As you may have noticed over the last several weeks, we have been giving some serious attention to what we saw at the PMA Show. But instead of concentrating our effort on news from the major players, we were equally fascinated by what we saw from some of the smaller companies exhibiting this year.
Thus we’ll continue this week with a look at a few things you may have missed if you were spending your time with the big boys.
Lensbaby continues to bring innovative and fun accessory lens products to market, stuff that really adds another dimension to the DSLR equation. Their latest is a wide angle Lensbaby – the 0.42x Super Wide Lens converts your Lensbaby lens’s focal length from 50mm to 21mm. Specifically designed for compatibility with the Lensbaby Optic Swap System, this 0.42x is, Lensbaby explains, lighter and sharper than any other comparable product on the market. The 0.42x has an inherent macro capability, letting you as close as 2.75” (7cm) from the front of the lens.
Lensbaby Co-Founder Sam Pardue told us they have found that, “Many Lensbaby users are shooting with cropped-sensor digital cameras, and are looking for a wider angle of view. With this new 0.42x Super Wide Lens, we are offering the widest angle-of-view yet for selective focus lenses in one of the lightest, most compact 0.42x conversion lenses available.” This new lens can be used with any Lensbaby lens and optic combination.
There is always lots of new bags debuted a PMA but M-ROCK demo’d their camera bag modular system, a line of modular camera bags designed to carry cameras, camcorders, lenses, and other consumer electronics independently or they can be securely attached to any of M-ROCK’s DSLR bags and backpacks to, as they explain, “increase equipment capacity for events that may require additional lenses or photo accessories such as sporting events, extended travel, or outdoor adventures.”
The “system” consisting of five bags and a support belt of varying sizes and shapes, and give users the freedom and flexibility to create a modular system that is specific to their shooting style and allows them to travel lighter and more compact when full-featured DSLR camera systems are not needed. Interesting idea and a solid line of bags.
Speaking of innovation, Argraph always brings plenty of that to PMA and this year was no different as they demo’d their new Pana-Scan 35mm Slide & Film Scanner that enables the user “to quickly and easily convert cherished slides and negatives into high resolution 5 megapixel digital images on the computer at the push of a button.”
The unit is designed to allow the user to print, share, email, archive and store images with one device. The Pana-Scan 35mm Slide & Film Scanner is compatible with Windows XP and Vista operating systems and uses a USB 2.0 port on your computer for both communication and power.
