Meyer-Optik USA has announced the 50mm f0.95 II lens designed for use on full-frame compact system cameras with a Sony E-Mount. The optical formula comprises ten elements in seven groups and a near-circular iris diaphragm with fifteen steel aperture blades. The clickless aperture ring and smooth focus control operate in near silence, making this lens especially attractive for videographers. Weighing in at 680 grams, the manual-focus Meyer-Optik Nocturnus 50mm f/0.95 II has a minimum focusing distance of 0.5m (19.7") and takes 67mm screw-mount filters. The lens is expected to begin shipping in January at an estimated retail price of $2,999.

Issue 59 of David Noton’s Chasing the Light Online Magazine is now available. In this month’s Behind the Lens article and accompanying Video Blog, David presents the second instalment of his recent trip to Ontario, Canada, this time exploring the unique photo opportunities he discovered around Charlton Lake in the autumn. Then in this month’s Field Trial he puts the Canon EF 16-35mm f2.8 L III lens through its paces, considering his options as he scrutinizes the possibilities of this wide-angle zoom. For How It’s Done, David takes us on a shoot on a seasonally frosty morning, and he also presents two of his Fundamentals of Post-Production Videos. Donote that the full contents of Chasing the Light Online Magazine is available to full f11 subscribers only. However, non-members can purchase individual issues of the magazine at a price of £4.20.

The new Camslinger Streetomatic+ by CosySpeed is billed as "the fastest camera bag of the World." Providing quick, one-handed access to your camera, the Camslinger Streetomatic+ can be worn at the hip or over your shoulder. The quick-access, comfortable way of wearing and the protection against rain and bumps makes the Camslinger Streetomatic+ the perfect bag for street and travel photographers. Capable of accommodating an SLR as large as Canon's 5D series, the Camslinger Streetomatic+ is available for €/$129.99.

As of 2nd December, WD extended the warranty period for the new My Passport, My Passport for Mac and My Book drives from two to three years.This change applies to those who purchased a model with a 2-year warranty imprinted on the packaging. For more information, visit the website below.

BenQ today launched the 31.5" SW320 UHD monitor featuring a true 10-bit IPS panel, hardware calibration, 99% Adobe RGB colour space coverage and a 14-bit 3D look-up table. The Gamut Duo feature allows users to view content side-by-side in various colour spaces on one screen. The Hotkey Puck can assign colour spaces to preset buttons and switch between them quickly and conveniently. HDR has been introduced to offer higher contrast, vivid colours and brighter images, and to allow professionals to display true-to-life video with the same accurate colour and detail it was captured with. The Technocolor colour certified monitor has its own SD memory card slot and offers fast USB 3.0 connectivity. The BenQ SW320 is available for £1,245.60 including VAT.

The new Lomo'Instant Automat instant film camera is now available for purchase. The Lomo'Instant Automat features a 35mm (eq.) lens with a 43mm filter thread, a simple 3-step zone-focusing system, a built-in flash with a guide number of 9 (in metres), an LED frame counter, unlimited multiple exposures, automatic shutter speed and aperture settings, and an exposure area of 62mm x 46mm. Pricing for the Lomo’Instant Automat starts at £129/€149/$149.

Ricoh Innovations today launched Keenai, a smart photo management service that keeps digital memories safe and organised. Available immediately in eight languages on Android, iOS, macOS, Windows and Windows Phone, Keenai is billed as the only photo service that connects all your devices and cameras, and unifies all your photos and videos for viewing and sharing on any device. Offering automatic cloud backup of unlimited, original-resolution photos and videos, Keenai enables sharing of stories as gorgeous albums that combine photos, videos and even 360° images. Albums can be privately shared with friends and family via email or shared links, and accessed via any web browser. “Consumers are struggling to keep track of all the photos and videos they capture using the different devices they own,” said Toshinori Arita, senior vice president, Ricoh Innovations. “Keenai provides a smart solution to this problem, and is designed so that non-technical people can gain control of all their photos, share them with friends and family, and feel confident that their memories are safe.” Members start with a free trial of 30 days. Thereafter, membership costs $4.99/month or $49.99/year.

