Emerging Trends at PMA 2009

Every year the Photo Marketing Association hosts a trade show in Las Vegas. Developers, industry representatives, journalists and photography enthusiasts from all over world congregate to exchange ideas, consider emerging trends, and discuss the upcoming business year. More than anything else though, the world of photography descends on Vegas to see industry product announcements and unveilings.

We had the chance to see it all go down. All the big names, from camera manufacturers to software firms, were there to announce 2009 products. We would be somewhat dishonest to say that PMA 2009 was revolutionary, but the fact remains that there were a lot of innovations and new directions we observed that leave plenty of reason to be optimistic about the future of photography.

Some of the trends emerging at PMA 2009 speak volumes about the current and future direction of photography, home movies and the gadgets we use to take them. On the whole, cameras and camcorders are moving toward being more fashionable, tougher, taking full advantage of HD video and putting the best of the video recorder and conventional camera into one handy “hybrid” unit.

Fashion

A simple look around your local electronics store reveals an undeniable increase in the number of cameras and camcorders featuring vibrant colors, stylish accessories, and even personalization options.

Sony’s latest rendition of the CyberShot, the T900 prefectly embodies the industry-wide move toward fashion consciousness. Its body is thin and shiny and it features a stylish sliding lens cover. Available in a variety of colors, Sony’s ultraportable point-and-shoot, the CyberShot T900, represents the attention developers are giving to ensuring that their products look every bit as good as they function.

Ruggedness

For the intrepid adventurer or trailblazer, fragile gadgets just won’t do. More and more people live active lifestyles that take them from the ski slope to the cliff face in the course of a year. At PMA this year, all the big players released “ruggedized” versions of point-and-shoot cameras and video cameras. The Olympus Stylus Tough series boast cameras that are waterproof, crushproof, freezeproof and shockproof. Remarkably, the Stylus still takes pictures at high resolutions. The Kodak Zx1 video recorder captures 720p HD video and is designed with rubber seals designed to withstand harsh weather conditions and dust.

Hi Def

2009 will probably be remembered as the year that HD went mainstream. From living room TV sets all the way to pocketsize camcorders, you can hardly find a media device on the market that doesn’t feature HD video, an HDMI port or upscaling. Even pocketsized camcorders like the Sony Webbie HD and Kodak Zx1 feature the capability to capture HD video. For larger, more professional video cameras like the JVC Everio X, 1080p HD video capture isn’t just a luxurious extra, it’s the industry standard now.

Hybridization

PMA 2009 was rife with talk of hybrid cameras, that is to say, cameras that combine conventional digital cameras and HD digital camcorders. The Sony DSC-HX1 looks like a conventional digital camera, but is fully HD video capable—it shoots 1080p video and 9.1 megapixel stills. Another prestigious hybrid is the JVC Everio X. In addition to full 1080p video capture, the JVC Everio X can take high resolution stills, even mid-video capture.

And while PMA has come and gone for the year, the groundbreaking products that graced its showroom are here to stay. Be sure to check out the top ten PMA products we thought most reflected developing trends. They’re not only the best and brightest cameras and camcorders from the PMA 2009 showroom floor, they’re indicators of what we’ll be seeing in years to come.
After you consider our PMA 2009 picks, make sure you don’t miss our lineup of best DSLR and compact cameras.