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 PMA 2007 offered attendees access to a diverse layout of digital imagery technologies and products that included cameras, photofinishing, image applications and multimedia viewing solutions. With the event moving from a modest city, Orlando, to the ostentatious Las Vegas, expectations were high. Of the numerous photo products available at the show, advanced retail photofinishing solutions were by far the most talked about and demonstrated products.
Migration from film to digital has provided users with far more flexibility, with printing being one of the opportunities. And, when it comes to printing, the traditional 4x6 print is no longer the buzz for retail. Digital enables more fun and exciting output solutions (e.g. calendars, photo books, collages and other photo merchandise) for Luci, Jennifer, Suzie or Lori. At PMA Kodak and Fujifilm introduced new retail creative print solutions to support this growing interest. Kodak with its kiosk installed base shy of 50% market share, enhanced their kiosk application to support instant collage creations. This new application automates the photo layout process, while enabling users to further enhance the image layout if they choose. Fujifilm entered the retail creative print solutions with Xerox a strong strategic partner. Under this partnership, Fujifilm will sell the Xerox Phaser 7760, and DocuColor 240/250 as part of their retail portfolio. This enables retailers who have deployed Fujifilm’s GetPix Kiosk to either of these devices to the configuration to print calendars, photo books, collages and other photo merchandise on site.
Advanced photo multimedia solutions were another area highly displayed at PMA. They allow users to display their images beyond the PC, on digital frames, portable media players, and home entertainment solutions. Samsung and Sony both demonstrated high definition solutions that enable the viewing of digital still and video in HD. Digital frames have migrated up the demand curve with vendors like Pandigital, Kodak, Smartparts, Cieva and Westinghouse showing the latest in this technology. These digital frames range from 5-10 inches in size, and enable users to upload still photos, video and music and to create a multimedia slide show that is played on the frame. To further advance digital frames into the digital household, a number of these new frames include 802.11 wireless technology. This allows the wireless transfer of imaging from the household PC or a photo internet site for display on the digital frame.
Lastly but not least, PMA would not be the same without digital cameras. This year, the focus continued to be on digital SLR’s. Sony and Olympus, two vendors that are interested in gaining market share, demonstrated an expanded line of DSLR’s expected in the channel sometime this year. Besides DSLR’s, the spotlight was on the latest digital camera entry, General Imaging. Introduced two weeks prior to PMA, GI came to PMA with a full line of General Electric branded digital cameras. General Imaging was given an exclusive license to sell imaging products under the GE brand. It’s important to note that at PMA GI had a very large booth, and at that booth they demonstrated 3 camera lines designed for entry, mid and enthusiast users. In addition to the camera they also demonstrated a small format inkjet photo printer, believed to be based on Lexmark technology.
Ron Glaz
Digital Imaging Solutions and Services
IDC
A quick glance at my PMA report reveals that no less than 127 major new products were showcased at PMA 2007 (not including the multitude of announcements from the smaller companies).
So how come the stars of the show, the products that got everyone excited, weren't even real? In an industry where future plans can be just as important as what's released now, several savvy manufacturers have taken to displaying early mockups of their future big money earners.
Sony surprised everyone by literally unveiling a large glass case containing two new DSLR bodies and an assortment of lenses. What looked at first glance like the real deal turned out to be very early prototypes with no names or features, other than "Pro" and "Advanced" for the two camera bodies. They were principally revealed to prove that Sony are in the DSLR space for the long haul, and to reassure Alpha users that something better is on the way, of utmost importance in a cut-throat market.
Likewise, Olympus were proudly showing off an advanced prototype (they'd already shown a rudimentary version at Photokina) of their new pro DSLR, the P-1. Except I shouldn't really refer to it as the P-1, because that's just a code-name that will probably change when the final product is released "towards the end of 2007".
The fact that two companies are intending to release new advanced DSLR cameras is exciting news. The fact that these products arguably proved to be the most interesting of the whole show is something of a sad indictment and perhaps the inevitable result of the ludicrous six-month product cycle that the industry seems to be stuck in. Surrounded by minor upgrades of existing products, how could the Sony and Olympus vapourware products fail to stand out?
Mark Goldstein
Editor, PhotographyBLOG
http://www.photographyblog.com
With the rapid level of change in photography one question that is now coming up is have we reached the end of the road for photographic printing?
We are seeing real changes in the way we handle photographic images with the switch to digital working. The major suppliers of photographic films and papers are seeing demand dropping more rapidly than predicted a few years ago. In fact the way consumers are now handling digital photographic images is very different to the manner in which they handled analog photographic images. The number of prints produced of photos taken is now very small and in general only a small percentages of images taken digitally are ever printed.
There are now many users of digital color presses that are building successful photographic business using such presses. The trend to photo books is a major change for the photographic market as it allows users to create themed books of photographs in many cases with annotations and then print as many copies as they want.
