PMA 2004 - LAS VEGAS
February 12-15
http://gallery.consumerreview.com/webcrossing/images/pma04logo.jpg

The annual Photo Marketing Association tradeshow is next week, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The PMA show is the main photographic tradeshow for the Western Hemisphere. This is where new cameras, lenses, studio equipment, etc. make their first appearance. And I'll be there to make sure you get to see everything as soon as possible.

I have a whole list of booths to visit and equipment to see but I'm at your service. Let me know what you want me to get photos and information on and I'm your man. I'll post updates and photos every day. And after the show I'll post a comprehensive report along with tons of photo coverage. If there's something you want me to look at, post here and I'll get photos and specs for you.

Here's a list of some of the equipment you'll see in the daily PMA coverage:

Canon PowerShot S1 IS (http://forums.photographyreview.com/showthread.php?t=281)
Canon PowerShot Pro1 (http://forums.photographyreview.com/showthread.php?t=284)
Nikon D2H Digital SLR
Nikon D70 Digital SLR
Nikon Coolpix 8700 (http://forums.photographyreview.com/showthread.php?t=183)
Canon EOS Elan 7N & 7NE 35mm SLRs (http://forums.photographyreview.com/showthread.php?t=309)
Canon EOS-1D Mark II Digital SLR (http://forums.photographyreview.com/showthread.php?t=26)
Canon 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6L IS USM Lens
Canon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM Lens
Fuji FinePix S3 Pro Digital SLR (http://forums.photographyreview.com/showthread.php?t=206)
Fuji FinePix S20 (http://forums.photographyreview.com/showthread.php?t=207)
SimpleTech 8 GB CompactFlash Card (http://forums.photographyreview.com/showthread.php?t=310)

More to come...

2003 PMA Coverage >> (http://www.photographyreview.com/pma2003crx.aspx)

Official PMA Web Site >> (http://pma2004.pmai.org/)

more news or updates on the 20+ digital cameras Canon is supposed to be making this year. They better get started - that's almost 2 a month!

Thanks
Liz

PMA 2004 - LAS VEGAS
February 12-15
http://gallery.consumerreview.com/webcrossing/images/pma04logo.jpg

The annual Photo Marketing Association tradeshow is next week, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The PMA show is the main photographic tradeshow for the Western Hemisphere. This is where new cameras, lenses, studio equipment, etc. make their first appearance. And I'll be there to make sure you get to see everything as soon as possible.

I have a whole list of booths to visit and equipment to see but I'm at your service. Let me know what you want me to get photos and information on and I'm your man. I'll post updates and photos every day. And after the show I'll post a comprehensive report along with tons of photo coverage. If there's something you want me to look at, post here and I'll get photos and specs for you.

Here's a list of some of the equipment you'll see in the daily PMA coverage:

Nikon D2H Digital SLR
Nikon D70 Digital SLR
Nikon Coolpix 8700
Canon EOS-1D Mark II Digital SLR
Canon 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6L IS USM Lens
Canon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM Lens
Fuji FinePix S3 Pro Digital SLR
Fuji FinePix S20
More to come...

2003 PMA Coverage >> (http://www.photographyreview.com/pma2003crx.aspx)

Official PMA Web Site >> (http://pma2004.pmai.org/) :)

choose to accept.....

is to OFFICIALLY test drive that 120-300 and report back to us.

and should you happen apon a canon rep....

tell them the R&D on the 600f4IS has been covered long ago.... my offer is $3200 :)

Hello John!

I would appreciate if you could give a look at the AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED (although I assume that the fact that you look for the D70 imply that you will look at this lense as well).

Some feedback on the AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8G IF-ED would be sincerly appreciated as well.

Thank you and have a great time! (I truly wish I could go to the PMA but that's just plain impossible to me, oh well....)


n.b. Excellent ones Paulnj! lol (I mean both the pic and your actual comment)

hey PJ, do me a favor if you would. swing by the Nikon booth and grab a high ranking rep, which shouldn't be hard because I doubt it's going to be a very busy booth, and ask them what the flying *explative* they are doing in the pro market. if you don't an answer you find acceptable then I'd like to ammend my request to add "keep a lookout for some Canon L lenses at a good price for me"

have fun, and don't gamble your photo equipment away ;)

BostonBullit

John,

I hope you can please find the time to look at the new offerings by Gitzo. I'm especially interested in any smaller and lightweight tripod legs they might be introducing. I'm looking for something similar to the mountaineer 1027 carbon fiber legs but just a tad smaller and more compact.

