This is the second of three installments from SDCC 2026. The first is dated yesterday. I used Nikon Zf and NIKKOR Z 28mm f/2.8 (SE) lens to capture the entire set of photos, and I am overall quite satisfied with them.
I strayed from the more commonplace approach of stopping cosplayers and taking portraits, choosing instead a more documentary style that is more like being there. The Zf produced more contrasty auto-results than I am unaccustomed to—and I like it, so much so that most of the photos are presented straight from the camera (well, after RAW to JPEG conversion).
Let’s start with the Featured Image. When was the last time you saw kids playing pinball? Vitals: f/2.8, ISO 1250, 1/125 sec, 28mm; 2:07 p.m. For the companion shot: f/4, ISO 2200, 1/60 sec, 28mm; 2:06 p.m. Both composed as shot.
Some booth somewhere offers attendees something (small, typically), for free, like this one. Vitals: f/2.8, ISO 1250, 1/125 sec, 28mm; 12:30 p.m. Cropped.
When I attended my first Comic-Con, in 2009, the event was still very comic book oriented. By 2013, when I collected a dozen attendee profiles into self-published ebook Comic-Con Heroes: The Fans Who Make the Greatest Show on Earth, Hollywood had invaded; blockbuster superhero costumes were everywhere and movie studios commanded massive booths. But I saw something different among the cosplayers in 2026: many video game characters. Here we see Vergil from the Devil May Cry video game and Junko Enoshima from the Danganronpa anime and video game series. Vitals: f/5, ISO 200, 1/250 sec, 28mm; 1:59 p.m. Straightened.
Pomni, from animated web series The Amazing Digital Circus, shops. Vitals: f/4.5, ISO 800, 1/30 sec, 28mm; 1:36 p.m. Composed as shot.
Christian Comic Arts surprised me. What? Jesus a superhero now? Mmm, maybe. He performed miracles, rose from the dead, conquered the Roman Empire, and (many centuries later) the world. So, yeah, there’s a lot of material there for a manga series. The entire Bible is rich with stories with superhero overtones, for example: David (his fight with Goliath); Elijah (and the battle against 850 pagan priests); Joshua (conquering Jericho); Jonah (and the whale); Moses (miracles and plagues before Pharoah); and Samson (his strength, source of it, betrayal, and redemption), among many others. Vitals: f/4, ISO 1250, 1/60 sec, 28mm; 2:53 p.m. Composed as shot.
I didn’t ask this man to pose; he kind of slowed down when seeing me and the camera in the distance. He is dressed in a ZirCom Postmaster costume. Vitals: f/4, ISO 1600, 1/60 sec, 28mm; 12:33 p.m. Cropped from vertical original.
Approaching: Freddie Fazbear from the Five Nights at Freddie’s horror game. Vitals: f/2.8, ISO 1000, 1/125 sec, 28mm; 1:23 p.m. Composed as shot.
Two different book booths draw last-day shoppers. Vitals: f/2.8, ISO 1400, 1/125 sec, 28mm; 2:13 p.m. Composed as shot.