PMA 2009 Show Report

Welcome to the Digital Photography Review PMA 2009 show report. The Photo Marketing Association Annual Show will be held this year at the Las Vegas Convention Center between 3rd and 5th March. This year's PMA promises to be fairly unique and challenging one for exhibitors, we're just six months on from a particularly active Photokina show and are in the depths of a worldwide financial crisis.

As usual (this will be our ninth year at PMA) we will be providing frequent and detailed coverage of product announcements at PMA as well as a live 'from the show floor' report which will appear here and subsequent pages during the show.

Jump to:

• PMA 2009 Summary NEW
  
• DPR Top Five Products of the Show NEW
• New Product Index
• PMA 2009 preview / predictions / hopes (written before the show)

Before during and after the show

This page serves as the index for our final show report and will be the page for you to bookmark for regular updates from now until after the show has finished. This page will be updated live from the show floor during show hours. The 'New Product Index' table below provides a summary of what has been announced including some CES products. Bookmark this page (CTRL+D / CMD+D).

PMA 2009 Summary NEW

• Show report: 17 stands, approx 300 images transmitted live from the show floor
• News: 64 news articles posted since Feb 1st
• Products announced: Over 100 new digital photography products (major manufacturers)
• Site stats 2nd - 5th mar (4 days): 9.9 million pages read, 4.1 million visitorsd
• Forums 2nd - 5th mar (4 days): 37,500 messages posted

With PMA 2009 over and the dpreview.com team back in the UK it's time to wrap up our show report and to take a few minutes to reflect on what the show tells us about the state of the industry and to look at some of the emerging trends in digital cameras and digital imaging in general.

It came as no surprise that there was a slightly downbeat feel to this year's PMA exhibition, and that - despite the Vegas glitz, glamour and sunshine - the undertone was one of uncertainty and apprehension about the fortunes of the industry as we enter the toughest trading conditions in decades. We won't get final attendance figures for a month or so, but it seems inevitable that visitor numbers will be down (the combined effects of the poor economy, lack of new product announcements and snow causing travel problems from the east coast guaranteed that). The show floor certainly felt quieter than it has in the last few years, and many of the manufacturers we normally meet sent considerably smaller contingents.

Putting the economic situation aside, PMA 2009 also suffered from its proximity to Photokina 2008, which saw the release of an unprecedented number of high-profile cameras, something that inevitably impacts on what is shown at PMA.

It's not unusual for the PMA after a big Photokina to be rather disappointing by comparison, but the lack of DSLR announcements from any of the big names was surprising given that there are several key models we expected to see upgraded (based on past product cycles). Several conversations in our 'backroom' meetings led us to suspect that had the economy been in better shape we may well have seen these models announced (and that once stocks of the current models start to dwindle we will indeed see some new cameras - possibly before summer arrives).

From a camera point of view - and putting aside the scores of minor upgrades and facelift models announced in the last month or so - there were a couple of key trends that surfaced at PMA 2009. The first is the rise of the compact 'super zoom' - a sector created by Panasonic with its TZ series and now a target for virtually every major camera manufacturer. It's easy to see the appeal of a pocket camera with a 10x or greater zoom lens for those wanting to travel light, and it's also easy to see the appeal of the waterproof / shockproof compact camera. Once the preserve of Pentax and Olympus, this too is an area where most of the major players have decided to compete for what's left of our hard-earned dollars.

As mentioned earlier, this was a very quiet PMA for the DSLR sector, with only Olympus actually announcing a new camera (the E-620) and Panasonic officially unveiling the long trailed HD video capable version of its G1 hybrid Micro Four Thirds camera. Both are interesting cameras (the E-620 is the most appealing Olympus SLR for many years), and neither is lacking innovation, but neither could match the buzz created by Samsung's unveiling of its NX system. A direct competitor for Micro Four Thirds (albeit with a slightly larger sensor), the NX looks very promising and we're looking forward to getting our hands on more information - and onto the camera itself - as soon as we can.

The common thread that ran through all our meetings was one close to our own hearts; the need to move away from the megapixel race and to put the latest technological developments to more imaginative and more valuable uses, perhaps even to fundamentally change what we can expect a digital camera to do.

We might not quite yet be in 'quantum leap' territory, but it was refreshing to see the focus of attention turning to what's inside the camera (rather than the usual emphasis on megapixels, zoom range, screen size and body style). Fujifilm has introduced the promising Super CCD EXR sensor, and the ultra fast performance of the latest CMOS sensors has already been put to use in several different ways, and the future promises even more exciting developments.

From Casio's ultra high speed movie modes to Sony's one click 'sweeping' panoramas and exposure stacking (for low noise in low light) to Ricoh's in-camera HDR feature we're seeing manufacturers finally responding to the gradual commoditization of the compact digital camera by introducing genuinely exciting and innovative new features - features that no camera has ever offered before.

It's only early days, but if this really does mark a move away from the obsessive push for higher resolutions and pointless novelty features such as skin smoothing and slimming modes, then this PMA will be remembered not for the slight whiff of doom and gloom about the economy, but as a turning point in the short history of compact digital cameras. Simon Joinson, 9th March 2009

Dpreview.com's Top 5 Products of the show (in no particular order) NEW

1. Olympus E-620
2. Sony HX1
3. Samsung NX Concept
4. Panasonic GH1
5. Fujifilm FinePix F200EXR

New Product Index (111 total)

Please note that all of the above products are brand new and just announced, our 'NEW' indicator simply marks those products which have been added to this list within the last three days. As usual we have also included several products announced at CES 2009 (suffixed [CES]), the main reasoning behind this is that these products join those announced at PMA to make up a manufacturer's new line-up.

PMA 2009 preview / predictions / hopes (written before the show)

• Few new digital SLRs - Ironically we start our show preview with a fairly stark prediction; while there may be one or two, we're not expecting many DSLR announcements at this PMA. There were no less than seven new Digital SLRs at Photokina and the financial climate won't favor expensive models. We think it's a bit too early to see any further developments in the Micro Four Thirds camp (or any competing non-reflex system cameras) beyond what we saw at Photokina.
   
• Lens market growth - With the surge in DSLR sales it's clear that demand and sales of lenses will continue to climb, we're likely to see this reflected in the number of lens announcements this year.
   
• HD video, zoom, bridge models - We mentioned this in our 2008 preview but it's still likely to continue to be a trend this year, more compact models with HD video support, big zoom and even more models which aim to be both things, a decent camcorder and competant stills camera.
   
• Rugged compacts - We've not seen that many rugged compact cameras, in fact some manufacturers have none in their line-up. We're expecting to see that corrected this year with almost every major manufacturer having at least one rugged / waterproof compact model.
  
  
• Innovation? - Often, when we mentioned the lack of innovation in camera design and technology during our meetings at the last PMA (2008) and later in the year at Photokina, we got mysterious responses involving much touching of noses, winking and whispers of 'wait until next year'. Whether these hints of things to come turn into anything more concrete during PMA 2009 remains to be seen, though with most of the major camera manufacturers facing tough times and desperately cutting costs we're not holding our collective breath for any big surprises. Which will, of course, make them doubly welcome should there actually be any.

Previous / Other reports

Our previous PMA show reports

• PMA 2008 report
• PMA 2007 report
• PMA 2006 report
• PMA 2005 report
• PMA 2004 report
• PMA 2003 report
• PMA 2002 report
• PMA 2001 report

Our Photokina show reports

• Photokina 2008 report
• Photokina 2006 report
• Photokina 2004 report
• Photokina 2002 report
• Photokina 2000 report