Enthusiasts and journalists will get their first look at a pre-production version of Pentax?s 18-million-pixel medium-format digital SLR at Photokina which starts in Cologne, Germany next week.

Pentax has confirmed that the camera ? the launch of which was announced last year – will eventually be capable of 30MP resolution through the incorporation of newly developed image sensors as part of the camera?s ?continual upgrading?.

Provisionally titled the ?Pentax 645 Digital?, details are scant but Photokina visitors will be the first people in Europe ? outside Pentax?s engineering team ? to see the camera, according to the company. No launch date has yet been set for the product.

Pentax will also show pre-production versions of three lenses for its existing digital SLRs – all due to be available in March. These are a 16-50mm f/2.8, 50-135mm f/2.8 and 60-250mm f/4.

? AP will, of course, be at Photokina, to cover all the latest products. The show takes place from 26 September-1 October. For details visit https://www.koelnmesse.de/wEnglisch/photokina/index.htm