photokina-02

January 13, 2009 ·

Michael Reichmann

Entries are presented in reverse chronological order, with the most recent news at the top of the page.

This page does"not"contain reports on the 3,546 new digicams being announced this week.

Photokina is now over. If any late breaking announcement are made
they’ll be announced on What’s New and will subsequently appear here.

Monday, September 30, 2002

Kodak

Kodak now has their officalDCS 14npage online, with full specifications..

Sunday, 29 September, 2002

Sigma

A number of readers have expressed interest in the just announced Sigma f/5.6 300-800mm EX HSM lens. There’s good news and there’s bad news. A readers has written that he saw the lens today at the show. He reports that it’s around 18cm in diameter, about 57cm long and has a weight of approximately 5kg. Sigma says that the price will be between 8.000 and 10.000 Euro. (Roughly the same as dollars). Hummm.

NPC / Pentax

Good news for Pentax 645 owners (me included). A reader has reported that he visited Photokina yesterday and saw the first digital back for the Pentax 645. It is made byNPCin cooperation withMosaic Imaging. The first generation model has the electronics off to the side, looking similar to a Polaroid back for the 645. They are apparently working on getting the electronics into the film insert cavity, so the second generation will be a lot more compact. Also, he will use a larger 645 chip as they become available.

Saturday, 28 September, 2002

Phase One

DPReviewhas reproduced a press release fromPhase Onein which they state that they will be releasing their image processing software for theCanon EOS 1Dsinitially, followed by a release forNikon DSLRs. Up until now this software has only been available for the company’s own medium format and large format digital backs.

Kodak

Dave EtchellsofThe Imaging Resourcehas just published the first hands-on look at the exciting newKodak DCS Pro 14n.

Sigma

LetsGoDigitalhas published a page on the newSigma SD9and the new lenses that we’re previewed here a few days ago. I’m especially interested in theAPO 300-800mm f5.6 EX IF HSM, which if it performs well be a very exciting lens for wildlife photographers.

Rollei

Rolleihas dug into its past and resurrected their wide angle twin lens reflex from the 1960s. This new camera is named the50mm Rolleiflex TLR. It features aSchneider-Kreutznach Super-Angulon 50mm f/4lens.

Photo courtesy Peter Wolff‚ www.PHOTOgraphical.NET

Rollei was also showing their already announced6008AF, the world’s first 6X6cm autofocus camera. A surprise announcement was the newRollei 35RFrangefinder camera, based on a modifiedVoigtländer Bessa R2body along with with three leica M-mount Rollei-lenses. These are a Sonnar 40mm f/2.8, a 50mm f1.8 Planar and an 80mm f/2.8 Planar. Imagine‚ Zeiss design lenses in a Leica mount! Welcome to the new millennium.

Photo courtesy Peter Wolff‚ www.PHOTOgraphical.NET

Friday, 27 September, 2002

Either announcements from Photokina have died out, or the people reporting from Cologne are too busy eating Bratwurst and drinking Pils. My guess is that its the former, as I know how hard working a major trade show can be.

Pentax

But if that’s the case then some major companies have not made needed announcements, and this is bad news for them. One that immediately comes to mind isPentax, who really needed to position themselves properly vis-a-vis a digital solution for their 645 system. The salience is deafening. With their competitors Mamiya, Contax and now Hasselblad offering comparability with the very popularKodak DCS Pro BackPentax becomes the only major 645 format camera maker with no digital offering. It’s my belief that unless they do so no later than PMA, many professionals will start to abandon them.

Nikon

Another major manufacturer that appears to be missing in action isNikon. Now, Photokina is the largest photographic show in the world, and happens only every two years. It isn’t as if it sneaks up on you. It could well be, as some readers have conjectured, that theKodak14 Megapixel camera took them somewhat by surprise. Sure they knewsomethingwas coming (they supply the body parts to Kodak), but I think that the jump in resolution that both Kodak and Canon have offered may have taken them off guard.

Mamiya

A correspondant in Japan has alerted me to the fact thatMamiyahas announced on theirJapanese web sitea26mm f/4.5super-wide angle lens for their645AFDcamera and also a43mm f/4.5 for the RZ67 Pro II.

