Thanks for the report & pics, Marnie. I was curious to see how Paul's photo was used. Very nice!
On Mon, Jan 13, 2014 at 7:43 AM, Bruce Walker <bruce.wal...@gmail.com> wrote: > Thanks for the booth report, Marnie. > > I have to wonder about your definition of "scantily clad" though. > Aside from bare legs, the only way that girl in your shot could be > more covered would be with a burka. > > The very next thing you need to learn to do on your X-5 is disable the > date/time stamp. :-) > > > On Mon, Jan 13, 2014 at 12:59 AM, <eactiv...@aol.com> wrote: >> I went to CES in Las Vegas and just got back. These were shot with the X-5 >> (which I got so I could take pics for the annual and PUG). >> >> Thoughts/reactions about CES below. And first impressions of the X-5. >> >> I just got the X-5 delivered from Amazon the day before I left. I barely >> had time to figure it out. It doesn't have an Av setting, so I either shot >> manual or program or green button. None of the shots are great and I haven't >> edited them. >> >> http://mapphotography.com/CES/index.html >> >> Pentax: I asked two reps if Ricoh intended a FF Pentax. I asked them >> separately. The answer was pretty much, no. One rep said that the market >> share >> for FF is a sliver and too small. The other said because the 645D is out >> there ( prominently displayed), it is very unlikely. He also said that USA >> Pentax reps are the last to know. They may know a little in Japan -- but >> only >> when Ricoh/Pentax actually comes out with a public release do they find >> out. I went on the trip with a friend, and he asked later too, and he was >> simply answered, no. Overall, the answer seemed to be very much, no. >> >> OTOH, I asked about Ricoh's support of Pentax. Very much so -- this will >> be one company that will not drop Pentax or sell it out. They are heavily >> invested and very much behind the "brand name." >> >> The Pentax display was understated and tasteful, except for the scantily >> clad Japanese girl sitting on a chair, pushing a button on a toy train >> running on a track below her. Photo op, supposedly. There were scantily clad >> girls in a few places, CES is male-oriented. Evidentially there were more >> girls in previous years, but each year brings more and more women attendees >> to >> the show. There was a wall of K-50's, not quite sure why. The big poster >> shot of the GR was taken with the K-3, and that is partly why it was there, >> to show how large it could be blown up and not lose resolution. >> >> Paul's pic had an end spot, and really was one of the best there. :-) >> >> Okay, about the rest of CES -- it was not the primary purpose of my trip. >> I went with a friend and just wanted a trip, also saw Las Vegas, a ghost >> town, Red Rock Canyon, and the Bellagio fountain and some of the casinos (I >> don't gamble). So I did not ask a lot of questions a lot of you would ask >> and did not look at lot of things a lot of you would look at. I was also not >> solely interested in photographic equipment. >> >> I also went under an assumed identity, heh, as a audio/visual design >> person (smart houses). This show is mainly for dealers who are going to put >> in >> large orders for products. Nothing is on sale to the public. >> >> So I did brief tours of two halls, well, three and a half halls. >> >> Other Cameras: The Nikon display was similar to Pentax's, a bit bigger, >> lots of yellow. And one seating area with a video running about some camera. >> Pentax had no video seating area. No scantily-clad girls at Nikon. >> >> The Canon display was much, much bigger. The emphasis there was mainly on >> their printers and other imaging products. They did have a small walk-thru >> photo gallery. And a tier of cameras. A shot of that is in the gallery >> above. At first when I saw it I thought it was photographers taking shots of >> the show. Then I realized they were actually cameras to try out and went up >> and tried some. That was clever of them and they were the only ones that did >> that. No poles locking the cameras down to a hole in a display table. The >> two dancing girls there were wearing pants and T-shirts. WTG, Canon. >> >> The Sony display was one of the largest and a bit confusing. It had a >> 'surround' video running above -- it covered a very large area with their >> products inside, much bigger than it looks in my picture. >> >> The camera I was, personally, most impressed with and taken by was the >> Fujifilm (yes, moving on) X-M2. Which the rep told me had just started being >> shipped in November. She only had one, it was so new, although she had >> several X-M1s. >> >> CES: The show/convention/conference overall, was overwhelming. It is >> HUGE. Most people were there to do business and see specific items. If you >> didn't have a focus it was pretty confusing. Lots and lots of booths, but >> the >> most overwhelming part was simply the massive number of people walking >> around. Almost worse than Disneyland during summer. About 150,000 attend, >> so it >> was busy, busy all the time. Most were wearing black. The racial/ethnic mix >> was mainly White and Asian. At least the shuttle buses between venues were >> good (there is a three-hall convention center, two stories, and things >> spilled over into three other hotels). >> >> I had very interesting discussions with a cable company owner and a >> representative of GSM (Global Standards for Mobile) on the shuttle, one on >> the >> way, and one on the way back. >> >> PMA: PMA was also there. Unfortunately it was in the last stop, all >> travel between buildings was by foot, and after a very long walk down >> looping a >> corridor, back and forth, linking buildings, we found it. Since it was in a >> different building and so far away, it's attendance was low. We spent time >> in the Black Rapid booth, and learned that PMA will probably fade away. >> Because the big camera companies were in the main hall, the PMA was mainly >> support equipment: bags, tripods, etc. >> >> What were the most interesting things I saw? I was interested in any >> high-tech sci-fiy thing, not just cameras. And I really took a cursory look >> at >> most of the things I saw. >> >> The Black Rapid guy had an add-on lens on his iphone. Three little lens >> adaptors that rotated, one wide angle, one fish eye, and one telephoto. He >> wasn't sure if it was available for other phones and I never found the >> booth. >> But it was intriguing and seemed well designed. >> >> Drone photography. I took no pics. But they are orderable at B&H. The >> large one no, the consumer ones, yes. It was fascinating. >> >> 3-D printing. That made me feel the future is really here. Large WOW >> factor. Heh. Think replicators from Star Trek. Honestly and truly. Though >> right >> now they can only replicate with polymers and not very large items yet. But >> the technology is there and it will improve and develop. Totally >> revolutionary. About five companies were there, all with different >> orientations >> (many with a research/product prototyping focus). But two were marketing >> consumer 3-D printers and two were marketing 3-D scanners, as well, one >> hand-held. All very impressive and futurist and oh-my-goddess. >> >> If you want to know more about the 3-D printing, just ask. I have some >> literature and was going to google and research. >> >> Real photos to come. >> >> The X-5, meh. It is a Pentax, but... well, I was warned. I still have to >> play with it more, but the viewfinder is only adequate. That's the best way >> I could describe the whole camera, for a point and shoot it is adequate and >> nothing to write home about. It does have a green button and it is cute. >> It looks like a mini-DSLR, so you don't feel stupid wearing it around. But >> if it wasn't a Pentax, I really wouldn't have bothered. >> >> Marnie aka Doe :-) I wish I had more specific impressive insider camera >> stuff to tell you, but I don't. >> >> >> -- >> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List >> PDML@pdml.net >> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net >> to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and >> follow the directions. > > > > -- > -bmw > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > PDML@pdml.net > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow > the directions. -- Photographers must learn not to be ashamed to have their photographs look like photographs. ~ Alfred Stieglitz -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
