Inventor Thomas Larson has launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for a highly portable stick-on macro lens for cell phones. Available in two versions, offering 4x and 8x magnification, the MPL Macro conversion lens comes in a convenient coin-sized case, and enables users to take compelling close-up shots with their smartphone's built-in camera. Compatible with nearly all phones and tablets, the universal MPL Macro lens attaches to your smart device without any adhesives. "This is a project I started as an undergrad two years ago, and have been able to finance solely through crowdfunding and direct sales (no investors or grants)," Thomas says. "I use the extra funds from crowdfunding and sales to work on less commercially viable mobile microscopes that I hope will have an impact on education and world health." Interested readers are encouraged to pay a visit to the project's Kickstarter page.

Kodak Alaris has introduced a canvas texture photographic paper which enables pro labs to produce luxurious prints with a canvas look and feel. Additionally, the new Kodak Professional Endura Premier Canvas Paper can also be used to create enlargements, photo gifts and a classic surface for books. The emulsion used for the canvas paper creates accurate and natural looking skin tones and increases the colour gamut for stronger, brighter and more vibrant colours including clean whites and rich blacks.“We continually strive to create new products in response to user demand. With the growing trend of wall art and photo books, we saw an opportunity to offer a canvas texture paper which combines the premium quality of silver halide paper, but looks like canvas,” said Lee Palmer, General Manager & Vice President Kodak Alaris Imaging-Consumer, EAMER. “Kodak Professional Endura Premier Canvas Paper has received a very positive response from a number of customers who are highlighting it as part of their new product catalogue.”

DJI have launched the DJI Manifold, a high-performance embedded computer designed specifically for photo/video drones. “With the Manifold, we are entering a new era of smarter, faster and more powerful aerial platforms. Manifold opens up for aerial and ground technology to intelligently work together to solve complex problems,” said Michael Perry, DJI’s Director of Strategic Partnerships. “We are excited to see what applications our developer community will come up with for this new platform.” The Manifold runs on Canonical’s Ubuntu operating system and supports CUDA, OpenCV and ROS. With a Quad-core ARM Cortex A-15 Processor and an NVIDIA Kepler-based GPU, the Manifold provides powerful image processing and efficient parallel computing.Equipped with USB, Ethernet, HDMI and a variety of other connection ports, it enables the use of a wide range of sensors, monitors or interfaces. The Manifold is available globally for purchase from the Official DJI Online Store for GBP 409.

Manfrotto has announced the BeFree One, the most compact travel tripod in the BeFree range. Outfitted with an ultra-compact aluminium ball head and quick-release plate, the Manfrotto BeFree One features sturdy aluminium leg locks, a patented leg angle selector and foldable legs for easy transport. Offering a load capacity of 2.5kg, the 4-section BeFree One folds down to 32cm from a maximum height of 130cm. The tripod is available in three colours, priced at £124.95 including a padded shoulder bag.

Manfrotto has announced Lastolite By Manfrotto, a co-branding project that will involve Lastolite’s entire range of products. This project kicks off with the launch of the Ezybox Speed-Lite 2 mini softbox (£49.99, pictured) and three new collapsible perspective backgrounds (£169.99) - Stone Steps/Winter Trees, Stone Archway/Grecian Steps and Evening Street/Ivy Archway. The light and easy-to-use Ezybox Speed-Lite 2 is an improved version of the existing Ezybox Speed-Lite. Featuring removable internal and external diffusers, the Ezybox Speed-Lite 2 is suitable for on- and off camera use and weighs approximately 30% less than its predecessor. A new silicone strap and ratchet knob allows users to customise the fitting according to their specific flash unit, ensuring a secure fit.

Colour Confidence today announced the UK and European availability of the Rogue FlashBender 2 Mirrorless Soft Box Kit. Specifically designed for small flashguns typically used with compact system cameras - such as the Nikon SB500, the Nissin i40 and the Olympus FL-600R -, the new FlashBender 2 Mirrorless Soft Box Kit includes a FlashBender 2 Micro Shapeable Reflector and a Micro Diffusion Panel. The kit has been optimised to handle the light output from smaller flash units. The Rogue FlashBender 2 Mirrorless Soft Box Kit is available for £39.95
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Tenba has introduced a new collection of canvas and leather bags outfitted with Tenba’s exclusive Quiet Velcro strips. Made from soft cotton canvas with full grain leather trim, Cooper materials have been carefully selected for their balance of style, strength and light weight. The peach-wax cotton canvas exterior has been specially coated to provide excellent water repellency, and it has been backed with an ultra light silicone-coated ripstop nylon liner. Cooper bags come in four sizes to fit everything from compact system cameras with an iPad mini, up to large SLRs with a 15-inch laptop. The Cooper 13 Slim is a unique configuration, built to protect a pro mirrorless camera system and still allow space for video accessories like microphones and a sound recorder. Pricing starts at $169.95 for the smallest model.

