Each year, we here at PTN ask you, our readers, to vote for the top imaging products of the year. The polls are closed and all votes tallied, with the winners featured within the pages of this issue. PTN's Top Products of the Year showcases those products selected by readers as the top-selling and/or

A growing trend over the past few years in the voting results is that many more smaller companies are gaining ground over larger, longer-established manufacturers. This has been the case in the Digital Print Kiosk category. Early reader picks expected Kodak and Fujifilm to be among the winners, but companies like Lucidiom and Whitech have recently gained in use and popularity by the photo specialty and minilab retailers who voted in our poll. This year's digital kiosk winner is actually two winners: a tie between Kodak and Lucidiom, with Whitech as a close runner-up.

In a "David beats Goliath" race, Trevoli's Photo Finale software--an image editing and organization program--beat out Adobe's Photoshop line this year for the win as our readers' choice for top software. And Trevoli's Photo Finale LAB's online ordering technology, an end-to-end solution for retailers who want to offer their customers online photofinishing services, was chosen as PTN, Overall Top Technology. The technology theme this year was with online photofinishing services, as the runner-up to Photo Finale LAB was the technology itself that allows customers to order from home and pick up in-store.

PTN's readers chose the Nikon D70s and D50 digital SLRs as the Overall Top Product in this year's poll, with Trevoli's Photo Finale consumer software coming in a close second. Nikon's DSLR line also was chosen tops in the DSLR category.

And the envelopes, please ...

DIGITAL SLR WINNER: Nikon's Line

This year the winners in the Digital SLR category mirror last year's competition, in which a Nikon model took the top spot and a Canon model was a close second. Our readers have chosen the Nikon digital SLR line to receive the category's top honors, with votes strong for the D70s, D50, and D2X models.

RUNNER-UP: CANON'S LINE

Coming in a close second is Canon's digital SLR camera line, with strong retailer support for the EOS Rebel XT, EOS 5D, and EOS-1D Mark II models.

HONORABLE MENTION: PENTAX'S LINE

We've awarded an honorable mention to Pentax for its line of digital SLRs, as so many of our readers chose the *ist D, *ist DS, and *ist DL models as the best.

CONSUMER DIGICAM WINNER: Pentax OptioWP

Many consumer digital camera models garnered attention from our readers, with practically every digicam manufacturer receiving votes. The top nod goes to Pentax's OptioWP, a sleek camera that Pentax says is completely waterproof. The ad campaign features the camera swimming with a cute goldfish in a bag of water.

RUNNER-UP: NIKON'S COOLPIX LINE

The runner-up honor goes to Nikon for its Coolpix line, as readers voted for a number of models. Neither company was on the medal stand last year, toppling the 2004 winners--Casio and Olympus, respectively--from their spots.

FILM SLR WINNER: Promaster 2500PK

This year, PTN's readers chose the Promaster 2500PK as the winner in the Film SLR category, usurping the camera companies who usually win in this category. There were so many votes, in fact, for the Promaster SLR camera that no one else came close.

INTERCHANGEABLE LENS WINNER: Promaster 18-200 XR EDO

Promaster continues its run for wins with the top nod in the Interchangeable Lens category. A number of models were voted for, but the clear winner was the Promaster 18-200 XR EDO. 2005 is the second year in a row in which Promaster lenses were the top pick by our readership.

ELECTRONIC FLASH WINNER: Promaster 7500DX

Promaster continues its streak of wins this year in the Electronic Flash category. First tying with Nikon in 2002's Top Products, Promaster has consistently been given top nods by PTN's readers in 2003, 2004, and again this year. Retailers have spoken, and it's the Promaster 7500DX electronic flash that's been the biggest seller for them this year.

L/S FILM CAMERA (fixed) WINNER: Olympus Stylus Epic

For the seventh time in eight years, Olympus has beat out the competition in the Lens/Shutter Film Camera category for its Stylus Epic Deluxe. The Stylus has long been a favorite of consumers, and this year's voting proves the camera hasn't lost its popularity.

L/S FILM CAMERA (zoom) WINNER: Olympus Stylus Epic

For the Lens/Shutter Film Camera, zoom model, the results echo the fixed focal length win by Olympus for its Stylus line. It's four years in a row that Olympus Stylus cameras have proven their popularity with our readership.

MEDIUM-FORMAT WINNER: Hasselblad H1

Last year's Medium-Format Camera runner-up has come out on top this year. Hasselblad's H1 was overwhelmingly voted number one by retailers for 2005.

CAMCORDER WINNER: Canon's Line

Canon garnered top honors again in the Camcorder category, with our readers choosing the entire line as the best-selling and most popular with customers. Canon has dominated this category each year since we added it in 2001. No other manufacturer's models came close to the number of votes for Canon.

OTUC WINNER: Fuji QuickSnap

This year marks the third in a row that Fujifilm's QuickSnap Flash one-time-use camera came out on top with our readers. Usually a pretty close race, with flipping and flopping of top honors, Fujifilm has been on a roll in recent years as the favorite with our readers.

RUNNER-UP: KODAK

This year Kodak's line of one-time-use cameras received the runner-up nod.

HONORABLE MENTION: AGFA

AgfaPhoto's e-box single-use cameras came in with an honorable mention. Sadly, this may well be the last year that an AgfaPhoto product receives honors--at press time, AgfaPhoto USA was set to close its doors for good, clue to its recent insolvency problems.

