Scenes from Photokina photography show (photos)

COLOGNE, Germany--The Photokina show here is a spectacle for photographers, so camera makers of course are eager to show off the latest wares. Fujifilm's FinePix Real 3D W3 is its latest 3D camera--note the dual lenses for stereoscopic image capture--and visitors to the company's booth could take photos and see them on 3D TVs.

They were behind glass at Photokina, but they'll be on sale eventually: Canon's two new mammoth supertelephoto lenses. Canon just revamped its 300mm and 400mm F2.8 lenses and now is giving the same treatment to its even longer focal-length models with an F4 aperture. In addition, expect a focusing feature designed to help cinema users of Canon's SLRs in some of the lenses.

Olympus debuted its new top-end E-5 SLR, and the company wanted to show off the strength of its chassis. Visitors could stand on a glass tabletop supported by four of the metal exoskeletons.

Sigma announced its SD1 SLR at the Photokina show. It's got a magnesium-alloy chassis. Sigma's earlier SLRs haven't fared well in the marketplace, but the company hopes the SD1 will do better in part through a larger and improved Foveon x3 image sensor. The new model, measuring 24x16mm, has a 15.3-megapixel resolution, but unlike the vast majority of cameras, each pixel captures red, green, and blue light, not just one of those three. The camera is due to go on sale in February.

This prototype at Photokina shows a planned new advanced model in Sony's translucent-mirror line that today includes the a33 and a55. The new model should arrive within a year.

Sony's compact, higher-end NEX cameras use the proprietary E mount to attach lenses, and only three are available for the new camera family today. To expand the line, Sony plans to release four more in 2011: a wide-angle, fixed focal length design with Carl Zeiss optics; a telephoto zoom; a macro lens; and a portrait lens. Three more are planned for 2012, too, and Sony was eager to show off adapters letting people mount other lenses.

At the Photokina show here, Sony made the case that its new NEX cameras should be taken seriously. Although only three lenses are available for the NEX family's E mount, adapters let people attach all manner of lenses to the compact cameras, including this bellows option. This sort of arrangement will be a rarity, but InfoTrends expects 9 percent of camera shipments and 26 percent of camera revenue to come from this class of model in 2010.

Olympus' Stylus Tough line of cameras are designed to handle temperature extremes--including freezing temperatures. This camera is encased in a block of ice.

Samsung showed its second compact interchangeable lens camera (ILC) at Photokina, the NX100. Here, Tyrone Turner, a National Geographic photographer who endorsed the NX10 and NX100, holds a white model of the new camera. Samsung's line is competing with Sony's NEX family and with models from Panasonic and Olympus that share the same lens mount.

These gigantic glasses emphasize the modest size of its Pen line of Micro Four-Thirds ICL cameras, which feature interchangeable lenses but not the flip-up mirrors of SLR cameras.

Olympus also let people sit in a gigantic office chair, part of its effort to emphasize the miniature styling of its Pen camera line.

To show how durable its Stylus Tough cameras are, Olympus let people stomp on them and drop them onto a hard (though not concrete) floor.

Pentax is bringing its 645D medium-format camera to Europe showing it off at Photokina this week and putting it on sale in December. Previously the high-end 40-megapixel camera was available only in Japan. Its sensor measures 44x33mm, larger than high-end SLRs from Canon, Nikon, and Sony, for better light-gathering abilities.

The 3D frenzy of the consumer electronics industry has yet to sweep the camera sector, but some are trying to get it to catch on. Panasonic unveiled a $250 3D lens for use with its Lumix G line of Micro Four Thirds cameras. Panasonic also debuted its new flagship Micro Four Thirds model, the GH2

Everybody wants to be noticed at the show, and to attract attention, Fujifilm handed out gummi SLR candy.

Camera makers need to make their products network-enabled or face serious incursions from mobile phones, the InfoTrends analysis firm warned at Photokina. Kodak is trying, partly, with models that can integrate with Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.

Minox, famed for James Bond-era spy cameras from the Cold War era, has miniature digital cameras to show now with a retro look.

Olympus announced plans to release a higher-end compact camera in the first quarter of 2011. The camera is the first compact model to be equipped with a lens bearing Olympus' Zuiko lens brand that for decades has only appeared with its SLR cameras. Olympus is trying to telegraph that this will be a premium product.

Fujifilm introduced its FinePix x100 prototype at the Photokina. The show is geared toward photo enthusiasts, and so is the x100: It's got a retro look and a retro design with a fixed 23mm (35mm equivalent) lens. The production version of the camera is due in early 2011.

Hasselblad, a high-end camera maker on the mend after rough and unprofitable years, showed off this one of 499 special Ferrari-branded H4D medium-format cameras. Hasselblad also announced a 200-megapixel model due in 2011, though it'll be able to photograph at that resolution only with stationary subjects.

Olympus boasted of the diminutive size of its Pen line of cameras with interchangeable lenses. The cameras' smaller sensor means smaller lenses can be used. Shown here are, from front to rear, the 726-gram Olympus E-PL1 with a 75-300mm lens, a 1,695-gram Olympus SLR with an 80-400mm lens, and a 1,860 Canon SLR with a 100-400mm lens. Because the Pen cameras have a smaller sensor, their telephoto lenses don't need as long a focal length; a 300mm lens on its camera has about the field of view as a 600mm lens on a full-frame SLR and 400mm lens on a mainstream Canon or Nikon SLR.

Canon's new EOS 60D is the company's first SLR with a pivoting screen. It makes it possible to hold the camera above your head and, using live view, see what you're shooting.

Canon showed off the new L-series version of the 70-300mm lens. It's designed to cover a broader range than other professional lenses--typically a 70-200mm and 300mm combination. However, the 70-300mm model extends as you zoom it out to 300mm.

Sony boasts its translucent-mirror cameras' full-time autofocus can keep moving subjects sharp even as the cameras shoot at 10 frames per second. The company had a half pipe on display to let people try.

GFAE's Capcam is a fully electronic view camera controlled by an attached computer. It's shown here in a naked state; for real use a cover would keep stray light from reaching the sensor.

This shot shows the Schneider Kreutznach lens, right, and the image sensor at the center of the leftward plate. The camera should ship in 2011. This model uses a Phase One medium-format digital image sensor back.

Canon loves to show off its full array of lenses. This lineup shows just the shorter focal length models.

Canon has built only a very tiny number of models of its upcoming 8-15mm fisheye lens, and one was on display at Photokina. It'll show a full 180-degree view on a full-frame camera, letting a photographer easily shoot both her toes and a ceiling fan in the same shot.

Photo bags are a top photo accessory. Crumpler had its array of products hanging from the ceiling on bungee cords.