Exchange an old broncolor power pack or an old flash unit of another brand, and receive a 30% special discount when purchasing from the range of Broncolor power packs. Choose between the Grafit A2/A4, Topas A2/A4 and Verso A2/A4 with Power Dock or the radio-controlled RFS version. This special promotional offer is valid from October 1st 2007 to December 15th 2007 only.

CameraTown have reviewed the TrekPod GO!, a combination tripod, monopod, and walking staff by Trek-Tech.

“The Trekpod Go! is a combination Walking staff, Monopod, and Tripod designed to support cameras, spotting scopes, binoculars, and virtually any tripod-mountable device (lights, mic’s, range finders, etc.) up to 9 pounds. This new updated model incorporates many changes that were requested by users of the original TrekPod.  Is the new TrekPod worth a step-up in price?  Read the review over at Cameratown.com to find out.”

Website: CameraTown - TrekPod GO! Review

The Epson R1900 printer produces durable, superior quality, Hi-Definition photos up to A3+ on a wide range of media. The R1900 includes groundbreaking image processing algorithms and a new formulation of Epson UltraChrome Hi-Gloss Ink technology. UltraChrome Hi-Gloss2 offers a wider colour gamut, natural skin tones and consistent colour with a smooth gloss finish. The Epson R1900 prints onto glossy, matte and fine art paper in cut-sheet and roll format and directly onto printable CD’s and DVD’s. The Epson R1900 will cost £399.99, available November 2007. The Epson R1900 will be available in the first quarter of 2008 in the US for $549.99.

Sigma have released a new firmware update, v1.05, for the Sigma SD14 DSLR camera. Improvements include:

1. ISO 50 has been added into Extended Mode.
2. Improved stability of the camera’s operation.

Website: Sigma SD14 v1.05 Firmware Update

Steves Digicams have reviewed the Canon PowerShot SD950 IS digital camera, which features a 12.1 megapixel sensor and 3.7x image stabilised lens.

“When shooting outdoors, the SD950 captures beautiful images with good exposure and rich colors, in both Large Fine and Large SuperFine modes. Images are also sharp, however, I did notice a bit of noise when shooting with an ISO of 200, but not enough to affect a printed photograph. Just keep in mind that as you increase the ISO you will also increase the noise in this photograph. Image quality was what I expected from a Canon model, excellent, with only slight barrel distortion and slight chromatic aberrations (purple fringing) on the edge of some light and dark areas.”

Website: Steves Digicams - Canon PowerShot SD950 IS Review

Website: Read our Canon PowerShot SD950 IS Review

CNET have reviewed the new Kodak M853 camera which has an 8 megapixel sensor and 3x optical zoom lens.

“Unfortunately, when the light isn’t perfect the M853 doesn’t do so well. It’s been a while since we encountered a camera that suffered from serious shutter lag, the bane of digital compacts in days gone by. But the M853 has a real problem in low light. Don’t expect any night-time action shots, because when the lights go down the autofocus takes its time hunting around and the shutter lag is noticeable.”

Website: CNET - Kodak M853 Review

ACDSee 10 Photo Manager is the latest version of the popular photo organization and sharing software. New features include seamless integration with photo sharing sites such as Flickr and SmugMug, real-time viewing, and management and editing of multiple image files. “The pace of sharing images moves faster as technology advances. People want easy-to-use tools to organize, edit and share files. ACDSee 10 is designed to make it simple to manage growing digital image libraries, share photos with friends and family and explore creative possibilities.” said Mark Franklin, executive vice president of ACD Systems. ACDSee 10 Photo Manager is available for a free 30-day trial and for purchase for $49.99.

JAlbum, the popular web photo album software, now offers a free hosting alternative for your pictures. Three million people have used JAlbum to create eight million published albums. The free hosting account holds 30MB and 200 pictures. “This is a big step for JAlbum, enabling anyone to publish web albums. I believe people who care about the appearance of their photo albums will find JAlbum a great fit for their needs”, says founder David Ekholm.

DSLR Remote Pro v1.5 introduces Remote Live View with Autofocus for the Canon EOS 40D and 1D Mark III cameras. DSLR Remote Pro can now autofocus the 40D and 1D Mark III from a PC using a contrast detection algorithm on the large remote live view display. This release is a free upgrade for all registered users who purchased a license within the last year. DSLR Remote Pro 1.5 costs $95 and is available now.

Megapixel.net have reviewed the new Pentax T30 compact digital camera, which features 7.1 megapixels, a 3 inch touch-screen LCD display, Face Recognition Auto Focus and Auto Exposure, plus a high ISO Digital Shake Reduction mode.

“Noise and compression combine to limit the size of prints that can be produced from the Optio T30’s images, as large size prints can reveal artefacts. Nevertheless, with its 7 megapixel CCD, the Pentax Optio T30 yields images that can be printed out to a 4 x 6 inch (10 x 15 cm) size without any difficulty. The colour saturation is well-suited to prints and, at such a standard size, images are quite detailed.”

