PMA 2009: 10 Best Digital Camera Trends

Get a hands-on report from Vegas, where we?ve scoured the trade floor for all the hottest new gear.

Think of the annual Photo Marketing Association (PMA) convention as a chance to visit the biggest camera store you’ll ever see in your life.

Taking up two floors of the Las Vegas Convention Center, you’ll find all the big boys from Canon to Sony there along with tiny mom-and-pop outfits selling photo charm bracelets. The yearly meeting was originally targeted to small camera store owners, but these days, independents are rarer than an up day on Wall Street. Right before this year’s edition, in fact, the huge Ritz Camera chain went bust – no surprise as the vast majority of camera buyers in 2009 simply go to Best Buy, WalMart and the Internet to pick up their new toys.

Given the recession and the huge snowstorm in the northeast, the crowds at this season’s show were definitely down, but thankfully, the halls didn’t look like a neutron bomb had detonated.  DigitalTrends.com spent several days wandering the aisles looking at all the newest digital cameras. We also had the chance to go into the back rooms where manufacturers show their upcoming models under non-disclosure agreements. Since we don’t want to do hard time in Attica, all we can say is that although no D-SLRs were announced here, you can expect some exciting new models in a month or so.

Top Digital Photography Trends

Even though PMA is clearly a show for still photography, high-definition hybrids were undeniably the stars of the convention. More cameras than ever have HD capability, including 720p and 1080p recording.  Among the highlights were the new Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1, Sony Cybershot DSC-HX1 and Canon PowerShot SX1 IS.  See our Top 10 Lists for more details.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1 & Canon PowerShot SX1 IS

Also making news were many cameras offering enhanced intelligence, where the devices recognize the scene in front of them and make adjustments accordingly. This feature is packaged and sold under many names (Intelligent Auto, Auto Scene Selector and so on), but it’s just another way for manufacturers to make picture-taking as simple as possible.

Of course there were also more megapixels, more mega zooms, more “tough” cameras and lower prices to be found everywhere one turned, but that’s typical for the industry. To give you just a brief snapshot of all the goodies in store, what follows are our top 10 cameras and gadgets from the pile.

More Than Micro

As far as we were concerned, two cameras were at the top of our hit list for the show—the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1 and the new Sony Cybershot DSC-HX1.  The GH1 (due May/June, price to be announced), although similar in size and shape to the G1, adds AVCHD high-definition video recording (1080p filming at 24 fps). It also records 720p footage at 60 fps, which you would use to capture fast action rather than more static scenes. We had the chance to play with a pre-production model and saw samples of the video displayed on large 50-inch plasma HDTVs, which looked great. Along with video, this is a 12-megapixel still camera with Intelligent Auto recording for pictures and movies.  Like the G1, it also has a very high-quality EVF and LCD screen.  The camera will come as a kit with a 14-140mm lens. Since the micro Four Thirds system has a 2x digital factor, this is equivalent to a 28-280mm lens. www.Panasonic.com

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1

Sweeping Panoramas

Another Digital Trends favorite was the HX1 ($499, due April). This mega zoom digicam has a 20x lens (28-560mm) with higher-quality G glass. By using a new CMOS sensor and Bionz processor, the camera can rip off close to 10 fps at full resolution and shoot 1080p video. But even better was the Sweep Panorama feature that lets you take a 224-degree horizontal vista (or 154 degree vertical). Unlike typical panoramas, the HX1 seamlessly stitches them together in the camera without the usual post-production software hassle. When shown at the press event, the crowd practically gasped when the panorama was shown on a big screen. If it works well, this one could be in the running for camera of the year.
www.sony.com

Sony Cybershot DSC-HX1

More HD Cameras

The Canon PowerShot SX 1 IS ($599, due April/May) is another 20x mega zoom (28-560mm) with something very special. This 10MP digicam uses a CMOS sensor so it can shoot a rapid 4 fps, even better than the company’s entry-level D-SLRs. Not only that, it also shoots 1080p video at 30 fps and you can use the optical zoom while making movies. This one should be another hit for 2009. www.usa.canon.com