Infltr 2.5 is the first iOS camera app to enable iPhone and iPad users to apply millions of filters to their photos in Apple’s Messages app. Additionally, infltr can also apply photo-style filtering to iPhone videos and Live Photos. Users can change the filter throughout their recording, scroll through the finished video to find moments to filter, or for the first time ever, actually play the video and change the filter at the same time. Available in 22 languages and priced at £2.29, infltr today boasts over seven million filters. “Using the same old filters as everyone else won’t cut it with today’s creative consumers but unless you are a professional, there are very few tools that work easily, effectively and effortlessly to create beautiful moving images that you can proudly share with your fans and followers,” says infltr founder Philippe Levieux. “IThat’s where infltr comes in. We are pushing the boundaries of what is possible with an iPhone. We are filtering stills, video and Live Photos using cutting-edge software, working with the very latest Apple camera technology. With the new version of infltr, we are making our millions of filters available for iMessage, Live Photos and Video in real time, so that iPhone users can create beautiful filtered videos, easily and instantly.”

The Kodak Ektra smartphone is now available for purchase in the United Kingdom. Announced on 20th October, the Kodak Ektra Smartphone (see sample images) offers a 21-megapixel fast-focus rear camera and a lens with an aperture of f2.0, plus an industry-leading 13-megapixel front-facing camera with PDAF and f2.2 aperture. The Kodak Ektra smartphone is priced at £449.

We've teamed up with Panda Security to give-away a copy of Panda Gold Protection to 10 lucky winners!

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Store all your important documents securely and enjoy your time knowing your information is private. You can also delete files securely, so that they cannot be restored even with forensic tools or hacking techniques. The password manager is user friendly and allows you to manage all your online access by simply remembering one master password. You will never forget a password again! Panda Gold protection also offers parental control – it gives your kids with the freedom to safely use the Internet while preventing them from visiting places you don’t want them to be as well as flagging any inappropriate behaviour.

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Macphun have unveiled that Luminar, their first all-in-one photo editor (read review), now supports Apple’s new MacBook Pro Touch Bar. When Luminar is launched on a new MacBook Pro, users will have a core set of controls on the Touch Bar which will allow them to compare images and add a new filter, as well as access key tools such as Crop, Noise Reduction, Erasing, Clone & Stamp and Transform. When using a specific tool, the Touch Bar for Luminar will feature controllers for this specific tool. In addition to the introduction of support for Touch Bar, this update to Luminar also brings improved performance, updated support for raw image files, speed improvement, and bug fixes.

The World Press Photo Foundation invites all professional visual journalists worldwide to participate in the 60th annual World Press Photo Contest and the 7th annual World Press Photo Digital Storytelling Contest. The annual photo competition, which has been running since 1955, rewards photographers for the best single-exposure pictures contributing to the past year of visual journalism. The Digital Storytelling Contest (previously known as the Multimedia Contest) rewards those producing the best forms of visual journalism enabled by digital technologies and the spread of the Internet. The contest is open to digital storytellers, visual journalists and producers, with submissions that include the work of a professional visual journalist. The contest has four categories and is judged online. The 2017 Photo Contest requires registration before 6 January 2017 12.00 CET and submissions can be entered until 11 January 2017 12.00. The deadline for submissions for the 2017 Digital Storytelling Contest is 6 January 2017 12.00.

Langly has announced two brand new camera bags. The Langly Messenger Tote ($180, pictured) is an everyday carryallthat doubles as an camera bag and features six exterior pockets, EVA foam, and removable inserts. The Fidlock Slider magnetic snap buckle is a clever and functional alternative to traditional clips. The Messenger Tote can carry a camera, 3-4 extra lenses, personal items and a 15" laptop. The Langly Crossbody camera bag ($145) also features Fidlock magnetic snaps, six exterior pockets and a removable camera insert, and accommodates a camera, 1-2 extra lenses and small personal items. Both new bags are available in black and Coyote colourways.

The new Metz mecablitz M400 flash, which was announced in the run-up to Photokina 2016, is now available in the United Kingdom in Canon, Nikon, Micro FourThirds, Pentax, Sony and Fuji fittings. Powered by four AAA sized NiMH, alkaline-magnesium or lithium batteries, the Metz mecablitz M400 has a zoom-swivel head covering a FOV range matching that of a full-frame 24-105mm lens, with a guide number of 40 (in metres at ISO 100/21°) at the 105mm position. Depending on your camera, the mecablitz M400 with master and slave mode also offers wireless TTL flash functionality. The M400 comes with an adjustable LED video/modelling light, bounce card and integrated wide-angle diffuser. Other highlights include high-speed flash synchronisation, second-curtain sync and red-eye reduction. The flash is available for £121.99 including value-added tax.