Available in two sizes, the Rival photo backpack is the flagship product in Ikigai's new camera bag line. In addition to its sleek looks and functionality, the Rival’s innovative defining feature and ‘inner strength’ is its removable, configurable camera cell. This provides added protection for your camera gear and allows you to easily switch backpacks without having to unpack and reload your equipment. The Medium Rival ($299.99/£269.99) and Large Rival ($349.99/£299.99) are available online and from select camera retailers.

X-Rite is launching two new products in its ColorChecker series of calibration targets. The new ColorChecker Video and ColorChecker Passport Video reduce video editing time, improve colour balance control, make it easier to match multiple cameras and simplify editing for mixed lighting conditions. The pocket-sized X-Rite ColorChecker Passport Video ((£126)) comes in a rugged hard case, and includes four different targets - a colour reference card, a white balance tool, a three-step greyscale target and a focus calibratio tool. The X-Rite ColorChecker Video (£110) offers a larger form factor and includes 2 series of greyscale patches, a range of skin tone patches, a series of saturated and desaturated chromatic colours, and a full-size white balance target on the reverse side.

Epson has launched a new Legacy Paper line. Designed in collaboration with many of the world’s greatest artists, the Epson Legacy Paper line produces outstanding black density and colour fidelity, along with exceptional archival properties required for collectible works of fine art. “Collaborating with a team of the industry’s leading photographers and fine artists, Epson handpicked the finest papermakers to develop and produce this new line of paper,” said Jeffrey Smith, product manager, Professional Imaging, Epson America. “Crafted in revered European paper mills, the Legacy Papers bring together all the treasured experience of old world handcraftsmanship with the latest technology, to produce the world’s finest, most beautiful papers.” The first four products in the new range include the Epson Legacy Platine, Legacy Fibre, Legacy Baryta and Legacy Etching papers, which are currently being shown in a gallery at Epson’s booth (#707) at PhotoPlus Expo at the Javits Center in NYC.

Shenyang Zhongyi Optics have launched version II of their Lens Turbo Adapters for Micro Four Thirds (MFT) cameras. Boasting a redesigned optical construction and improved lens coatings, the new adapter allows Canon's and Nikon's full-frame lenses to be mounted onto Micro Four Thirds cameras with a wider angle of view and faster aperture. With the adapter attached, the 2x "crop factor" of MFT cameras is modified by a factor of 0.762x for a combined figure of 1.524, causing these cameras to behave a lot like APS-C models. The new Nikon version of the adapter features a silver aperture ring, enabling users to control the iris of Nikon G lenses, which lack an aperture collar of their own. Priced at $149, the new Zhongyi Turbo Lens Adapter II will become available in November 2015.

LPA Design has announced the PocketWizard Plus IV Transceiver. The new model includes all the features of the Plus III and adds key new functionality. When used as a transmitter, its top shoe provides on-camera TTL compatibility with most Canon, Nikon and Panasonic cameras and flashes. “Photographers love the Plus III, but they’ve expressed their desire for a Plus III with a top shoe,” says Heather Ambrose, PocketWizard Marketing Manager. “So we designed one. We took it a step further and added TTL pass-through for an on-camera flash, and a metal foot. It’s like a Plus III on its side, with the most-requested features added in.” When used as a receiver, you can easily mount and trigger virtually any speedlight in the shoe, set to a manual power level. The new Plus IV is currently on show at the PocketWizard Booth (#663) at PhotoPlus 2015. The product is expected to be available at retail in January 2016.

Think Tank Photo have just announced Lily Deanne, the first camera bags they have ever designed specifically for women photographers. The new bags were created by the company's co-founder, Pulitzer Prize-winner Deanne Fitzmaurice, and long-time Think Tank designer Lily Fisher. The range comprises three models - Lucido, Mezzo and Tutto. The Lily Deanne Lucido holds one standard size DSLR with one to three lenses and accessories and an 8” tablet. The Lily Deanne Mezzo fits one standard-size DSLR with mid-range zoom attached, plus two to three additional lenses and a 10” tablet or 11” laptop. The Lily Deanne Tutto accommodates one gripped DSLR with mid-range zoom lens attached and two to five additional lenses and 2 flashes, or one standard-size DSLR with 70-200mm f/2.8 attached and two to five lenses in its main compartment and 2 flashes, and a 15” laptop.