Website: Megapixel.net - Pentax T30 Review

CNET have reviewed the Epson PictureMate Dash (also known as the PM 260) compact photo printer, which can produce a 10x15cm borderless lab-quality photo in just 37 seconds.

“As we played with the printer, we had really high hopes: It’s jam-packed with great features, it’s easy to use, and it blew away the $100 competition in CNET Labs’ speed test. But (and it’s a big but), the picture quality was very disappointing. If you’re after the most features in a snapshot printer, this is the one you should get—just go into it knowing you won’t get the best prints available.”

Website: CNET - Epson PictureMate Dash Review

TrustedReviews have reviewed the BenQ E1000 digital camera, which features a 10 megapixel sensor, 3 inch LCD screen and 3x zoom lens.

“Picture quality is, on the whole, surprisingly good for a budget camera. Exposure, dynamic range and colour rendition are excellent, and the overall level of detail isn’t bad either. The lens quality is less than perfect, producing fairly massive barrel distortion at the wide end of the zoom range, and some chromatic aberration as well. It could also be a bit sharper. Another surprise is noise control, which is pretty good. Although there is some colour noise visible at ISO 200, image quality remains good up to ISO 800, although it does break down quite badly at ISO 1200 and 1600, with image noise and visible banding.”

Website: TrustedReviews - BenQ E1000 Review

The Pentax 18-250mm F3.5-6.3 lens offers a 14x zoom ratio covering everything from wide-angle landscapes to close-up sporting events and wildlife photography. Exclusively designed for use with Pentax digital SLR cameras, the 18-250mm F3.5-6.3 lens has a focal length of 27.5mm - 383mm. The Pentax 18-250mm F3.5-6.3 lens will ship in October for US $499.95.

The Pentax V10 is a new compact digital camera with an 8 megapixel sensor, 3x optical zoom lens and 3 inch LCD monitor. The V10 has an an ultra-slim, high quality aluminum alloy body of just ¾ of an inch (19mm) thick. Auto Picture mode lets the Pentax V10 automatically determine the shooting conditions for Landscape, Portrait, Night Scene, and Normal modes The Pentax V10 will ship in November for $249.95.

The Pentax A40 is a new compact digital camera offering 12 megapixels, 2.5 inch LCD monitor and 3x optical zoom lens. The Pentax A40 features three types of Shake Reduction including mechanical, digital and movie. The A40 also offers new Face Recognition technology including a Natural Skin Tone mode and a Half-length Portrait mode, which automatically takes a head and shoulder photograph of subjects. The Pentax A40 will ship in October 2007 for US $299.95.

The winners of the September 2007 PhotographyBLOG Competition have been selected by a panel of judges. The theme for September was “Red” - you can view all of the entries in this gallery. Here are the 5 winners:

1st Place
Simply Red by donmac

Prize: ShutterPoint.com one-year subscription with 100Mb of storage space
Kindly donated by ShutterPoint.
http://www.shutterpoint.com

The Kata Digital Photo System is a new range of camera bags aimed at enthusiast and amateur photographers. Each bag is made using carefully selected materials for the ultimate blend of abrasion and weather resistance. The Kata Digital Photo System includes a complete range inclusive of backpacks, shoulder bags and pouches. There are two backpacks - the Kata DR-465 DR-467 - priced £54.95 and £79.95 respectively, along with seven shoulder bags starting from £21.95. Six pouches for digital compact cameras complete the full Digital Photo System range, which is available now from all good photo stores.

The BenQ X735 is a 7 megapixel digital camera with a 3x zoom lens and 2.5 inch LCD display. The BenQ X735’s face tracking function automatically detects and tracks up to nine human faces. 29 different scene modes are on offer, including manual mode, S.S.F (Super Shake Free) mode, portrait mode and night scene mode. Video can be recorded with optical zoom in MPEG 4 format at 640 x 480 at 30 fps. Available in red and black, the BenQ X735 will be available in Latin America, Europe and Asia Pacific starting early October.

Exposure 2 from Alien Skin Software is a new film stock simulator and effects package. Exposure 2 lets photographers enhance any digital photo by simulating the rich, organic look of film. Exposure 2 features more than 300 presets, including Velvia, Portra, infrared and Polaroid. Exposure 2’s grain simulation models the size, shape, and color of real world grain. Exposure 2 sells for $249 USD with an upgrade price of $149 USD for registered users of Exposure 1.

The second Young Fashion Photographer of the Year invites budding 16-25 year old fashion photographers from the UK to interpret “Cool Britannia”. A panel of judges will choose the ten best entries whose work will then be displayed at Clothes Show Live 2007. The overall winner will receive £2000 prize money, a one week placement with a top photographer, £1000 worth of Nikon photographic equipment and a VIP lunch at the show for the winner and 3 friends. Clothes Show Live 2007 runs from 7th – 12th December 2007 at the Birmingham NEC.