PMA 2009

Aside from all the lenses and optics displayed at PMA 2009, there were oodles of peripheral goodies to go along with all the 'latest and greatest' photographic toys known to mankind. Some serious, and some less so.

There was no shortage of lenses at PMA 2009 or teasers behind smudged Plexiglas.Starting with a mock-up of a wide-angle tilt-shift lens for a camera that's still in the prototype stage, Leica is moving forward with lens designs for its medium-format S2. The Leitz Elmar-S 30/3.5 ultra-wide angle tilt-shift lens is a strong indication Leica is serious about bringing out its 39Mp interpretation of the old Pentax 6x7.

Many of the more interesting announcements and product rollouts found at this year's PMA show were consumer-oriented. New DSLRs making real-world debuts included the 4/3-format Olympus E-620, which makes claim of being the world's smallest and lightest image-stabilized DSLR. The new camera contains a 12.3Mp Live MOS sensor, a TruPic III+ image processor, a 7-point AF system, in-camera IS, and can capture images as JPEG, RAW, or a combination of the two. As part of the celebration Olympus also introduced a new Zuiko Digital ED 7-14/4 ASPH (14-28mm equivalent) zoom lens, which should take care of all of your wide-angle needs.