The full-frame 20.2-megapixel Canon EOS 6D digital SLR won’t go on sale until November but we got a look at a very handy new free app that will let you connect the camera wirelessly to smartphones.

Canon’s Chuck Westfall demoed the app for us, which is called Canon EOS Remote, at PhotoPlus Expo this week. At the time of this writing, Canon EOS Remote was only available for Android smartphones but an iOS version for iPhones was on its way. (There was no word on whether an iPad or Android tablet version of the app was in the pipeline too but it seems likely.)

With the Canon 6D’s built-in WiFi turned on, the app lets you review images wirelessly from the DSLR’s SD memory card on your smartphone, rate them and even delete them right from your phone. You can also zap images from the 6D and save them on your Android or iOS smartphone at a reduced size.

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Fresh off the success of his popular CineSkates HD-DSLR dolly system from last year, inventor Justin Jensen of Cinetics was at PhotoPlus Expo this week showing off his latest product: CineMoco, which is a compact, motorized dolly and slider for shooting video and time-lapse photography.

Think of it as CineSkates with a brain.

Like CineSkates, CineMoco started as a Kickstarter project and easily blew past its pledge goal. The Kickstarter goal for CineMoco was $50,000 but, at the time of this writing (with just eight hours left in the Kickstarter campaign), the product had received nearly $103,000 in pledges.

While the appeal of CineSkates was it simplicity (three skate-like wheels that attach to a tripod to turn it into a dolly), the modular CineMoco system is a much more sophisticated product.

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Here’s an interesting new app for your iPhone launched at PhotoPlus Expo by none other than Kodak. Called the Kodak Professional Film app and available now for free from the iTunes store, the app helps photographers locate where they can buy their favorite (remaining) Kodak films and where they can get them developed.

The app also offers tips on how best to shoot certain types of Kodak films. Some of the film stocks supported by the Kodak app include BW400CN, Ektar 100, Portra 160, T-Max 400, Tri-X 400 and others.

Sadly for film (and film grain) lovers, one of the films not included in the app is Kodak T-Max P3200, which was discontinued by the company earlier this month.

News of the new app also comes on the heels of a Kodak announcement in August that the company plans to sell off its film and photo paper business in an effort to pull itself out of bankruptcy.

Despite the tough times for Kodak’s film business, the company attempted to put a positive spin on the app and on Kodak pro film at the PhotoPlus show.

“We wanted to give photographers of all levels a resource, literally right at their fingertips, that helps them find film and recommendations about how to maximize each film’s performance,” Dennis Olbrich, Eastman Kodak’s general manager of Film, Paper & Output Systems said in a statement.

“In addition, this app also provides information where customers can find film development services, so that no matter where photographers are, they can find a lab that uses Kodak Chemicals and Paper to bring their photography to life.”

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This might look like an blimp-sized underwater housing for your digital SLR but it’s designed to be used strictly above water.

It is a type of “blimp” though.

Called a Sound Blimp and available from AquaTech, it’s designed to make your DSLR a quieter shooter. Custom-cut from sound-dampening foam, the Sound Blimp fits snuggly over your camera like a padded case to muffle shutter sounds and other DSLR chatter.

According to AquaTech, independent tests show that noise is tamped down by approximately 97 percent with a Sound Blimp fitted around a DSLR.

AquaTech’s blimp is made from polyurethane so it’s relatively lightweight but designed to be tough. Controls on the blimp are constructed from stainless steel, hard-anodized aluminum and durable plastic.

Each blimp has an electronic AF Shutter Release, hand straps, and controls for back focus, play back, and for the main dial, so you can adjust aperture and shutter speed.

There are six different models to fit a range of Canon and Nikon DSLRs. All have tripod mounts with both 3/8 and 1/4-20 threads, a quick release clip with a safety latch. You can also add compatible lenses with the blimp thanks to AquaTech’s interchangeable front lens port system.

Potential uses for this stealthy system include when shooting at quiet locations such as movie sets, sound stages and theaters or in courtrooms. But we could also see it come in handy when photographing shy subjects such as wildlife, children or camera-phobic celebrities.

The price of an AquaTech Sound Blimp is $995 and optional lens tubes range in price from $195-$395.

Talk about head-turners! Check out this crazy rig we saw on display at the Pentax table at the PhotoPlus Expo Test Drive press preview event last night: it’s the massive HD PENTAX DA 560mm F5.6ED AW lens attached to the teeny tiny Pentax Q10 mirrorless compact system camera.

The K-mount-based HD PENTAX DA 560mm F5.6ED AW connects to the Q-mount-based Q10 via a special Pentax adapter ($249) released this month.

The adapter, called the Adapter Q for K-mount lenses, multiplies the focal length on the 12.4-megapixel Q10 by approximately 5.5x, turning the Pentax 560mm into an whopping 3080mm lens.

Of course this set-up will see little real world use. The Pentax 560mm lens, which retails for approximately, $7,000, is designed for wildlife and sports photography and matches more realistically with Pentax’ digital SLRs, including the recently announced 16.3MP Pentax K-5 II.

The 12.4-megapixel Q10, which uses a small 1/2.3″ (6.17 x 4.55 mm) CMOS image sensor, is aimed at consumers and is priced at $600.

The PhotoPlus Expo kicked off in New York City today and while most of the major camera announcements were made at the photokina show in Germany in September, there’s lots of smaller but no less important photo products debuting here at PPE 2012.

One product that caught our eye last night at the “Test Drive” PhotoPlus press preview was the TetherFly by CameraMator, which is a radio transmitter that helps you wirelessly beam images from your camera to an iPad, iPhone, Android device, or a Mac computer. Think of it as an EyeFi card with some power and versatility behind it.

First off though, unlike the EyeFi, TetherFly is not a card. It’s a small, pod-shaped device that fits on the hotshoe of your camera (or on an extension bar or tripod), and lets you transfer images from the CompactFlash (CF) or SD card in your digital SLR to your mobile device or Mac computer without wires.

The device is aimed at studio photographers or location shooters who might not want to break their flow by having to pull the card out of the DSLR to transfer images from the camera.

The CameraMator App, which you can download for free as part of TetherFly, will also give you access to your DSLR’s settings and controls (including being able to fire the shutter) remotely from your iPhone, iPad or Android device.

Along with viewing images remotely, you can tag or share your shots using “Direct Connect” or any accessible WiFi network.

There’s also a ControlLock Pro feature that lets you turn off some or all of the CameraMator App’s camera adjustment settings and shutter release functions so they don’t get changed by mistake. (This helps prevent a client from accidentally changing settings on a camera or tripping the shutter while reviewing shots on an iPad.)

The TetherFly by CameraMator sells for $319. More info here.

Nikon has officially taken the wraps off the new 14.2-megapixel Nikon 1 V2, the latest top-of-the-line model in its compact system camera line. The redesigned Nikon V2 looks almost completely different from its predecessor, the V1, resembling a stripped down DSLR except without, of course, the mirror box inside the camera, allowing it to be small and thin.

The V2 also features a bigger grip, a built-in flash, and a new Command Mode Dial.

The V2′s 14.2MP, CX-format (smaller than Micro Four Thirds but bigger than what’s in a point-and-shoot camera) CMOS sensor, is also new and the camera adds a new EXPEED 3A image processor, allowing it to shoot up to 15 frames per second with full autofocus tracking for moving subjects.

Nikon also introduced SB-N7, attachable speed light flash for the Nikon V2 this morning.

The Nikon 1 V2 camera with the 10-30mm kit lens goes on sale in late November 2012 for the $899. It’s available in black or white.

The SB-N7 flash goes on sale in January 2013 for $159.

Read more of this story here.

Canon just announced some new free firmware for the EOS 5D Mark III digital SLR that will allow the DSLR to output uncompressed high-definition video via its HDMI port.

The firmware will also improve the 5D III’s autofocus performance in the following ways, according to Canon:

“Even when the EOS 5D Mark III is equipped with an extender and lens making possible a maximum aperture of f/8, the firmware update supports AF employing the camera’s central cross-type points (currently compatible with maximum apertures up to f/5.6). Accordingly, the update will allow users to take advantage of AF when shooting distant subjects, benefitting sports and nature photographers, particularly when using telephoto lenses.”

Sounds good, right?

Now for the bad news for 5D III users. The new firmware won’t be available for download until April 2013.

More details in the press release after the jump.
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We were on hand earlier in the week in Cologne, Germany for the Leica event where the company unveiled the new Leica S but only got a few minutes to check out this DSLR-style medium format camera amidst the hordes of excited onlookers.

So we paid a visit to the Leica booth at photokina the next day and got some in-depth hands-on time with this camera, which is the follow up to the well-received Leica S2 from 2008.

While the new Leica S uses the same Kodak-built, 37.5MP, 45 x 30mm-size CCD sensor as the S2 and looks very similar to its predecessor, there are many internal and external tweaks to this latest top-of-the-line pro model from Leica.

What’s in a Name?
But first, a bit about the name. As with its latest full-frame digital rangefinder — the Leica M — the company is now going for a general nomenclature for its highest end models, with the idea that similarly named iterations will follow. The approach has been compared to Porsche with its 911 sports car series, which maintain the general 911 name through the years while being upgraded. (Leica, Porsche…you see where this camera is being marketed, right?)

It’s an interesting approach which, I suppose, is more classy than just adding numbers at the end of a model name but I wonder if it will be confusing to prospective Leica buyers. (If it works for the new iPad though, perhaps it will also work for Leica’s products.)

Leica says it’s made over 80 improvements to the Leica S based on “consumer feedback from the market.” One thing they did not improve on, however, is the price: the Leica S will go on sale, body only, for $21,950 in December 2012. If anyone’s keeping score, that’s approximately the same price as the previous model, though the Leica S adds a new protection plan that increases the warranty to three years total.

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Though new digital SLRs seemed to “steal the show” at photokina, with early announcements of full-frame models from Canon, Nikon, and Sony, there was plenty going on in the world of medium format. We stopped by the Mamiya booth and got try out the new 645DF+, a medium-format camera platform being sold under both the Mamiya and Phase One brands.

While it looks nearly identical to the previous 645DF model — aside from the added “+” designation — the new 645DF+ camera body has some several key upgrades.

For one, while the 645DF+ has the same phase detection-based three-point autofocus system with dual focal plane and leaf shutter switching as the previous model, the AF’s electronic algorithm has been completely rewritten and feels a notch faster and more precise.

While it can’t keep pace with, say, the blazing speed of Canon or Nikon DSLR’s AF, the 645DF+’s autofocus was brisk and had no trouble locking in on an array of subjects at the booth. (And, as is usual in these booth settings, lighting conditions were a mix of shadows, black backgrounds and dim convention hall and studio lighting, i.e. not ideal.)

To read more of this story and see more photos, click here.