PMA Australia - Sydney - 25-26 June, 2011

[Xenedis]

All,

Just a heads-up for those who might be interested.

PMA Australia is being held in Sydney this year, from 25-26 June.

There is more information and the ability to freely pre-register here:

http://www.pmaaustralia.com.au/

I'd advise you to pre-register, as it's free. The alternative is to spend $20 at the door.

[Longshots]

and its also contains the Australian Professional Photography Awards - APPA - entry to the judging is free !

[peterb666]

I went to it last time it was in Sydney and it was excellent. Especially for free.

I spent the best part of an hour on the Olympus stand alone playing with a pre-release Olympus E-P1. I liked it so much, I bought one.

[Boo53]

I went last year to the one in Melbourne and spent many hours there.

The photoshop tutorials were quite good, and free, but you need to get there earlyish or be prepared to stand up for a fair while until a seat becomes available, and perhaps arrange the 2nd mortgage before you go - well it is free but very tempting:)

[Xenedis]

The last exhibition I attended was PMA in 2008. Previously I had attended Photo Imaging World (same sort of thing) in 2006.

I missed the 2009 and 2010 shows, but have registered for this year's show.

I'm not in the market for any gear, so perhaps Photoshop tutorials or other presentations will be of more benefit.

[peterb666]

The shows move between Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne so we only get one every 3 years.

[Darey]

John, thanks for the heads-up, I'm registered so I may see you there.

[Xenedis]

The shows move between Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne so we only get one every 3 years.

The 2009 show was held in Sydney.

[peterb666]

The 2009 show was held in Sydney.

I guess it is just Sydney and Melbourne then. 2009 seems about right.

[Xenedis]

The 2008 show was in Brisbane. I remember because I went. :-)

[peterb666]

I know the 2010 show was in Melbourne so it must be Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Sydney...

They should know that Sydney is the centre of the Southern Hemisphere and have it here every year.

Maybe we should combine the show with an AP meet and feed.

[Xenedis]

Just a reminder that PMA Australia is being held next weekend (25th and 26th).

[Longshots]

The shows move between Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne so we only get one every 3 years.

Actually it doesnt.

Its now just Sydney and Melbourne I'm afraid.

It was due to Brisbane not supplying anywhere near the same attendance figures to Sydney & Melbourne.

[peterb666]

Just a reminder that PMA Australia is being held next weekend (25th and 26th).

I will be going on Sunday.

[Longshots]

BTW for anyone interested in long term planning PMA 2012 Imaging & Entertainment Expo & Convention 24 - 27 May 2012

[Xenedis]

I will be going on Sunday.

I've reserved both days, but in reality I doubt I'll be going twice. Having attended these events before, one day is enough.

[peterb666]

I've reserved both days, but in reality I doubt I'll be going twice. Having attended these events before, one day is enough.

You are probably right. I will be accompanied by at least two Canon owners so I will probably spend my time in the Nikon and Olympus stands ;)

[jeffde]

Will be there Saturday

[TieNN89]

Actually it doesnt.

Its now just Sydney and Melbourne I'm afraid.

It was due to Brisbane not supplying anywhere near the same attendance figures to Sydney & Melbourne.

WHAT!

We lose the Brisbane Motor Show and now we lose this as well :( Never been and would love to go but if they stop doing it here well that really sucks!

[Darey]

I'm going on Saturday.

[Xenedis]

I'm going on Saturday.

Give me a buzz on Saturday and we can meet up somewhere...

...at the Canon stall, of course.

[Longshots]

If anyone wants to meet me, I will be in the APPA area for most of the days.

[Darey]

John,
I'll keep an eye out for you.

[Xenedis]

I'd be happy to say hello, Will.

If I can find you, that is...

I unfortunately have no idea where the APPA judging is being held. The PMA site is really not all that useful and I couldn't find info on where and when it is.

[Longshots]

The APPA judging is at stand 401 "APPA Judging Area"

Which is next to the Momento stand (443).

There will be 3 judging rooms with the APPA judging area.

If you register with PMA, they send you an official PMA program, which contains a map of the expo.

[Xenedis]

Thanks William.

I'll keep an eye out.

[Xenedis]

Just got back from PMA.

Lots of people there today.

While an AP meet of sorts wasn't arranged, we ran into Darey, Fantasyphoto, Leanne and Longshots.

Will, it was nice to meet you, albeit briefly; sorry we didn't get more time to chat, but it looked a bit chaotic at the APPAs.

