Photo and fine art printing lab theprintspace has added Canson Baryta Photographique and Canson Arches Aquarelle Rag to its range of print papers. Canson Baryta is an alpha-cellulose, acid-free pure white museum grade paper, whilst Canson Rag (pictured) is a highly textured paper, with a slightly warm off white base and one of the highest Dmax possible, allowing it to achieve maximum blacks.

WD today introduced its My Book Studio Edition II dual-drive storage system with 6 terabytes of storage and a quad interface offering FireWire 800, FireWire 400, eSATA and USB 2.0 connectivity. Other features include a capacity gauge to see at a glance how much space is available on the system, user replaceable drives, eco-friendly operation and continuous automatic backup thanks to bundled software. Formatted for Mac computers, the WD My Book Studio Edition II 6TB drive comes with a 5-year limited warranty at a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $549.99. The drive can be re-formatted for Windows 7 / Vista.

Acme Made just announced two protective camera bags. The new Union Photo line of camera bags includes the Union Kit Messenger and the Union Ultra-Zoom. The Union Kit Messenger offers the comfort of a larger messenger bag without the bulk, while the compact Union Ultra-Zoom is a durable shoulder bag created to protect superzooms and compact system cameras. The Union Kit Messenger is available from 1st April and the Union Ultra-Zoom is available now through acmemade.com for $29.99 and $44.99, respectively.

Think Tank Photo just released five holders and pouches for small accessories. These include the Credential Holder, the AA Battery Holder (pictured), the Passport Holder, and the Large and Small Travel Pouches. Priced from $9.50 to $25.00, the new products are available now through the Think Tank Photo website.

Website: Think Tank Photo

Lexar is now shipping the 128GB SDXC memory card. The Professional SDXC cards offer a Class 10 speed rating with a minimum guaranteed speed of 133x, or 20MB per second. The 64GB and 128GB Lexar Professional SDXC memory cards are available now for $199.99 and $329.99 respectively.

The Lastolite Hotrod Octa Softbox is for use with battery operated flashguns. The simple assembly means that the flashgun simply slides into a shoe mount attached to the adapter plate. The Octas are available in two different sizes and feature an inner diffusion panel and adapter plate with rods which supports the weight of the softbox. Available in two sizes, 70cm and 90cm, the Hotrod Octa Softbox is available now at £150 and £168.

JTec have launched a cold shoe adapter for mounting an optical viewfinder, a camera plate, and an L-bracket for the Sony NEX-5 camera. The JTec cold shoe adapter allows you to use the NEX-5 with your favorite prime lens (with appropriate adapter) and an optical viewfinder. The camera plate and L-bracket allow the NEX-5 to be mounted to any Arca Swiss style tripod head, and makes convenient landscape panoramas possible. The cold show adapter costs $59.95, the camera plate $44.95 and the L-bracket $119.95.

Kenro, the official UK and Ireland distributor for the Benro range of tripods, has announced a number of new additions to the range. These include three new Flat Traveller tripods that feature a unique design that changes the traditional tripod model of triangular profiles and adopts instead a flat unified connecting hub, which contributes to its compact size and ultra-portability when folded; a new Travel Angel model that offers the same great features of the standard Travel Angel, plus the ability to convert from a full size tripod into a compact monopod quickly and easily; and two new kits including the Aluminium Universal Flip Lock Tripod with 3 Way Pan and Tilt Head and the Aluminium Universal Flip Lock Tripod with BH Hea.

Hama has announced a compact LED panel for video-enabled DSLR cameras. “It’s approximately the size of a pack of cigarettes, and its two-centimetre depth is sufficient to hold 40 dimmable daylight LEDs,” the company says. Powered by 3 AAA batteries, the Hama LED lamp has an operating time of one hour and is available for €129.

Taking inspiration from manual-focus AI, AI-s and pre-AI Nikkor lenses, photographic.ly has created a fun new wristband for photographers, featuring f-stops from f/1.4 to f/16 using the original colour codes. (The colour coding system, which involved consistent use of specific colours on the aperture rings and DOF scales of every manual-focus Nikkor lens, was invented in order to help users quickly estimate the depth of field at any given aperture setting.) “This silicone writsband is a fantastic way to both display your love of photography and your love of photographic history,” says David Schloss, Executive Director at MacCreate/Photographic.ly. Priced at $8.49, the Nikkor-inspired f-stop bracelet ships from the US to “anywhere on the planet” for a fixed cost of $0.99. The sale of each wristband generates twenty-cents for SPCA International.

Website: Photographic.ly

Panasonic has announced a range of new SDHC UHS-I Memory Cards with read and write speeds of up to 95MB/s and 80MB/s, respectively. The new Gold cards will be globally introduced in April 2011 with 8 GB, 16 GB, and 32 GB capacities. Pricing to be announced.

