Developments in our profession have never been that shocking; step by step seems to be the slogan of the manufacturers, and in this tradition the Product Survey 2007 brings no sensational new developments compared to 2006. But looking longer term, readers will find constant progression in all aspects of the instruments. Comparing the product surveys of 2002 and 2007 there are some remarkable improvements to be found. In his introduction to the 2002 product survey Mathias Lemmens referred to falling prices and the increasing possibilities shown by the instruments under review. He also mentioned the frequent release of new and improved models. The drift of this 2007 introduction might be similar to that recognised by Mathias in 2002.

Comparing the two product surveys, the conclusion could be that accuracy of angle and distance measurement had reached optimum. Performance and other aspects of the instruments have, however, increased remarkably in these five years. For example, the maximum range for distance measurement has risen from 5,000m to 10,000 metres using a triple prism. Reflectorless-mode distances of up to 100 metres were common in 2002: Pentax even quoted a long-range mode capable of measuring 180 metres. In 2007 distances are on average several hundreds of metres, one manufacturer even claiming reflectorless distance measuring capability of 2,000 metres. Data-storage capabilities of instruments have increased from an average 4Mb/8,000 points in 2002 to 1,000Mb, and way above 100,000 points, and that is far more than the daily or even weekly production capacity of a survey crew.

So has anything changed in the past five years? Given the above, the answer is "yes" on the one hand and a "no" on the other. Again, a quote from the 2002 Product Survey, "seemingly endless progress in electronics technology enables the industry to make continual improvements" - and this is exactly what happens. Every year there arrive small but important changes, resulting over a five-year time-span in hugely changed instruments.

New to this product survey we welcome Egeo, with the PTS series. Two companies have not this year participated because they are developing new series of instruments.