The Photo Marketing Association show in Las Vegas is one of the world's most significant and largest photo exhibitions. Taking up two huge halls in the Las Vegas Convention Centre, only Photokina (more than half a year and half a planet away in Germany) can match it. It's divided between large corporate companies with huge corporate stands and smaller, specialist companies hawking for business in a bazaar of tiny stands. A different kind of shooting altogether was also taking place at the same Convention Center, as PMA coincides with the Shot Show, the place for small arms dealers to ply their wares. Consequently, the town was filled with besuited Japanese sararimen rubbing shoulders with Good Ol' Boys in camouflage Stetsons and NRA badges. In any other town, that might seem odd...
PMA is a business-to-business show, but with a healthy dose of domestic product thrown in. Basically, if you are a camera dealer, a lab or a pro photographer in the wedding or social photo market, the show has a lot to offer. This year, however, many companies chose to show most of their new cameras and lenses in advance of the show, which is why the news pages are filled with 'pre-PMA' launches of new Canon, Nikon, Casio, Fuji, Pentax, Panasonic, Samsung and Olympus cameras. Which made much of the show one big 'touch and try' session.
There were, however, some key launches at PMA itself. Sony, added two new models to the Alpha DSLR range, and showed highlights of the new full-frame model expected later in the year. The 'mainstream' models are the Alpha DSLR-A300 and DSLR-A350. Both feature Sony's new 'Quick AF Live View' allowing framing of photos on the camera's LCD, seemingly without sacrificing to autofocus speed (unlike many rival systems). The 2.7” screen itself is articulated, so that the screen can be used at angles where regular use is impossible. The cameras both deliver ISO sensitivity to 3200 and sport the feature of the day - dynamic range optimisation. Biggest difference between the two - the A300 is a 14.2 megapixel design that can take up to three frames per second, while the A350 drops to 10.2 megapixels and two and a half frames per second.
Sony also showed two new lenses - a high-end Vario-Sonnar T* 24-70 f/2.8 ZA, developed with Carl Zeiss and a 70-300 f/4.5-5.6G zoom. Both models feature SSM (ultrasonic motor) technology, which places the focusing motor mechanism within the lens itself. The Zeiss-derived lens will be a perfect partner for the upcoming flagship model. This Alpha DSLR has no name as yet, but features a 35mm-sized CMOS sensor with a whopping great 24.81 effective megapixel resolution, with a usable resolution of 6096x4056 pixels (approximately 24.73 megapixels). The sensor is claimed to feature a 12bit A/D processor and that gives it the potential to churn out up to 6.3 frames per second. The completed camera is anticipated to be launched later in the year.
Alongside the eight new CyberShot cameras launched prior to the show, Sony also announced its first digital photo frames. Called S-Frame, the three models have WVGA resolution on seven or nine-inch widescreen LCDs, sport 256 or 512MB of memory, can process anything up to a 48 megapixel internally and even sport a clock and calendar. They look very tasty in the flesh, too.
Kodak also chose PMA to launch its new EasyShare Z1012 IS digital camera. The 10 megapixel, 12x optical zoom compact features and optical image stabilisation, very fast autofocus, face recognition, proper manual mode and up to ISO 3200 sensitivity. It should be in the shops in May, for less than £200.
Lens manufacturers did use the PMA show to launch new product. Tamron announced a new £599 SP AF70-200mm f/2.8 Di LD (IF) Macro zoom. Currently in Canon mount, but following soon after with Nikon, Pentax and Sony-chummy models, the new fast tele-zoom is designed to compliment the company's SP AF28-75 and is ideal for the increasing number of full-frame sensors on the market. The company has also started issuing Nikon D40 and D60-ready lenses with built-in motors, to upgrade the company's existing 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3, 17-50mm f/2.8 and 70-300mmf/4-5.6. It also included the SP AF7-50 f/2.8 XR DI II LD Aspherical IF lens in a new mount for Pentax users (Pentax prefers the term Pentaxians), and showcased development taking place on a new 10-24mm zoom for APS-C sensor cameras. The aspherical f/3.5-4.5 is expected later this year and will come in Canon, Nikon, Pentax and Sony mounts.
Meanwhile, Pentax showed three prototype lenses for the DLSR range, expected presently - a top of the line 55mm f/1.4, a 60-250mm f/4 and a mid-range 17-70mm f/4. More details will be on hand soon. Sigma had plenty of new fun lenses on show. It also further realised on its commitment to the Four Thirds standard, by announcing versions of its 10-20mm f/4-5.6 and 70-200mm f/2.8 zooms to work on the Olympus, Panasonic and Leica DLSR ranges. Sigma also added Pentax and Sony users to the fold, with the popular 70-200 and 50-150mm f/2.8 APO lenses now supporting those brands. Nikon D40 and D60 users now get to play autofocus with the 70-300 f/4-5.6 APO lens, as it now sports HSM, or hypersonic motors.
Not content with updating existing products, Sigma also launched three new lenses with optical stabilisation and one new lens that's designed for military use, but could be the ultimate sport or birding optic. The new 18-125mm f/3.8-5.6 DC OS HSM, the APO 120-400mm f/4.5-5.6 DG OS HSM and APO 150-500 f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM lenses will all be made to mount on Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Sony and of course Sigma cameras (although optical stabilisation does not work on the Pentax and Sony designs, due to their in-camera stabilisation systems. Finally, from the Sigma lens stable comes the huge, green APO 200-500 f/2.8. Not exactly light at 16kg, the lens comes with its own battery power, supports a custom teleconverter (to make it a 400-1000 f/5.6 design), has its own filter draw and costs, well… don't ask. Available in Canon, Nikon and Sigma mounts, this one's proving popular with spymasters the world over.
Sigma also announced the DP1 compact camera is finally in the final stages and should be available possibly as soon as late Spring this year. Using a 20.7x13.8mm Foveon sensor, the 14megapixel (well, 3x 4.69 megapixels in reality), fixed lens camera is aimed squarely at the professional market, currently using Canon G9 and Ricoh GR II cameras. Will it take over… we shall see. Sigma also intimated that a new DSLR is in development, possibly to be launched later this year.
Finally, the award for finest product launch (without actually having a product to launch) goes to... Leica. The company has instigated an ongoing commitment to owners of the Leica M8, allowing the product to be party to continual upgrades and improvements. The first such upgrades are a new sapphire glass over the LCD screen, thereby making the preview screen more scratchproof than before, and a new shutter mechanism, that lowers noise and vibration. As other upgrades to the M8 roll out, they will be retrofittable to existing M8 customers, so your M8 will never be behind the curve, even if a sensor change happens. Cheekily, the company accompanied this statement with press releases 'announcing' the 28mm f/2 Summicron-M and 70mm f/2 Summicron-M, both of which have been around for several years. Like Sigma, Leica intimated that we should expect 'big things' at Photokina…
PMA veterans noted that visitor numbers were down this year. At least in some places; people consistently mobbed the big stands, but the smaller places were less well attended.
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