Show Reports

Weird stuff is my favorite category at any show: the things that don't fit into sensible categories, but are useful, or unusual, or yes, just plain weird. Some manufacturers of weird stuff rejoice in being called weird (they are often the most fun of all) but others sometimes flinch and say things like, "Um, we'd prefer to be called, er, unique." At a...

The best remark I overheard this photokina was, "My tripod, it has three legs." Um, yes. This is one of the problems when you are reviewing new tripods. They all have three legs. But what makes a tripod special is the material it is made of, the way it folds up, or a new design of leg lock. This year I found all three.

Gitzo (distributed by Bogen Imaging...

We were profoundly grateful to George Schaub--our Beloved Helmsman, Chairman, and Leader--for telling us that he didn't want a laundry list of new products. Listing every improvement in electronic flash would take up half the magazine, and it would come down to one generalization for all anyway. Everyone's flashes are becoming more powerful and more...

Photo printers remain popular accessories and virtually all new models are PictBridge compliant, capable of printing directly from any PictBridge-compatible digital camera, via a USB cable connection. Some printers retain slots for printing directly from memory cards, great for those who do not yet own a PictBridge-compatible digicam. We're also starting to see a few...

The New Spirit At photokina
Something very evident at this photokina was a new spirit of openness. Partly this was caused by changes in the business, but more, it was the result of the arrival of the new kids on the block. For example, Nokia had never exhibited at photokina before. They held an informal press conference; they offered to set up interviews...

The Changing Market
As of November 1st the Agfa Imaging division will be carved out of Agfa Gevaert. It will become a new independent company named AgfaPhoto. Forecasts show the new company in a very strong position. Dan Unger of Agfa U.S.A. assured me that they retained an enthusiastic commitment to film in general and black and white film in particular.

During the photokina 2004 show, many new digital cameras were introduced, including many of the ultra-compact/simplified models that target snapshooters. While some of those products will sell like the proverbial hotcakes, lack of space precludes me from attempting to cover them all. Consequently, I decided to concentrate on cameras intended for the photo enthusiast, as an...