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Scenes from Photokina photography show (photos)

The Photokina show in Germany attracts thousands of visitors--not just those in the photography industry, but regular folks as well. Here are some of the show's sights.

Stephen Shankland
Stephen Shankland worked at CNET from 1998 to 2024 and wrote about processors, digital photography, AI, quantum computing, computer science, materials science, supercomputers, drones, browsers, 3D printing, USB, and new computing technology in general. He has a soft spot in his heart for standards groups and I/O interfaces. His first big scoop was about radioactive cat poop.
Stephen Shankland
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Fujifilm's 3D camera at Photokina

COLOGNE, Germany--The Photokina show here is a spectacle for photographers, so camera makers of course are eager to show off the latest wares. Fujifilm's FinePix Real 3D W3 is its latest 3D camera--note the dual lenses for stereoscopic image capture--and visitors to the company's booth could take photos and see them on 3D TVs.
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Canon supertelephotos

They were behind glass at Photokina, but they'll be on sale eventually: Canon's two new mammoth supertelephoto lenses. Canon just revamped its 300mm and 400mm F2.8 lenses and now is giving the same treatment to its even longer focal-length models with an F4 aperture. In addition, expect a focusing feature designed to help cinema users of Canon's SLRs in some of the lenses.
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Olympus sturdiness test

Olympus debuted its new top-end E-5 SLR, and the company wanted to show off the strength of its chassis. Visitors could stand on a glass tabletop supported by four of the metal exoskeletons.
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Sigma's SD1 SLR

Sigma announced its SD1 SLR at the Photokina show. It's got a magnesium-alloy chassis. Sigma's earlier SLRs haven't fared well in the marketplace, but the company hopes the SD1 will do better in part through a larger and improved Foveon x3 image sensor. The new model, measuring 24x16mm, has a 15.3-megapixel resolution, but unlike the vast majority of cameras, each pixel captures red, green, and blue light, not just one of those three. The camera is due to go on sale in February.
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Sony's higher-end translucent-mirror non-SLR

This prototype at Photokina shows a planned new advanced model in Sony's translucent-mirror line that today includes the a33 and a55. The new model should arrive within a year.
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New Sony NEX lenses

Sony's compact, higher-end NEX cameras use the proprietary E mount to attach lenses, and only three are available for the new camera family today. To expand the line, Sony plans to release four more in 2011: a wide-angle, fixed focal length design with Carl Zeiss optics; a telephoto zoom; a macro lens; and a portrait lens. Three more are planned for 2012, too, and Sony was eager to show off adapters letting people mount other lenses.
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NEX novelty

At the Photokina show here, Sony made the case that its new NEX cameras should be taken seriously. Although only three lenses are available for the NEX family's E mount, adapters let people attach all manner of lenses to the compact cameras, including this bellows option. This sort of arrangement will be a rarity, but InfoTrends expects 9 percent of camera shipments and 26 percent of camera revenue to come from this class of model in 2010.
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Cold as ice

Olympus' Stylus Tough line of cameras are designed to handle temperature extremes--including freezing temperatures. This camera is encased in a block of ice.
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9 of 29 screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET

Samsung's NX-100

Samsung showed its second compact interchangeable lens camera (ILC) at Photokina, the NX100. Here, Tyrone Turner, a National Geographic photographer who endorsed the NX10 and NX100, holds a white model of the new camera. Samsung's line is competing with Sony's NEX family and with models from Panasonic and Olympus that share the same lens mount.
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Gigantic Sunglasses

These gigantic glasses emphasize the modest size of its Pen line of Micro Four-Thirds ICL cameras, which feature interchangeable lenses but not the flip-up mirrors of SLR cameras.
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Gigantic chair

Olympus also let people sit in a gigantic office chair, part of its effort to emphasize the miniature styling of its Pen camera line.
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Tough camera

To show how durable its Stylus Tough cameras are, Olympus let people stomp on them and drop them onto a hard (though not concrete) floor.
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Pentax's 645D medium-format digital camear

