Photokina continues to approach and the pace of new product announcements is picking up. Here’s a round-up of the latest new product news and more.

I'm filling in for the vacationing Mason Resnick on the Newsdesk this week. Mason may be taking it slow, but there's a lot of big news in the world of photography right now!

With Photokina just a few weeks away, the big announcements are coming in fast and furious. This will be a longer, more detailed Weekend Wrap and very gear-heavy. Let’s get started.

This week: Getty Leica’s the X1, Fuji Bags Sensia, Rollei Regresses, Sony and Tamron zoom further, an inventive Google Maps mashup, new rugged digicams, and “Photographers-as-terrorists” gets turned o

Manufacturer statements fuel MILC rumors; the death of Photojournalism; Sony’s NEX battery problem resolved; Samsung’s USB cam; Sigma’s steady tele zom; Rollei’s 90th; Unified Color gets serious about

An Ansel discovery goes negative; Panasonic debuts a 3D camcorder; Samsung announces a WiFi pocket cam; The Return of Frankencamera; a 71MP photo; and new mix-and-match camera/lens combos.

This week, the first wave of pre-Photokina announcements started to come ashore. Panasonic, Fujifilm and Samsung unveiled new digital cameras. There’s a lot of ground to cover, so let’s roll:

Sigma SD15 lands, Nikon D3s takes off, Nikon International Photo Contest announced, Sony debuts world’s first 3D compact (sort of), Samyang goes NX, Last Kodachrome gets souped, and Summer of Fun Phot

We span the Web to bring you this week's photography world highlights, which include new movie film from Kodak, a pink Panasonic, a load of firmware updates, Leica's new blog, tips for getting noticed

Free shows available for immediate download via the Adorama Learning Center, YouTube, iTunes and more, aim to make everyone a better photographer

Also: Canon DSLR shoots "House", a New York photo contest is launced, Samsung digital cam is bundled with Boingo, Ricoh announces noise-reducing firmware for GXR and GR III.

Sporting an f/2.0 lens and redesigned CMOS sensor that Canon claims is high-speed and low-light friendly, the SD4000 also shoots HD videos and 240 fps super slow-mo.

Support has been added for the Canon Rebel T2i and 1D Mark IV, Nikon D3s and Sony A450 DSLRs; discounts are also announced.

Below are the specifications for the Sony NEX-5, provided by Sony. Other than weight and size, specs for the NEX-3 are almost identical although tne NEX-3 records 720p HD Video instead of 1080p.

Models claimed to provide DSLR performance, full HD Video, sweep panorama, APS-C sensor and low-light capacity in an all-new compact design.

In a major step in the return of instant Polaroid photography, The Impossible Project has announced a high-definition black-and-white film for Polaroid 600 cameras. Color film is in the works.

Epson has just announced an all-in-one printer/scanner/copier with built-in IEEE 802.1n wireless communication that they say is the world's first to cost less than $100—by a penny.

Polaroid instant cameras are back...sort of. Polaroid has rebranded the Fujifilm Instax Mini 7S as the Polaroid 300, a point-and-shoot which shoots small instant images, taking film in 10-packs that w

Submit your proposal on YouTube for an opportunity to win an Olympus PEN E-PL1 camera and $5,000 to show what you can do.

Ricoh has just released details about a new lens/sensor module for its GXR camera, featuring a 10.7x optical zoom lens (28-300 mm) and RAW high-speed continuous shooting at up to 5 frames/second and H