After a slightly subdued PMA 2005 we're expecting a more up-beat show this year. And like last year, you can sign up to our PMA news update service.
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Photo Marketing Association annual conference and exhibition, Orlando, Florida, 26th February-1st March, 2006
Konica Minolta's withdrawal from the photo industry means we won't see this booth at this year's show, but it will be interested to see how Sony, which takes over the Konica Minolta DSLR product platform, takes up the reins.
Last year, PMA moved from the glamour and glitz of Las Vegas back to the relative normality of Orlando, Florida. Last year's event was definitely low key as most of the big product announcements, bar the
launch of the Canon EOS-350D/Rebel XT, had been made prior to the show. The big Consumer Electronics Show (CES) back in Las Vegas the previous January had also provided an attractive launch pad for new cameras. But Florida 2006 looks like being more up-beat for PMA. As usual, we will be there and posting reports direct from the show. If you would like to receive news of our show reports, you can sign up to our free PMA news alert email service.
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Canon announcements
Once again, Canon has stored up a considerable stockpile of new product announcements for PMA. Obvious candidates for updates are the two year old Canon EOS-20D and even last year's newbie, the 350D/Rebel XT. Both could do with larger LCD screens to match the latest competition from Pentax, Nikon and Konica Minolta.
No more Konica Minolta – but Sony will sustain their DSLR spirit
But wait –
Konica Minolta, sadly, won't be at the show in name, but it will be in spirit as Sony has acquired the responsibility of nurturing the Konica Minolta DSLR platform after Konica Minolta's exit from the photo industry last month.
With last year's introduction of the Sony DSC-R1, which came as close as you could get to being a DSLR without actually being one, we're definitely hoping to see further ground breaking serious camera innovation from Sony. Our guess is that we might also see higher resolution Dynax/Maxxum DSLR models previewed at the show.
Samsung DSLR
And there is another new DSLR brand at PMA this year; none other than Samsung, which has joined up with Pentax to, initially,
re-badge the Pentax *istD DSLR. Samsung has shown it can innovate, the Pro-815 launched last summer is evidence of that and we hope that imaginative thinking will extend to some DSLR design concepts, just like they teased us with last year.
Nikon has already done and dusted the
D200 launch, but there are persistent rumours of a new 'D3' line up to replace the D2X and D3X, especially as the D200 is quite close to the D2X specification, for quite a bit less money. PMA might be a little early for this – especially as the biennial photo industry jamboree, Photokina, which is even bigger than PMA, takes place later this year in Cologne, Germany.
Major developments expected from Panasonic and Olympus
Yet another new DSLR manufacturer is scheduled to show off its wares at PMA and this on is Panasonic. Having adopted the Olympus-inspired all-digital Four Thirds platform,
Panasonic looks set to show off its first camera based on Four Thirds. Rumours about what this might feature have been many and varied. The one we kind of like is actually not, in the strictest definition, a true DSLR, but a DSLR-like camera, with Four Thirds mount interchangeable lenses, mated to an advanced new electronic viewfinder system. And we could see Panasonic's next-generation MOS sensor technology as well. Leica fans are also speculating that Panasonic's long term partner, Leica, could brand Four Thirds lenses, maybe incorporating Panasonic's MegaOIS image stabilisation technology – who knows!?
Panasonic's DSLR partner, Olympus, has already
announced the technically innovative E-330 DSLR, with its live preview and tilting LCD screen, plus Live MOS sensor technology – all DSLR firsts, so there will be plenty of interest in this on the Olympus booth. A replacement for the venerable E-1, that
we exclusively scooped at PMA in 2003, is well overdue and we can only hope that there will be some news of this. Our guess is that it will be called the E-3.
You won't find any Kodak Pro DSLRs on the Kodak Booth this year as
Kodak is another ex-DSLR manufacturer. But the company has big plans in other areas, including its imminent entry in to the consumer ink-jet printer market. Kodak is really innovating, as recent models like the twin-lens and twin-sensor V570 attest.
Over at Fujfilm, it's difficult to say whether anything of great excitement will be announced.
The S3 Pro DSLR was first previewed at PMA two years ago and has been shipping for over a year, so maybe we'll see a revised model – but that's just a guess.
Among the smaller players, ten megapixel point and shoots – yes TEN megapixels – can be expected, with Vivitar already pre-announcing their offering.
Mobile phone magnate, Nokia made its debut at PMA in a big way last year and we expect their presence to be just as strong this year. Nokia's tie-up with Carl-Zeiss, no less, providing optics for the N90 camera phone, amply demonstrated Nokia's interest in the photo market. We'll be looking for further camera phone developments from Nokia at the show.
We could go on – not having even mentioned Epson and HP, so far. But the show is close, so let the speculation end now and the real reporting start!
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