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Dpreview Connect is leaving Photokina 2014 but we will be back in Cologne in 2016.
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Before we are leaving the show we thought we should give you a brief overview of all the cool things we saw at the smaller stands that tend to be tucked away in the corners or basement halls of the enormous Cologne exhibition center. Here is a selection of some mobile imaging related products we found among the mass of studio lighting, portrait backgrounds and picture frames.
Triggertrap shows off its clever camera dongle that allows you to remote control your DSLR from your smartphone and use the latter's sensors for all sorts of innovative triggering options. At the stand you can also take a "Yellfie" by yelling at the camera. Triggertrap's stand-alone Yellfie app for iOS is currently waiting for approval from Apple before you'll be able to download it from the App Store.
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iPhone connected to a Canon DSLR and studio flash with the Triggertrap dongle.
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My Yellfie
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Internet giants Google is present as well and demonstrating its Google Views platform which is a Google Maps community platform that allows you to share geo-tagged photos and 360 degree photospheres to help other users explore the word through your images.
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Staff at the Google booth are explaining the Google View platform.
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Visitors can have a go themselves on several work stations.
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Dire Studios is demonstrating its useful PrintCalc app that lets you calculate print sizes and resolution requirements for specific print quality levels and vice versa. While PrintCalc should be useful to anyone occasionally printing photos the Artist's Viewfinder app is targeted at a professional audience, such as location scouts or still photographers and film makers who are looking for the perfect camera position and framing for their next shoot but don't want to carry large equipment on the scouting trip.
The app can simulate a large number of camera/lens combinations and can be paired with a 0.5x-class super-wide converter lens to extend the iPhone's angle of view. This combination covers the field of view of 17mm equivalent lenses and can also be used to pre-visualize super-wide stitched images. The converter lens' distortion is removed in real time.
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The PrintCalc app lets you calculate print size and quality requirements on your iPhone.
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Artist's Viewfinder is a framing simulation app for location scouts and other imaging professionals.
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The Xelfie II is a remote release that does not only work with your Android or iOS smartphone via Bluetooth but can also control many Canon, Nikon and Sony cameras through an Infrared connection.
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The Xelfie II is a remote trigger for smartphone and camera.
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The Xelfie people also have a selfie-stick on offer.
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Almalence is a software company that develops imaging solutions including HDR , DoF-simulation and panorama modes, for mobile manufacturers such as LG, Huawei, HTC or Oppo. At the show the company is demonstrating those technologies alongside its new "A Better Camera App" open source platform for developers. It allows developers to integrate the Almalence functionality into their own apps and also supports third party plug-ins.
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Almalence provides imaging software to mobile manufacturers.
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"A Better Camera" is a new open source camera app for Android.
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At the Datacolor booth we had a look at the company's latest Spyder color calibration tools that can also be used to calibrate your iOS devices. Unlike a PC or Mac screen you cannot color-profile an iPhone or iPad display but the Spyder measures the screen characteristics and a dedicated viewing app applies the necessary corrections to your images before displaying them. This makes the Datacolor system a useful tool for photographers who prefer to proof or show their images to clients on an iPad.
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Datacolor's spyder devices allow you to display images with correct colors on iPhone and iPad.
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Selfie-sticks are everywhere at this year's Photokina.
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