A guy I know, who had a few entries in this year's APPAs, got upgraded to gold, so he was happy about that.

I finally bought a splash guard for my camera. I happened across the L&P stall and picked up a Think Tank Hydrophobia 70-200. When I eventually get back into seascapes, it'll come in very handy.

I didn't look at much gear, as I'm not really in the market for anything; but I did check out Canon's latest 400/2.8 (not yet available for sale). It was significantly lighter than the previous version, and is quite hand-holdable (for me, at least); the older version definitely needs a monopod.

I had a bit of a chat with Ken Duncan re the state of his rallying against the stupid anti-photography bureaucracy, and it's good to hear that he's making some progress and that changes (for the good) are a'comin'.

There was a lot happening at PMA as usual -- too much to absorb in one day, but one day of walking around was enough. Hardly sat down all day.

[swifty]

Oops.. wasn't aware of this thread b4 I started a new one.
Anyways.. I was there this morning and again later in the arvo.
Found the Peter Coulson Hasselblad workshop and Rocco Ancora Nikon one pretty good. They're both presenting tomorrow again.

[virgal_tracy]

I went Friday which lessened the crowd. Still, getting close to some of the presentations was difficult. I too enjoyed Peter Coulson with the hasselblad. His instruction provided some great learning, even if fridays model appeared bored. I saw Rocco on the huddle stage. While the information about how he set up images, the second half of his talk concentrated on trying to sell the Elinchrom Quadra RX. I was so disappointed on the sell that I didn't stay to see the part of the presentation on posing.

I spent a couple of hours watching the APPARENT judging the the open wedding and learnt more when the judges were arguing over s ores than when they agreed straight away. There wasn't anything new and outstanding but still good to talk to the suppliers face to face.

[peterb666]

It wasn't as crowded as I expected.

I went on Sunday with Silkdiver and Scotty plus my friend Glenn. One Nikon person to 3 Canon people. I thought it was fun when I encouraged Scotty to get his 7D and Canon white 70-200mm f/2.8 zoom out and shoot away during the Nikon wedding photography presentation. :D

To balance things off, bumped into Tony (maccaroneski) and Cynthia. Tony showing of his new Fufifilm X100.

I have a great chat to a couple of the exhibitors including Zac from Ken Done's thingie and finally got a "I am a photographer, not a criminal" tee-shirt but was disappointed they had run out of the "I am a criminal, not a photographer" ones. ;) Ken was off playing elsewhere at the time.

I had a long chat with the a rep from the Olympus stand who was looking after the professional gear and talking to him about Olympus' "interesting" concept of marketing and the forthcoming major announcement on June 30 re the Pen E-P3 and high-quality 12mm f/2 prime which will have mechanical manual focus (as well as AF). They seem to be sticking by their claim that there new series of lenses will have the fastest AF for contrast detection in the world (by a long shot) and it will be very competitive with any AF system. The AF changes are built into the lens so will do just fine with older PEN bodies.

I asked a few questions about there forthcoming products and got a few very good 'off the record' winks and nudges to indicate I won't be disappointed. My poor old E-P1 is looking pretty battered these days.

Also a good chat with a Nikon rep about the D7000 et al.

I spent more money than I expected picking up the fore-mentioned tee-shirt, an 8-cell charger, two 6x3m backdrops and adding lots to my wish list.

[Longshots]

Just got back from PMA.

Lots of people there today.

While an AP meet of sorts wasn't arranged, we ran into Darey, Fantasyphoto, Leanne and Longshots.

Will, it was nice to meet you, albeit briefly; sorry we didn't get more time to chat, but it looked a bit chaotic at the APPAs.


Really sorry I didnt have more time to chat. Basically I didnt see any of the presentations during the trade show. I was too busy judging, panel chairing, and rarely sitting in as an audience member when my own images were judged (no I dont judge my own images:th3:). A very hectic and busy 3 days of judging - each day 12 hours a day solid. Over 3200 entries judged. Not sure where to post my winning entries on AP ? Any advice/guidance would be welcome :)

[Xenedis]

Really sorry I didnt have more time to chat. Basically I didnt see any of the presentations during the trade show. I was too busy judging, panel chairing, and rarely sitting in as an audience member when my own images were judged (no I dont judge my own images:th3:). A very hectic and busy 3 days of judging - each day 12 hours a day solid. Over 3200 entries judged.

