The new Joby UltraFit range of camera straps for men and women are now on sale in the UK. Originally announced at Photokina 2012, the straps are designed to accommodate both CSC and DSLR cameras and are available in a quick-draw, cross-body design for men and women, in addition to a versatile 3-way wearing option. The Joby team conducted extensive user studies with more than 500 photography professionals and enthusiasts and pinpointed how camera straps should fit and move on the body. This research resulted in the patent-pending UltraFit Sling Strap (pictured), built with Joby’s exclusive UltraFit Layered-Pad Technology for lightweight support without the bulk of thick padding. The 3-Way Camera Strap offers photographers a versatile and portable solution with three wearing modes: wrist, neck and shoulder. A convenient alternative to wrapping a neck/shoulder strap around the wrist, this compact strap allows shooters to minimize muscle fatigue with multiple ways to support the weight of the camera. The UltraFit Sling Strap is available now for £41. The 3-Way Camera Strap retails for £33.

Olympus UK has announced a new OM-D event. Held from 1pm to 5pm and again from 5.30 to 9.30 on Friday, 23rd November in London, “A different approach” is hosted by fashion photographer Jay Mclaughlin. “This 4-hour workshop challenges some of the misconceptions about successful photography,” the organisers say “With in depth talk, demonstrations and a chance to try out the Olympus OM-D for yourself, this workshop is about changing the way you approach your photography, whatever your level of experience.” The cost of attendance is £25 and every participant will receive a £50 voucher against an OM-D or accessory purchase. The workshop will be held at Murder Mile Studios, Hackney. You can book your place through the website below.

Website: OM-D Event / London

The Fujifilm XF 18-55mm F2.8-4 R LM OIS is a fast standard zoom lens for Fujifilm X-series compact system cameras. Offering a focal range of 27-84mm in 35mm terms, 4 stops of built-in image stabilisation, a compact and lightweight design, 0.1 second auto-focusing and an aperture ring, is the Fujifilm XF 18-55mm F2.8-4 R LM OIS a viable alternative to the XF prime lenses that have been released so far? Read our Fujifilm XF 18-55mm F2.8-4 R LM OIS review to find out...

Ahead of our full review, here are 59 sample JPEG photos and a Full 1080p HD movie taken with the new Pentax K-5 II DSLR camera.

There's also a full ISO range from 80 to 51200 so that you can see exactly what the Pentax K-5 II's new 16.28 megapixel CMOS sensor is capable of.

The Royal Photographic Society (RPS) has put out a call for nominations for its annual Awards. Nominations are sought in a range of categories as photographers in different branches of imaging, photographic scientists, curators, publishers, educators, and those involved with The Society itself.  Award winners will be announced at a special event to be be held in London in September 2013. Nominations are required by 22 February 2013. Full details of each Award and a nomination form can be found on The Society’s website.

Photobucket has launched “Photobucket Stories,” providing users with an easy new way to combine photos and videos into complete, shareable narratives. Once Stories are created, they are easily embeddable on blogs, personal, and brand sites, and can be shared among friends from mobile devices or across Facebook, Twitter and other social networks. “With the addition of Stories, Photobucket continues to deliver on our promise to be the one place for all your photos and videos so you can do everything you want with them,” said Munro. “We’ve already taken the guesswork out of preserving and protecting your memories; but thanks to Stories, you can now add new context and meaning to your adventures, connecting with others in a more complete way than ever before.”

Last night saw the world’s first real time digital photography exhibition, allowing visitors to appreciate the work of three photographers - Lee Strickland, William Daniels and Paul Sullivan -  from the moment the shots were taken. Sony has partnered with three photographers, based in Berlin, London and Paris across Europe, who have been set the creative task of ‘capturing the light’ of their home cities. Each was armed with Sony’s latest NEX-5R camera, complete with built in Wi-Fi allowing them to send photos directly to the gallery in London from their separate locations across Europe. As the night developed, 14 screens on the gallery walls were filled with over 200 images sent through in real time demonstrating parallels and contrasts between each city and the people that live there.

The new Seamless Internet store offers photographers easy access to the tools that they need most, while also providing a creative hub with inspirational resources from the worlds’s finest photographers. Carrying a wide-range of products such as complete studio lighting solutions, exquisite lens filters and more, Seamless offers free shipping all over Europe. “The products that we have on offer are of the highest standard,” says Padraic Deasy, Irish Photographer of the year 2011. “The build, the design and the durability of Seamless accessories puts the necessary tools into the hands of photographers and frees them to achieve their unique vision.””

Nikon today announced that total production of Nikkor lenses for interchangeable lens cameras reached 75 million at the beginning of November 2012. As the 70 millionth Nikkor was manufactured in May, this means that Nikon produced no less than 5 million interchangeable lenses in a matter of only 6 months.

Photoshelter has published a new free ebook entitled Email Marketing for Photographers. “Email marketing is core to helping photographers reach more clients,” says Andrew Fingerman, PhotoShelter Chief Executive Officer. “Use this guide to learn how to engage an audience and stand out in an inbox.” The guide includes 8 email marketing tips direct from photo buyers, 10 questions to ask before hitting the Send button, examples of emails that work and more.