Contax

Contaxtoday announced two new lenses for its N series film and digital SLRs. These are thePlanar T* 85mm F/1.4andTele-Apotessar T* 400mm F/4priced at $1,449 and $3,830 respectively.

Thursday, 26 September, 2002

Kodak

The only new film announced so far is from Kodak‚ who continue their product announcement juggernaut.Ektachrome E100G and 100GXfilms will replaceKodak Professional Ektachrome E100S and E100SWand will be available in the first quarter of 2003. I’ll look forward to an opportunity to test these new films as I have yet to find a Kodak transparency emulsion that I prefer to those from Fuji.

The design and manufacture of Kodak’s 14MP CMOS chip is byFillFactory, a Belgian company, and chip manufacturerTower Semiconductoran Israeli company.

Durst

If you have a bit of extra room in your basement, and are finding that anEpson 7600or9600isn’t able to make large enough prints for your needs, you might want to consider the newDurst RHO 160inkjet printer.

Wednesday, 25 September, 2002

Hasselblad

I can now confirm that theHasselblad H1announced yesterday does indeed useFujilenses. The camera is a co-development betweenHasselbladandFuji. TheH1will be branded in Japan asHasselblad/Fujiand in the rest of the world asHasselblad. A Japanese language press release can be foundhere. (Trying usingBabblefishfor translation of this and other foreign language web pages).

Erik Sundstromon theMedium Format DigestonPhotoNetreports that "In an interview with a guy from Hasselblad in a local Swedish newspaper one can read that there will be an adaptor that enables the use of V-series lenses on the H1. That’s good news. The article also mention that the cost for the whole development project was 35 million Euro¦ and that American wedding photographers is one of the prime target groups. The auto focus mechanism is supplied from Minolta and the lenses from Fuji, as already mentioned in the thread. Two thirds of the camera is supplied from external suppliers and the manufacturing of the camera house, finder and all assembling is done by Hblad in Gothenburg. The price will be about 55.000 SEK, that’s about $5900, but I can’t read from the article if the cost is just for the camera house or a package with other stuff."

The original source (in Swedish) ishttp://www2.gp.se/gp/jsp/Crosslink.jsp?d=118&a=102687

Badger Graphicsis quoting theH1at U.S.$2,213for the body and$5,695with finder, grip and back.Robert Whitein the U.K. is quoting the package price as£4,000, which is about $6,225 U.S.

Sinar

Sinarhas announced theirSinarback 54, which will utilize the newKAF-22000CECCD image sensor, jointly developed withKodak. This chip is 22MB and contains 5440 X 4080 pixels of 9 micron size. The chip measures 38.8 X 50mm, making it essentially the same size as 645 format film.

So now we have full-frame digital 35mm format cameras fromContax,KodakandCanon, and full-frame medium format (at least 645) fromSinar.

Kodak

In addition to all of its other professional digital announcements Kodak unveiled the "Kodak KAI-11000CM, an 11-million pixel interline transfer CCD color image sensor that enables professional photographers to capture high-resolution images with a full-field 35mm format image sensor… The KAI-11000CM also provides a fluid motion preview for viewing subjects on a studio monitor, making it ideal for portrait and social applications."

This is an OEM product and will end up soon in cameras and backs made by third parties. ClearlyKodakhas lifted itself up by its bootstraps and now intends to become (remain) a major player in the professional digital imaging world. This is great news for every photographer in the days ahead as it will increase competition in this area and provide us with better products at lower prices.

Tuesday, 24 September, 2002

Minolta

Minoltahas announced a number ofnew productstoday, none terribly exciting. Evolutionary rather than revolutionary.

Canon

According to aMacCentralnews report out of Japan this morning the price of theEOS 1Dswill be U.S. $7,663, not the $8,999 price mentioned in theCanon U.S.press release of earlier today. A welcome $1,300 reduction, if true, but still a deterrent for many.

Imaging Resourcehas published afirst-look reviewof theEOS 1Ds.