What is interesting is that while we have seen developments in digital printing opening up new markets in photography such as photo books, in most cases digital printing has not really impacted in the in-store markets where the mini labs and photo kiosks are established. This however is changing.
For a company like HP to launch a kiosk based photo printing solution is one thing as they do not have a long-term reputation in the photographic market, but Fujifilm is one of the largest players in the mini lab and photo processing business. For Fujifilm now to put its reputation on the line with the quality of a Xerox toner based laser printer says a lot for the quality that can be achieved by small low cost color laser printers. This tends to confirm that the days of photo printing using silver based photographic papers and films are indeed numbered.
I expanded on this topic in my article today on WhatTheyThink.com.
Andy Tribute
Attribute Associates
Ok, I have to confess. I still refer to a digital camera image (a data file) as a photograph. But what is it really? Clearly the industry has already redefined what a photograph is and the rest of us just haven’t caught-up, or we just haven’t figure out a better name. So what do we say when we take a nice “picture” on our digital camera? Wow, I have a nice data file of you? I have a nice digital image of you? Or, you make a great tif or jpeg? Oh well, we’ll figure this out later...or maybe not.
The bottom line is that the photo industry has already transformed itself. I was blown away the first day at PMA with the number of people who want to print photo books and similar products. Clearly the technology has already enabled another whole category, and we saw evidence of this everywhere on the show floor—from necklaces and ornaments to personalized postcards, key rings, T-shirts, purses, mugs, mousepads, birthday cakes and more. Formally know as “ancillary photo products,” these novelty items are anything but secondary. But just like the term “photograph,” we haven’t found a new name to reflect this booming business trend. What was a “photo,” is now an image, and what was ancillary is really now “main stream.”
It really is interesting to see all the options for photo-(there’s that name again, uggh) taking consumers. The most exciting part for me, was talking to all the young entrepreneurs who wanted information about printing technology, finishing and the all-important workflow to produce photo (here we go again…) products for our kids, and the next generation of photo-consumers. What are all these really young entrepreneurs going to do next ? Stay tuned…
Oh, another thing is scrapbooking. There is actually a “scrapbook pavilion” at PMA – Who would have guessed ? And it is HUGE! So much for the term “ancillary products”, I rest my case…
And please, someone come up with a better name…
Tony Leone
Workflow Customer and Field Engagement Team
Xerox Production Systems Group
Not me - I have looked at several online options for creating them, but have never gotten around to actually producing one. Prior to getting a digital camera, I used to throw all of my prints into a shoebox, thinking I would eventually make an album or scrapbook. That was six shoeboxes ago. Now I just save my photos on CDs and throw the CD in a box.
But apparently my fellow consumers aren't so lazy. A recent PMA Marketing Research report found that 21.4 percent of households that made no prints from their digital cameras in 2006 purchased some other photo-related product or service such as a photo book, personalized calendar, or other item.
The association further noted that this figure practically doubled from 2005 when only 12.3 percent of the members of this group made photo-related purchases. According to PMA: " In terms of absolute numbers, the size of this group went from about 7 million households in 2005 to almost 15 million households in 2006."
When it comes to personalized calendars, however, the O'Brien family is definitely doing its part. Every year my sister and sisters-in-law join forces to assemble a calendar featuring my sixteen nephews and nieces. Which brings me to my next question. Do men buy photo books? Because we know they don't buy very many greeting cards - the Greeting Card Assn. (GCA) (http://www.greetingcard.org) reports that women buy 80 percent of them.
I'd also like to know if photo book vendors have to cope with seasonal demand: super busy in November and December but super slow in January?
Katherine O'Brien
Editor
American Printer Magazine
http://www.americanprinter.com
My wife gave me a to-do list!
I come from a household of photo-activists. Starting with my dad, who probably takes 100 rolls of film a year, and was the first on his block to buy a “mega-pixel” camera. When the grand-kids came about, this really gave my dad more material to work with. I would say that my kids' lives have to be the most photo-documented in existence!
My wife was reluctant to give in so quickly to the digital domain, but soon converted also, when she finally convinced herself that she was not giving up anything. In fact, she embraced the flexibility that digital offered--she took up the art and practice of scrap booking and card making. With 3 young children, we had plenty of material for her to work with, and thus began the creation of photo cards, memory books and other photo gifts.
Now we roll the clock forward about 10 years, and interestingly enough, there is a growing market for all types of these photo products and many different ways to get them. The Internet, the software and the printing technology are all evolving in ways to make the types of “end-products” my wife was making by hand, easier, faster, cheaper and higher quality.
It was about 3 years ago, when I printed a few sample photo books and brought them home. It was clear from the response, that these types of products will forever be part of our household--I'm looking forward to seeing what new applications this increased demand brings to the show floor at PMA. And so is my wife...
As I left for the airport, she said, “Keep your eyes open for anything new that I might be interested in…” Gee, I don’t remember her being so interested in what I’ve been doing in the past.
