PMA 2008: Pre-show predictions

What will the world's largest international photo imaging event showcase? We dare some predictions.

Barely a week more to go, and industry observers are already flooding the Web with PMA 08 buzz and rumours. All in anticipation of what's soon to be unveiled by the major camera makers at the Las Vegas convention. Though early birds Pentax, Canon and Olympus have broken out their wares ahead of the PMA crowd; Pentax with their two new digital SLRs, Olympus with five new cameras, and Canon with new offerings in each of its still ranges.

That said, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Other key vendors such as Nikon, Panasonic and Fujifilm have yet to whip out their goodies, and you can certainly bet on lots of new models and photography solutions to be showcased during the fair. While we're counting down to its kickoff on January 31, let us also count the ways that digicam manufacturers might (or might not) surprise us this year.

Olympus' 20x optical zoom camera, the SP-570UZ
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Longer zoom lens
Giving us a glimpse into a likely trend is Olympus's 20x optical zoom-capable SP-570UZ, which it claims is a world's first for a compact camera. We suspect it won't be the only vendor since Panasonic and Canon will probably introduce their megazoom models at the show. There should also be more ultracompacts sporting 5x or 7x optical zoom capabilities, though it's hard to tell how the longer zoom systems on compact cameras will affect overall image quality.

Improved image stabilisation
The longer the zoom, the higher the chances of getting blurred images as a result camera shake. Thus, we can expect vendors to flourish better image stabilisation systems (and possibly, more comfortable and firmer grips) that can minimise such occurrences. Many camera makers are already using at least one form of stabilisation for their shooters, so we should see more of them employing dual systems, particularly in their upcoming megazoom range.

Higher resolution
Not that it's worth noting, now that the megapixel war has cooled down somewhat (primarily due to compact cameras hitting 12 megapixels, which is far more than most consumers need). We hazard that 14 will be the magic number for camera resolution this year. More importantly, with most digital cameras already recording movies in VGA or higher quality, the natural progression is for video capture to go High Definition (HD). Whether it's 720p or 1080i/p, we should see more vendors offering HD resolutions together with faster frame rates for video in their 2008 lineup.

Entry and midrange dSLRs
As dSLRs become more affordable, many people are skipping the prosumer cameras and upgrading to entry-level or even mid-range dSLRs directly, making this one of the hottest category in digital cameras today. Therefore, we'd be expecting to see more of such dSLRs announced at PMA. We'll also be looking out for more new models with Live View shooting mode, which allows users to use the LCD display as a viewfinder.

Larger storage capacities
Where there are cameras, there'll always be flash media. You can expect storage vendors like SanDisk and Lexar to display their next-generation flash memory cards for digital cameras. While we're not expecting to see a new format hitting the showfloor (don't we have enough already), higher-capacity versions of popular card formats will very likely get an airing. A 64GB SDHC or 128GB CF? We won't be surprised.

In addition to flash media, there seems to be a trend for shooters sporting larger onboard memory. A digital SLR with 16GB of built-in storage will certainly help speed things up a bit in the processing department.

Not forgetting, the gimmicks
Sony has its Smile Shutter, Olympus is touting its Simple Shot function. What next? A camera with X-ray shooting mode (think the movie xXx)? Or one with a removable/wireless screen? How about a camera with onboard solar panels for juicing up? We'll no doubt see a fair share of such doodad features in the new shooters and accessories. And while we remain skeptical as to how useful and intuitive these can be, they'll surely bring a smile to our faces.