Canon have announced that their interchangeable-lens digital cameras (digital SLRs and CSCs) have maintained the No. 1 share of the global market for 14 consecutive years from 2003 to 2016. In 2003, Canon introduced their breakthrough EOS 300D DSLR camera, which was competitively priced and quickly captured the top share of the global market. Canon has continued to launch a range of interchangeable-lens cameras including the professional-model EOS-1D series and the EOS 5D series which paved the way for digital SLR video recording. During 2016, Canon released the EOS 80D for advanced amateur users, the EOS-1D X Mark II for professionals, and the 4K-enabled EOS 5D Mark IV (pictured) for video enthusiasts. Additionally, the company’s interchangeable-lens camera lineup was further expanded with the introduction of the high-end EOS M5 compact-system camera in November. This year, the company launched the Canon EOS M6, EOS 77D and EOS 800D models.

Andrew Gregory, a recently retired police sergeant from Solihull, has been named the winner of a UK-wide photography competition for his shot entitled, "Homeward Bound" (reprinted above). The image will now be used to advertise Calumet Photographic’s forthcoming Open Days, which will be taking place at its stores nationwide. As a result of winning the competition, Andrew has also been given £250 worth of Calumet Gift Cards to spend on equipment. Interestingly, the winning image was taken on a second-hand Canon EOS10D. “This year our theme was all about finding a shot which encapsulated a unique moment in time,” says Jon Warner, Managing Director of Calumet Photographic. “Andrew’s Homeward Bound image was completely unique and captivating. Elephants are wonderfully majestic and it was magnificent that Andrew managed to get so close to these beautiful animals.” Click through / scroll down for the dates and locations of the next Calumet Open Days.

Sony has updated its medium-format sensor roadmap. The company is planning to launch a 44x33mm, 100-megapixel back-illuminated sensor (IMX461), as well as a 55x41mm (645 format), 150-megapixel back-illuminated imager in both full-colour and monochromatic editions (IMX411) in 2018. THe roadmap also reveals that a monochromatic version of the existing front-illuminated, 100-megapixel IMX211 sensor - which lies at the heart of the Phase One XF 100 camera system - will be released later this year.

Via Image Sensors World

Amateur Photographer of the Year (APOY) has announced that its 2017 awards are now open for entries on Photocrowd. The flagship competition of the world’s oldest photography weekly, Amateur Photographer magazine, will for the first time in its three-decade history take the awards online and open the doors to a public vote, in addition to the traditional expert-judged category. With eight contests running from now until December, APOY 2017 will be giving away over £10,000 of Sigma kit to contest winners, plus other prizes from Amateur Photographer and Photocrowd. To enter all you need to do is create a free account on Photocrowd.com, where you’ll receive one free entry to each of the eight rounds. There is worldwide eligibility for APOY 2017 – you’ll simply be asked to confirm that your primary source of income does not come from photography.

Western Digital today introduced its fastest WD branded portable drive yet, the My Passport SSD. Featuring speeds of up to 515 MB/s and award-winning design, the new My Passport SSD compliments the company’s leading portfolio of My Passport palm-sized storage devices. The new drive is designed for the latest generation of computers with a USB Type-C port  and is USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10Gb/s) ready with a USB Type-C to Type-C cable and an adapter to use with the more traditional USB Type-A ports found on many computers. Built for PC and compatible with Mac, My Passport SSD offers peace-of-mind with 256-bit AES hardware encryption and password protection, and is also 6.5-foot drop tested for shock-resistance to withstand 1500G of force, to help keep precious data safe. The new drive is available in 1TB, 512GB and 256GB capacities priced at $399.99, $199.99 and $99.99, respectively.