Lastolite has just launched the new Hotrod Strip Softbox. Available in two sizes, 30cmx120cm and 40cmx120cm, the Hotrod Strip Softbox has been designed for use with battery-operated flash units and features a ‘cold shoe’ for simple flash attachment. The smaller version costs £120, whilst the bigger one is available for £132 including VAT.

Apple has unveiled the iPad 2. Incorporating a dual-core Apple A5 processor that’s up to two times faster than the one in the original iPad, the new iPad 2 is 33% thinner and up to 15% lighter than its predecessor, and features both a front- and a back-facing camera.for capturing video and stills. Like the previous version, the Apple iPad 2 sports a 9.7” LED-backlit glossy widescreen Multi-Touch display with a resolution of 1024x768 pixels, and will be available from 11th March in the US, starting at $499 for the 16GB Wi-Fi variant. Coinciding with the US launch, Apple is releasing a new iPad version of its iMovie video editing software, priced at $4.99. The tablet will go on sale in 26 other countries, including the UK, on 25th March.

The Eizo ColorEdge CG275W is a 27-inch self-calibrating monitor for professionals in prepress, digital photography, graphic design, video editing and post-production. Featuring a built-in calibration sensor, the Eizo ColorEdge CG275W can be scheduled to self-calibrate outside of work hours when the computer is turned off. The monitor has a native resolution is 2560x1440 pixels, maximum brightness of 270 cd/m2, contrast ratio of 850:1, 6 ms gray-to-gray response time, and 178° viewing angles. The ColorEdge CG275W will begin shipping in late March.

Lowepro has recently unveiled the CompuDay Photo series, consisting of the CompuDay Photo 250 backpack and CompuDay Photo 150 messenger bag.Dedicated space in both the backpack and messenger bag provide protective storage for a compact DSLR with attached kit lens, up to a 15.6? laptop, plus accessories. The CompuDay Photo 250 backpack features a SlipLock loop on each shoulder strap to expand carrying capacity with any Lowepro SlipLock compatible case or pouch; and a rain-flap lid to provide extra protection from moisture. The CompuDay Photo 150 messenger bag offers distinctive features such as its under-the-flap rain gussets to help protect the main compartment from moisture when fully closed and quick-release buckles for fast access. Both bags are available in black starting 15 March 2011.

Camtrol is a new stabilising platform for cameras and camcorders, allowing almost endless ways to position your rig. Its patented ergonomic grip, known as the Action Control Grip, has an accessory attachment post which accepts a variety of accessories, while the cushioned platform takes shock away from the camera and reduces vibration. Camtrol comes in a variety of kits and configurations priced from $399.99 to $489.95. Various additional accessories are available for $19.95-$99.00.

The Sony Microvault Style is a new ultra-compact USB flash drive. Available from March in capacities of 4GB, 8GB and 16GB, the Sony Microvault Style comes in a choice of white, pink and lime green. The smart new ‘capless’ design slides straight into your PC’s USB port and ensures a perfect fit for reliable storage and data transfer, the company says. Registered Microvault Style owners are entitled to free software downloads including File Rescue - a program that recovers accidentally damaged or deleted files - and x-Pict Story, an application for creating slideshows.

Sony has announced a new 1/2.3 type imaging chip that can capture 12-megapixel still images at up to 42 frames per second. The Sony IMX078CQK imager is a 12.40-megapixel back-illuminated CMOS sensor developed for consumer digital still cameras. “The IMX078CQK achieves still imaging with both high sensitivity and high resolution as well as full HD video imaging,” Sony says. Furthermore, it will expand the possibilities for expressive imaging provided by digital still cameras.” Given the small, 1.55 ?m pixel pitch we are a bit doubtful about the sensor’s performance in the noise department, but we’ll reserve judgment until the chip appears in an actual product.

Source: Sony.NET via 1001NoisyCameras

Stealth Gear is launching a range of gloves for professional outdoor photographers in the UK. “During our market research we found that very few outlets both online and on the high-street offered photographers gloves which have been designed by the professionals,” says Craig Derbyshire, managing director of Stealth Gear. “We have worked closely with a range of photographers and we have taken on board their feedback, so we are expecting them to be extremely popular.” Priced at £39.95, the Stealth Gear photographers’ gloves are claimed to give photographers the right balance between warmth and camera control.

The new “Little Big Disk” from LaCie is the first in a range of storage and peripherals solutions from LaCie that feature the all-new Thunderbolt technology, developed by Intel and brought to market in collaboration with Apple. Promising ultra-fast data transfer speeds and “workstation-class” power and functionality in compact devices, Thunderbolt technology allows faster content editing than ever before, and facilitates complete system backups in minutes. Available by summer 2011 from the LaCie Online Store, the LaCie Little Big Disk takes advantage of this technology to store and back up large video files and entire photo galleries.