Sigma 17-70mm HSM and Sigma 18-50mm HSM (Hyper Sonic Motor) lenses provide quiet and high-speed auto-focusing for all Nikon DSLR cameras. The Sigma 17-70mm F2.8-4.5 DC MACRO HSM has a minimum focusing distance of 20cm (7.9”) throughout the entire zoom range. The Sigma 18-50mm F2.8 EX DC MACRO HSM has a large aperture of F2.8 and a minimum focusing distance of 20cm. The Sigma 17-70mm HSM lens costs £289.99, and the Sigma 18-50mm HSM lens £389.99.

Nikon, a world leader in cameras, imaging and optics, was founded on July 25th, 1917. Nikon is introducing a special 90th Anniversary logo as part of the birthday celebration. “Nikon has maintained an unwavering commitment to the study of light with the corporate philosophy, ‘Trustworthiness and Creativity’,” said Michio Kariya, President of Nikon Corporation.

The Olympus E-410 is a 10 megapixel DSLR camera based on the Four Thirds standard. Marketed as the ultimate ‘travel’ DSLR, the E-410 weighs just 375 g (body only) and a measures 129.5 x 91 x 53 mm. The Olympus E410 features Live Preview, which allows you to frame the shot through the camera’s 2.5 inch LCD screen, in addition to using the more traditional optical viewfinder. The Olympus E-410 also offers a new image processing engine, 32 shooting modes and Supersonic Wave Filter. Is this the best Olympus DSLR camera yet? Gavin Stoker finds out.

Website: Olympus E-410 Review

Tripods are not exactly the most exciting photography product that springs to mind. Dependable, yes. Very useful, certainly. Exciting? You’d probably think not, but a behind-the-scenes tour of Manfrotto’s tripod factory in Feltre, Northern Italy proved to be a real eye-opener. As Manfrotto can’t possibly allow every photographer into their factory, I’ll do my best to show you around in our exclusive article.

Website: Manfrotto Factory Tour

Carl Zeiss lenses are now available for Pentax and Samsung SLR and DSLR cameras. The Carl Zeiss ZK is a series of manual focus lenses that will fit the K bayonet currently used on Pentax and Samsung cameras. Shutter priority, aperture priority and programmed auto exposure modes will be available on all camera models with these features. The Planar T* 1,4/50 ZK lens will be available in August, with 5 other models following later in the year.

ACDSee Pro has been reduced to $49.99 USD until August 10th, a saving of 60%. ACDSee Pro gives users full RAW support, RAW processing and lightning speed in every facet of digital photography management - from initial photo capture to final print. This software is quick, easy to learn and gives users the power to view, organize, edit, process, publish and archive image files.

Frank Gohlke’s black and white landscape photographs will be on show at PDNB Gallery in Dallas, Texas. Running from September 8 - October 13, 2007, photographs from Texas will be featured, including Gohlke’s famous Grain Elevator series.

Four Thirds User is a new website aimed at anyone interested in the Four Thirds digital SLR camera system. Launched by the team behind DPNow, Four Thirds User features news, in-depth reviews, tutorials, a wiki-style interactive knowledge base and an integrated discussion forum and user photo gallery. There’s also the chance to win an Olympus E-510 to help celebrate the launch of Four Thirds User.

AKVIS Frame Suite 2 applies artistic frames and edge effects to your photos. Frame Suite 2 now works on both PPC- and Intel-Macs, offers two more edge effects (Frost and Artistic Crop) and has improved color profile handling. AKVIS Frame Suite costs $49 USD, and there’s a free 10 day trial version.

Olympus have released a new firmware update, version 1.1, for the E-510 DSLR camera. This update improves the reliability of writing to high-speed Compact Flash cards.

Website: Olympus E-510 v1.1 Firmware Update

Olympus have released a new firmware update, version 1.2, for the E-410 DSLR camera. This update improves the reliability of writing to high-speed Compact Flash cards. It also improves the preview of the white balance settings when in Live-View mode, and addresses the issue of file names being reset after images are deleted.

Website: Olympus E-410 v1.2 Firmware Update

The Kodak C513 is an entry level digital camera that uniquely uses a 5 megapixel CMOS sensor. Costing less than US $99 and available in August 2007, the Kodak C513 beats the likes of Canon and Sony to the gun by incorporating its KAC-05011 CMOS image sensor. “Traditionally, CMOS has allowed for lower cost camera design but was not able to provide top image quality.  Kodak has changed that dynamic with the introduction of a digital camera at a remarkably affordable price without compromising image quality or camera function.” said John Blake, General Manager, KODAK Digital Capture and Devices.

The Panasonic DMC-FZ18 digital camera features a 18x optical zoom lens, equivalent to 28-504mm on a 35mm film camera. The 8.1 megapixel Panasonic FZ18 features the new and unique Intelligent Auto Mode, which automatically selects the most appropriate setting according to the situation. An Optical Image Stabiliser, face detection mode, ISO 6400, a joystick for manual adjustment of focusing and exposure setting and RAW mode complete the headline specs.

We’ve published a selection of sample photos from a pre-production version of the new Panasonic DMC-FZ18 digital camera, taken at the European press event in Dublin, Ireland. Note that these images are resized and are not indicative of the final quality of the Panasonic FZ18.

Panasonic DMC-FZ18 Photos

The 8 megapixel Panasonic DMC-FX55 and Panasonic DMC-FX33 digital cameras both offer a 28mm wide-angle LEICA DC lens (28-100mm), optical image stabiliser, face detection and intelligent scene selection. The FX55 has a large 3 inch LCD screen, whilst the FX33 offers a smaller 2.5 inch monitor. Intelligent Auto Mode automatically selects the most appropriate setting according to the situation.

A new firmware download for the Leica M8 camera will be made available on July 27th. The minor changes within the firmware version accomplish via modification of internal procedures an optimisation of the general image reproduction and the functional features of the LEICA M8.

The new Kingston 4GB miniSDHC card is available in Class 2, 4 and 6 speed ratings. The 4Gb miniSDHC card can store more than 2,000 images, 750 digital music tracks or 4.5 hours of MPEG4 video. “As sleeker, more sophisticated mobile phones, PDAs and MP3 players offer digital imaging, music, video, mobile TV and games, the need for higher data transfer rates, increased storage and smaller form factor expansion memory becomes greater,” said Jean Wong, Flash memory product manager, Kingston. The Kingston 4GB miniSDHC card costs from $62 to $66 (depending on the class).

The Hey, Hot Shot! competition is now accepting entries for the Summer 2007 Edition. Run by the Jen Bekman Gallery in New York, the work of 10 winners will be exhibited from from September 5th - 9th, 2007. The deadline for entry is Tuesday, August 7th, 2007.

The One City, Many Destinations photography competition asks you to pick one image that best captures the essence of a city. The grand-prize winner will receive CITY Magazine’s cover shot, a Leica M8 and other prizes. The deadline for entry is 11:59 p.m. EST on July 31, 2007.

Tim Grey, Senior Technology Evangelist, Microsoft Corporation joins IDPB host Scott Sheppard for an inside look at the recent Microsoft Pro Photo Summit. Tim’s background in photography and digital imaging give him insight to helping lead Microsoft’s efforts to bring together the photo industry and discuss their key issues. The summit included some keynotes, photo shoots hosted by their “Icons of Imaging” photographers, and technology showcases. The majority of the summit, however, was focused on panel discussions, open Q&A, and solving the workflow concerns of the participants. One of the hottest topics of the sessions were copyright concerns to help manage the digital rights of photos and the photographers who took them. Other topics included training and education, and using video to capture digital still images.