No worries. I knew how busy it was there, and when I spotted you earlier in the day you disappeared with someone.

It looked frantic.


Any advice/guidance would be welcome :)

Take a holiday. :-)

[Scotty72]

I too gave my credit car too much of a workout.

After encouraging Peter to get the battery charger, I bought a pack of batteries (I already have the Powerex 4 battery charger), Jo talked me into the OnOne software package (at a discounted $250), and I bought a LCD Loupe after I had a play and saw the amazing difference it makes. :)

[peterb666]

I too gave my credit car too much of a workout.

After encouraging Peter to get the battery charger, I bought a pack of batteries (I already have the Powerex 4 battery charger), Jo talked me into the OnOne software package (at a discounted $250), and I bought a LCD Loupe after I had a play and saw the amazing difference it makes. :)

Gee, I am relieved that I went to play with Xenedis after lunch rather than return with you guys but I have a big shopping list for the future (smoke machine, stands and backdrop rod, graphics tablet, new laptop, replacement Olympus Pen and 12mm lens, fisheye lens for the Nikon, divorce from the financial controller...).

As for Jo, yes she is a bad influence. Knowing she is always short on cash, I buy 2 backdrops and go in to negotiate a discount for her with the seller claiming "referred business". She gets her backdrop free and I didn't get any discount. :eek:

[Scotty72]

Gee, I am relieved that I went to play with Xenedis after lunch rather than return with you guys but I have a big shopping list for the future (smoke machine, stands and backdrop rod, graphics tablet, new laptop, replacement Olympus Pen and 12mm lens, fisheye lens for the Nikon, divorce from the financial controller...).

As for Jo, yes she is a bad influence. Knowing she is always short on cash, I buy 2 backdrops and go in to negotiate a discount for her with the seller claiming "referred business". She gets her backdrop free and I didn't get any discount. :eek:

... and she bummed a free ride on the tram... riding on the wave of my cred... :lol:

[Fantasyphoto]

We bumped into many friends on Saturday from AP, camera club and also professional and trade colleagues which kept us busy but I did manage to find AP member Jeff Servaas (PROtog) who sold me a new charger and some batteries.

Later on Saturday evening after the PMA show closed we attended a talk by Murray Fredericks who shared some insight into his award winning ABC documentary titled “Salt” which featured stunning images and time lapse sequences of the vast open areas of Lake Eyre http://www.abc.net.au/arts/stories/s2855662.htm

Murray has also been working on time lapse sequences of the northern lights from a base in Greenland which are absolutely incredible with the final production due to be released for television soon.

[Darey]

I was going to reply to this post with just the bare details that I attended the PMA show on Saturday and thought it was quite good but, seeing that others are fessing up about their purchases I might do the same.
I had a good time and met Paul (Racoon) & Lynn, FantasyPhoto, Leanne and Xenedis & Xenedette during my meandering around the show.
I found the Peter Carlson (Hasselblad stand) workshop on "Single light studio shooting" most interesting and informative and enjoyed playing with the big telephoto lenses (400mm f2.8) on the Nikon stand.
Now for the confessions, I weakened and finally bought the light "Travel" tripod I have wanted for my next trip to Europe, a Benro travel Angel. I also spotted a "Battery Grip" for my D7000 and couldn't believe the price, $60 when the Nikon equivalent is $309. My immediate reaction was this is too good to be true but also thought that for $60 it may be worth a try anyway. The Photoolex salesman let me try the grip on my camera and it worked a treat so I bought it. I have used the Grip a few times since buying it, with 6 AA rechargeable batteries in it, and it works great.
I'm glad I went to PMA this year.

[peterb666]

I found the Peter Carlson (Hasselblad stand) workshop on "Single light studio shooting" most interesting and informative

Hmm, that would have been good. One of the things I am interested in atm.


enjoyed playing with the big telephoto lenses (400mm f2.8) on the Nikon stand.

That was great fun - especially since I had a gaggle of Canon users following me around the place.

[charton]

I was on my way til our flight out of Hobart was cancelled on Thursday morning due to the Ash cloud, and we couldn't get one til saturday :(:(. Longshots, thankyou for confirming next year is in Melbourne - this one I will not miss :D

[virgal_tracy]

For those that are interested in more of Peter Coulson's teachings. He is presenting a few courses in Sydney over the coming months through a studio called Memtem. Memtem Courses (http://www.mentem.com.au/Mentem_Newsletter/201106_Newsletter.html)