We have toured the booths of the major accessories makers to see if they had any exciting photo / camera bags on show - and found some! One of our personal favourites was Think Tank Photo’s new Sling-O-Matic range of sling bags, which feature one adjustable shoulder strap that can be easily switched back and forth to either shoulder - a godsend if you need to carry heavy photo equipment for extended periods of time. The bag can also be brought forward quickly, and all your gear can be accessed from the top. Hama also has a solution to the problem of pain resulting from carrying heavy equipment on one shoulder, in the form of its new Katoomba 170RL and 190RL bags, which can also be worn on either shoulder. In addition to these, the German company dedicated a large part of its stand to the new Daytour backpacks that provide direct access to your gear from all sides.

Manfrotto introduced several new product lines at the Photokina trade show. The Bassano del Grappa-based company best known for its professional tripods and heads is moving into new territory by embracing beginners and “social recorders”, i.e. people taking pictures with the primary aim to share them on social networking sites such as Facebook or MySpace. In order to fulfil the needs of these consumers, Manfrotto is now offering everything from compact aluminium tripods to stylish bags, including a line dedicated to women. Also new for the company is a collection of LED lights targeted at videographers, from the simple and compact Pocket to the professional-grade Maxima and Aura ranges.

At its Photokina booth, Minox is showing off a concept model of its 3D camera, the PX3D. Although one representative said the company has working prototypes as well, they apparently haven’t brought them to the show - the model shown behind glass at the stand is just a mock-up. There is a sign next to it saying, “Expected availability - summer 2011”, but the rep we talked to said the company is currently just testing the waters, with no firm plans for commercialisation. In terms of specifications, the camera has four Minoctar lenses and four 5-megapixel sensors, and is said to allow the creation of 3D images that can be viewed without special glasses and other accessories.

At the Lensbaby stand, we got our hands on the new Tilt Transformer and the Composer with Tilt Transformer. The Lensbaby Tilt Transformer is a special tilt adapter that allows Nikon F mount lenses to be attached to a Micro Four Thirds camera, and transforms them into manual-focus tilt lenses with selective focus capabilities. The kit used to demonstrate this at the booth included a Panasonic G1 and a Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 lens. Since this lens has a much larger imaging circle than normally required to cover a Four Thirds sensor, and since the Lensbaby Tilt Transformer allows a much greater degree of tilt than a typical tilt lens, you can achieve pretty dramatic results with this combo; with a potentially very thin slice of focus stretching for example from the lower left to the upper right corner, with everything else being completely blurred.

At Photokina Samsung are heavily promoting their great Compact System Camera hope, the new NX100, with a series of interactive displays demoing the camera’s capabilities, plus a giant-sized replica just in case you’d forgotten what it looks like. The NX10 and NX10 have also been “exploded” into their component parts to illustrate Samsung’s engineering prowess. And if you ever wanted to see the full range of Samsung cameras and camcorders, there’s a mind-blowingly long wall containing every current product in their line-up.

The Hasselblad booth is awash with visitors eager to try out the new products announced at the show. Among these are the 50-megapixel Hasselblad CFV-50 digital backs that catapult almost any V-system camera into the digital age, the affordable (ahem) Hasselblad H4D-31 medium-format DSLR and a couple of new lenses. A black Ferrari is also on display, symbolising the co-operation of the two iconic European brands that has resulted in the announcement of the Hasselblad H4D Ferrari Edition (see our news coverage and picture above).

Sony have most of Hall 5.2 to themselves, with their new range of pellicle mirror SLR cameras taking centre-stage alongside the popular NEX cameras. We spotted a long row of different coloured NEX models which are all colours that aren’t available in the shops yet. In terms of new-at-the-show products, the mockup of the A700 replacement (A77?) that we featured yesterday was generating most interest in press circles, alhough the public seemed more interested in the BMX skills demonstration being used to test the A55 and A33 to their speedy limits. Video and in particular 3D are also being heavily pushed, with spectacle-wearing people browsing photos on Sony’s new 3DTV range.

Update: We’ve added some photos of the vast array of adpapters that allow old lenses to be used with the Sony NEX cameras, plus close-up shots of the 9 proposed NEX colours and hands-on with the new Bloggie Touch.

Tamron are drawing the crowds here at Photokina with a series of fashion shows and demos. Their recently announced 70-300mm F/4-5.6 Di lens is getting a lot of attention too - I tried it out on a Canon 5D Mk II and the autofocus system was fast and accurate, despite the low light levels of the show. There are a few resized shots in our Tamron stand gallery which show what the lens is capable of. Also of interest are a number of displays containing some of the seemingly vast number of lenses that Tamron produce and a chance to try out some of the bigger zooms for yourself.

Carl Zeiss have a large stand at Photokina showcasing their extensive range of high-quality lenses. Their main new product for the show is the Distagon T 1.4 35mm ZF/ZE.2 lens which is available for Nikon and Canon, plus an optical viewfinder and circular polariser. Perhaps more interesting for visitors is the giant replica lens which houses a history of Carl Zeiss, tracing the company’s progression through 120 years of history.

