(Cologne, Germany – September 24, 2008) It says a lot about this year's photokina when one of the more important announcements of the show also happens to be one of the driest. Not exactly the sexiest of subjects, the battle to make sense of metadata across various platforms is the focus of a new group comprised of a handful of big-name imaging companies.

Called the Metadata Working Group, the organization was created in 2007 by Microsoft, Adobe, Apple, Canon, Sony and Nokia to solve metadata interoperability issues that can make it tough to find, organize and search for digital photos by tags, keywords, and captions. At a press conference at the Kolnmesse convention center here in Cologne today, the group unveiled its first set of guideline recommendations on the best way to handle image metadata.

"Along with being with Microsoft, I'm a photographer and I've had a particularly frustrating experience dealing with metadata," said Josh Weisberg, chairman and founder of the Metadata Working Group and director of Microsoft's Rich Media Group. "Between all of the different metadata formats there are gaps and overlapping components. What this has created is a situation where photographers can sometimes tag an image but it doesn't show up in other locations."

Often referred to as "data about data," metadata is all the bits of information attached to your photos which allows you to rate them; explains when and where they were taken; and adds other important details. For pro photographers, particularly photojournalists who often add captions, photo credit lines, and copyright tags to their images' metadata, making sure that info is preserved when it's sent to a photo editor or agent is essential.

The starting point for the Metadata Working Group's new set of guidelines are consumers though, not pros, with the recommendations for metadata handling only covering JPEGS, Tiffs, and PSD files but not RAW formats. The group hopes to handle pro issues and RAW in the future.

"The reason we didn't go more broadly with this first document is we had to draw the line somewhere. There are a large number of RAW formats out there and there are a couple of different ways to handle it," Weisberg said. "But right now we're focusing on consumer scenarios because there are a wider number of consumer users who are struggling with tagging and sharing metadata with images. But it's fully our intent to continue the effort to focus on pro scenarios down the road as well."

The group's "Guidelines for Handling Image Metadata" are being offered royalty-free. For more information, log on to www.metadataworkinggroup.com.

Medium Format vs. Medium Format/SLR
Journalists weren't the only ones taken by surprise by Leica's announcement of its quasi medium-format/quasi-DSLR 37.5-megapixel S2 camera at photokina this week. Medium format companies, which have recently pushed the boundaries of resolution to over 60 megapixels with their latest digital backs, also seemed on the defensive at the show.

Phase One, which recently announced a "strategic agreement" with Leica to share marketing and distribution, held a press conference at photokina to discuss its new 60.5-megapixel P65+ digital camera back and other products but quickly found itself fielding questions about the Leica S2 and the future of medium format digital backs.

"There are lots of people who have said the world of digital backs is going to die and like a lot of things they said are going to die, they go on living," said Phase One's CEO Henrik Håkonsson

Håkonsson argued that Phase One with its popular Capture One 4 Pro software offers a "complete solution" that other companies such as Canon and Nikon can't compete with.

"We don't have a single photographer who doesn’t have a Canon or a Nikon in their bag alongside a Phase One," he said. "And we expect the Leica S2 will take away from Canon or Nikon, not from Phase One."

At a Hasselblad press conference later in the afternoon, Hasselblad CEO Christian Poulsen contended that digital SLR companies won't be able to compete with medium format because their lenses can't handle the resolution.

"In my opinion, for those cameras, the pixel game should've been over a few years ago," Poulsen told the packed crowd. "I don't think you can tell the difference between a 16-megapixel camera and a 21 or 24-megapixel camera and that has nothing to do with the sensor, it has to do with the resolution of the lenses."

In addressing one of the biggest differences between digital SLRs and medium-format cameras – namely, price – Poulsen announced that Hasselblad would be slashing its prices across the board by 40 percent.

"I think with this price reduction we'll really let us be able to challenge the 35mm market," he said.

But before you go thinking that price drop will put Hasselblad's new 60-megapixel H3DII-60 into the bargain bin at your local Wal-Mart, think again. Even with the 40 percent discount, the H3D11-60 will sell for 22995 Euros, or about $33,699.

Tamron's Cheap Glass
For those photographers looking for more of a real bargain, low-priced lens manufacturer Tamron was showing off two inexpensive new zoom lenses at their booth. For starters there's the Tamron AF10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 Di II which was announced at the beginning of the year but will start shipping to dealers next month. The lens will debut in a Nikon mount with a Canon mount to follow, and Sony and Pentax versions coming further down the line. The Tamron 10-24mm will for $499.

Also on display was the Tamron AF18-270mm Di II VC which, as the name indicates, has built-in Vibration Compensation to reduce handshake. "You'll get four extra stops of sharpness and, as always, superb optical quality," said Tamron's Stacie Errera. The 18-270mm is shipping in the U.S. now in both Canon and Nikon mounts and sells for $599. The new lenses come with a 6-year warrantee when purchased in the U.S.