Lensbaby has announced the new Composer Pro II with Edge 50 Optic. Introduced at PhotoPlus Expo 2015, the Lesnbaby Composer Pro II with Edge 50 Optic is a high-quality, 50mm f/3.2 upgraded metal-bodied tilt lens providing a sharp slice of focus bordered by silky, smooth blur. The lens body swivels and tilts on a smooth metal ball and socket design, and is compatible with the Lensbaby Optic Swap System, allowing users to swap optics in and out of the Composer Pro II lens body to change effect and focal length. The Composer Pro II with Edge 50 Optic retails for $424.95 and is available for Canon EF, Nikon F, Sony Alpha A, Pentax K, Fuji X, Sony Alpha E, Micro 4/3rds, and Samsung NX.

Fujifilm have announced a new weather-resistant teleconverter for their X-mount compact system cameras. The Fujinon XF1.4x TC WR is capable of multiplying the focal length of compatible lensesby 1.4x. When mounted, the teleconverter reduces the lens’ brightness by one f-stop, however its optical design constructed of 7 elements in 3 groups maintains the optical performance of the original lens. The camera’s auto focus performance is unaffected by the addition of the teleconverter. The Fujinon XF1.4x TC WR will go on sale next month, priced at £329.

Gary Fong today launched a new Dramatic Lighting Kit, which includes two Speed Snoots, two PowerGrids, a Coloured Gel Kit, and a custom Gary Fong Gear Bag. The Speed Snoots boast a newly designed mounting system for quick, easy attaching and detaching along with a collapsible design for easy storage. The Speed Snoots block light spill, allowing photographers complete control of the light emitted by off-camera flashes. The Dramatic Lighting Kit is offered exclusively on the Gary Fong e-store and is available for $119.95.

Fotodiox Pro has announced four new models in its expanding Sharkcage line of custom-fit, fully-configurable camera cages. Designed for the Panasonic GH4, the Samsung NX1, the Sony A7, A7R and A7S, and the Sony A7 II and A7R II compact system cameras; the new Sharkcages are crafted entirely from aluminium and are available in Samurai Silver and Pitch Black. “Similar to our Sharkcage model for the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera, these new models come equipped with tons of accessory mounts, an integrated cable pinch system and a complete rod mounting system - everything you need to transform your camera into a powerful, portable video production powerhouse,” said Bohus Blahut, product consultant and marketing director for Fotodiox. “What’s more, because our camera-specific designs mirror the silhouette of each camera, all of the flexibility of a much larger rig system fits into a more efficient and compact footprint.”The complete Sharkcage camera cage kits are available now for $329.95 each.

Elinchrom has announced a new Quadra flash head for the ELB 400 and all previous generations of Quadra packs, featuring a new Hi-Sync mode. The Quadra HS Head is a powerful, full-functioning minaturised flash head weighing only 0.28kg and integrating a daylight balanced LED modelling lamp that produces the equivalent of 50W of Tungsten light output. The HS designation denotes the unit's compatibility with High-Sync flash photography, especially in combination with the also-new EL-Skyport Transmitter Plus HS radio trigger. When used with the ELB400 battery pack (also pictured above), the Elinchrom Quadra HS can output a maximum of 424Ws of power for a guide number of 90 (in metres at ISO100/21°, with a 48° reflector fitted). Pricing for the new Elinchrom flash head has yet to be communicated.

The EL-Skyport Plus HS is Elinchrom's most advanced Skyport flash trigger to date. The large LCD display of the Skyport HS features two-way control via a new Visual Feedback Interface that lets you see the exact power of every light in your setup right on the transmitter. Users control each light’s power level and modeling lamp setting directly from the Skyport transmitter, which instantly shows the updated power settings. Additionally, the transmitter offers a HiSync mode giving users access to sync speeds up to 1/8000s to freeze motion, overpower the sun, darken backgrounds or use a wider aperture when used in combination with the also-new Elinchrom Quadra HS flash head. The Skyport HS is also compatible with Elinchrom's three previous generations of flash units (including the EL- Skyport Transceiver RX module for Style RX, Digital RX, and Ranger RX systems, and the integrated EL-Skyport modules for the BRX, D-Lite RX, ELC Pro HD, and ELB series.) Offering a working range of up to 200 feet, the EL-Skyport Transmitter Plus HS is currently available for Canon and Nikon for $249.95 / €249.00 / £199.00.

WANDRD have officially launched their Kickstarter campaign for the PRVKE (pronounced "provoke") Pack, a purpose-built backpack designed for photographers, hikers and travellers. With multiple access points throughout the pack - a roll-down top load, clamshell zipper for easy packing, and a side-access zipper to the camera compartment - every segment of the interior storage space is easily accessible. Fully-loaded for a day of shooting, the PRVKE Pack has capacity for an SLR camera, up to eight lenses and other accessories, and a 13”-17” laptop. Offering "massive savings" from anticipated retail pricing, Kickstarter backer packages start at $195, and backers can expect delivery around April 2016.