Liquid Image, on the other hand have come up with an idea
so daft, it's good. A digital camera built into a face mask for underwater
photography. The Photo kina press release is in German and as my knowledge
of the language comes from bad Hollywood World War II movies, don't take
any of the very sparse information following as even close to accurate.
There appear to be two versions, a 3.1
megapixel model at €199 and a 5MP at €139. There's even
less on the web site and when you read the URL you will probably understand
why. http://www.jokerag.com
The Olmec
Print Box is another curious device. It is a dye sublimation printer
capable of producing a 6" x 9" print. A 6 x 4 is churned out
in seven seconds. That in itself is okay, but the thing is aimed at professional
photographers, but it all seem so low end and restrictive. although it
will turn out 790 prints on a single load of paper. Maybe someone will
have a use for it.
Every year, and especially every Photokina
year, items like these pour out of the woodwork carrying their maker's
dreams of a golden future and every so often one of them does succeed.
But the market is littered with the bones of the unsuccessful I've only
been to one Photokina and that was in 1982 when Kodak spent a squillion
launching and promoting its disc cameras. You don't remember the disk
camera?
Or the Agfa Color Contour paper in
the mid-seventies? Who is Agfa? Oh, dear. Not to worry, there will be
plenty more before this Photokina is over.
