Welcome to my Day 2 wrap-up from PMA. I had a few meetings at the show today so I didn’t get as much walking around time as yesterday but my feet certainly didn’t mind. First a few observations about this year’s show. First, the show has yet again shrunk to a smaller footprint. PMA seems to be struggling a bit to keep the show a viable force in the photo industry and seems to be trying to remedy this by pulling in the video world and creating a meld between the two worlds. Considering that Sony, Samsung, and JVC are big players at PMA and are huge video camera producers that are now heavy into the still imaging business too, it’s not a hard leap to make. There is even a large booth and training center for WEVA, the Wedding and Videographers Association. The line between video and still seems to be getting pretty fuzzy.
Another thing I noticed at this show is what appears to be a larger crowd than in years past. This may be because there are the same number of people fitting into a smaller space but I think it has more to do with the buzz that has been generated in the new dSLR’s that have come out this year. Nikon had their D60 release to follow up this summer’s D3 and D300, Canon is pushing the Mark III cameras as well as the successful release of the 40D, and then there are the big releases from Olympus, Pentax, Sony, and Samsung. All of this has pumped a little more excitement back into the show.
Now on to some nifty things that caught my eye today.
- Hoodman has quite a few new goodies to make your everyday photo work go a little smoother. One of the products that I really liked are the Universal Right Angle Viewer that works with most dSLR cameras. I also learned that the extremely popular Hoodman Loupe will be getting a re-make that includes a larger viewing area to cover those 3″ LCD screens along with a quick release lanyard and should be available in a couple of months. Also from Hoodman are line of 300X UDMA CF cards (I picked up the 8GB version). They are available in 2, 4, 8, and 16GB versions. And since no one likes to wait for their images to download, they have a UDMA card reader in USB 2.0 and FireWire versions. The FireWire version supports both 400 and 800 interfaces (I got one of them too). The FireWire 800 can supposedly download a 4GB card to your computer in 2 minutes. I am definitely going to put that one to the test.
- If you are looking for a new way to carry your gear around without tying up your hands or having to constantly take off your backpack to grab a new lens, you might want to consider the ThinkTank system. ThinkTank offers a complete belt system that incorporates drop-in bags that fit on a belt and slide around for easy access. They offer several different sizes. There are different sized belts including one called the Steroid Belt that is wider and offers better support for heavy gear. There is even a suspender system to keep it from sliding off your hips. The next time you watch a sporting event, check out the photographers on the sidelines. Chances are you will see them wearing one of these new systems. They have also just released a lightweight version of their lens bags for casual shoots using lighter gear.
- Another option for carrying your gear on your hip is the new BodaDry weatherproof lens bag from Boda. The BodaDry will allow you to carry up to four lenses as well as a ton of other gear and accessories on your hip. This is a great looking system which is available in two different sizes. The large, 4 lens bag retails for $195 and the smaller for $165.
- Over at DXO Optics, I got a chance to see the new Optics Pro 5 software that just kicks butt. Included in the software package is a new RAW converter, The Optics Correction that removes distortion and chromatic aberrations, Geometry Correction for wide angle lenses, Lighting Correction, Color Adjustment, and Detail Correction. There are also plug-ins for Lightroom. This is an unbelievable suite of correction features that will definitely speed your workflow and improve your images.
- Finally there is the Lensbaby 3G selective focus lens. I have a Lensbaby 2.0 but it doesn’t even compare to the 3G, this thing is just flat out crazy! Lensbaby has changed so many things in this version that I won’t even begin to list all of them but the number one improvement is the ability to lock the lens after adjusting it to the effect you want, second is the fine-focus that let’s you really fine-tune your shot. The new aperture ring removal is now also much easier too. Throw in the telephoto and wide angle adapter screw on lenses and you have a complete kick-butt lens system. And you guessed it, I got one of those too.
So that about wraps up my second day. I will be going back tomorrow to revisit with a couple of vendors and make sure I didn’t miss anything. As always, if I find anything good, I’ll be sure to let you in on it. I am also going to try and find out the vendor and the price for that 34″ photo frame for Rob. Until then, have a great weekend!
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