In This eNewsletter:
Photokina Opens Today!
Industry Perspective- The World of Imaging
What's New This Month - Live Reports From Photokina
Test Report - Tamron’s 17-50mm F/2.8 Lens
Vote! - Have you worked with an image stabilized device?
Workshops & Contests - Learn and Show
Shutterbug Forums - Your Photo & Digital Imaging Source

Cologne, Germany--Every two years the worldwide photo and imaging community gathers in Cologne, Germany for photokina. The week of the show is filled with new product introductions, sneak peeks at prototypes and special tech projects and a host of photo shows and gallery openings. Exhibitors from around the world as well as photographers from every field of work all gather in this city on the Rhine. While we will have complete coverage in an upcoming issue of Shutterbug, and continued coverage throughout the show on our News Desk at www.shutterbug.com, we thought we'd share some sneak peak information with readers of our Newsletter.

The show just opened in Germany this morning, and in many cases the news we are sharing with you today has been held back by the manufacturer until now. Please check our web site each day for more breakling news from the show, and look for expanded and complete coverage of the entire show and the new products introduced here in Cologne.

So here's a sampling of what's to come.

The World of Imaging
By Ron Leach, Publisher

We are writing this month’s column as we depart for Cologne, Germany to attend the 2006 Photokina World of Imaging. This amazing biennial convention and trade fair is expected to attract 160,000 visitors from 140 countries who will throng to Cologne to see the latest imaging techniques, products and services from some 1,600 exhibitors representing over 50 countries.

Compared to other industry events we attend, Photokina is unique in the degree to which it encompasses the wide scope of the complex imaging market. Those attending this year’s exposition will not only see the latest cameras, lenses, accessories and digital-imaging hardware and software, but a myriad of photography-related electronics, IT and telecommunications gear as well. The fact that Apple Computer is going to have a major presence at Photokina to promote their innovative lifestyle-oriented products tells you a lot about the direction in which our industry is heading.

As you might suspect, affordable D-SLRs are going to create much of the buzz in Cologne this year. Not only has digital SLR photography finally become popular among the masses, but new players in this category (i.e. Sony, Panasonic and Samsung) are providing a wake-up call for established companies like Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Pentax, Fuji, Leica and Sigma. Heightened competition from large electronics companies will result in a broader array of innovative, affordable products. The beneficiary, of course, is you the consumer.

Without giving away any pre-Photokina secrets, we expect the new generation of cameras to offer greater resolution, larger LCD monitors, a broader commitment to image stabilization technologies, and ßadvanced processors that will offer greater precision, faster image processing, and the end of the dreaded “shutter lag.”

As much as we eagerly await the unveiling of all this innovative new gear, there’s another reason that our pulse tends to increase as our plane descends into Cologne: The stunning photographs that abound in galleries and exhibits throughout this charming city on the Rhine during the week of Photokina. And in many ways, this is what it’s all about!

New Kodak Image Sensor Powers LEICA M8 Digital Camera
Eastman Kodak Company is extending its partnership with Leica Camera AG to provide image sensors for the newly announced LEICA M8.
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Pentax Announces K10D Digital SLR With Ten Megapixels, Shake Reduction And Weather-Resistant Body
Pentax Imaging Company has announced the Pentax K10D digital SLR camera with 10.2 effective megapixels and a host of advanced technologies including a Pentax-developed Shake Reduction (SR) system and a weather- resistant body.
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Unibind Demos Professional Series Book Creator At Photokina
Unibind has announced that it will demo the Unibind Professional Series XU138 Book Creator for the first time at Photokina.
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Leaf Launches Fastest Digital Camera Back Series
Leaf has debuted its new Leaf Aptus S-Series at Photokina. The three new digital camera backs: Leaf Aptus 75S, Leaf Aptus 65S, and Leaf Aptus 54S— feature record-breaking speed rates and unlimited burst depths.
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Leica Rangefinder Goes Digital
The Leica M8 marks the digitization of the famous Leica M line of rangefinder cameras.
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Leica Digilux 3
The Leica Digilux 3 is an interchangeable lens DSLR using the Four/Thirds system lens mount.
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New HP Pinters
Continuing its courtship of professional and advanced amateur photographers who wish to make their own prints, Hp has announced the amateur-oriented series.
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Kodak’s New Portra Color Negative Films
While film news here will be scant, Kodak did introduce two new color negative films, actually updates on their professional Portra emulsions in the ISO 100 and 400 speeds.
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Tamron’s 17-50mm F/2.8 Lens
A Moderately Wide, Close Focusing, Constant Aperture APS-C Format Lens
by George Schaub

One look at the specs of this new Tamron zoom and you’ll understand why it’s immediately attractive to anyone carrying around a digital SLR in their day bag. Weighing in at around 15 oz and measuring just under 3x3.2”, the lens is quite the marvel of size for what it delivers in focal length and aperture options. Indeed, if someone told me that a constant aperture, 17mm wide lens would be this size a few years back I’d have thought they had lost their optical marbles. To be fair, however, that 17mm is not really a 17mm in 35mm equivalent, thus practical terms, and I wonder why lenses like this are still labeled that way. This lens is only for APS-C sensors, which means it has the “35mm equivalent” of a 27mm wide angle view and 80mm tele.
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"Capture the Coast" Photo Contest Winners
Each year, it becomes more difficult to narrow down the thousands of entries in our photo contest to five winners. Many arrive with stories attached, acknowledging that photographs of the sea are always enriched by our memories.
We are already accepting entries for our 2007 contest. Click here!

Sundance Photographic Workshop
The first-ever Sundance Photographic Workshop opened with great acclaim from students who are experiencing one-to-one and group instruction from wildlife photographer Moose Peterson and photojournalist Kevin Gilbert. Moose and Kevin are world-renowned as highly accomplished and creative photographic instructors.

Anchell Photography Workshops
Steve Anchell is a contributing writer to Shutterbug and Rangefinder magazines. He is also the author of The Darkroom Cookbook and is working on a companion title, The Digital Cookbook. He has been teaching photography since 1979. For more information visit his website at www.anchellworkshops.com.

Digital Photography Workshops - Understanding Digital Photography
The mastery of digital imaging concepts and technology is essential for anyone working within the photographic arts today.

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