Cameras

COLOGNE, Germany -- Every 99 years or so, a company has to shake things up a little bit.

Thus it is that Schneider Kreuznach, a high-end lens brand founded in 1913 that's been focused on cinema, medium-format, and large-format markets, unveiled four lenses for more ordinary 35mm SLRs, three for Micro Four Thirds cameras, and even a polarizing filter for iPhones. The lensmaker, part of the Jos. Schneider Optische Werke, unveiled the lenses at the Photokina show here.

Its earlier lenses for conventional SLRs were the company's relatively exotic Super Angulon line, tilt-shift models that can enable perspective … Read more

Sony has been on a roll with its camera image sensors, and a close look by ChipWorks shows that the iPhone 5 uses one of its products for the main camera.

A close-up photo shows the Sony brand name on the 8-megapixel sensor at the heart of the camera.

It's not a big surprise: Sony is very competitive with image sensors these days, and former Sony CEO Howard Stringer let slip earlier this year that Sony was supplying camera technology to Apple.

But the iPhone 5 has two cameras, of course. The lesser one, a front-facing camera for videoconferencing … Read more

COLOGNE, Germany--The gleaming exoskeleton of Six's rail system immediately caught our eye here at Photokina 2012 with its out-of-this-world appearance that looks like something out of a sci-fi movie. For the uninitiated, a video rail system is often used by professionals to mount a dSLR and other accessories for video capture.

Markus Sattler, founder of Six tells us the rail system is made for videographers looking to film in the harshest weather conditions. He explained that the key element is the highly modular nature of the rail system, which gives users the flexibility to swap and attach individual arms and components in any configuration depending on the shooting scenario. … Read more

COLOGNE, Germany -- There's room for a higher-end flash card format that's faster and more capacious than SD Card, and for years, CompactFlash has occupied that market niche.

But CompactFlash is running out of steam, and finding a successor to CompactFlash just got a lot messier courtesy of a new standard that arrived this week at the Photokina trade show here.

Last year, Nikon and Sony carried the XQD format to market as the would-be CompactFlash successor, with Nikon's flagship D4 camera accepting the cards and Sony making the cards. But Canon and professional camera maker Phase … Read more

Good news for all you Nikon D800 owners who have a third-generation iPad or are about to buy an iPhone 5: the new iPhoto 1.1 iOS app now can handle your 36.3-megapixel images.

iPhoto 1.0 for iOS, or version 1.1 on earlier iPhones and iPods, could handle only 19-megapixel images, which ruled out its use on photos from higher-end cameras such as Canon's 5D Mark II and Mark III and Sony's NEX-7.

The support for images up to 36.5 megapixels is one of a slew of features and fixes in the iPhoto 1.1 update … Read more

Between Canon and Nikon's inexpensive full-frame bodies and Sony's full-frame press of a compact, pro body and camcorder, there are going to be a lot of photographers and videographers lining up to sit on Santa's lap this holiday season.

But if you prefer something smaller, there's plenty of that for you, too, in the form of new enthusiast compact cameras from almost every manufacturer and updates to interchangeable-lens models. Plus Panasonic gave its video-friendly GH2 a complete overhaul for the GH3.

Here's a guide to our complete Photokina coverage. Just because.… Read more

Wi-Fi Webcams can be really cool, allowing you to stream live video to, say, a laptop or phone without having to run cables all over the place.

But many, if not most, of them are expensive, unattractive gizmos requiring complicated setup and delivering iffy results.

They're getting better, though, and for today at least, more affordable: Ben's Outlet has the Stem Innovation iZon Wi-Fi Webcam for $64.99 shipped. That's half the list price, and definitely the best deal I've seen on this product.

The small, white, cylindrical iZon stands about 4 inches high on its … Read more

COLOGNE, Germany -- A year and a half ago, Canon announced it was working on a 200-400mm telephoto zoom lens with a built-in 1.4X extender. But since then, there's been nary a peep.

Well, there's a peep now, Canon shooters jealous of Nikon's 200-400mm will be pleased to know.

The plan is to release it this year, said Mike Owen, communications manager for Canon's professional imaging department in Europe. He spoke at a Canon press conference yesterday at the Photokina show here.

But Owen was quick to add a caveat: "We're anticipating that, … Read more

Leica's known for putting out limited editions of its cameras drafted by high-profile designers or for luxury retailers -- Hermes, Audi, and Neiman Marcus versions come to mind -- but the company's entering new fanboy territory by enlisting the creator of Apple's current signature looks, Sir Jony Ive, to create a single limited edition of the new Leica M.

The camera will go up for charity auction in collaboration with U2's Bono.… Read more