Showdown of the imaging world

Showdown of the imaging world photokina in Cologne will once again become the centre of the imaging world from 20 to 25 September. Under the motto Imaging Unlimited, the most important players of the international imaging industry will meet with representatives of industry and commerce, photography enthusiasts and professional photographers for the Six Day Races. The closer the must-go of the industry gets, the more the excitement in the photography scene increases in the face of the anticipated innovations. That especially applies to this years photokina 2016, which is in the focus of pioneering changes to the entire industry.

Modern imaging technologies, as a consequence of the digital revolution, have changed the world of images at an astonishing speed, and thus how society deals with images. Cameras have become indispensable means of communication that not only automatically create photographs and films in excellent quality at the push of a button, but can also process, modify and transmit these worldwide. Around 74 percent of the German population uses a smartphone to create images and thus always has their camera with them. More and more, smartphones are also becoming the most important control centre for visual communication and the indispensable accessory for professional and private film and photo equipment. All cameras presented by the imaging innovators at photokina, use the interfaces of these jacks of all trades to expand their functionalities or to be able to use new applications optimally.

From the autonomous photo apparatus to the completely networked Camera of Things

The trend toward the networking of devices and machines, the Internet of Things (IoT), has also initiated dramatic convulsions in the camera industry, which will become manifest across all manufacturers at photokina 2016. Although cameras are becoming increasingly intelligent and their communications possibilities are expanding all the time, the interfaces with the smartphone remain decisive. That applies not only to the usage of functional expansions, but also to the remote control of increasingly higher performance recording systems. Even professional accessories, such as mobile studio flash devices, like those exhibited in the pro section of the trade fair, use smartphones and the corresponding apps to comfortably set and synchronise the activation of devices. The larger displays of mobile devices like smartphones and tablets simplify the selection of an excerpt, and thus also the remote control of the camera systems, becoming external second displays of the cameras. The cameras incorporated into the smartphones were the first completely networked representatives of the Cameras of Things and the strongest impulse for the Internet of Things, which would hardly have been conceivable without cameras and image sensors.

While cameras per household were still registered years ago in the market analyses, around three quarters of the population already owns a smartphone with an integrated, completely networked camera. Numerous devices from daily life are equipped with cameras, which enable them to significantly expand their range of functions. The Cameras of Things are found in washing machines, professional printing systems, automobiles, door openers, refrigerators, washing machines, medical diagnostics and monitoring systems, security and locking systems, or in sports equipment. They recognise and analyse practically everything that enters their field of vision. They use facial and iris recognition for identification, and, in combination with other sensors and technologies, like, for example, location, height and depth metres, identify not only persons but also, networked with the Internet and utilising a similarity search function, structures, tourist attractions and other objects. Cameras long since no longer merely record what we see, but instead serve to make that which we dont see visible. The wealth of ideas with which the innovators of the industry propel the industry forward at amazing speed with imaging and image processing technologies is documented by the FUTUREZONE of photokina, taking place for the first time this year, where startups show the ideas they have for expanding the imaging world.

The recording systems have reached a level that makes it practically impossible for users to receive a technically deficient photo as a result. This has prompted the camera manufacturers to focus on new expansions of photography that were previously hardly considered possible.

Virtual worlds expand the vision of the world

Two of the most conspicuous expansions of photography have enabled new image experiences as virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR). For the first time it is possible to interactively navigate in recordings and add additional content to them in the case of augmented reality. Since the fulminant hype surrounding the smartphone app Pokemon Go! at the latest, anyone can imagine the level of attractiveness augmented reality can reach. At photokina 2016, many manufacturers of products for virtual reality and augmented reality will be presenting applications. These extend from recording systems for creating content through solutions for the processing workflow to solutions for presenting and experiencing the world vision of expanding VR and AR content.

Innovations for photographing and filming on land, in and under water and from the air

If the continuing development of photography to date mostly revolved around the perfecting of image results and the simplification of the recording process, in the meantime the focus is on filming and photographing that which previously seemed impossible. The high art of discerning the decisive moment, as the great magician of the camera Henri Cartier-Bresson once propagated, is now possible for everyone with a modern photo/film camera. With the help o

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