On 23rd November, an 82-year-old Leica Luxus 1 camera was auctioned at a Bonhams sale in Hong Kong, fetching £603,837 (HK$7,460,000) - a world record for this particular rare Leica model. Jon Baddley, Head of Collectables at Bonhams, said after the auction: “This was the first Leica sale in Hong Kong and the results more than justify our belief in the idea of bringing these wonderful cameras to China which has a rapidly emerging market for vintage cameras. We took a bit of a gamble but it has paid off handsomely.” The Hong Kong sale included over 250 lots of Leica cameras and accessories from two major private collections.

Moleskine has created a very original gift voucher for the upcoming holiday season. Users can send a personalised stop-motion film to someone they love – anywhere in the world. The gift film recipient gets to make their very own Moleskine Photo Book or Album. They can upload photos, images, text and video, share a digital version and invite friends to collaborate on it with them. The stop-motion film itself is easy to make: all you need is an image of yourself and the recipient. You can check out a sample movie at the website below.

Epson has teamed up with Manchester United and renowned photographer Walter Iooss to capture high-resolution images of the team’s star footballers. The photographer was briefed to take studio still shots of some of the biggest names in world football - including Wayne Rooney, Shinji Kagawa, David De Gea and Javier Hernandez - using a Hasselblad H4D-60 digital medium-format camera. Beginning this autumn the images will be rolled out to Epson Group companies worldwide for use in print samples and other promotional materials.

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.”

Issue 21 of Landscape Photography Magazine is now available to download.This edition includes a guide to focus stacking, written by Michael Breitung, a review of four ebooks by David Hay, an interview with William Neill, the portfolios of Austin Thomas, Richard Hurst and Tom Shapira, and much more. Do note that the full contents of Landscape Photography Magazine are available to subscribers only.

PMDA today announced that its fourth annual Portraits of Love Project will launch in November 2012 and aim to provide active US military personnel with free family portraits during the holiday season.  Starting 1 November 2012 and running through 31 January 2013 military families can sign up for a free portrait session hosted by the program’s growing network of photographers. Participants will receive two free 5x7 prints from Shutterfly. Active military families can participate at select USO facilities, military bases hosting on-base sessions and at the Project’s nationwide network of local photography studios.

The tenth issue of Adore Noir Magazine is now available for purchase. Adore Noir is a fine art photography magazine available exclusively in digital format. Featuring beautiful female nudes by Eric Kellerman, first-class street photography by Stan Raucher, an interesting essay by Chad M. Kushins, ethereal X-ray images of plants by Allan Gill, land- and seascapes by Alexei Krasnikov, a striking set of surreal photographs by Tommy Ingberg and portraiture by Russell Monk; this issue reinforces the magazine’s commitment to high-quality black-and-white imagery.. The latest issue of Adore Noir is available for $2.95 from the website below.

Website: Adore Noir

Issue 20 of Landscape Photography Magazine is now available to download. This edition includes a guide to shooting the aurora with Lee Pengelly, a review of David Noton’s book “Full Frame” by David Hay, the portfolios of Anld Heitmann, Jose Sanchez Figueras and Andy Fox, an interview with Jonathan Chritchley, and more. Also, starting this month, LPM will accommodate regular columns from Jonathan Chritchley and Keith Wilson - the latter is the founder of both Outdoor Photography & Black+White Photography magazines. Do note that the full contents of Landscape Photography Magazine are available to subscribers only.

Ilford has announced a major new creative photography project with the Chrome-Camera, a room-sized camera based at the Ilford site in Marly, Switzerland. The finished camera will measure 6m in length, 2.5m in height and 2.5m in width and features a lens specially sourced by German photographer Heino Heimann from Italy. The Chrome-Camera will be used to create prints using direct exposure on Ilfochrome (formerly known as Cibachrome) media, which produces images using a dye destruction positive-to-positive process. “My two great passions in photography are to use my art to push boundaries and to educate the younger generations,” Heimann says. “Therefore the Chrome-Camera project is a fantastic opportunity for me.”

