IFA 2001: The IFA 2001 exhibition in Berlin falls as the only major trade show (in Europe at least) before Christmas this year (Photokina being biennial - every second year). Several manufacturers have announced new products and most of those are on show at IFA. In this part of the report we will cover Nikon, SanDisk, Sanyo, Sony and Toshiba. (Part two of two)

Note, this is the second part of this report, click here to go back to the beginning.

Photography notes: All images show with a Nikon D1H @ ISO 500 - 800 (very impressive, low noise and good colour accuracy) - review coming soon.

Digital Camera / accessories manufacturers
(alphabetical order)

• Canon
• Casio
• Fujifilm
• Grundig
• Iomega
• Kodak
• Nikon
• SanDisk
• Sanyo
• Sony
• Toshiba

Nikon

Nikon, whose announcement of the 885 was timed for IFA had a smaller stand (at least by their normal standards). The front dominated by the Coolpix digital cameras with active demonstrations of the 775, 885 and 995. Because of the size of the stand there wasn't as much opportunity for potential buyers to get their own hands-on.

Nikon stand	Coolpix 885 demonstrator
Coolpix 775 demonstrator

Links: Coolpix 775 review, Coolpix 995 review, Coolpix 885 announcement
External links: Nikon Imaging, Nikon Germany

SanDisk

SanDisk, the digital camera (and much more) memory people had a relatively large stand with their full range of CompactFlash, SmartMedia and new SD/MMC flash storage cards on display. SanDisk yesterday announced their expansion in Europe with the opening of a new distribution center in Holland and new retail offices in other countries in Europe.

SanDisk stand	SanDisk flash memory range

Links: SanDisk expansion announcement
External links: SanDisk

Sanyo

Sanyo showed the 1.5 megapixel IDShot IDC-1000Z which uses the 730 MB ID MO discs (a product which still hasn't made it to all parts of the world). They also had the 2 megapixel DSC-MZ1 (VPC-MZ1 in Europe) which supports CompactFlash Type II and has a 2.8x optical zoom lens. Sanyo revealed a new digital camera at IFA, the VPC-R1, we missed this unit but it appears to be an entry level unit with internal memory and a fixed focal length lens.

Sanyo stand	Sanyo IDC-1000Z
Sanyo DSC-MZ1 being demonstrated

External links: Sanyo

Sony

Before I start to describe what was there I have to give Sony the award for the overall most impressive stand, it was huge, occupying an entire hall it was split into various categories but carried the same trendy theme. There was also an upper decking area with various of the latest digital cameras (including the DSC-P5 and DSC-F707) as well as DV (including the new DCR-IP7) which you could both use and shoot with. The digital camera 'hands-on' pods also had DPP-SV77 photo printers so you could take a print home with you.

No expense was spared and the overall buzz and interest at the Sony stand was impressive. Sony also had silver MemoryStick balloons which could be seen being dragged all over the show by keen consumers.

Upper decking area (digital camera pods in front)	A view down from the decking area
Another view down (other side)	New DCR-IP7 in use (TV monitors available)
Some of the range for hands-on	DSC-S85
Several DSC-F707 available for hands-on	DSC-F707
Prints available	DCR-IP7
DSC-F707	DSC-P5

Site links: DCR-IP7 announcement, DSC-S85 review, DSC-F707 review, DSC-P5 review
External links: Sony Europe, Sony Germany

Toshiba

Toshiba's stand was very large however the digital camera section was relatively small, only three demonstration pods and the range of digital cameras behind glass. The PDR-M61 and M70 were available for demo.

Toshiba stand	Toshiba digital camera demonstration points
Toshiba PDR-M81 (4 mp) behind glass

Site links: PDR-M81 announcement
External links: Toshiba Europe, Toshiba Germany