such as transcription and translation. Again, relevant to anyone recording sound with their video.
IFA 2026: the practical details
Dates: Friday 4 to Tuesday 8 September 2026. Venue: Messe Berlin, at the Funkturm in Charlottenburg. Scale: more than 1,900 exhibitors from 49 countries, with over 220,000 visitors expected. Opening hours: 09:30 to 18:00 daily; on Friday 4 September the show is reserved for trade visitors until 12:00, with private visitors admitted from midday. Programme: 270 speakers across 125 sessions, plus the expanded Creator Hub and Beauty Hub formats. Tickets and accreditation are available via the IFA website.
For photographers and video creators, Hall 20 looks like the place to start. We will be covering the announcements as they land.
