COLOGNE, Germany -- Pining for camera with a hand-stitched Italian leather grip and jeweled control dials? You're in luck.

The digital photography revolution exiled Hasselblad's medium-format cameras to an expensive niche inhabited almost solely by professionals. But today, the company announced Lunar, the first camera in an effort that Chief Executive Larry Hansen hopes will bring the storied photography brand back to a wider -- if not mainstream -- market.

Through a partnership with Sony, Hasselblad unveiled its 24-megapixel mirrorless interchangeable-lens model built on the bones and brains of Sony's high-end NEX-7. It's due to ship … Read more

COLOGNE, Germany -- Three words describe the Lexar Professional 400x SDXC UHS-I memory card: big, fast, and expensive.

The company is pitching the $900 card at those who need to shoot lots of 1080p or 3D video, a market noted for its capacity-gobbling files, intolerance for hiccups in data transfer, and deep pockets.

The card can transfer data at a sustained speed of 60MBps, and it will ship in October, the Micron subsidiary said. The company does offer faster cards with a 600x rating, but they top out at 64GB capacities.

As usual, ordinary photographers shouldn't bother getting excited … Read more

Sigma announced some new lenses at Photokina -- updates to its 120-300mm f2.8 DG OS HSM ("redesigned mechanics and performance") and 17-70mm f2.8 DC OS macro ("new design and more compact build") and unveiled a 35mm f1.4 DG HSM -- along with a clever USB dock to use for firmware upgrades. But what's really interesting is the new organization of its lens marketing. And when I say "interesting" I mean "what were they smoking?"

I guess focal lengths, apertures, mounts, and prices just don't convey enough exciting … Read more

COLOGNE, Germany -- Phase One and Mamiya Leaf, the medium-format camera maker it controls, announced its new 645DF+ medium-format camera with new mechanics and improved focusing abilities.

The companies also announced at the Photokina camera show here the new Schneider Kreuznach 28 LS f/4.5 Aspherical, a very wide-angle 28mm leaf-shutter lens built by Schneider Kreuznach for the Mamiya Leaf-Phase One cameras. The camera and the lens are priced the same; each costs $5,990 or 4,290 euros, and each will ship in October.

Compared with the earlier 645DF, all moving parts of the 645DF+ have been completely … Read more

Cameras are nice, but to me, lenses are where the rubber meets the road, and Olympus has been turning out some very nice Micro Four Thirds lenses these days. At Photokina, the company is showing off a new moderately priced 60mm f2.8 macro, odd 15mm f8 body-cap lens, a black limited edition version of its 12mm f2, and announced development of a new 17mm f1.8

Optimized to be used in conjunction with the OM-D E-M5, the 60mm macro is weather-resistant to match that camera. It's relatively large -- 13 elements -- and Olympus makes use of all … Read more

Headlining Canon's barrage of cameras at the show: the EOS 6D. While the company has had the cheapest full-frame camera available since the 5D Mark III shipped and it dropped the price of the 5D Mark II, the latter (while still an excellent camera) has an old autofocus system and needed some performance updating. Especially if it were going to stand up to Nikon's recently announced D600. But Canon took away some of the features of the 5DM2 for the 6D, such as the 100 percent coverage viewfinder, substituting Wi-Fi and GPS. It's got a new sensor, … Read more

Just when you didn't think your purse or wallet had any more space for plastic, here's a concept that might convince you to make room. ClearShot is a card-size stand for your smartphone that seems perfect for snapshots, video, chatting, and time-lapse pics.

Designer Mike Carney, a Boeing engineer, calls it the world's most portable phone tripod, and has submitted a patent for the design. It's only 0.09 inch thick, about the size of three non-embossed credit cards.

With a pinch, it unfolds into a ready position and supports all iPhone models, as well as Windows and Android phones. It can also be used with the Samsung Galaxy S2, S3, and Note. … Read more

Tamron announced today it's brought vibration compensation to two full-frame lenses, the 70-200mm F/2.8 Di VC USD telephoto and the SP 90mm F/2.8 Di VC USD macro.

Both of the lenses will ship by the end of the year for Canon, Nikon, and Sony cameras, Tamron said just ahead of the Photokina 2012 show, a major camera event held every two years in Germany. The company didn't disclose prices.

Vibration compensation -- known as vibration reduction at Nikon and image stabilization at Canon -- shifts a lens element to counteract camera shake. It can … Read more

Photokina hasn't even started yet and I'm ready to declare it Full-Frame Fest based on what Sony's unveiled today and what I know is coming. Sony alone is rolling out three full-frame devices aimed at a variety of different types of photographers, albeit all of them professionals.

Sony may be first to market with a compact full-frame camera, but at a price of almost $2,800, the Cyber-shot DSC-RX1 is cruelly out of reach for a lot of the enthusiasts who will stare longingly at it online only to settle for an RX100. Is it even fair … Read more