PhotoKina, the photography industry’s extravaganza of products and announcements, went down last week. Every two years, the tribes gather in Cologne Germany to showcase the latest and greatest and give us a peak into the future. I did not attend this year. To be straight-up, I’m not a big fan of trade shows. No offense to anyone who digs the gadgetry and flood of products and promotion, but these fluorescent-lit extravaganzas sort of give me the willies. But that’s just me, and the gear that bubbles up from the secret technology labs of the best and brightest camera equipment manufacturers is enough to make any photographer drool a little bit. The tools and technology being unleashed on the world make an undeniably exciting time to be a visual artist.
So here are 8 new products that caught my eye. Full disclosure, I have not tested or even handled any of these products yet. I have included links to more comprehensive hands-on reviews when available for those of you who want to go deeper.
Of everything announced at Photokina, this is the camera that I’m most excited about. Full-frame in a true compact with a 24.3-megapixel sensor. The only problem is that at present it’s just a big expensive toy to me. The fixed lens kills its potential for professional use for photo or video, but it looks like an amazing walk around camera for photo hobbyists… with some disposable income ($2800). Everyone should buy it to show Sony how much we all want a compact full-frame camera, then maybe (definitely) in the future they’ll make a version with interchangeable lenses.
Review
Review
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Broncolor Move 1200L Flash Power Pack
I’m excited about this new pack. This battery-powered flash pack is definitely in the high end category with a retail price of over $5,000. Full disclosure, I am a long-time committed user of Broncolor. But for the serious studio photographer check this out:
_160 full power pops on a single charge
_takes just 90 minutes to recharge
_light and small
_1200j power, max flash duration of 1/20,000th of a second, weighs just over 13 pounds in weight and has LED continuous light
No reviews out yet.
The Hasselblad Lunar:
Hasseblads new luxury camera is perfect for those high rollers who want something totally different than the rest of the crowd. Word on the street is that it’s a tricked out Sony NEX-7. But if you want the panache of the Hasselblad brand, sell your car and hang this bling around your neck.
Review
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Fujifilm X-E1
This smaller and substantially cheaper little bro to the recently announced X-Pro1 has some interesting features. I dig the specs on this camera and the look of it, but I’m still a little Fuji-shy after how disappointed I was with the X100. Is anyone out there in love with their Fuji gear? I honestly wanna know. Good from afar for sure. But jury is still out for me on Fuji.
Review:
Leica M
The new M camera has a 24-megapixel full-frame CMOS sensor that allows it to shoot video and use livemode. It’s f-you money expensive of course. It’ll cost around $7,000 here in the US. But, that’s no surprise coming from Leica. Great for the fantasy quiver.
Review
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Nikon D600
I already did a post when Nikon’s new DSLR hit a couple weeks back. Tons of feedback and discussion in the comments here. At $2,100 the D600 beat Canon’s 6D to the punch by a few days when it comes to the entry-level full-frame category. The Canon vs Nikon debate rages on.
Review
Credit: Popular Photography
Canon EOS 6D
The $2,100 Canon 6D, falls into the “entry-level full-frame” category along with the D600. I would love to try out the WiFi-based iPad app that lets you control the camera using your tablet. But this won’t be released to the public until December.
Review
Panasonic Lumix GH3
Panasonic seems to have nailed it with this one. I love the videos specs on this camera: 1080/60P video, high bit rates, timecode, seamless files for continuous recording, clean HDMI out. Our video guru Erik Hecht told me, “This camera is making me seriously consider selling all of my photo/video gear and going to the micro 4/3 format full time.” On par with the best DSLRs out there, that’s something to consider at $1300.
Review
Credit: Popular Photography
All crap!
🙂
It is quite funny to see all these really good “retro” cameras pop up now. My issue with those is really that they got to a point where image quality is too good for personal stuff. To me that is almost a burden as it raises my expectations for the final product. I don’t want to go through lots of raws, edit them, go to PS, edit more for holiday pictures. If I wanted to do that I would use my work camera, a D800 usually. For personal stuff I will keep using a FE with very limited amounts of film to protect me from myself… Does that make sense?
Anyway, my personal highlight this Photokina has been the Profoto Pro-B4! Can’t wait to get my hands on it.
Greetings from Vienna,
Ronnie
Absolutely love my Fujifilm XPro-1. Image quality is off the chart. After I got it I sold my beloved D700 – that’s how good the images are!
Chase, you need to give the X100 another shot. Your buddy Zack Arias calls it the best digital camera he’s ever used. The firmware updates have completely changed the camera.
And the X-Pro1 is a beast now with the 2.0 Firmware, which will also be in the X-E1.
Fuji really gets it.
As for Fuji, I never bought into the x100 thing. But as soon as I saw the specs for the X-Pro1 I knew my dream camera had arrived. Sure the AF was quirky, but it’s been fixed with the latest firmware update. I love the Fuji glass, the OVF, and the size and feel of it. The X-E1 is smaller and cheaper, but having the OVF is critical for me. If it’s not critical for you then the X-E1 is definitely a shoo in.