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Most BORING PMA ever

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Mike Johnston

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Man, I've been disappointed in recent years by the photo shows, but this one takes the cake. The biggest stories were who WASN'T there and the rumors about Leica going under the waves again. Apart from the Canon Rebel replacement, there was virtually no significant news out of this show. Oh, I suppose the fact that the D2X showed up for some limited hands-on, but it's not like the D2X is news.

BO-O-O-ORRRING!

--Mike
 
Mike Johnston said:
Man, I've been disappointed ...
... there was virtually no significant news out of this show.

BO-O-O-ORRRING!
Click to expand...
You're kidding! Get this. At PMA, "the Concord 3346z 3 Megapixel
point & shoot digital camera has won the coveted DIMA Shoot-Out
for 'Best Digital Camera under $100.'" Yes, $99.99 and it even has
an AF assist lamp. What more do you want??? Let's hope DPR
will review this important and innovative camera. (I'm kidding.)

Concord also showed a prototype "Wi-Fi Enabler" which will work
with "any digital camera", according to a PC Magazine / Ziff-Davis
report. I'm so excited and I just can't hide it!

-- omr
 
Not really, they look from behind glass like very heavy (what happened to the 4/3 lighter, smaller), very expensive zooms. Not what most people will be willing to buy or lug around all day on there samll light e300 or e-1.

The new Rebel is just a newer version of the older Rebel. It was rumored and expected.

In my book theyre was certianly nothing great at all. Overall I agree, it was boring.
hello goodbyte said:
Mike Johnston said:
Apart from
the Canon Rebel replacement, there was virtually no significant
news out of this show.
Click to expand...
So the announcement of those new f/2 zooms from Olympus was not
significant?

--

--------
Click to expand...
 
Well, the journey to the Dark Side is almost complete -- only isolated pockets of silver-halide chauvinist resistance remain. That means that the growth rate for the market will stall; it's even possible that it'll shrink: most people tend to hold on to their cameras for a quite a while, and once they've got a digital one that gets the job done well enough, they won't be switching frequently enough to keep the volumes going.

So, for both reasons, it's not that unexpected. The heady days of the revolution are over; now come the five-year-plans.

The good news is that with any luck a widget bought now won't feel totally outdated in two years. :-)

Petteri
--
Me on photography: [ http://www.prime-junta.tk/ ]
Me on politics: [ http://p-on-p.blogspot.com/ ]
 
hello goodbyte said:
So the announcement of those new f/2 zooms from Olympus was not
significant?
Click to expand...
Was there even a picture, or a protoype on display? To me, the type of announcements that say, "We're thinking about making this in the future" aren't terribly significant.

Of course both those lenses do sound good.
 
I wonder how people would have reacted if the F2.0 zooms whould have had Canon labels, instead of Olympus?
Mike Johnston said:
Man, I've been disappointed in recent years by the photo shows, but
this one takes the cake. The biggest stories were who WASN'T there
and the rumors about Leica going under the waves again. Apart from
the Canon Rebel replacement, there was virtually no significant
news out of this show. Oh, I suppose the fact that the D2X showed
up for some limited hands-on, but it's not like the D2X is news.

BO-O-O-ORRRING!

--Mike
Click to expand...
--
http://www.4-3system.com/
http://jonr.light.is/
http://getfirefox.com/
 
Jón Ragnarsson said:
Petteri Sulonen said:
So much for "light, compact, and inexpensive..."
Click to expand...
What did you expect from F2 zooms? Until we get some magicial
technology to bend light, I guess we are stuck with heavy glass...
Click to expand...
Oh, it's not unexpected at all. My point was broader: Olympus's promise of the 4/3 system was "light, compact, inexpensive." Why do they need these f/2.0 zooms? Because the sensor is 1-2 stops less sensitive than the APS-C competition. IOW, a current APS-C camera with an f/2.8 zoom will outshoot an Oly with one of these monsters on, and it can be (depending on your brand and choice of lens) "lighter, more compact, and less expensive."

Petteri
--
Me on photography: [ http://www.prime-junta.tk/ ]
Me on politics: [ http://p-on-p.blogspot.com/ ]
 
Petteri Sulonen said:
Jón Ragnarsson said:
Petteri Sulonen said:
So much for "light, compact, and inexpensive..."
Click to expand...
What did you expect from F2 zooms? Until we get some magicial
technology to bend light, I guess we are stuck with heavy glass...
Click to expand...
Oh, it's not unexpected at all. My point was broader: Olympus's
promise of the 4/3 system was "light, compact, inexpensive." Why do
they need these f/2.0 zooms? Because the sensor is 1-2 stops less
sensitive than the APS-C competition. IOW, a current APS-C camera
with an f/2.8 zoom will outshoot an Oly with one of these monsters
on, and it can be (depending on your brand and choice of lens)
"lighter, more compact, and less expensive."
Click to expand...
Well, according to 4/3 propaganda, you can either get smaller lenses using the same aperature, OR brighter lenses using the same weight. I just wish Olympus would bring out f2.8 constant zoom for true comparision. The 14-35/2 looks like it is going to be more or less the same size/weight as the f2.8 Canon/Nikon offerings.
Petteri Sulonen said:
Petteri
--
Me on photography: [ http://www.prime-junta.tk/ ]
Me on politics: [ http://p-on-p.blogspot.com/ ]
Click to expand...
--
http://www.4-3system.com/
http://jonr.light.is/
http://getfirefox.com/
 