Also, any new lightweight heads capable of supporting about 5 pounds or so would interest me. I've basically looking to put together a travel system for hiking that is easy to carry and move with.

I'm mostly interested in any new leg models they offer, especially CF.

Thanks!!!!!!!!

John,
As I mentioned to you earlier. I 'm real interested in the Canon i9900 printer. it has 8 ink cartridges but in a different configuration from the epsons (yes i've been thinking of gettting the 4400, please canon save me the expense...). Anyways what I want to know specifically is how does the i9900 handle B&W printing since it's not a pigment printer like the Epsons? What are your impressions of its color printing capability too, especially, if possible, compared to the epson 2200 or 4400? Thanks

I don't recall any announcements about this. It's possible I missed the press release. But I think they were keeping it pretty tight lipped. I spied this one at the Canon table at the Digital Focus press event. Lexar also had some signage at their table that had an 80x logo on it.

The new mack daddy! Feels about the same as my 1D. It's noticeably faster, though. I was shooting with my 1D this afternoon and I could hear the difference with the camera set to high-speed capture. That extra half a frame per second is a bigger deal than you'd think. The AF is also better and it can capture more frames before the buffer fills. It's one bad camera.

Pentax has a new DA lens for the *ist D. The DA lenses are specifically made to match the sensor on the *ist D. With the announcement of this new lens, there will be two Pentax DA lenses. The new one is the smc Pentax-DA 14mm f/2.8 ED(IF).

I wasn't allowed to post anything about this until after midnight. Since it's well after 1 AM now, here you go:

The Pentax OptioMX is a digital still and video camera with a 3 megapixel sensor for stills, 10x optical zoom lens, and VGA video capture ability. It should be available in June for less than $400 US.

good stuff john...keep it coming!

oh, and you didn't miss anything, the lexar 80x stuff just broke today...

Peter

Your wait was not in vain, my friends. This morning, Konica Minolta announced that this fall they'll release a digital SLR - the Konica Minolta Maxxum 7 Digital (Dynax 7 Digital outside Japan and the US). The new camera will have a 6 megapixel CCD sensor and their new "CCD Shift-type Anti-Shake function" which is built into the camera's body and works with any Minolta AF lens.

A front view of the just announced Konica Minolta Maxxum 7 Digital. The new 6 megapixel SLR should be available this fall. The only one available at the Konica Minolta booth was this one, behind glass.

The new Polaroid X530 compact digital camera uses the new 4.5 megapixel Foveon X3 direct image sensor. This is the first consumer digital camera to utilize Foveon's unique sensor technology. The camera captures in both RAW and JPEG and comes with Foveon's excellent RAW conversion software.

The Polaroid X530 wil be available in June for $399 US.

I talked to a rep about the new printer today and specifically asked about black and white. They didn't have any b&w samples available but the rep was definitely ready with some solid answers. The old Canon printers have larger ink drop sizes (4 picoliter on the i9100) and weren't able to create good black and white tones because of the larger drops. The 9900 uses 2 picoliter droplets which make it able to create good black and white tones, using only the black ink. It does use a little color ink to "soften" the image a little. I understood this to mean that it warms up the black and white a little bit to make it more pleasing to the eye.

I couldn't really say how it compares to the pigment Epson printers. My feeling is that it's more comparable to the Epson 1280. I think its intended market is people who want to make traditional, photographic, saturated color prints. And that it looks to do very, very well. Black and white is probably good, but more of a detail. If you really want to do black and white, you really need to check out Piezography and their dedicated black and white inkjet system. Just buy a new color printer and dedicate that old Epson to the Piezography system.

Hey John,

Having a lot of fun I take it with all the goodies. See if they are going to drop the price of accessories for the Canon 10D anytime soon.

Paul,
I tried the 120-300mm on an EOS 3 today. I'm gonna buy it. It feels solid, the range is great, and the autofocus is really quick. It's hard to know if it's as fast as my Canon 300f/4L, but I'm willing to compromise a bit for that zoom range and a 2.8 aperture. Know what I'm sayin?

