27. September 2002
Photokina 2002 'World of Imaging'
In these new internet days, one might ask if the days of the big trade fairs are over. I mean we can all read about the news on the Web. Comfortably at home we can read the specs and see the pictures.
However, days are certainly not over for Photokina. This year they have even enlarged the fair ground with 10% which is now 220.000m². More than 1600 companies from 45 countries are represented at the fair.
If the fair is a visitor success I don't know and the fair isn't over yet either.
However, getting to actually see, touch and try the new products might be a good reason for visiting the fair (besides meeting with business partners and going to meetings and seminars etc. of course).


I was t Photokina for just one day and it was my first visit to this fair ever.
This report will show you what I saw and will describe some of the news that I was focusing on.
If you are a regular visitor to this site, you might know that I'm into "retro-style" cameras and therefore you will find news related to TLR's and rangefinders and not only digital here.
Also be aware that I was happily snapping away with my Canon G1 hand-held, sometimes with the build-in flash and sometimes with high ISO settings, so the images presented on this page aren't actually big art, but I prefer to show my own pictures of the products.
By the way, the intro image above is NOT a trick, I did manage to capture the Fuji balloon when it was just in-between the to towers of the "Kölner Dom" from my view, but the weather was gray and very dull - you can't have it all.

Enjoy!

[UPDATE] 01.10.02 : Part 2 of the Photokina report is now online.


Rollei
Rollei Fototechnic presented a number of new cameras at Photokina.

Rolleiflex 4.0 FW
A real pleasant surprise was the new 50mm Rolleiflex TLR.
We've seen a few pictures of this camera on the net, but I was able to see the real thing at the Rollei stand.
The camera is a remake of the original Wide-angle Rolleiflex from the 60's however now with a brand new Schneider-Kreutznach Super-Angulon 1:4 f=50mm (the old wide-angle had a 55mm lens).
Both the FX-model (Rollei Planar 1:2.8 f=80mm) and this new FW model, as it is called, features a very silent and silky smooth Copal shutter, which is more silent than the Seiko shutter of (some of) the former GX model(s).
Also both models has a very good looking brown leather covering and they show a very high level of finish. They are as rugged and easy to use as ever, both of course using the TTL center-weighted metering introduced with the GX.
Needles to say that this model did draw a lot of attention not at least from people who knew and had worked with the former wide-angle model.
I was told by the Rollei-staff that a Tele-Rollei is on it's way, featuring a 135mm lens (like the old model), but it will be another one and a half year till we see that in the shops. So, maybe at the next Photokina Rollei has all three of them at their stand. That's actually a whole system isn't it?
If anyone should wonder : These are NOT just collectors items! They are very useful cameras. Imagine a wide-angle medium format camera weighing around 1.2kg - you can carry it anywhere.
I've seen prices for the FX model around 3400 Euro and I was told that the price for the FW will be around 4500 Euro. That's quite fair prices also when compared to other systems!

Rolleiflex 4.0 FW

Rolleiflex 2.8FX and 4.0 FW

Rollei 35RF
The Photokina news from Rollei does not end here, they are also introducing a new rangefinder camera(!) based on a slightly modified Voigtländer Bessa R2 body (the one with the Leica M-mount) with 3 new Rollei-lenses : The Sonnar 1:2,8 f=40mm, which makes you think of the high-end model of the legendary Rollei 35, a Planar 1:1.8 50mm and a Planar 1:2.8 80mm (like the Rolleiflex lens...).
This new optics has the 39mm screw-mount and uses M-mount adapters to fit on the camera, just like the Voigtländer lenses.
As you can see from the picture, the design is changed a little bit from the Bessa R2 and the viewfinder-framing selector has settings for 40, 50 or 80mm (whereas the Bessa has settings for 75, 35/90 and 50mm). One could argue that a wider lens might have been more useful, instead of the 40mm I mean, but on the other hand if former Rollei 35 user liked the Sonnar, then it's here for them again. I assume that you can use the range of Voigtländer lenses on this camera as well as most of the Leica M-lenses.
The price for the Rollei 35RF with the 40mm Sonnar will, in Germany, be aprox. 1800 Euro (incl. VAT).