Pentax is bringing its 645D medium-format camera to Europe showing it off at Photokina this week and putting it on sale in December. Previously the high-end 40-megapixel camera was available only in Japan. Its sensor measures 44x33mm, larger than high-end SLRs from Canon, Nikon, and Sony, for better light-gathering abilities.
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3D Panasonic camera

The 3D frenzy of the consumer electronics industry has yet to sweep the camera sector, but some are trying to get it to catch on. Panasonic unveiled a $250 3D lens for use with its Lumix G line of Micro Four Thirds cameras. Panasonic also debuted its new flagship Micro Four Thirds model, the GH2
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Gummi cameras

Everybody wants to be noticed at the show, and to attract attention, Fujifilm handed out gummi SLR candy.
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Kodak's Social camera

Camera makers need to make their products network-enabled or face serious incursions from mobile phones, the InfoTrends analysis firm warned at Photokina. Kodak is trying, partly, with models that can integrate with Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.
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Minox mini-cameras

Minox, famed for James Bond-era spy cameras from the Cold War era, has miniature digital cameras to show now with a retro look.
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Olympus compact

Olympus announced plans to release a higher-end compact camera in the first quarter of 2011. The camera is the first compact model to be equipped with a lens bearing Olympus' Zuiko lens brand that for decades has only appeared with its SLR cameras. Olympus is trying to telegraph that this will be a premium product.
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FinePix x100 prototype

Fujifilm introduced its FinePix x100 prototype at the Photokina. The show is geared toward photo enthusiasts, and so is the x100: It's got a retro look and a retro design with a fixed 23mm (35mm equivalent) lens. The production version of the camera is due in early 2011.
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Ferrari-branded Hasselblad

Hasselblad, a high-end camera maker on the mend after rough and unprofitable years, showed off this one of 499 special Ferrari-branded H4D medium-format cameras. Hasselblad also announced a 200-megapixel model due in 2011, though it'll be able to photograph at that resolution only with stationary subjects.
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Olympus: size matters

Olympus boasted of the diminutive size of its Pen line of cameras with interchangeable lenses. The cameras' smaller sensor means smaller lenses can be used. Shown here are, from front to rear, the 726-gram Olympus E-PL1 with a 75-300mm lens, a 1,695-gram Olympus SLR with an 80-400mm lens, and a 1,860 Canon SLR with a 100-400mm lens. Because the Pen cameras have a smaller sensor, their telephoto lenses don't need as long a focal length; a 300mm lens on its camera has about the field of view as a 600mm lens on a full-frame SLR and 400mm lens on a mainstream Canon or Nikon SLR.
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Canon 60D SLR

Canon's new EOS 60D is the company's first SLR with a pivoting screen. It makes it possible to hold the camera above your head and, using live view, see what you're shooting.
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Canon's 70-300mm lens

Canon showed off the new L-series version of the 70-300mm lens. It's designed to cover a broader range than other professional lenses--typically a 70-200mm and 300mm combination. However, the 70-300mm model extends as you zoom it out to 300mm.
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Try your hand: Autofocus

Sony boasts its translucent-mirror cameras' full-time autofocus can keep moving subjects sharp even as the cameras shoot at 10 frames per second. The company had a half pipe on display to let people try.
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Robotic view camera

GFAE's Capcam is a fully electronic view camera controlled by an attached computer. It's shown here in a naked state; for real use a cover would keep stray light from reaching the sensor.
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GFAE view camera

This shot shows the Schneider Kreutznach lens, right, and the image sensor at the center of the leftward plate. The camera should ship in 2011. This model uses a Phase One medium-format digital image sensor back.
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Loads of Lenses

Canon loves to show off its full array of lenses. This lineup shows just the shorter focal length models.
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Canon's new fisheye zoom

Canon has built only a very tiny number of models of its upcoming 8-15mm fisheye lens, and one was on display at Photokina. It'll show a full 180-degree view on a full-frame camera, letting a photographer easily shoot both her toes and a ceiling fan in the same shot.
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Crumpler bags

Photo bags are a top photo accessory. Crumpler had its array of products hanging from the ceiling on bungee cords.

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