We checked out Schneider Kreuznach’s booth to see what their new tilt-shift lenses looked like in the flesh. The company had announced three perspective control lenses just prior to Photokina, and all three were on display at their stand. Two of them, the PC-TS Super-Angulon 50mm f/2.8 HM and the PC-TS Makro-Symmar 90mm f/4 HM, will be made in Canon, Nikon, Pentax and Sony mounts. The first was shown attached to a Nikon D3, whereas the second was mounted to a Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II. According to one salesman on the stand, the lenses will cost approximately €2,400+VAT and €2,300+VAT, respectively. We got our hands on the third PC-TS lens - the Schneider Kreuznach PC-TS Apo-Digitar 5.6 / 120 HM Aspheric made for Mamiya / Phase One system cameras - as well, which will sell for around €3,350+VAT.

At Photokina 2010 Epson have unveiled three new large-format printers aimed at photographers, the 4900, 7890 and 9890 models. Featuring 98% Pantone coverage and an optional built-in spectrometer, the Epson 4900 costs £2295 and will be available in November. We grabbed a few photos of the 4900 and its much bigger siblings, the 24 inch 7890 and the 44 inch 9890. Also on show at the Epson stand is a large area devoted to th company’s recent Signature Worthy and Digigraphie Workflow initiatives.

Kodak have a comparatively small stand at Photokina this year, especially compared with the massive presence that they had at the last show in 2008. Digital cameras only play a small part in Kodak’s line-up, with the expert-led K-Zone techniques area generating the most interest amongst visitors. Also on show is the new Kodak Portra 400 film emulsion, photobooks and photo finishing printers, and an impressive interactive touchscreen display showing off the company’s product range.

General Imaging have a large but relatively quiet stand that’s mainly concentrated on their fashion-focused Jason Wu range of stylish point and shoot cameras. We did find a new product hidden away the back of the stand - a Nikon wannabe in the form of the PJ1 camera featuring, you’ve guessed it, a built-in projector. Also on display are the DV1 waterproof model, the X5 superzoom, and for some reason a Formula 1 video game simulator.

The two main attractions of the Olympus booth are the super-tough Olympus E-5 digital SLR and the PEN system of compact interchangeable-lens digital cameras. A fairly large area of the stand is dedicated to the E-5, with an Olympus representative demonstrating the ruggedness of the camera. When we were there he was standing on three layers of large glass plates supported by four Olympus E-5 bodies, and held a fifth one in his hands, holding it under a shower of water droplets. The camera was turned on and set to Playback mode, with the rear LCD screen showing an image, evidently unaffected by the water falling on it.

Nikon’s bright yellow stand attracts a huge crowd, with most of the visitors being eager to get their hands on the new Nikon D7000 digital SLR camera and some of the company’s legendary long telephoto lenses. But while the D7000 is clearly the most popular camera with the press and public alike, visitors also seem happy to try out the Nikon 3100 and the company’s older cameras as well. As to the lenses, there is a small stand sporting cameras equipped with telephoto lenses including the new AF-S DX 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6 VR, 200-400mm f/4G ED VR II and 70-200mm VR II offerings.

The Fujifilm stand at Photokina is buzzing, with the surprise unveiling of the X100 generating a lot of interest amongst the press and public alike. A large section of the Fujifilm booth is dedicated to the X100, with three prototypes on display - we can confirm that the X100 has a 23mm lens in digital terms that is equivalent to a traditional 35mm focal length. The other big attraction was 3D, with the recently announced Finepix W3 gathering large crowds eager to see the improved on-screen 3D effect and the more refined body. We think that Fujifilm could be onto a winner after the false start of the W1, especially now that 3DTV support has grown exponentially this year.

Casio have a couple of key new products - the EX-H20G and EX-ZR10 - which introduce GPS and HDR respectively to the Exilim, although sadly not in the same camera. Casio’s stand at Photokina is almost exclusively dedicated to these two models, with a big gallery of photo art showcasing the HDR effects that the ZR10 can produce in-camera. Other attractions include Casio’s all-action compact range and their projector lineup.

Sigma has a bright all-white stand at Photokina, with a mock-up of the new Sigma SD1 digital SLR taking centre-stage. The camera body, which is displayed in a glass showcase, is a fairly hefty affair; this should be good news for any photographer with large hands. Also on display is the new APO MACRO 150mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM, which is a new version of Sigma’s highly regarded telemacro lens, updated with a quiet “hyper-sonic” autofocus motor and optical image stabilisation. In addition to seeing the new products in the flesh, visitors can also try out some of Sigma’s current offerings, including the giant olive-green Sigma APO 200-500mm f/2.8 EX DG telezoom. The stand has a stage where demonstrations of various kinds take place on a regular basis.

Ricoh has a rather small stand at Photokina, but it has something new and exciting to offer to visitors. The centre of attention is the newly announced Ricoh GR LENS A12 28 mm F2.5, a new lens-sensor module for the Ricoh GXR system. Having an actual focal length of 18.3mm and an APS-C sized sensor, the new module offers an angle of view similar to that of a 28mm lens on a 35mm camera. The samples displayed at the booth are working prototypes rather than production units, meaning visitors are not allowed to save shots on their own memory cards, but the modules are still worth trying out.

Leica has a mid-sized stand in a corner of Hall 2.1, featuring the company’s M and S series products as well as its compact cameras. New products of note include the Leica M9 Titanium, displayed under glass with a matching Summicron

Summilux-M 35mm f/1.4 ASPH. lens and accessories, an all-black version of the Leica X1, and the D-Lux 5 and V-Lux 2 compacts co-developed with Panasonic. Samples of all of these - excluding the M9 Titanium - are provided for people to try out. Visitors to the stand also have the chance of getting some hands-on time with current M series and S system cameras and lenses. In the back of the booth there is a gallery of large prints of photos taken by Leica photographers.