Nikon today announced its headline sponsorship of the world-renowned Getty Images Gallery in London. Founded in 1996, Getty Images Gallery is London’s largest independent photographic gallery.  The Gallery’s aim is to showcase the most memorable as well as rarely seen imagery, through its programme of exhibitions which are all open to the public throughout the year. Adrian Murrell, Senior Vice President, Getty Editorial said: “We are delighted to welcome Nikon as headline sponsor of the Gallery.  We are very excited about the forthcoming opportunities to partner together and showcase iconic content.”

Kenko-Tokina has acquired the famous French filter manufacturer Cokin SAS. Renowned for its square filter system, Cokin SAS will be renamed Cokin France S.A.S.U. but will remain an independent company keeping its own manufacturing, marketing and worldwide distribution network. Marc Heintz, Cokin’s Director of Sales, said: “Kenko brings to us a strong backing of finance and supply of raw materials, which will allow us to expand and bring new innovative products to the market once again.”

According to two recent reports by Reuters, both Canon and Fujifilm are considering to enter the highly competitive but potentially lucrative compact system camera (CSC) market. Fujifilm - for whom a move like this would also mean a re-entry into the interchangeable-lens camera market at large, which it practically left more than two years ago with the discontinuance of the Fujifilm S5 Pro DSLR - also said it planned to attain the third position in the digital camera market by 2014. Canon’s Masaya Maeda has been quoted as saying that they are “considering the technical aspects” of launching a mirrorless system. He also added that Canon’s camera production has now returned to the level where it had been before the March earthquake forced it to halt manufacturing at its Kyushu plants.

Source: Reuters
Canon considering compact mirrorless camera
Fujifilm aims to be world No. 3 in cameras

Ventizz Capital Fund IV L.P. has agreed to acquire 100 percent of the shares of Hasselblad from Hong Kong-based Shriro Group. Founded in 1941 in Gothenburg, Sweden, Hasselblad has become the world market leader in the field of high-end medium format cameras. The extraordinary quality of the company’s products became famous in 1962 when Hasselblad cameras were selected for NASA space missions, which resulted only a few years later in the first world-renowned images taken on the moon. Shriro, a long-standing Hasselblad distributor in the Asia-Pacific region, has held ownership of the company since 2003.

The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price.

Ricoh has bought Pentax Imaging Systems for $124.2 million / 85 million Euros. The transfer of Pentax Imaging Systems, essentially Pentax digital cameras, will be made by October 1st 2011. Pentax’s other businesses (digital camera modules, DVD pickup lenses, endoscopes, artificial bones, and voice synthesis) will continue to be devloped by Hoya.

Jonathan Martin, General Manager, Pentax Imaging Systems UK said: “Ricoh is globally renowned within the digital camera industry, having successfully brought a range of products to market since its inception in 1939. We are extremely pleased with today’s announcement and see this as the natural next step in the evolution and continued development of the Pentax brand in the UK and abroad. With Ricoh’s involvement we can continue to grow the Pentax business in the UK and ensure we maintain our commitment to provide our customers with innovative, cutting edge, high quality products to suit all camera users.”

Getty Images have announced that photographers Gwenn Dubourthoumieu and Alex Masi, along with communications strategists from GVA Studio and the Bhopal Medical Appeal, have been selected as the recipients of this year’s Getty Images Grants for Good. Created in 2009, the Getty Images Grants for Good were introduced to help nonprofits use the power of imagery to promote positive change in the world and help communicate their stories more effectively. The project that Gwenn Dubourthoumieu and GVA Studio will pursue is called “Raped Lives”, and it aims to create imagery for a sensitisation campaign organised by the nonprofit association Des Femmes pour la Promotion et le Développement Endogène (AFPDE).  The intent is to inform local communities about their rights, influence them to stop discriminating against sexual violence victims and urge the victims to abandon their silence and to take legal action. “Open Wounds – Bhopal 1984 – 2011” is the project proposed by Alex Masi.. This project will document how the deadly legacy of chemical contamination is now affecting children living within the city.

Fujifilm has just announced a television special feature entitled ‘Standing Up, Moving Forward’, which introduces the efforts of all the people involved in relief and reconstruction activities in the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake. The special feature is being broadcast from June 10-12 by Japan International Broadcasting. UK viewers can see the ‘Standing up, Moving Forward’ programmes on NHK (SKY channel 518) today, tomorrow and on Sunday at the times listed in the announcement below.

The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) has confirmed that Nikon UK Limited has become a licensee of London 2012. In addition to producing a licensed range of Sport Optics, including binoculars, telescopes and laser rangefinders for spectators and competitors, Nikon UK has also been appointed as Sole Supplier of Sport Optics for use by officials at a number of Olympic and Paralympic sports including Sailing, Archery, Shooting and Athletics.

Getty Images has announced that it has acquired PicScout, a leader in identifying image use, metadata and licensing information on the web. Getty Images will invest in PicScout’s technology and continue to work across the entire image industry, to improve and expand protection of Intellectual Property, thus ensuring a stronger overall content licensing industry, the company said in a statement. Offir Gutelzon, co-founder and CEO of PicScout added, “The acquisition will make it possible for PicScout to accelerate its position as a market innovator and as one of the world’s largest indexes of owner-identified images. It will allow PicScout to continue its rapid support of content owners and content users, who seek an integrated solution for image identification and use.”

