PMA 2006 Report
Andy
Registered Users Posts: 50,016 Major grins
I attended PMA this year, in Orlando. Many thanks to Ian408 for coming with me, and helping out - and Ian will have lots of pics and more, to add.
Here's his Gadgets and Goodies Thread
The big manufacturers all had giant booths and gobs of new cameras to show off. Canon, Nikon, Fuji, Pentax, Panasonic, Sony, Kodak, Casio, Konica-Minolta, Olympus, Sigma, HP, etc. The industry is still big on Megapixels, and the crop of 6, 8 10 mpx cameras is growing. Joe and Jane Consumer, it appears, still think "more" is better. It boggles the mind that these companies can have SO MANY different models of digital cameras - yeah, choice is good but personally I think they're making it rather hard for consumers to choose. A few items of note from the big manufacturers: Sigma announced five new lenses for the four thirds system of cameras (Panasonic, and Olympus DSLRs) - 4/3s is still a minor factor in DSLR-land, but this move shows that at least it's not going away anytime soon. Panasonic? Yep - they announced a sweet-looking new DSLR, the DMC-L1, compact, using the sideways mirror system instead of the usual pentaprism, and they hooked up with Leica on the glass, a smart move, IMO, as there are many devotees of Leica glass who have LOTS of disposable income. Also of note with this new camera is the "full-time live view," similar to that which is on most digicams. It's an exciting development, and combined with the dust wave filter system it promises, one I'm looking forward to trying out.
One of the coolest new products I saw was the Logitech NuLook software dial for use with Adobe Photoshop CS2. Very cool handy tools for power users of CS2. And, it combines nicely with a new input device they have, a little scroll wheel thingie, designed to work in tandem with your existing mouse or Wacom pad.
Canon, Epson, HP all had newer, bigger, badder printers for pros and serious amateurs to spend big bucks on for printing on their own. Canon is clearly nipping at the heels of Epson in terms of this market - they announced and showed a new box with about a dozen ink cartridges, promising great tonality, color fidelity, and "B&W that kicks the pants off of Epson."
Speaking of printing, this was a major thrust of the show, nearly everywhere you looked. There were at least two dozen different offerings of kiosk systems that will allow consumers to offload images and print. And then there was the big item of the show: Scrapbooking. Yep. So many vendors there to support this hobby. The print guys. The stickers, albums, mini-frames, borders, markers, all the accessories for the well-stocked crafty crafter. It seems to be huge.
Another observation: the number of vendors from China and Korea seemed huge. These were small outfits selling cheap digicams, batteries, memory, cases, other accessories. There are always such vendors, but there seemed to be such a huge number at this show. Maybe 50 booths, could be more.
I'll add more, and also Ian will be sharing photos here in this thread as well as others (he'll link those here, too).
Here's his Gadgets and Goodies Thread
The big manufacturers all had giant booths and gobs of new cameras to show off. Canon, Nikon, Fuji, Pentax, Panasonic, Sony, Kodak, Casio, Konica-Minolta, Olympus, Sigma, HP, etc. The industry is still big on Megapixels, and the crop of 6, 8 10 mpx cameras is growing. Joe and Jane Consumer, it appears, still think "more" is better. It boggles the mind that these companies can have SO MANY different models of digital cameras - yeah, choice is good but personally I think they're making it rather hard for consumers to choose. A few items of note from the big manufacturers: Sigma announced five new lenses for the four thirds system of cameras (Panasonic, and Olympus DSLRs) - 4/3s is still a minor factor in DSLR-land, but this move shows that at least it's not going away anytime soon. Panasonic? Yep - they announced a sweet-looking new DSLR, the DMC-L1, compact, using the sideways mirror system instead of the usual pentaprism, and they hooked up with Leica on the glass, a smart move, IMO, as there are many devotees of Leica glass who have LOTS of disposable income. Also of note with this new camera is the "full-time live view," similar to that which is on most digicams. It's an exciting development, and combined with the dust wave filter system it promises, one I'm looking forward to trying out.
One of the coolest new products I saw was the Logitech NuLook software dial for use with Adobe Photoshop CS2. Very cool handy tools for power users of CS2. And, it combines nicely with a new input device they have, a little scroll wheel thingie, designed to work in tandem with your existing mouse or Wacom pad.
Canon, Epson, HP all had newer, bigger, badder printers for pros and serious amateurs to spend big bucks on for printing on their own. Canon is clearly nipping at the heels of Epson in terms of this market - they announced and showed a new box with about a dozen ink cartridges, promising great tonality, color fidelity, and "B&W that kicks the pants off of Epson."
Speaking of printing, this was a major thrust of the show, nearly everywhere you looked. There were at least two dozen different offerings of kiosk systems that will allow consumers to offload images and print. And then there was the big item of the show: Scrapbooking. Yep. So many vendors there to support this hobby. The print guys. The stickers, albums, mini-frames, borders, markers, all the accessories for the well-stocked crafty crafter. It seems to be huge.
Another observation: the number of vendors from China and Korea seemed huge. These were small outfits selling cheap digicams, batteries, memory, cases, other accessories. There are always such vendors, but there seemed to be such a huge number at this show. Maybe 50 booths, could be more.
I'll add more, and also Ian will be sharing photos here in this thread as well as others (he'll link those here, too).
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Was there anything new relating to lights, e-flash or diffuser/modifiers?
The one lesson I am constantly reminding myself is that lighting control is a major function of "planned" images. The glass and camera can only record what's in front.
I am hoping for some major developments in portable lighting systems.
Thanks,
ziggy53
Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums