Photokina is here

It's the biggest week in the photography equipment calendar. Photokina, the massive Cologne trade fair, has opened today. Unfortunately, work commitments mean that I'm not attending this time round - it takes place every two years - but I have been keeping a close eye on the various announcements being made by major manufacturers.

Lots of people ask me what camera they should buy, and the latest round of launches makes this an ever more interesting question. A raft of new developments have once again turned digital technology on its head.

Key trends

Some major innovations that have got me excited include:

Video capture in digital SLRs

The Nikon D90 and Canon 5D Mark II both sport high definition video capture (higher in the Canon, and there's a lot of talk about its amazing low-light performance). However, I'm not sure how well these work from an ergonomic point of view, plus all the other extras that make camcorders so user-friendly: fast autofocus, audio performance (particular XLR inputs for the pros), servo zoom etc. 

My guess is that in a few years we'll have some really amazing hybrid products that have really got these issues licked.

Mini DLRs (apart from they aren't SLRs)

The announcement of the micro four-thirds system from Olympus and Panasonic opens up a frankly sexy new world of mini digital cameras with interchangeable lenses. The system does away with the reflex housing - you simply view a "live" version of the image on the screen or electronic viewfinder. This means that cameras can be made smaller. Much smaller.

The Panasonic G1 offering looks interesting, albeit not much tinier than the Olympus E400/410/420. However, I understand that it works really well, which is half the battle. Meanwhile, Olympus are teasing Photokina visitors with a very cute camera that looks like an Olympus Trip with interchangeable lenses. 

While undoubtedly many of the products launched under the micro four-thirds banner will be for the mass-market, many pros are excited about the appearance of some seriously cool cameras, hopefully of the quality of the long-gone Contax 35mm rangefinders.

Samsung is also working on its own version, using an APS-sized sensor.

More and more pixels

Okay, not necessarily a good thing. The new 25mp Sony A900 looks, from the sample images, to have issues regarding image noise. We won't be able to tell for sure until the product is properly released and reviewed. Then we've got the new (and very expensive and luxurious) Leica maxi-DSLR, with a sensor 50% bigger than 35mm full-frame. The first offering is the 38mp S2.

At the compact end of the market, the race to pack more pixels onto tiny sensors has long caused problems of image noise - and smearing when in-camera processing attempts to remove it. However, Fuji has always been leader of the pack when it comes to low noise sensors, and the Japanese manufactuerer has just announced a new Super CCD EXR sensor. which should be a major leap forward in providing noise-free images with superior dynamic range. It's just a shame that there's not a camera to go with it. Yet.

3D imaging

Finally, Fuji is also previewing a new digital 3D imaging system. I'm quite a fan of stereo and lenticular cameras, so the new Fuji system will be interesting. Fuji is also promising a range of 3D printing and display options.