Website: PhotoShelter

On 4th December, Lytro will unveil a new light field technology capability for the Lytro camera, featuring Perspective Shift as well as new creative tools called Living Filters.  Perspective Shift lets Lytro photographers interactively change the point of view in a picture after it has been taken. When pictures are shared to the web, Facebook and Twitter, friends can experience Perspective Shift without needing any special software. Perspective Shift also works retroactively on any light field pictures previously taken with a Lytro camera. Living Filters enable Lytro photographers to apply one of nine interactive filters to their pictures and change the look of the picture based on light field depth. Unlike traditional digital photo filters, Living Filters create additional effects as viewers interact with a picture. These features will be available to customers via a free Lytro Desktop software update.

Photographers spend an awful lot of time looking at a screen, so it's important to choose the right monitor. Is the new Samsung S27B970D Series 9 LED display worth the £750 / $1000 asking price? Find out in our Samsung S27B970D review.

The new Pentax Q10 is a brand new interchangeable lens camera that's as small as a compact yet as full-featured as a DSLR. Read our Pentax Q10 review to find out if this tiny camera is a realistic alternative to a high-end compact or a budget DSLR...

The 54th issue of the free PhotographyBB Online Magazine is now available for download. This edition features stroke-by-stroke photo painting techniques in Photoshop, an essay on the art of multiple exposures, a look at the benefits and drawbacks of High Dynamic Range Photography, a guest article on wide-angle portraiture by Andrew S. Gibson, and more.PhotographyBB Magazine is available for free download through the PhotographyBB website.

Website: PhotographyBB

The American Chemical Society has released a fascinating new video entitled “The Chemical History of Photography.” In the video, produced by Kirk Zamieroski, photo conservation scientist Art Kaplan shows us some samples of early technical processes like daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, and tintypes, along with some other more rare and interesting photographic techniques. “As it turns out, photography was really born out of chemical experimentation in back rooms, completely out of the lab setting,” Kirk says. “Early photography certainly wasn’t know at the time to have been a very daring craft; however photographers were frequently handling toxic and dangerous chemicals without any safety precautions.” Click through / scroll down to watch the video.

Jessops today launched the Winter edition of its Image magazine, available free at Jessops stores across the United Kingdom. This edition features a number of helpful guides and in-depth articles to help customers make the most of their photography at this time of year. The new magazine also features an extensive gift guide and a number of reviews of the latest products from leading manufacturers. Commenting on the latest edition of Image magazine, Sean Emmett, Marketing & E-commerce Director at Jessops says, “As the UK’s leading photography retailer, we are uniquely placed to offer impartial advice and the widest choice of products to our customers.  With technology advancing so quickly, Image magazine offers a quick and easy way for customers to stay up-to-date with the very latest cameras and accessories. This edition acts as a brilliant gift guide that I believe will really help our customers when buying gifts this season.”

Tamron USA has announced the winner of the Tamron USA My Travel Exhibit User Photo Contest. Professional photographer Ian Plant selected “New Mexico” by Terry Mann as the winning exhibit, which featured images taken with the Tamron AF 18-270mm F3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD lens. The winning exhibit can be viewed at the website below.

Akvis has released versaion 5.0 for Windows and MacOS. of its NatureArt image manipulation software. Described by its developers as “an excellent tool for imitating the magnificence of natural phenomena”, Akvis NatureArt lets photographers choose from up to nine nature effects. The new version adds the new Rainbow effect, new presets to the Rain and Water effects, an all-new History Brush tool (Deluxe and Business editions only) plus the also-new Hand and Zoom tools, and compatibility with MacOS X 10.8 and Windows 8. Additionally, the Lightning effect has been considerably improved, and the option to create a new image with a transparent background has been unlocked in the standalone version. The update also incorporates a number of bug fixes. Akvis NatureArt sells for $72 for the Home edition (either Plugin or Standalone, 7 effects), $129 for Home Deluxe (Plugin and Standalone, 9 effects and History Brush), $189 for Business (Plugin and Standalone, 9 effects and History Brush, for commercial use).

Action Cameras has teamed up with Tiffen in a competition to find the best film-making talent in action sports. There will be two rounds of judging – for Round One, a committee of experienced film makers will select five finalists from all the entries and they will receive a GoPro HERO3 Black Edition action camera and a Steadicam Smoothee, a prize worth £528. The finalists will then be judged against each other in Round Two to find the overall winner who will win a prize worth over £3000, comprising a digital SLR camera with kit lens,a Lowel Blender LED light, a Tiffen ND filter kit, a Domke 416 Roller Case and a copy of the Tiffen Dfx 3.0 video plug-in.

Two months after issuing a development notice, Olympus today officially announced the M.Zuiko Digital 17mm f/1.8 lens. Designed for street photographers, this new, fast moderate wide-angle lens for the Micro Four Thirds system features a maximum aperture of f/1.8 plus depth-of-field and distance indicators. These come into play when the lens is set to MF mode, enabling users to utilise the time-honoured technique of zone focusing, which is great news for street photographers. More than a full stop faster than the existing Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 17mm f/2.8 (read review), the new M.Zuiko Digital ED 17mm f/1.8 features the faster MSC (Movie & Stills Compatible) auto focus mechanism. The new M.Zuiko Digital 17mm f/1.8 lens will be available in December, at a price of £449.99/$499.99.

Hands-on photos: Have a look at our gallery of 22 hands-on photos taken at the Photokina show in September.