I meant that it is just that people are so fixated on 'their' camera brand, they just are oblivious to others. First f2 zooms ever should get some attention.
Oh, and I like the Sigma 30/1.4 too. :) 'Full-frame' is the new Medium format.
Petteri Sulonen said:
Jón Ragnarsson said:
I wonder how people would have reacted if the F2.0 zooms whould
have had Canon labels, instead of Olympus?
Click to expand...
Of course there would've been a bigger reaction -- there are, after
all, way more Canon shooters than E-system shooters.

Petteri
--
Me on photography: [ http://www.prime-junta.tk/ ]
Me on politics: [ http://p-on-p.blogspot.com/ ]
Click to expand...
--
http://www.4-3system.com/
http://jonr.light.is/
http://getfirefox.com/
 
Have you ever shot with some digital Zuiko lenses?

I own a 14-54/2,8-3,5 and a 50/2,0 Makro and I'm very pleased with that lenses. (I also used 11-22 and 50-200 and had seen lots of pictures from the rest)

(and I had shot Canon inkl one L-prime for some years, so I have some comparison)

They do not LOOK very impressive but if you use them they are simply excellent (some of them in my opinion even superior to L's, some are a bit worse, depending what you compare).

I can't say anything about that new f2 zooms of course but if they from the same quality than that 7-14/4, the 150/2 and the 300/2,8 (all of these have that silver ring) they are nothing short of superb.

That's what counts, not comparing some technical data and calculationg this and that. (you can do your "mathematics" always exactly that way that "your brand" will look the best)

Maybe that Nikon 200-400/4 VR or that Canon 70-200/2,8L IS is even better or cheaper or doesn't weight as much as that Zuiko lenses will not harm their performance.

They are a lot to expensive for me but I'm sure lots of people will enjoy them. (people who use fourthirds cameras, of course)

kind regards
 
Jón Ragnarsson said:
I meant that it is just that people are so fixated on 'their'
camera brand, they just are oblivious to others. First f2 zooms
ever should get some attention.
Oh, and I like the Sigma 30/1.4 too. :)
Click to expand...
I forgot about the 30/1.4. I do agree that that is significant. Especially to someone like me who loves prime lenses!
 
Petteri Sulonen said:


Click to expand...
Thanks Petteri. I hadn't known there were actually samples at the show. Wonder why there are no official pictures then?
Petteri Sulonen said:
So much for "light, compact, and inexpensive..."
Click to expand...
Well, I don't know about that...I once calculated that an 80-200 f/2 zoom for 35mm would be something like twice as large as the current f/2.8 lenses and 3X as heavy. It's tough to judge the sizes of these, but they look roughly comparable to f/2.8 zooms for full-frame. So that counts too!

BTW I'm enjoying your blog. Mine is at: http://quotidianmeander.blogspot.com .

--Mike
 
Digital camera technology may have reached a plateau, but what an awesome place to be for anyone who still has his or her sights focused on taking great pictures with ease and flexibility.

But I hear you. I'm so fascinated by the magic of the gadgetry that I have to pinch myself occasionally and remeber it's mainly about composing and capturing fine images of the planet and its life. So, when I think of PMS as less of an amusement park than it used to be, it's probably time for another pinch.

Steve
Mike Johnston said:
Man, I've been disappointed in recent years by the photo shows, but
this one takes the cake. The biggest stories were who WASN'T there
and the rumors about Leica going under the waves again. Apart from
the Canon Rebel replacement, there was virtually no significant
news out of this show. Oh, I suppose the fact that the D2X showed
up for some limited hands-on, but it's not like the D2X is news.

BO-O-O-ORRRING!

--Mike
Click to expand...
 
No, I haven't.

And, in fact, I've come around a good bit with regards to the E-system. I'm just still annoyed at the marketing hype. Perhaps partly because it sounded like such a brilliant idea when it was announced -- an open standard designed from the ground up for digital. Then when it turned out that it was neither open nor designed from the ground up, I got disappointed.

The E-300 is a very interesting camera and has a nice niche for itself. Olympus is certainly capable of producing superb glass -- classic Zuiko lenses have a very well-deserved reputation for excellence.

But I believe my point still stands -- because of the disappointing sensor, the lenses need to be brighter, which negates the price/weight advantage of the system. There are very small APS-C sized dSLR's on the market, with better performance and a much wider range of glass to choose from. The E-system simply didn't deliver. The E-1 and E-300 are nice cameras, but they're also niche cameras. The smaller sensor approach they use has no compelling advantages and several very significant disadvantages.

Petteri
--
Me on photography: [ http://www.prime-junta.tk/ ]
Me on politics: [ http://p-on-p.blogspot.com/ ]
 
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