Rollei 35RF with 40mm Sonnar

Rollei 6008 AF
Another new camera from Rollei is the Rollei 6008 AF - the worlds first autofocus 6x6 camera.
This new camera has been introduced before the Photokina, but did of course also draw a lot of attention. It is based on the famous 6008 integral but now features autofocus as well. The new line of autofocus lenses from Schneider (introduced during the fall) : AF-Tele-Xenar 180mm f/2.8 HFT, AF Varigon 60-140mm f/4.6 and at the end of the year a AF-Xenotar 80mm f/2.8 is available.


The Rollei 6008AF with the AF-Xenotar 1:2.8 f=80mm and the new SCA 3562

Well, done Rollei!

Hasselblad
Hasselblad introduced a whole new system at Photokina - the Hasselblad H1.
Hasselblad H1 is a 6x4.5 camera which is a new format for Hasselblad. The camera seems to be a co-production with Fuji (the manufacturer of the Hasselblad X-Pan). It is also an autofocus camera which is also a new thing by Hasselblad. There has been a little uncertainty about who was making the lenses, since it isn't Carl Zeiss and when I asked one of the persons at the stand if it was Fuji, I was told that "the lenses are made in Japan" however other people at the Hasselblad stand did confirm that the lenses are made by Fuji (who else?).
The prism-finder is also "Made in Japan" while the camera body itself is made by Hasselblad.


The Hasselblad H1 with HC 80mm and built in flash!

I and another guy at the stand tried to figure out what the outer material of the camera (film-back, body and finder) is, it does seem to include a fair amount of plastic, but I'm not certain and I might easily be wrong here. Of course the camera housing isn't made of plastic but stainless steel it seems from the advertising material(?). It is quite different from the 6x6 bodies but of course still gives you that impression of very high quality, like all other products from Hasselblad.
The H1 isn't just a film-camera. It does of course take film backs, but it is also very much designed for digital backs a number of which is already available. I'm not sure exactly how many backs supports the H1 at the moment, but at least the 16MP Kodak DCS Pro Back 645H (known in the "C" for Contax and "M" for Mamiya versions also) and the Phase One H101 does.

Phase One H101

Kodak DSC Pro Back 645H

The Kodak Pro Back has a 36,7mm x 36,7mm CCD chip which captures in 12bit per color, while the Phase One has a 36,9 x 24,6mm 11mp CCD chip that can capture in 16bit per color.
The Phase One back is specially designed for the Hasselblad body and therefore has an appearance very similar to the film-backs.

[UPDATE] 04.11.02
A review of the Hasselblad H1 by M. Reichmann is now online at photo.net.

Kodak
The 645H back wasn't the only digital news from Kodak. A brand new "35mm Full-Frame" camera, the 13,7mp DCS Pro 14n was introduced at Photokina.


Kodak Pro 14n

This very interesting new camera seems to be based on the Nikon F80 body, however strongly modified (still features the Nikon F-bayonet of course).


Kodak Pro 14n


The imaging chip is a full-frame (24mmx36mm) 13,7mp CMOS chip.

I was extremely impressed with this camera. It has this new "bulky" looking design (a bit like the new Fuji Pro S2) but the ergonomic of the camera is superb. It fitted perfectly into my hand and was actually lighter than I thought.
The price isn't set yet, but I've heard anything from 4000$ to $6000(?).
This camera will be competing with the new full-frame Canon D1s, unless you already has a line of either Nikon or Canon lenses, in which case the choice is easier.
Anyway, this is the kind of camera that makes me wonder if it's about time to upgrade my dated Canon G1. I've stated to people that I will not upgrade until a good full-frame camera shows up. Now I just want them to be cheaper...

Canon
Canon has a number of news at Photokina one of them being the new high-end consumer digicam Canon G3 which replaces the G2 (which replaced the G1). The G3 has a different design from the former versions but still features the famous swivel-LCD.
It's a 4mp camera and has a 2.0-3.0/35-140mm lens.