I'll tease the Canon reps about that 600mm tomorrow.

Paul,
I tried the 120-300mm on an EOS 3 today. I'm gonna buy it. It feels solid, the range is great, and the autofocus is really quick. It's hard to know if it's as fast as my Canon 300f/4L, but I'm willing to compromise a bit for that zoom range and a 2.8 aperture. Know what I'm sayin?

I'll tease the Canon reps about that 600mm tomorrow.

see sport photog bourd for 120-300 reply

and btw... i know dealer cost on that lens...... not that much mark up on any pro tele primes!!!

but at $7200 list.. nikon can eat those $9000+ 600f4AFSII's

shhh but the 600F4IS has warmer colors?(film shooters), IS and you save enough to buy a 10D,grip 4 batteries total.... bye bye nikon i said!!!!

Trevor-
Gitzo knew you were coming so they baked a new tripod.

"The new, ultra compact G0027 carbon fiber tripod is the smallest in its class. Ideal for compact digital and film cameras, the G0027 weighs less than a pound and fits easily into most camera bags and brief cases. When collapsed, the G0027 measures only 11. 8" and measures 28.3" when fully extended. Gitzo’s new compact tripod has three sections and can handle a maximum load of 5.51 lbs."

I didn't see any small, new ballheads in the Bogen booth, but there is this small Gitzo ballhead. I forgot to write down the model number, but it's about the size of your big toe (not my big toe) and it's supposed to be able to hold about 4.5 lbs.

Heh, heh. Check out my half a logo. Guess my Photoshop action needs a little tuneup on the vertical shots, huh?

The Fuji PMA booth has contortionist girls! I think they have some, uhh, cameras and stuff, too.

Trevor-
Gitzo knew you were coming so they baked a new tripod.

"The new, ultra compact G0027 carbon fiber tripod is the smallest in its class. Ideal for compact digital and film cameras, the G0027 weighs less than a pound and fits easily into most camera bags and brief cases. When collapsed, the G0027 measures only 11. 8" and measures 28.3" when fully extended. Gitzo’s new compact tripod has three sections and can handle a maximum load of 5.51 lbs."

I didn't see any small, new ballheads in the Bogen booth, but there is this small Gitzo ballhead. I forgot to write down the model number, but it's about the size of your big toe (not my big toe) and it's supposed to be able to hold about 4.5 lbs.


Thanks for the hookup John. B+H already sells those little legs and I was looking into them. I'm REALLY GLAD that you got a photo with a human hand because it gives me a better sense of scale. It looks like it's just too small to be useful enough. I'm leaning towards the 1027 instead but the 0027 was a contender at one point.

What gitzo did I hold of yours? I'm assuming it was the 1128.

I already own the 1227 and love it so the 1127 isn't that much different to make it a good choice. My goal: To get a combination right around 2 pounds total for ballhead and legs! I'm not so concerned about stability and falling over but I am concerned about ball strength so that I can lock my 10D and lens down.

Now I'm just rambling.

I'm really enjoying your updates and photos John! Keep up the good work!!!

Heh, heh. Check out my half a logo. Guess my Photoshop action needs a little tuneup on the vertical shots, huh?

I had the same problems myself. I ended up making two actions. One for vertical and one for horizontal. Actions don't support things like "if... else". That's what we get for wanting to put things on the right side of the image :)

Trevor-
It is possible to create an action that works for both vertical and horizontal - I've done it! But I can't remember how. That action is on my home machine. I'm going to have to take a look at it when I get home, I guess.

Sebastian-
Here's a photo of the DX fisheye, the 18-70mm DX lens, and the 12-14mm DX lens. I didn't see the 17-55mm. I'll check again tomorrow. For feedback, ask Kokopeli as he went to the Nikon booth with me this morning.

I tried the fisheye on the D2H and it was sweet.

Sebastian-
Here's a photo of the DX fisheye, the 18-70mm DX lens, and the 12-14mm DX lens. I didn't see the 17-55mm. I'll check again tomorrow. For feedback, ask Kokopeli as he went to the Nikon booth with me this morning.

I tried the fisheye on the D2H and it was sweet.