FILM WINNER: Fujifilm's Line

2005 is the fourth year in a row in which Fujifilm's line of films garnered the most votes by our readers in the annual PTN Top Products poll. Digital may be the way to go, but don't count film out yet!

RUNNER-UP: KODAK'S LINE

For three years in a row, Kodak's films have come up a close second with PTN's readership.

MEMORY CARD WINNER: Promaster's Line

Promaster's line of digital media cards have once again earned the retailers' nod for top honors. We first introduced the Media Card category in 2003, and each year Promaster cards have been chosen by our readers as their best sellers.

BATTERY WINNER: Promaster XtraPower

Promaster adds another win, this time with the Battery category, with the XtraPower line of batteries and chargers. It's two years in a row for Promaster's XtraPower lineup.

BINOCULARS WINNER: Promaster Infinity

This is two in a row for Promaster's Infinity Series binoculars receiving the top nod from our readers.

RUNNER-UP: Nikon Line

For the second year in a row, Nikon's line of binoculars has received the runner-up distinction.

CELLPHONE WINNER: Motorola's Line

2005 marks the third year in a row that Motorola has taken the top reader honors in the Cellphone category. Models with built-in cameras, and music-playing phones received votes.

CAMERA BAG WINNER: Promaster Digital Elite Series

This is the second year in a row, Promaster's Digital Elite series has won, showing everyone Promaster has this category "in the bag."

ALBUMS WINNER: Pioneer

We think we're pretty sale in saying Pioneer owns the Album category--2005 makes it the 12th year in a row that Pioneer received an overwhelming number of votes by retailers as their choice in albums. Pioneer's dominance continues to reign supreme.

FRAMES WINNER: Dennis Daniels

Dennis Daniels' frames tied for first in 2003, but this is the second year in a row they stand on the top rung alone.

RUNNER-UP: Malden

Malden frames make a repeat appearance as runner-up in the Frames category for 2005.

SOFTWARE WINNER: Trevoli Photo Finale

There was an upset in the Software category this year, with Trevoli's Photo Finale taking the top honors, unseating Adobe's Photoshop/Photoshop Elements titles from their place at number one. Trevoli's Photo Finale first showed up on our Top Products medal stand in 2003, taking runner-up honors. Last year Photo Finale and Photoshop tied, but this year, our readers voted overwhelmingly for Trevoli's software.

RUNNER-UP: ADOBE'S LINE

Adobe's software receives the runner-up distinction, with votes going to Photoshop CS, CS2, and Elements.

HOME PRINTER WINNER: Epson's Line

We added the Home Printer category to our Top Products ballot in 2003, and each year the winner has been Epson. The first year, it was the Stylus Photo 2200 that received the most votes, but for the past two years, so many different models received votes that we've given the win to Epson's full line of home inkjet printers.

RUNNER-UP: CANON'S LINE

Canon's line of home inkjet printers came in a close second this year, proving that the category is definitely heating up at photo retail.

MINILAB WINNER: Fuji's Line

Fujifilm's Frontier digital minilabs received strong support from retailers this year, garnering the top spot in the Minilab category. Models that our readers voted for include the Fujifilm Frontier 370 and Frontier 570.

RUNNER- UP: NORITSU'S LINE

Noritsu's line of digital minilabs slipped from the top spot it held in 2004 to runner-up this year. Models receiving votes included the QSS-3211 and QSS-3001.

KIOSK WINNER--TIE: Lucidiom and Kodak

The Kiosk category finds two popular manufacturers sharing the top honors--with a tie between Kodak's Picture Maker and Lucidiom's APMs. Lucidiom's APMs are becoming quite comfortable with the attention from our readers, enjoying a three-way tie with Agfa and Whitech in 2004 and coming in as runner-up in 2003. Kodak's G3 Picture Makers made it back on the medal stand this year. The familiar yellow kiosks didn't medal in 2004, but they're back in favor this year.

RUNNER-UP: WHITECH'S LINE

Whitech--another competitor in 2004's three-way tie--has come in a close second, receiving the runner-up nod by PTN's retailers for 2005.

OVERALL TOP PRODUCT WINNER: Nikon DSLRs

This year's choice for Overall Top Product, as chosen by PTN's readers, goes to a pair of Nikon digital SLRs--the D70s and D50. Both 6MP models have been hot sellers for retailers this year. The D70s was designed for a broad range of photographers, including pros, prosumers, and advanced enthusiasts. Nikon's D50 was designed more for consumers--family memory-keepers and those new to DSLR photography.

RUNNER-UP: TREVOLI PHOTO FINALE SOFTWARE

The runner-up in the Overall Top Product category this year was Trevoli's Photo Finale software. Photo Finale easily allows consumers to organize and edit their digital images, as well as share them and order prints and gifts from their local retailer. Trevoli plans to release Photo Finale Premium version 4.0 next month.

OVERALL TOP TECHNOLOGY WINNER: Trevoli Photo Finale LAB Online

Trevoli's Photo Finale LAB software was chosen as the Overall Top Technology winner. Photo Finale LAB combines photo-processing tools with a back end that allows retailers to streamline their digital orders. The software is scalable, so as your business grows, the software can be adapted to your changing retail needs.

RUNNER-UP: HOME/ONLINE ORDERING TO LAB SOFTWARE TECHNOLOGY (NO SPECIFIC BRANDS)

The runner-up in the Overall Top Technology category was home-to-lab online photofinishing software technology--no specific brand, but the technology itself--which allows customers to upload print orders to the retailer from home and pick up in-store.