See you at the show !
Tony Leone
Workflow Customer and Field Engagement Team
Xerox Production Systems Group
Many printers made proofs on IRIS printers, but few people made history with them. Graham Nash did.
Nash, best known as a founding member of the rock group Crosby Stills & Nash, has been a serious photographer since childhood. In 1989, Tokyo's Parco Gallery invited him to exhibit 35 photos in groups of 34 x 46-inch prints.
At the time, IRIS printers were used strictly for proofing. Working with a team of photographers and artists, Nash experimented with the printer and ultimately used it to create 1,750 large-scale photos for the exhibit. Several years later, Nash joined with Mac Holbert to launch Nash Editions (Manhattan Beach, CA) a fine art digital printmaking studio. In 1989 Nash Editions bought an IRIS 3047 and used it until December 31, 2004. (See www.nasheditions.com.)
In 2005, Nash Editions donated its IRIS printer to the National Museum of American History's photographic collection.
"The IRIS printer will stand as a symbol of change within the world of professional digital photography," said the museum's director, Brent D. Glass. "Nash Editions' contributions, as well as an earlier acquisition from photographer John Paul Caponigro, are excellent examples of where art, science and technology meet to produce wonderful objects and influence a whole medium."
Nash and Holbert will receive a special lifetime achievement award at PMA on March 7.
Katherine O'Brien
Editor
American Printer Magazine
www.americanprinter.com
These are exciting times in the Production Systems Group at Xerox! It’s my first time attending the show after a hiatus for 6 years, and I’m energized to be a part of Xerox’s push into the photo imaging market. Xerox is not actually new to this market, we’re just broadening our presence, and combining efforts with professional photography leaders like Shutterfly, MyPhotoFun and Fujifilm, makes it an exciting place to be.
Since many of the commercial print customers I work with are embracing photo-based applications and business opportunities, I am looking forward to seeing what new businesses and technologies are emerging at the show. As people demand higher quality for their photos and creative ways to print, store and manage their keepsakes, there will be an interesting variety of specialty products on display in Vegas.
Of course, you will see evidence of this in Xerox’s booth. We will be showing some exciting capabilities at the show, so stop by and let us know what you think. I’ll be back to tell you what I thought of the show right here—feel free to join me.
Exciting times indeed!
Tony Leone
Workflow Customer and Field Engagement Team
Xerox Production Systems Group
I recently had the opportunity to interview J. Kirby Best, the CEO of leading on-demand book publisher Lightning Source. He made a very interesting comment when asked what he thought the next big opportunity for color on-demand books would be, identifying photo books, and saying, "we feel they are going to explode twice as fast as the black & white book market did. Color books are very difficult for a publisher to produce in short runs cost effectively... this is a new product area that allows consumers a new way of showcasing and sharing their photos. Instead of having your photographs printed at Wal-Mart or Walgreens, or producing them at home on a photo printer, you can incorporate them into a beautiful hardcover book, commemorating soccer teams, birthdays, anniversaries, family reunions, all sorts of important life events. And you can have a beautiful, sewn hardcover book for about $30."
This makes Xerox' recent placement of iGen3's at Shutterfly, a self-described Internet-based social expression and personal publishing service, very interesting and highly likely to generate good volumes in terms of both impressions and future placements of iGens. Digital scrapbooking is an iteration of this, a new printing solution from Shutterfly that enables digital scrapbookers to easily upload layouts into high quality Photo Books and print them with full bleed or die cut window covers. I am ready to give it a try with some of the beautiful pictures I have of my 16-month-old grandaughter!
Cary Sherburne
Senior Editor
WhatTheyThink.com
cary@sherburneassociates.com
Is a picture worth a 1,000 new opportunities? How about 1,000's of new customers?
The coming week is going to be an exciting one for Xerox -- we're showing how to get those new opportunities and customers. We will be attending both the Book Business and DIMA/ PMA shows and have some really cool things to talk about and show off. I hope I'll see you there!
At Book Business down in the Big Apple, John Conley has pulled together an esteemed panel to discuss the “Long Tail Theory” and its immediate relevance to the future of book publishing as we know it. Long Tail Theory is a really cool concept developed by Chris Anderson that is being applied to all sorts of industries – but really, really relevant to digital book printing.
Then I'm off to Las Vegas for PMA. What happens in Vegas isn’t going to stay in Vegas! It’s going to be posted here. Attending PMA in a big way is a new thing for Xerox and we’re really excited to put the spotlight on photo applications. We got started last week when we announced a new agreement with Fujifilm that got a lot of people’s attention.
So if you are going to Vegas or staying home, stay tuned for “guest bloggers” giving updates straight from the PMA show floor -- and feel free to comment on what they're saying. And of course, I’ll be back to talk more about some of the cool applications that we’re highlighting in our booth.
Brian Segnit
Manager, Photo and Book Printing
Xerox Production Systems Group
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