NIKON!!
Sweet!
Loved that pic you posted of the D70 and D2 side by side..
Make sure you get to the shoe convention too! PLEASE!!! :D :rolleyes:
Brian
Nikon Rules!

It's not a shoe convention, it's a gun convention. Not kidding. There's a sport shooter convention in the same building. One side of the convention center is full of photo geeks, and the other is full of camo-wearing, ammo bag carrying survivalists. I'll have to take some pictures.

Hey John, have you seen the camera that Epson is supposedly developing. It appears to be a digital rangefinder camera but I am wondering what the lever (like in film advance lever) is for. Any pics or is this just a joke I am hearing. I'm not joking by the way, have seen images of it on dpreview.com.

The Fuji PMA booth has contortionist girls! I think they have some, uhh, cameras and stuff, too.


get her to clench her hands together and play "jumprope" no joke alot of the famous asian contortionists can dislocate their shoulders

DUDE YOUR EYES WILL POP OUTTA YOUR HEAD!!! :eek:

I haven't seen it but I'll see what I can learn today. I have an appointment with Epson.

Fuji's new FinePix S20 Pro, set up with a radio slave and tethered to a video monitor. The S20 Pro uses the 6.7 megapixel Fuji Super CCD SR which has two types of pixels ( S-pixels and R-pixels) for greater dynamic range. It can capture an image up to 2832 x 2128 pixels with much greater highlight and shadow detail than previous sensors.

The S20 Pro has 35-120 optical zoom lens, slots for xD -Picture Cards and CompactFlash, AV out for video display, flash hotshoe, and flash sync terminal.

Two new Nkon Coolpix cameras were announced on Thursday, the 4 megapixel Coolpix 4200 and the 5.1 megapixel Coolpix 5200. Both of the cameras feature Nikon-developed built-in redeye reduction. They also have all-metal bodies, 38-114mm ED lenses.

The new Leica Digilux 2 was the surprise winner in the DIMA digital camera shootout at this year's PMA. The DIMA shootout is a blind test that anyone at PMA is allowed to participate in. Cameras are categorized by price. The DIMA tests might be one of the best indicators of camera image quality since they're so controlled, so many people can participate, and they really are 100% unbiased. So Leica winning for best image quality is very significant and the people at Leica are very, very happy.

The new camera also has more of a Leica look and feel than its predecessor, the Digilux 1. The Digilux 2 uses a 5 megapixel CCD sensor, has a 7-22.5 f/2.0-2.4 aspherical Leica DC Vario-Summicron lens (35mm equiv. 28-90mm), full manual as well auto exposure controls, video recording mode, and it uses SD Memory and Multimedia Memory Cards. I think this camera means that Leica has absolutley arrived as a digital camera company.

And just to remind you that the new Leica camera is the result of a partnership between Leica and Panasonic, the rear view photo is of the new Panasonic Lumix counterpart.

It's not a shoe convention, it's a gun convention. Not kidding. There's a sport shooter convention in the same building. One side of the convention center is full of photo geeks, and the other is full of camo-wearing, ammo bag carrying survivalists. I'll have to take some pictures.

Maybe the shoe convention is elsewhere or next week. I'd heard from a fairly reliable source that one was or will be down there.
But YES take some pics of the "gun enthusiasts ", maybe you could get a pic of a PMA attendee and "gun enthusiast" together or something.
Thanks for the great pics and info about the things to come!
Brian

I'm still hungry. Got more?

They were giving away a Mini Cooper at the Konica Minolta booth. Somehow, those nice young ladies were helping.

It's funny. We've got two shooting-related conventions in the same convention center. This photo is from the lobby of the other convention.

Epson has two new all-in-one printers, the RX500 and the RX600. Both printers are "designed to not only view, scan, copy and print photographs without a computer, but also restore old slides, negatives and traditional printed photographs. The end results are true photographic quality prints using Epson’s superior six-color photo inks at resolutions as high as 5760 x 1440 optimized dpi."

This is weird. It was in the Epson booth, in a glass case. There was a sign on the case that said only, "Unique digital camera created and engineered by Epson and developed in partnership with Cosina Co., Ltd."

One of the cameras in the case has a Leica M lens on it and the other has a screw-mount lens on an adapter. I have no idea what the winder lever is for.

It is weird isn't John, that is why is specifically mentioned it. Anything else come out of your time with Epson, new printers, paper, inks etc, or better profiling for Photoshop maybe.