The Canon EF-S 35mm f/2.8 Macro IS STM is a stabilised macro lens with built-in LED lights. Designed for Canon DSLRs with a crop factor of 1.6, the EF-S 35mm f/2.8 Macro IS STM offers a similar angle of view as a 56mm lens on a 35mm full-frame camera. The Hybrid IS system delivers up to four stops of shake correction (measured according to CIPA standards), while the Smooth Movie Servo AF with Lead Screw-type STM ensures quiet AF operation. The optical formula comprises 10 elements in 6 groups and a 7-bladed iris diaphragm. The lens can focus down to 3cm and achieves a maximum reproduction ratio of 1:1. The Canon EF-S 35mm f/2.8 Macro IS STM lens is scheduled to be available in June 2017 for an estimated retail price of £399.99/€479.99/$349.99

The Canon PowerShot SX730 HS is a new compact travelzoom camera with a 20.3-megapixel CMOS sensor and a 24-960mm equivalent zoom lens. With  features such as a convenient Self-Portrait and Smooth Skin mode, 3.0-inch LCD screen that rotates up 180 degrees and built-in connectivity capabilities like Wi-Fi, NFC and Bluetooth technology, the Canon PowerShot SX730 HS is a successor to the PowerShot SX720 HS digital compact camera. In addition to capturing 20-megapixel stills, the new Canon SX730 HS can also record Full HD movies at 60 frampes per second. The camera is scheduled to be available in June 2017 for an estimated retail price of £379.99/€489.99/$399.99.

The Society of International Nature and Wildlife Photographers (SINWP) have announced the winners of their Animals in Action Photography Competition. John Hunt’s image entitled ‘White Tailed Sea Eagles in aerial spat’ was chosen as the winner from over 430+ images entered in to the competition. John has won a 12-month membership to the SINWP organisation. Runners-up Elizabeth Howell from New South Wales and Peter Jones from Nottinghamshire both won 6 months memberships.

Elinchrom’s collection of newly updated Deep Umbrellas replaces the venerated Varistar Umbrellas and combines innovative design with carefully selected, high-quality materials. Available in White, Silver and Translucent versions and two sizes (41” or 49”), Elinchrom Deep Umbrellas feature a unique shape that provides an even quality of light and offers total control over its spread; utilise 16 fibreglass rods to maintain a consistent circular shape, and include a portable umbrella sleeve. Pricing starts at $96.95 for the 41" Translucent model. In addition to these new umbrellas, Elinchrom has also introduced compatible diffusers and reflectors that add a second level of functionality for a fraction of the cost.

Today, Meyer-Optik announced the development of their new Primagon 24mm f/2.8 lens. "Even though the Primagon takes its name from a famous line of historic Meyer-Optik lenses, the new Primagon 24 is a totally new development," the company said in a statement. "With the help of world famous development engineers, the Meyer-Optik team has been working on the Primagon 24 for more than a year." The optical formula will comprise 7 elements including 1 aspherical glass element. Weighing in at 250 grams, the new lens will be available for "practically all mirrorless cameras," starting early 2018. The suggested retail price will be €4.999/$5,499.

Zeiss have added a new full-frame telephoto lens to their Batis lens family. The new Zeiss Batis 2.8/135 Apo Sonnar T* is the first 135mm AF lens developed specifically for Sony’s E-mount cameras. In addition to a fast and precise auto focus mechanism, the Batis 2.8/135 offers an optical image stabiliser to help you avoid blurring caused by shaky hands. Additionally, this latest addition to the Batis line features an OLED display that enables precise visualisation of the depth of field. The optical formula comprises 14 elements in 11 groups, while the metal housing is sealed against dust and moisture. Weighing in at 614 grams, the lens offers a minimum focus distance of 87cm and a maximum reproduction ratio of 1:5.3 The ZEISS Batis 2.8/135 will be available from specialist dealers starting May 2017, and will retail at £1,749.99.

The CAMEO360 is the World's smallest dual-lens 360°4K active camera. Currently raising funds on Kickstarter, the CAMEO360 takes 24-megapixel photos and records 4K video at 24 frames per second. “There are many high-quality cameras, but many are expensive, bulky and very inconvenient to carry around,” says creator Roland Nguyen. “There are also many social media channels available to us today that can be very time consuming when it comes to editing videos and managing multiple platforms. We embraced these two issues and created a versatile, high-quality pocket size camera with easy-to-use features – along with our own social media platform. This makes it easy for CAMEO360 users to create and share their creation in our community and other social media channels.” For more information about CAMEO360 and the accompanying Flicksee smartphone app, visit the project's Kickstarter Campaign Page.

