Show Reports

One of the great pleasures of photokina is finding really brilliant new accessories. Some are completely unexpected. Others, you’ve wanted for years but have never been able to find—often because until now, the technology needed to build them has not been available.

A shining example (literally) of the latter, and the accessory hit of the show as far as I am concerned...

When it came to rangefinders, Leica completely stole the show: Zeiss and Voigtländer had only one new product each. Admittedly they were interesting—an 85mm f/4 Tele-Tessar in Leica M-compatible ZM mount and a dual-format rangefinder folder, the Bessa III—but they were somewhat eclipsed by Leica’s four new lenses and the revised M8.2 camera body.

The item...

Let’s start with the cheapest Large Format (LF) camera at the show, and, as far as I am concerned, the one that is likely to be of the most interest to the largest number of our readers: the Bulldog 10x8” camera (also available in 8x10” for the American market—it’s a reversing back and can be used either way). The UK price is £250, which means that although a...

Digital photo frames at photokina were riding the tide of increasing popularity, with wireless technological support in the driver’s seat. Manufacturers are trying to make them more utilitarian, so these digital frames don’t just sit there when not in use. Whatever you say about them, they’re always fashionable, competing with traditional frames for attention, and they make a...

In order to organize and conveniently display your favorite pictures of family, friends, pets, and travel, you need albums. There were many sizes and shapes on display with a host of color variations, textures, and themes. For those precious few images worthy of even more prominent display, there were lots of frames for single or multiple images.

There were also...

Nearly every picture-taking device today is electronic in operation so the need for a reliable battery is imperative. Some digital cameras use specialized rechargeable batteries while compact models often still rely on standard AA- or AAA-size batteries. The latter tend to hog the battery power, especially when flash pictures are made. Because of this there were lots of battery...

Although the D-SLR category is growing more rapidly, digicams with integral lenses still outsell the larger cameras by roughly 10 to 1. That's primarily because of the lower price and particularly the greater portability. Even the most serious photographer usually wants a pocket-size camera--with built-in lens and flash--that they can carry most anywhere.
...