Canon PowerShot SX 1 IS

Growing Mega Zooms

Not too long ago a 12x optical zoom was a big deal. For 2009, you can get a 26x model from Olympus—the SP-590 Ultra Zoom with a whopping 26-676mm focal length. Yeow! It arrives in March and has Dual Image Stabilization and a 2.7-inch LCD screen. Nikon’s new Coolpix P90 has a 24x zoom ($399, also March) and Pentax announced the 12MP X70 ($399) with a 24x zoom. If those prices are too step, Kodak just announced the 10MP EasyShare Z915 with a 10x zoom for less than 200 clams. www.olympusamerica.com

Olympus SP-590 Ultra Zoom

Tough Enough

Olympus pioneered digicams that take a serious beating with its SW series.  We guess the idea is a good one, because not only did they unveil two new Tough Series cameras, Panasonic and Canon joined them.  The 12MP Olympus Tough 8000 goes 33 feet underwater and you can even stomp on it after you drop it ($399, early April). The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS1 features technology from the company’s Toughbook laptops and extreme sports fans should love it. It’ll cost $399, is due in April and it takes AVCHD Lite (720p, 60fps) HD video.  Canon’s new 12MP PowerShot D10 is another camera that goes underwater 33 feet, and is shock- and freeze-proof with OIS ($329, May).

Olympus Tough 8000 & Canon PowerShot D10

3D Photos

This one is bizarre. Fujifilm showed prototypes of its FinePix Real 3D system which was first unveiled last fall at Photokina in Germany. This boxy-looking camera has two lenses and two CCDs. By using a new technology, it combines them to make a 3D image that you can see on the camera screen or a special 3D viewer or have prints made of (by Fujifilm printers, of course). This is supposed to be arriving this summer in Asia—whether it makes it across the International Date Line is anyone’s guess. It was cool though. www.fujifilmusa.com

Fujifilm FinePix Real 3D System

GPS In Your Camera

Geo-tagging is becoming more popular in cameras and camcorders. It’s nice to know exactly where you took your shot. In case you don’t want to chuck your old camera to get this feature though, Jobo’s photoGPS ($159) will do the trick; it hit the States in February. The device attaches to your camera’s hot shoe and captures geo-data for every shot. The software not only tags the image with latitude/longitude info, but addresses as well. Pretty neat. www.jobo.com

Jobo photoGPS

Wacky Stuff

This one brought a smile to our faces—the Underwater Digital Camera Masks from Liquid Image.  These diving masks (snorkel or scuba) have built-in 5MP cameras that can takes stills and/or videos as well. The VideoMask 310 can hit 33 feet (stills only) while the Scuba Series HD320 goes down to 115 feet and captures 720p video. For the really hardcore, the Pro HD350 lets you take stills and videos at 330 feet. You can even add lights to them for better quality. You’ll look ridiculous, but get the shots!  Price for the HD320 is around $250, with the gadget due in May. www.liquidimageco.com

Liquid Image HD320

Good Thinking

Everyone has tons of printed photos lying around, but no one wants to go through the hassle of scanning them all, retouching them and making prints. Pandigital came up with the PhotoLink Scanner ($99) that scans up to 4×6 prints to an SD card. You then take the card out and pop it into a Digital Photo Frame from the company. How easy is that? Good thinking, guys. www.pandigital.net

Pandigital PhotoLink Scanner

Just Hit Record

Even though digicams are stealing the video thunder from traditional camcorders, you could still find them at the Canon, JVC, Panasonic, Samsung and Sony booths. JVC introduced the Everio X a $999 model that records to SD cards. What makes it special is the 10.3MP CMOS sensor, so the device not only takes AVCHD vids but high-quality stills (due May/June). Also due in May is the high-def Samsung HMX-H106, the first camcorder to record on a 64GB Solid State Drive ($999); 32- and 16-gig versions will also be available. www.samsungusa.com

Samsung HMX-H106