Hasselblad

As anticipated in yesterday’sKodakannouncement of a its latest16MP DCS Pro-Back,Hasselbladhas now announced its new 645 formatHasselblad H1. This is that venerable company’s first autofocus camera and also their first 645 format model (though 645 backs were available for previous 6X6 bodies).

Photos Courtesy Hasselblad

The camera will take 120 and 220 film backs as well asPolaroidand digital backs. The initialHCseries autofocus lens line-up includes a35mm f/3.5, 50mm f/3.5, 50-110mm f/3.5-f/4.5 zoom, 80mm f/2.8, 120mm f/4, 150mm f/3.2and a210mm f/4. A1.7X teleconverterwill also be available. What an exciting offering! Last yearHasselbladlooked to be in financial trouble. Now they’ve come roaring back with what appears to be a superb state-of-the-art camera system. No prices as yet, but availability is supposed to be before year’s end.

It didn’t occur to me when I first read the announcement of theH1that the lenses might not be made byZeiss, as they have since time immemorial (or at least since 1950). In fact the web page doesn’t indicate at all whose lenses they are. A bit of sleuthing has turned up that the newHasselblad’slenses are made byFuji, not surprising given theirXPanrelationship.This is no bad thing sinceFujimakes some superb lenses. Just a bit surprising given the company’s long-standing relationship with Zeiss.

Olympus

Phil AskeyofDPReviewhas posted photographs ofOlympus’Four Thirds Systemsprototype.These photographsare the first look anyone has had of what some have been calling theOlydak. This is a prototype, under glass, so it would appear that a shipping camera is still some ways off. Frankly, the size reduction promised (which is one of this new format’s main selling points) does not appear to be evident from this example.

If you think about it, regardless of the merits of the systemFour Thirdsis a simply awful name for a new camera standard. "So, what kind of camera do you work with?" "Me, I have a Four Thirds." What is that in metric, 1.33? Common!

Canon

The excellent French magazineChasseur d’Imageshas posteda first reviewof theCanon EOS 1Ds. This will appear in the November issue of the magazine. It is only in French, and unfortunately because it is in PDF format can’t be translated online. But, the bottom line is that they give the1Dsessentially perfect marks on every test.

For those that can’t read FrenchDPReviewnow has the fullCanonpress release andtechnical specsas well as afull previewreport on theEOS 1Ds.Steve’s Digicamsalso now has a1Ds previewonline.

Canon Japannow has a slick "Flash"web sitewith a comprehensiveEOS 1Dsproduct overview as well as sample images, including 32MB sample files for downloading!

Of concern is that theCanon U.S.press release states the list prices as $8,999. Deliveries are to start in November. Regardless of the camera’s merits, this may turn out to be more than many photographers are willing to bear‚ even many pros. This is medium format digital back territory (the 16 MegapixelKodak DCS Proback is somewhat more expensiveat $11,995), and withKodak’s14 MegapixelDCS-14npriced below $4,000Canonmay find considerable price resistance at this level.

Kodak / Olympus

OlympusandKodakhave announced today their support for theFour Thirds Systems, a new standard for a reduced size universal lens mount system. This will also standardize a chip size smaller than full-frame 35mm thus allow lenses to be made smaller and lighter. It will be interesting to see how many other of the major manufacturer’s climb on this bandwagon. Remember half-frame? Another Olympus idea that had merit never caught on.

Monday, 23 September, 2002

Kodak

DPReviewhas published comprehensive specs and the press release for Kodak’sPro DCS-14n, its new 14 megapixel full-frame CMOS digital SLR, previewed yesterday by a Rochester NY newspaper.

Kodak

Also being reported fromKodakis itsDCS Pro Back 645Ha new version of its excellent 16 megapixel digital back. What does the "H" stand for? (We already have this back available as the "C" for Contax and "M" for Mamiya.) The "H" is forHasselblad ‚ the long rumoured but now realHasselblad H1. Quoting from Kodak’s press release… "The H1 camera body’s contemporary design is specially designed for digital backs and film magazines. It features an all-electronic user interface that communicates with lenses, film magazines and the viewfinder. The LCD displays information from the digital back, providing photographers with quick access to histograms, format and white balance status. " Interestingly, theH1hasn’t yet been formally announced byHasselblad, though it certainly will within the next 24 hours.

