If you were one of those people who hounded your local camera store for Canon's full-frame, CMOS sensor-equipped, EOS 5D Mark II in the lead up to Christmas last year, then this weekend's PMA 2009 show should prove interesting.
Touted as the biggest imaging exhibition in the Southern Hemisphere, the event drew 16,000 people last year and will be attended by big name players including Olympus, Canon, Fujifilm, Kodak, Nikon, Panasonic, Sandisk, and Sony.
In terms of opportunities to see the absolute bleeding edge in digital camera technology under one roof, this is as good a chance as any that you'll have, short of travelling to Vegas each January for CES.
We're particularly excited about a hands-on preview we'll be getting of Olympus' new E-P1 Micro Four Thirds compact. To us, the evolution of enthusiast-grade cameras with small-than-DSLR sizes is of the most exciting trends in consumer digital photography in 2009. The E-P1 looks enticing indeed, with a retro-ish body, 12.3 megapixels, high quality image processing, interchangeable lenses (including 2.8mm wide), and full manual exposure control (something we also loved about Canon's Powershot SX200).
The PMA show itself is more than just hardware though, encompassing industry conferences, photography galleries, professional awards, and how-to's targetted at the basics to sessions with names like "Exploring the ultra violet sensitivity of digital cameras".
The entire event runs from June 25 to June 28, but the exhibition is open to "keen amateurs" and the general public on Saturday 27 June from 2pm - 6pm and Sunday 28 June from 10.30am to 5pm.
According to the PMA website, entry is free is you have pre-registered, otherwise costs $20 at the door.