Photokina, the world's largest photography trade show, is opening tomorrow in Cologne, Germany. The show, which is held every two years, is the one place to be if you are after the latest news - new cameras, flash systems, or even competitions.

BJP's news editor Olivier Laurent and editor Simon Bainbridge are in Cologne to report on the latest announcements. We will be meeting with all the major players to discuss their new products and what's coming next.

The show will kick start tomorrow, but you won't have to wait for some major announcements. Check back at midnight today for news and a dozen images of what could be Photokina's most talked about camera. BJP was given details in advance of its announcement, and we will share them with you tonight.

BJP continues its coverage of the world's largest trade show: Photokina.
Sigma has kept six new products under wraps over the past few weeks to finally unveil them today in Cologne. The most notable product is the SD15 digital SLR.

This 14 million pixel resolution camera sports the Foveon X3 direct-image-sensor, which Sigma claims 'can capture all primary RGB colours at each and every pixel location arranged in three layers'. It also features the True II image processing engine, providing enough power to reproduce high definition pictures 'rich in gradation'.

Sigma has not released any additional detail about its DSLR, which is still under development.
Since October 2002, Sigma has introduced three DSLR cameras, the SD9, SD10 and SD14 to the market. In March 2008 Sigma also introduced a compact digital camera, the DP1 which uses the same large image sensor as is featured in Sigma’s digital SLR cameras.

In other news, Sigma unveiled its new 24-70mm F2.8 EX DG HSM zoom lens.

This large aperture zoom lens has a Super Multi Layer Coating to reduce flare and ghosting. ELD (Extraordinary Low Dispersion) glass, two SLD (Special Low Dispersion) glass elements and three aspherical lenses provide correction of all types of aberrations, Sigma claims.

This lens also features a Hyper Sonic Motor, to ensure a quiet and high speed autofocus as well as full time manual focusing capability. This lens has a minimum focusing distance of 38cm and a maximum magnification ratio of 1:5.3. The rounded 9 blades diaphragm creates an attractive blur.

It will be available for Nikon, Canon, Sigma, Pentax and Sony mounts. Price and availability have not been communicated yet.

Now, only for Sony DSLR, Sigma has also announced the upcoming release of the APO Tele Converter 1.4x EX DG and APO Tele Converter 2x EX DG.

The new tele converters are capable of maintaining the HSM function of telephoto lenses such as Sigma’s APO 70-200mm F2.8 II EX DG MACRO HSM and APO 50-150mm F2.8 II EX DC HSM whilst increasing the focal length by a factor of 1.4x or 2x.

The HSM (Hyper Sonic Motor) AF compatibility depends on the capability of the Sony SLR camera to support this function and on the maximum F number of the attached lens.

Still for Sony mounts, but also for Pentax is the 4.5mm F2.8 EX DC HSM, the first Circular Fisheye lens exclusively for use with APS-C size digital SLR cameras, and the 10mm F2.8 EX DC HSM diagonal fisheye lens for Pentax and Sony fitting cameras.

This autofocus circular fisheye lens has an angle of view of 180 degrees in all directions. When used in conjunction with digital SLRs with APS-C size image sensor, it produces circular image within the frame. The minimum focusing distance of 13.5cm and maximum magnification of 1:6 make it particularly useful for close-up photography. SLD (Special Low Dispersion) glass, Super Multi Layer Coating and inner focusing system provides superior image quality.

For the same cameras, Sigma will release the new EM-140 DG Macro Flash .

The EM-140 DG Macro Flash is designed to work with both AF 35mm film and digital SLR cameras. Dual flash tubes can fire simultaneously or separately. Using only one flashtube creates shadow, which can give a three-dimensional feeling to the subject. The flash features a guide number of 14 w/ISO 100. The modelling flash function makes it possible to check for reflections and shadows before actually taking the flash picture.

A wireless flash function is also available, when the EM-140 DG is used as master and the EF-530 DG SUPER as a slave unit for creating fine shadow details. High Speed Synchro and Exposure compensation functions are also available for advanced flash photography.

BJP will cover these new products in its next issue released on 08 October. In the meantime, check back later for more news from Photokina.

Yesterday, BJP revealed that Pentax had announced a new entry-level digital SLR, the K-m.

Sporting a 10.2 million pixel resolution 23.5x15.7mm sensor, the K-m has a compact, lightweight body, made possible by the development of a new stainless-steel chassis, the downsizing of the Shake Reduction mechanism and circuit boards, and the repositioning of the battery compartment.

And to complement this new DLSR, Pentax also developed two new lenses, the smc Pentax-DA L 18-55mmF3.5-5.6AL and the smc Pentax-DA L 50-200mmF4-5.6ED.
But that's not the only news coming from Pentax, they have also released an interesting chart of their lens strategy. The Lens Development Roadmap shows every single smc lens and where they fit in Pentax' range. Check it out here.

Pentax has also announced the launch of the AF160FC dedicated auto macro flash. This new accessory flash unit is designed for advanced close-up applications using the automatic exposure-control system of Pentax DSLR cameras.

The macro flash allows for uniform lighting on the subject in order to minimize disturbing shadow areas. It features a P-TTL auto flash system to constantly assure the proper exposure level by measuring the flash’s pre-discharge with the camera’s image sensors and assessing the subject’s lighting condition with the camera’s multi-pattern metering system.

For more details, visit the Pentax website.

Olympus has shown a prototype of the next digital SLR to complement its E-system.

Based on Olympus’ Four Thirds System, the new interchangeable lens DSLR will be marketed as a mid-level model, which will fit between the E-520 and the current flagship DSLR – the E-3.

The camera will share the same body as the E-3, as well as many of its features, according to Olympus. ‘It will inherit all the outstanding features of the E-3 such as the high-speed AF system using an 11-point full twin-cross sensor and the built-in image stabilisation mechanism with a correction effect of up to 5 EV steps,’ Olympus revealed at Photokina. ‘Other highlights will include a new and updated feature to replace the current splash and dustproof function of the E-3’.

Olympus has declined to provide more details about the camera, including its name. The new model is expected to be released in early 2009.

Adobe, Apple, Canon, Microsoft, Nokia and Sony have just announced in a joint conference at Photokina the publication of guidelines to standardise metadata in JPEG files.

BJP was there, and you can read a full report on our website. But we thought we would share a few interesting points made during the press conference.

We now know that the guidelines will help developers across the six companies to engineer common metadata fields allowing for all imaging information to be transfered any other application without losing any data. While common details such as the name of the photographer, camera used and lens information are covered, the consortium also said that the fields would also support GPS information for the location of the photographer AND of the subject taken.

Adobe also said that currently 'in cases when data can be stored in more than one place, we duplicate it everwhere,' it said at the conference. Also, the consortium is looking at expanding its work to video files, especially since Canon and Nikon have introduced video capabilities to their newest cameras.