Alphabetical list (page 4)

Note: Some of the stand shots were taken before the show was open to the public (hence the lack of anyone at the stand).

Nikon

Nikon's stand was busy nearly all the time and we found it very difficult to get any decent shots of cameras being demonstrated, this was probably because of the 'counter design' used where the demonstrators were on one side of a counter-top and the other side was simply swamped with people. Just before Photokina Nikon announced a new three megapixel version of the Coolpix 2500, the Coolpix 3500. A few weeks before that they had also introduced the four megapixel Coolpix 4300 based on the 885 body and operation. There also seemed to be plenty of interest in the D100 and the Coolpix 5000 / 5700.

Nikon stand	Nikon D100 with optional grip / battery pack
Nikon Coolpix 2500, 3500 and 2000	Nikon Coolpix 5000 and 5700
Site links • Nikon Coolpix 3500 • Nikon Coolpix 4300 • Nikon Coolpix 4300 First Look	External links • Nikon Europe • Nikon USA

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Olympus

Olympus had no less than three new digital cameras (although the C-5050 Zoom had been announced over a month earlier) at Photokina. That said the biggest attempted splash was made with the 'Four Thirds' system. This new "standard" as defined by Olympus and Kodak is a proposal for a new lens mount and lens communications protocol based on a standard digital sensor size of 4/3". Lenses designed for this system should deliver better image quality because of the parallel nature of the light cast onto the sensor and will also be considerably smaller than 35 mm equivelant lenses.

Olympus also showed a 'design prototype' of a 4/3 digital SLR with a lens mount and removable lens, unfortunately it appeared to be larger than most 35 mm film SLR's and looked suspiciously like an E-20 with the battery grip moulded into the camera. I wish Olympus well with the 4/3 system but I feel that it would have been considerably better to have something more at Photokina than a press release about a standard and a plastic mock-up of a design even they admitted was probably nothing like the final camera.

Feeling definitely more real was the nice (if based a little on the C-x0x0 body) C-5050 Zoom with its five megapixel sensor, fast three times F1.8 lens, metal body, rubber grip and extensive manual feature set. Also new is the C-50 Zoom, a very nicely designed metal bodied five megapixel with a three times zoom lens. This camera has a nice tactile feel and familiar compact camera look. It's also the first Olympus digital camera to come supplied with a Lithium-Ion rechargeable battery and charger.

Olympus stand (one edge of it)	A basic description of the Four thirds system
Olympus '4/3 design prototype'	Olympus '4/3 design prototype'
Olympus C-5050 Zoom	Olympus C-5050 Zoom rear
Olympus C-50 Zoom	Olympus C-50 Zoom rear
Site links • Four Thirds System • Olympus C-5050 Zoom • Olympus C-50 Zoom • Olympus C-730 Ultra Zoom	External links • Olympus Europe • Olympus USA

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Panasonic

Panasonic quietly introduced a new and very interesting digital camera at Photokina. The DMC-FZ1 has a small (1/3.2") two megapixel sensor and big (in reach, not size) 'Leica' F2.8 12x optical zoom lens which provides the user with an equivelant zoom range of 35 to 420 mm. The camera itself is surprisingly small and lightweight and to compensate for any shake the lens is also optically stabilized. While not everyone's kind of camera it's certainly got a great mix of ingredients to make a very useful yet still compact 'shoot anything' digital camera. Also on show were SD cards in capacities up to 1 GB, still no word on when we can expect to see 512 or 1 GB cards but 256 MB cards are already available in the shops.

Panasonic stand	Panasonic SD cards in capacities up to 1 GB
Panasonic DMC-FZ1 (available in black or silver)	Panasonic DMC-FZ1 rear
Site links • Panasonic DMC-FZ1	External links • Panasonic Europe • Panasonic USA

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Pentax

Pentax introduced the Optio 330 GS, based on the 230 design but with a champagne gold finish and a new three megapixel sensor. Just like the 230 the 330 has a fold-out LCD monitor which can be useful for self portrait / tripod work. Pentax were another manufacturer touting there waterproof case, the O-WP1 waterproof case allows the 330GS or 430GS to be used at a depth of up to 40 m (130 ft), all camera controls can be be accessed from external buttons.

Pentax stand	Pentax Optio 330GS
Pentax O-WP1 Waterproof Case	Pentax O-WP1 Waterproof Case
Site links • Pentax Optio 330GS	External links • Pentax Europe • Pentax USA

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Ricoh

Ricoh's only new digital photography product for Photokina was the Caplio RR30 a three megapixel, three times optical zoom digital camera with a claimed 0.`22 sec shutter speed response (although nothing I could find would qualify how that had been measured and what it included). The camera is powered by two AA batteries and stores images on a combination of its 8 MB built-in flash RAM and SD/MMC storage cards.

Ricoh stand	Ricoh Caplio RR30
Ricoh Caplio RR30 Rear
Site links	External links • Ricoh Europe • Ricoh USA

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