Photos: Cameras aplenty at Photokina
Image 1 of 7
Photokina, the biennial German imaging trade show, takes place this week in Cologne. With press day Monday, Sept. 25, many manufacturers have already unveiled plans for new cameras.
rnKodak, for its part, announced the Kodak Z710, a 7.1-megapixel camera with a 2-inch LCD. This means that shooting at the highest resolution, photos are clear enough to be blown up to 30-inch by 40-inch prints.
Along with an official brand name change, Fujifilm announced a new consumer compact digital camera and a new professional-level digital SLR. The FinePix S5 Pro digital SLR unveiled at Photokina on Monday takes Nikon F-mount lenses and has a metal alloy body and a 2.5-inch LCD. It has two image sensors that Fujifilm refers to as the Super CCD SR Pro sensor and the RP Processor Pro.
The LCD screen on the S5 Pro offers 100 percent coverage of the frame area and has a live view function to check focusing. Fujifilm says the S5 Pro has a shutter speed of 1/8000 second, five film simulation modes, and two noise reduction features that will allow quality shooting up to ISO 3200.
Fujifilm also unveiled the FinePix F31fd, a 6.3-megapixel camera with a 2.5-inch LCD screen that will be available in December for $399. The camera has 26MB of internal memory and takes xD picture cards to expand storage. The camera also captures VGA (TV quality 640-by-480-pixel resolution) video with sounds at 30 fps.rn
rnIt’s the first Fujifilm non-DSLR to offer face detection. The feature can detect up to 10 faces in one frame regardless of whether or not they are positioned in the center of the photo, or if they are wearing glasses, according to Fujifilm.
The FinePix F31fd also offers multiple flash options that will time or suppress flash, or change shutter speed, depending on the mode you are shooting in. Fujifilm’s i-Flash system will self-adjust the flash depending on the lighting conditions the camera detects.
For many photographers, few product names carry the mystique of Leica. The German camera maker is using Photokina to show off its new M8, a digital camera that maintains the look of its traditional film cameras. The 10.3-megapixel M8 will be available starting in late November.
In keeping with Leica tradition, the M8 is a rangefinder camera, not a digital SLR, even though it’s aimed at professionals. And the emphasis on the controls and display is on simplicity; the camera dispenses with multifunction keys and nested menus.
