We’ve had a sneak peak at the big camera expo in Brisbane this week to see what’s in store for photographers this year.
Everything from photo printers to compact cameras and flash media will be covered at PMA 08, which doesn't officially open until tomorrow (Friday 30th May) and ends on Sunday 1st June. The event is being held at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre, where organisers expect crowds to reach more than 20,000. Entry is $20 at the door, and the general public can view the exhibition on the 31st and 1st.
Olympus and Sony range
Olympus and Sony were also on hand at the show to brief us with a few of their products, most of which have been released to market already. Sony continues to push their popular compact camera range, particularly those enabled with facial detection and touch screen functionality.
Olympus had a few products on sneak peak, one of the flagship models being the world's smallest DSLR camera which was unveiled a couple of months ago, the E-420. The camera weighs only 380grams, which is noticeably lighter than some (Sony’s A350 weighs in at 582grams). Features specs will include a 10MP live CMOS sensor.
New 64GB flash memory from Microdia
Flash memory cards are going to be a big hit at this year's PMA event. A multitude of smaller no- name and established big name manufacturers are putting their reputations on the line with flash memory cards that are aiming to be the fastest, the biggest and the best for your portable device.
Of course, whilst everyone is claiming to be the best in market with their flash cards, we found one company that was willing to go on record by claiming to have the first 64GB flash card in the world – and it's ready for market in Australia.
The Microdia 64GB XTRA ELITE CF (compact flash card) has some impressive specs for their world beating card, including sustained read and write speeds of 300x or 45MB/second. That's going to be great for photo enthusiasts who are looking for high burst rates. With that kind of storage, Microdia say that you can expect each card "to hold around 19000 high resolution (JPG) images".
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| Microdia's remarkable 64GB flash is first to market in this size catagory. It's sure to prove a big hit with DSLR users. |
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| The power of the world's first 64GB CF card is impressive |
Rugged cameras – Ricoh 10MP G600
Richoh's 10MP G600 looks like a good pick for outdoorsy types and joins the growing trend in rugged, shockproof cameras that don't break when you drop them. Able to handle drops of 1.5m, it's encased in durable dust proof housing that is completely sealed to national control standards.
It can also shoot in temperatures as low as minus 10 degrees celsius, sports a 28-140mm lens, a huge 10m wide flash area and can even be used in water as deep as 1m. Priced at $689, this looks like the type of camera that could be popular amongst sporting enthusiasts and outdoor hobbyists.
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| Richoh's new rugged G600 is shockproof and waterproof, the perfect outdoor camera. |
GE enters Australian market
They’ve a hand in everything from finance to consumer electronics, and now GE is unveiling their new range of low cost, feature rich cameras at PMA 08. They don’t look particularly sleek, but GE cameras come with everything you we like about the best compacts, including facial recognition technology, high quality MP lenses and wide lens panorama stitching technology (in camera). The cameras will range in price from basic models at $139 to higher end models in the $400 range area. These are expected to hit the market in the coming months.
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| GE launches their new range of cameras; which look every bit like their competitors models. |
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| New GE model with facial recognition and anti-shake modes. |
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