This is the entrance to PMA which is organized at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
The Convention Center is located behind the Sahara and the Wynn's Casinos.




Photography equipment is heavily advertised on what seems to be any venue available, such as
this bus wrapped in Nikon "regalia".




Nikon had a strong presence at the show, as demonstrated by these large banners found in the hallway leading to the registration area.
Easy as pie, powerful as Hercules and smart as Einstein. The message is clear, direct, powerful and unmistakable.




The all-important registration area. $49 for one day without PMA membership. Discounts are available if you are a member or if
you attend the entire conference. We will do better next year. The registration process is less daunting than it seems at first thanks
to the "Self-Registration" booths where you type your information, swipe your card and then leave to pick up your registration receipt
and name tag at the next booth.




The Leica stand and the Leica representative exhibited the cleanliness and precision of German engineering. The Leica M8 reigns
supreme in the rarefied world of professional rangefinder digital cameras.




I didn't see many new products at PMA, but this cleaning kit caught my attention. Called the Sensor Scope, it consists of a magnifier
that you place on your camera instead of a lens, and through which you look directly at the sensor. A built-in light makes the task of
seeing dust on your sensor a breeze. You can then remove the dust with either the mini-vac or the sensor swabs that come with the kit.
Cost: $180 for the kit pictured above. This product is sold by Delkin.




The Sensor Scope on a Canon 20D digital Camera. It's a hefty piece of glass!




Nikon had one of the largest booth. The Nikon booth was located pretty much in the center of the first floor (PMA covers two floors)
The central location, combined with the nearby second-floor escalators, meant that you passed in front of this booth over and over again
as you moved through the show.




Lots of representative eager to show you any Nikon equipment on display. Black and yellow are the distinguishing colors here.



Numerous visual displays, be it on posters or digital displays of various size, touted the unique features of Nikon lenses.




Sigma had a very easily accessible booth on which you could pick up any lens on display, mount it on your camera, and shoot
a few frames to see how you liked it. The image above was taken with a sigma 15mm on my Canon 1DsMk2.




Epson presented their K3 printers, such as the 7800 and 9800 shown above, by printing photographs by Joseph Holmes.



The Canon stand had nothing to envy to Nikon in regards to size. The dominating colors here are white and red, sharply separating
these two competing brands. Nikon however was featured on the free bags that were given to each attendee.



Both Canon and Nikon, as well as many other brands, had guest speakers, usually experts in their field. Here, Stephen Johnson
gives a presentation on "Reading histograms."




Besides their DSLR cameras and their many other products, Canon also featured their new IPF series of professional inkjet printers.
Here is the Canon IPF 8000 together with several prints made on it.




Gitzo was featured on the Bogen stand, Bogen being the US importer for Gitzo. Gitzo tripods are my favorite, and I always enjoy
playing with them, even though I probably don't need another tripod at this time.




This short presentation wouldn't be complete with some glitzy images from Las Vegas. Here is a beautiful bronze sculpture at the
entrance of the Wynn's Casino where we attended the private Hahnemuhle party.



And here are two photographs of the Ferrari, Maserati and other exotic cars display in the Wynn's casino.








Essay and photographs Copyright © Alain Briot 2007
All rights reserved worldwide