The World Photography Organisation (WPO) and Sony have announced a partnership with Save the Children for the 2011/12 Focus Award. The 2011/12 award will focus on Save the Children’s emergency relief work in order to raise the profile of under-reported emergencies and the importance of the Children’s Emergency Fund in responding immediately to disasters. Jasmine Whitebread, Chief Executive of Save the Children International comments: “Save the Children is delighted to partner with the World Photography Organisation and Sony to draw attention to the millions of children caught up in disasters around the world every year… This partnership will help us raise the profile of ‘forgotten’ emergencies and help save more children’s lives.”

Website: Save the Children

The Romano Archives have published an amazing collection of rare colour footage showing Allied war photographers and cameramen at work during World War II. Founded by Italian historian Vincent Romano, the Romano Archives are dedicated to the digitisation and online distribution of historical documents and records, as well as WW2 newsreels filmed on colour material such as Kodachrome. This compilation features mainly US war photographers and cameramen in action in various theatres of the war, including places like Paris, Iwo Jima and Torgau, Germany, where US Army forces first met with Red Army units coming from the East. The footage shows the varied equipment used by members of the US Army Signal Corps and other Allied war photographers, including 35mm rangefinders and large-format press cameras, as well as a range of motion-picture cameras and accessories.

Click through / scroll down to view the compilation.

Getty Images has announced that entries are now open for the 2011 Grants for Editorial Photography programme. First established in 2004, the Grants for Editorial Photography provides five grants of $20,000 each to provide photojournalists with the funding to pursue projects of personal and journalistic significance. Grants will be awarded by independent judges, including Jon Jones, Emanuela Mirabelli, Cyril Drouhet, Tom Stoddart and Jean-Francois Leroy. For further information, visit the website below.

Leica has issued an appeal to photographers around the world to make a donation for earthquake-stricken Japan. The German company has set up an appeal fund at its head office in Solms and in its representative offices around the world, and is now inviting its fans to make a personal contribution by visiting the website below.

Canon USA have issued a brief statement about the import of their products from Japan. The release states “We are carefully assessing the situation, and its impact on production and operations” and that US Customs are scanning cargo for radiological contamination.

Here are two suggestions for ways to help the Japan Earthquake victims.

What Digital Camera and Amateur Photographer have launched a joint appeal for victims of the Japan Tsunami. They are giving away over £22,000 of camera gear in a premium rate phone draw (UK residents only). Cameras, lenses, printers, accessories and a Charlie Waite picture are up for grabs.

Website: What Digital Camera - Japan Tsunami Appeal

Alternatively, the photographer Wynn White is giving away prints in return for donations. The “Give Help, Get Art” initiative is raising money for the Japanese Earthquake victims - anyone who donates at least $50 through this site will receive a special photographic print from Wynn.

Website: Give Help, Get Art

A group of photographers have got together to run some charity print auctions in aid of the disaster relief effort in Japan, and are now looking for both interested art buyers and more photographers who would be happy to offer some of their work for the cause. Photographers willing to join are required to pay the cost of a single print and list it on eBay for sale. People interested in buying the prints - and help Japan doing so - are also encouraged to visit the project’s website.

Website: Photos for Japan

Samsung today announced a new partnership with iconic record store, Rough Trade East. The partnership with Samsung centres upon the NX digital cameras, namely the NX10, NX11 and NX100. Commenting on the partnership, Stephen Godfroy, Director of Rough Trade, said: “Music and photography have always been inexorably linked, we’re continuing that tradition with a typical Rough Trade DIY ethos, involving staff, audience and artists to capture the magic of a place like Rough Trade East.”

According to media reports, Sony “halted and evacuated” half a dozen manufacturing plants in north-eastern Japan after the country was hit by a massive earthquake and a giant tidal wave. Bloomberg reports that Panasonic is busy sizing up the damage to its own factories, while Canon’s facilities apparently managed to escape major devastation. Meanwhile, Thom Hogan points out that Nikon’s professional camera body manufacturing plant is located in the immediate vicinity of the Sendai airport, known for being struck by the tsunami that ensued after the main quake - although he adds that the factory itself was “not significantly affected”.

The parent company of Manfrotto, Vitec, has acquired the lighting company Lastolite for £8.75 million. The acquisition is designed to complement Vitec’s existing range of Manfrotto lighting supports and LED lights with lighting control accessories.Lastolite specializes in lighting control accessories and backgrounds for the photo, video and cinema industry.

In 2010, the global digital camera market grew by a healthy 14.7% after contracting by 11.6% in 2009 due to the world economic crisis. Shipments of compact digicams increased by 13.2% versus the previous year, easily exceeding CIPA’s modest forecast of 3%. System camera shipments - including DSLRs, CSCs and interchangeable-unit cameras - grew by a whopping 30.0% (again exceeding the CIPA forecast of 11.1%). The market of photographic lenses expanded by 34.8% in terms of volume. For 2011, CIPA forecasts a total market growth of 7.8%.