SF Photo School have just released ‘The Big Picture’, a downloadable photography course featuring ten of the United Kingdom’s leading photographers and trainers. The course includes over throrty-five hours of webinars, tutorials and videos on portrait and wedding photography. For a limited time only, this course is availalble for only $147, a 60% discount on the normal price, via the website below.

Issue 19 of Landscape Photography Magazine is now available to download. This edition includes a guide to: macro and close-up photography with Ross Hoddinott, Martin Henson’s thoughts about a hybrid film-digital workflow, a review of the book ‘Joe Cornish, a photographer at work,’ a showcase of photographs by Javier Acosta, Larry Zink and Francesco Gola, an interview with Ross Hoddinott, and more. Do note that the full contents of Landscape Photography Magazine are available to subscribers only.

G-Technology has released the second part of the G-Academy educational series with Sébastien Montaz-Rosset. The programme consists of a series of video workshops that captures filmmakers and photographers at their work and provides behind-the-scenes views of the process. In the second episode of the series, Sébastien Montaz-Rosset takes us through the edit of “Summits of My Life” and explains his creative philosophy. You can watch the full video at the website below.

The ninth issue of Adore Noir Magazine is now available for purchase. Now in its second year, Adore Noir is a fine art photography magazine available exclusively in digital format. Featuring beautiful female nudes by Dennis Mecham, surreal street- and landscapes by Emmanuel Coupe-Kalomiris, dreamlike images taken on a home-made camera by Susan Burnstine. compelling portraits by Olivier Borson, pinhole photography by Jürgen Lechner and lith prints from the Mirage series by Susan de Witt; this issue reinforces the magazine’s commitment to high-quality black-and-white imagery. The latest issue of Adore Noir is available for $2.95 from the website below.

Website: Adore Noir

Issue 18 of Landscape Photography Magazine is now available for download. This edition includes a guide to impressionist photography, an interview with Morag Paterson and Ted Leeming, a new episode of the magazine’s 12-part series with Boris Mar, an article on subjectivity by Guy Tal, useful tips on high-altitude photography, and more. In addition, the magazine now has a section called “Featured Artist.” Note that the full contents of Landscape Photography Magazine are available to subscribers only.

Reuters TV has posted two new videos on robotic camera arms and underwater cameras used at the Olympics. Reuters was the first news organisation to develop remote robotic photographic cameras for sporting events - now the technology is being used at the London Games. In addition, Reuters photographers Wolfgang Rattay and Pawel Kopczynski have developed advanced underwater cameras to shoot swimming competitions nd transmit the images instantly around the globe. The videos below highlight these exciting new technologies.

The website Stadium Journey, which publishes reviews of sports stadiums from around the world, has recently posted an interesting article entitled, “Why the Back Row of a Baseball Stadium is a Photographer’s Dream.” Written by Greg Goodman, the article argues that the “cheap seats” are the best place to photograph a baseball game. Known for his Baseball Stadium Fisheye Tour series, Goodman points out that “[m]ost baseball stadiums have some sort of architectural flair on the roof that makes an incredible border for a photograph.” Interested readers are encouraged to read the piece in its entirety at the website below.

Website: Stadium Journey

Picpack is a new service that allows you to print your Instagram photos on magnets. The Berlin, Germany-based start-up enables Instagram users to select a dozen images from their Instagram feed and order a 12-pack of 5,8cm x 5.8cm fridge magnets featuring their own photographs. A pack of magnets costs €18 including worldwide shipping.

G?Technology today announced that it is expanding its G-TEAM ambassador programme in Europe. The G-Technology G-TEAM is a group of acclaimed creative professionals who “continue to give unprecedented insight into their creative journeys, sharing some of their techniques and approaches that have made them the best in their field.” New ambassadors include accomplished filmmakers Sébastien Montaz-Rosset, Philip Bloom and Nino Leitner.