Leica
Photo Courtesy Leica

Leicawill be formally announcing theR9this week. This appears to be a minor and incremental improvement over the R8, with a small weight reduction and a few additional features. Several additional R series lenses are also likely to show up.

The officialpress releaseby Leica is now online.

Sigma

I overlooked including these in yesterday’s summary, so here they are now.

Sigmaat the end of last week announced several interesting new lenses. This company really seems to be moving up-market. Among the ones that readers here may find of interest are an80-400mm f/4.5-5.6 EX "OS"lens, with the OS standing forOptical Stabilized. Yup, the first such lens from anyone other than Canon and Nikon.

The second is a300-800mm f/5.6 EX IF HSMwith a constant f/5.6 aperture. Nowthatshould be interesting! No prices or availability yet. These lenses will be available in Canon, Nikon, Minolta, Pentax and Sigma mounts.

Canon also will have new lenses. One that is known is theEF 24-70/2,8L USM, replacing the already superb 28-70mm f/2.8L. Hard to understand the raison d’etre for this lens at the moment.

Sunday, 22 September, 2002

Photokina begins on Wednesday the 25th in Cologne, Germany. There will be a huge number of new photographic products announced, some digital, some traditional — most evolutionary, and possibly a few revolutionary.

As the week progresses I will report on what I hear about that I find to be of interest (no — I will not report on the 396 new digicams that are going to be announced), and I will provide links to web sites that have breaking news and useful information. I’ll also give you my opinions on what’s announced.

Photo Courtesy Canon Corp.

With the show opening still 3 days away the two most exciting products for serious photographers are theCanon EOS 1Ds, an 11 Megapixel CMOS sensor digital SLR, and theKodak DCS Pro 14n, with a 14 Megapixel (also CMOS) sensor, and a price of U.S. $4,000. I have apreliminary spec pageon the Canon camera online, and more information on Kodak’s Nikon-bodied digital SLR can be found in areport todayin the Rochester, New York (home of Kodak),Democrat and Chroniclenewspaper.

Photo Courtesy Kodak

If these two new cameras have you salivating, but you don’t know where the money is going to come from to be able to afford one, you might want to read my just-published essayThe Digital Revolution & Equipment Angst.

Photo Courtesy Sigma Corp.

Sigmawill finally be ready to ship its Foveon-chip basedSD-9digital SLR in late October. The price has been announced at U.S. $1,800 making it (at least for now) the least expensive digital SLR, undercutting theCanon D60,Nikon D100andFuji S2by $200-$600. The main issue that I see is that one will only be able to use Sigma lenses with this camera.

Sinar(I was their Product Manager for Canada about 25 years ago) has announced the joint development withKodakof a 22 Megapixel CCDimaging chipfor medium format camera backs. Some web sites are erroneously reporting this as a "digital back". Not yet. The chip measures 4080 X 5440 pixels and is 38.8 x 50.0 mm in size, close to the size of 645 format film. The implication for photographers is that while the newCanon 1DsandKodak 14nat 11MP and 14MP respectively boost 35mm format digital SLRs into medium format territory, medium format is now moving upwards as well. No indication as yet of when we’ll see this in a commercial back, and for which cameras, or of price. But, you can be sure that it will not be inexpensive.

"Congratulations on Issue #5‚ yet another stunning Video Journal.
I eagerly look forward to them every three months
and am continually impressed with their quality and usefulness".

Video Journal #5 is Now Shipping
Find Out More/Subscribe/Renew

Avatar photo

Michael Reichmann is the founder of the Luminous Landscape. Michael passed away in May 2016. Since its inception in 1999 LuLa has become the world's largest site devoted to the art, craft, and technology of photography. Each month more than one million people from every country on the globe visit LuLa.

You May Also Enjoy...

Burano Painter

January 13, 2009 ·

Michael Reichmann

  Please use your browser'sBACKbutton to return to the page that brought you here.


Elephant and Acacia

January 13, 2009 ·

Michael Reichmann

Please use your browser'sBACKbutton to return to the page that brought you here.