Sekonic today announced that their new L-858D-U Speedmaster Light Meter is now available for purchase. The Sekonic L-858D-U Speedmaster is the first fully featured light meter to offer flash duration measurement from 1/40 to 1/55,500 sec at t0.1 through t0.9, which can be changed in 0.1 steps. Plus, with an additional 3-stops of light sensitivity for incident light, 2-stops of light sensitivity for reflected light, and an ability to capture a reading down to 0.1 lx of illuminance, accurately metering candle-lit scenes or getting the right measurement for long-exposure night photography is now a possibility. In addition, Sekonic have created a couple of hot-swappable radio control modules for the L-858D-U Speedmaster. With the PocketWizard module, photographers can easily trigger any PocketWizard wirelessly and control the power of their lights with any Control TL compatible unit. With the combined Elinchrom & Phottix module, Phottix users have Strato II and Ares II triggering capabilities, while Elinchrom users have access to wireless triggering and Skyport’s full range of power-control capabilities. The Sekonic L-858D-U Speedmaster is available for $599; whilst the RT-EL/PX Elinchrom & Phottix Transmitter Module and the RT-20PW PocketWizard Transmitter Module retail for $159.95 each.

Sigma today released a firmware update for its sd Quattro cameras. Version 1.04 adds an option to save images in raw 12-bit DNG format, improves the focusing speed of Contemporary, Art and Sports lenses by about 10-30%, adds comptibility with the SFD mode and Live View Display of Sigma Capture Pro, delivers enhanced white balance with the Sigma EF-630 flashgun, and fixes bugs.

Picktorial Innovations today released Picktorial 3, their latest non-destructive raw photo editing platform for MacOS. This edition provides advanced local adjustment options, all of which are fully non-destructive and offer real-time preview. These include luminosity and colour masks used by fine-art photographers, a high-end edge-aware brushing engine, state of the art skin-smoothing capacities, blending modes and more.The latest version also offers full support for the latest Fujifilm X.trans cameras' raw image files (including compressed/uncompressed RAF) and auto lens correction based on embedded metadata. The update is free for owners of the previous version.

The Fine Art Society has announced Who are wE +, an upcoming solo exhibition by British light artist, Chris Levine. The exhibition presents Levine’s latest portrait series with sitters including the iconic British supermodel Naomi Campbell, the explorer and author Sir Ranulph Fiennes, and fashion designers Paul Smith, and Giorgio Armani. Levine’s work marries art and technology investigating the ways in which we accept and perceive light, and the effect it has on our sense of being. He has worked extensively with laser light, exploring its capacity to both produce illusions and elicit a subliminal response in the viewer, and has pioneered new mediums such as holograms, light boxes and lenticular lenses, creating new mechanisms and technologies to express his ideas. In his portraiture Levine unlocks the light from within his sitter. He sees light both in the physical sense, as an electromagnetic force, and in a spiritual sense. It is his belief that a greater awareness of light as fundamental to our existence will ultimately help us know ourselves better and experience life more brightly. The Who are wE+ exhibition will be on show from 24 April to 19 May 2017 at The Fine Art Society, 148 New Bond Street London W1S 2JT.

Nikon today announced its range of commemorative models and goods to celebrate its 100th Anniversary on July 25, 2017. The Anniversary range, which features the 100th Anniversary logo and special finishes and details, includes Nikon’s two flagship digital SLR cameras - the D5 100th Anniversary Edition and the D500 100th Anniversary Edition -, a telephoto zoom lens - the Nikkor70-200E 100th Anniversary Edition -, a special set of three Nikkor lenses, and finally, commemorative editions of three binoculars. A special collection of commemorative goods will also be available, including the Nikon 100th Anniversary Crystal Creation Nikon Model I - a beautiful crystal reproduction of the first Nikon 35mm camera from 1948 -, the Nikon 100th Anniversary Pin Collection, the Nikon 100th Anniversary Miniature Nikon F Camera - a 1/2-scale model of Nikon's first flagship model - and the Nikon 100th Anniversary Premium Camera Strap. In addition to launching these products, Nikon has also set up a100th Anniversary website.