Sinar

Sinar presented their new Sinarback 54 which uses the record braking "22.195.200 pixels" imaging chip (which I belive is made by Kodak or via Kodak?). At 38,8mm x 50mm this is a big sensor - it's almost a full-frame medium format sensor. The back can be adapted to a number of cameras as you will see from the pictures below (more cameras are supported). "Size Counts" as they say at Sinar!

Sinarback 54 on Hasselblad

Sinarback 54 on Contax

Leica
Leica has a number of news including the new Leica R9, an updated R8, and a new 90 mm f/2 Leica Apo-Summicron-R Asph. lens.
I took a few pictures, but didn't try anything out.


Leica heaven - try any camera you like as long as it isn't Leica R9(!)


Leica R9 with 90 mm f/2 Leica Apo-Summicron-R Asph.

Contax
Among many news from Contax, there is this new Contax Tvs Digital:

Contax Tvs Digital

Contax Tvs Digital

It's a 5mp camera featuring a Zeiss Vario Sonnar 2.8-4.8 f/7.3-21.9mm lens, and is similar in design to the other well-known 35mm Contax T cameras.
Update 12.02.03 : See specifications here.

Bronica

Not strictly a "Photokina" news, I still like to show you the new Zenzanon-RF 100mm F4.5 lens for the Bronica RF645 rangefinder camera. The RF645 is one of those camera systems that appeals to me and I am happy to see that the system is now enlarged with this new portrait lens. The system already includes a 45mm F4, a 65mm F4 and a 135mm.

This system is reviewed in this months issue (September, 2002) of the British magazine "Professional Photographer"

What else?
Well, a whole lot! This was just a very few of the things presented at Photokina, and a huge amount of digicams and other digital equipment is presented at the fair.

Kiev
I've always been a bit interested in the cheap line of Kiev cameras, but I've been reluctant to buy any of them.
I'll drop in a few pictures of them here:

Kiev 88CM and Arsat 30mm

Kiev 88CM and Arsat 30mm

A company of the name "Brenner" in Germany imports these cameras, rebuild them and sell them under the name of "B.I.G. Six". A kit consisting of a body (Kiev 88 style) with mirror-lockup, normal finder, TTL-prism, 2.8/80mm lens, sunshade, 2 filters, 2 magazines AND a bag is sold for 899 Euro(!).
The 30mm lens on the pictures is sold for around 365 Euro (street prices that is).

Magazines
A number of magazines have very interesting tests and reviews this month:
British magazine Practical Photography has a "shoot-out" between the Nikon D100 and the Fujifilm S2 Pro.
British magazine Professional Photographer has a review of the Bronica RF645 rangefinder system as well as a review of the new Epson 2100/2200 inkjet printer.
German magazine fotoMagazin tests the Rollei 6008AF and has articles about the Canon G3 the Leica R9 and many more news from Photokina.

Links
• www.luminous-landscape.com The Luminous Landscape Photokina 2002 page
• www.photokina.de The official Photokina 2002 site
• dpreview.de At dpreview.com you'll find lot's of news.
• LetsGoDigital.nl Also has a list of news that will be presented at the fair.

[UPDATE] 01.10.02
• www.PHOTOgraphical.NET Read part 2 of the Photokina report

And of course you'll find more information about the Photokina 2002 fair around the net.

... buy the Photokina 2002 News from the: PHOTOgraphical.NET shop

Hasselblad H1 645-AF Kit with 80mm F2.8 Lens HV90x Viewfinder, & Magazine Rollei 6008AF Medium Format SLR Auto Focus Camera Body with 120 back Canon Powershot G3 Kit, 4 Megapixel, 4x Optical Zoom, 3.6X Digital Zoom Kodak Dcs14n 14mp Digital Camera Canon EOS-1DS Digital SLR interchangeable lenses (11.1 Megapixel) Sigma SD-9 Digital SLR Camera Body Leica R9 Black Camera Body Bronica Zenzanon RF 100mm F/4.5 Telephoto Lens with hood