The important thing to remember about the PMA Show is that it is the annual convention of the Photo Marketing Association. This organization exists to help sell product, whether the product in question is cameras, lenses, scanners, studio backdrops, or indeed photographs.

Pretty much by definition, this means going for the markets that are biggest or most...

"Don't call 'em D-SLRs, in the future all SLRs will be digital."--Overheard at PMA

A recent New Yorker cartoon showed a salesperson demonstrating a digicam to a customer. The caption read something like, "This light comes on to tell you when the camera is obsolete." A lot of digital SLR owners feel like that from time to...

"Has digital photography reached the end of the road?"--Headline in Convention Daily Newspaper

When you read such erudite comments in the trade press, a person might wonder if we have, in fact, reached digital nirvana. Maybe that writer's grandpa posed the same question when wet collodion plates were introduced, but digital imaging is...

One trend has continued unabated since the first Shutterbug's Photography Buyer's Guide: As the number of digital cameras has increased, the number of scanners has decreased. My guess is that while the presence of camera-phone manufacturers at PMA 2005 does not bode well for the future of lower end point-and-shoot cameras, they will have no impact whatsoever on the...

While our reporters were assigned specific product categories to cover for the show, we also requested that they pick what they considered their favorite product of the show. The product didn't have to be in their area--indeed, the product could be a prototype or something that wouldn't appear in any real way for the near future. So here's the Shutterbug...

What is the state of the art for imaging software? At PMA 2005 it seems concentrated at the low end (under $99) with just a few, OK maybe one product aimed at the high end. What's left is a Grand Canyon of opportunity in the middle that might just be filled with free open-source software such as The Gimp (www.gimp.org)...

Good news from Ilford made this PMA a shot in the arm for zanyone who loves the craft of photography and photographic printing. As most people know, in August 2004, Ilford Imaging UK Ltd. had gone into receivership. For months, rumors had been flying about a management buyout, and it finally succeeded just hours before the PMA show opened. The new company will trade as Ilford...