Don't know about new profiles, but Epson did have new printers and a new high-end flatbed scanner. Scroll down to the bottom of this discussion to see the new photographic all-in-one printers from Epson. I'll post more later. And I didn't actually notice that camera until after my appointment with Epson. I'll see if I can't corner someone tomorrow and ask them what's up with the funky camera.

HP recently announced that black and white prints made on selected HP printers, (when used with the HP 59 gray photo inkjet print cartridge and HP Premium Plus Photo paper) including this Photosmart 7960, have proved fade resistant for over 100 years. The independant tests, done by Wilhelm Imaging Research, found that, "these black and white prints resist fading for up to 115 years when tested under glass."

The HP 59 Gray Photo Inkjet Print Cartridge, compatible with the Photosmart 7960, "adds vibrancy to color photos and produces stunning black-and-white photos." The Photosmart 7960 prints up to 8.5 x 14 inches and costs $299.

This is a photo of the DIMA awards section at te PMA show. You can see the test prints that were judged by attendees. The DIMA awards are a true blind test and might be the very best indicator of real image quality for digital cameras, printers, and print media.

Any News on the new Elan 7NE? I am thinking I should hock some of my possessions, and try to raise the money for it. Maybe trade my Rebel Ti in on it and get the EF 28-105 3.5-4.5.



Any News???



[QUOTE=Photo-John]PMA 2004 - LAS VEGAS


February 12-15
http://gallery.consumerreview.com/webcrossing/images/pma04logo.jpg

[QUOTE=h2oskierc]Any News on the new Elan 7NE? I am thinking I should hock some of my possessions, and try to raise the money for it. Maybe trade my Rebel Ti in on it and get the EF 28-105 3.5-4.5.

If you look at this posting I made you will see info regarding the Elan7NE/EOS30V camera I suspect that is the naming it would be around the rest of the world.


http://forums.photographyreview.com/showthread.php?t=283

h2oskierc-
I apologize for the delayed answer. I was in LA for a couple of days after the show and had network problems. Here are a couple of photos of the new Canon film SLR. The most noticeable change is the texture. It's a new look for Canon EOS bodies. I'm not sure if it serves any functional purpose or not. It looks grippier.

AF speed and accuracy have been improved as has been the frame rate, which is now 4 fps. It also has the new E-TTL II flash metering. For more specsyou can take a look at the Elan 7N/7NE press release (http://forums.photographyreview.com/showthread.php?t=309).

Incidentally, Konica Minolta also announced new film SLRs. I think Canon and Konica Minolta were the only major manufacturers to introduce new film SLRs, though.

h2oskierc-
I apologize for the delayed answer. I was in LA for a couple of days after the show and had network problems. Here are a couple of photos of the new Canon film SLR. The most noticeable change is the texture. It's a new look for Canon EOS bodies. I'm not sure if it serves any functional purpose or not. It looks grippier.

AF speed and accuracy have been improved as has been the frame rate, which is now 4 fps. It also has the new E-TTL II flash metering. For more specsyou can take a look at the Elan 7N/7NE press release (http://forums.photographyreview.com/showthread.php?t=309).

Incidentally, Konica Minolta also announced new film SLRs. I think Canon and Konica Minolta were the only major manufacturers to introduce new film SLRs, though.
Thanks for posting those pics. It is always nice to see some pictures that are without the manufacturers propaganda...

I can't wait till April, Chris needs a new toy!

This is a great forum, I am learning alot.

The Fuji PMA booth has contortionist girls! I think they have some, uhh, cameras and stuff, too.

looking at that face it is hard to rememebr what a camera is.

I know I'm late on the scene, but where's the love for the Pentax *ist DS? Any pictures laying around? Did you talk to the folks at Pentax about it?

There is just something absolutely seductive about a digital SLR that can share lenses with my K1000 and the LX I'm getting (I know, I know, limited functionality, blah blah blah).

It needs to be November 20th now. I can't believe that I am actually thinking of buying this camera sight unseen, but I live in the middle of nowhere and don't even know if the folks in Wash DC (relatively close and home of parents) would carry it. I could never find a dealer with an *istD.

And as for the "how do you pronounce it" question - I'm just going to call it "my pretty."