In its most important move since the company' acquisition by Facebook, Instagram now allows users to share photos and videos in both portrait and landscape formats, in addition to the much loved/hated square. "Square format has been and always will be part of who we are," the company said in a statement. "That said, the visual story you’re trying to tell should always come first, and we want to make it simple and fun for you to share moments just the way you want to. It turns out that nearly one in five photos or videos people post aren’t in the square format, and we know that it hasn’t been easy to share this type of content on Instagram... We’re especially excited about what this update means for video... which in widescreen can be more cinematic than ever." Instagram has also announced that from now on, all filters will work on all types of media, with intensity adjustments now available on videos as well as stills.

Serif have announced a free trial version of their new professional, Mac-only image editing software; Affinity Photo. "Since its launch this summer Affinity Photo became Editors’ Choice and a main feature in the Mac App Store, 5-star rated by customers, and #1 photography app in over 100 countries," Affinity Product Manager Dale Cook told PhotographyBLOG. "Affinity Photo’s award-winning innovation and incredible performance is free to try in full for 10 days — all adjustments, filters, tools, features, importers, exporters, and file saving work with no restrictions or watermarks."

As Official Sponsor of Rugby World Cup 2015, Canon is giving customers the chance to win one of 50 pairs of tickets when they buy a selected Canon product. The offer runs until 31st October 2015 for eligible products purchased from UK or ROI retailers. Eligible products include the Canon EOS 7D Mark II (pictured), EOS 750D and EOS 760D digital SLR cameras, the EOS M3 compact system camera, the PowerShot G7 X, SX60 and SX710 compacts, and the PIXMA MG7550, PIXMA MG6650 and SELPHY CP910 printers. Customers purchasing one of these products will also receive a free Gilbert Official Rugby World Cup 2015 Replica Ball.

The  Canon EF 35mm F/1.4L II USM is a new moderate wide-angle lens for 35mm full-frame SLR cameras. This is the world’s first lens to boast the company's exclusive Blue Spectrum Refractive Optics technology, which utilises organic material newly developed by Canon to achieve a higher level of chromatic aberration correction than other existing technologies. The molecular design of BR Optics refracts blue light to a greater degree than other existing optical technologies including UD glass, Super UD glass and Fluorite, to control colour fringing as effectively as possible.In addition to BR Optics, the new lens incorporates two aspherical elements and one UD glass element in a 14 element, 11 group optical formula. The EF 35mm f/1.4L II USM lens also features Canon’s proprietary Sub-Wavelength Structure Coating (SWC), applied to the rear surface of the first and second aspheric lens elements to help combat flare and ghosting. The new Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L II USM lens is scheduled to be available in October 2015, for an estimated retail price of£1799.99 / €2499.99 / $1,799.00.

Canon have announced the upcoming US launch of their EOS M3 compact system camera. The company's third CSC has an 24.2 megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor, DIGIC 6 processor, a touch-screen interface, Hybrid CMOS AF III and 49-point AF System, Full 1080p HD Movie mode, ISO 100-12800, a 3-inch 1,040,000-dot LCD monitor that tilts up 180 degrees and down 45 degrees, integrated Wi-Fi and NFC connectivity, 4.2fps burst shooting, 14-bit RAW support, built-in pop-up flash and a flash hot-shoe. The Canon EOS M3 will go on sale in the US in early October for an estimated retail price of $679.99. An EOS M3 EF-M 18-55mm IS STM lens kit will be available in the customer’s choice of black or white for an estimated retail price of $799.99. Additionally, a two-lens kit featuring the EOS M3 digital camera with the EF-M 18-55mm IS STM lens and the EF-M 55-200mm IS STM lens will be on sale for an estimated retail price of $1,049.00.

Canon today announced that they have developed Blue Spectrum Refractive (BR), a new optical element that corrects chromatic aberrations at an extremely high level. Offering characteristics that significantly refract blue light, which lies within the short-wavelength range, the BR optical element is making its debut in the new EF 35mm f/1.4L II USM wide-angle lens, which is scheduled to go on sale in October 2015.

The winners of the 2nd International Landscape Photographer of the Year (ILPOTY) competition have been announced. The overall winner (based on a folio submission of at least 4 images) is Luke Austin from Australia. Luke uses a Nikon D800E with the Nikkor 14-24mm f2.8, 45mm f2.8 Tilt Shift and 70-200mm f4 lenses, and an assortment of Feisol Pro and Tournament series tripods. The runner-up International Landscape Photographer of the Year is Ricardo Da Cunha from Australia..

Canon has announced the CJ12ex4.3B portable 4K 2/3-inch broadcast lens, the world’s first 4K wide-angle lens for use with 4K broadcast cameras featuring 2/3"-type imagers. Designed as a portable wide-angle 12x zoom lens, the CJ12ex4.3B supports framing of scenes containing large amounts of image detail. The form factor for production shooters will be very similar to shooting with Canon's HD lenses in size, weight and controls. Its light weight of 4lbs, 10oz. and compact size make it ideal for shoulder-mounted Electronic News Gathering applications. “With a 96.3 degree angle of view, our best-in-class wide-angle lens will allow broadcasters to capture more of the scene in stunning 4K quality,” said Yuichi Ishizuka, president and COO, Canon U.S.A. A built-in 2x extender allows more telephoto operation without sacrificing 4K image quality. The CJ12ex4.3B portable broadcast lens is scheduled to be available in December.

The Olympus Global Open Photo Contest is accepting entries through to 05:00 am GMT on Friday 20 November. Entries are invited in four categories which are offered under five thematic headings: Life (“Birth”), Future (“Places to Preserve”), People (“Smiles”), and Technical (“Macro” and “Art”). Up to 5 entries per theme can be submitted, and entrants are free to amend entry descriptions, take down entries or add fresh photos at any time during the competition period. The total value of the prizes on offer is approximately €30,000.

Wilkinson Cameras have launched a competition to win the latest Sigma 24mm f1.4 DF HSM I Art lens worth £699. To enter, all you have to do is visit Wilkinson Cameras' Facebook page and answer a simple question.One lucky winner will be taking home this Sigma lens, in their choice of either Canon or Nikon fit. Two runners up will win a year’s free membership to The Guild of Photographers, each worth up to £120 each.

X-Rite are hosting a free webinar in conjunction with DxO. Award-winning professional photographer Mark Lawrence will deliver a lecture demonstrating how he uses DxO and X-Rite software alongside Adobe Lightroom to create powerful wedding and portrait photos. Walking attendees through his workflow of editing of fashion and wedding photography using the various modules of DxO Optics Pro, Mark will highlight the main differences between DxO's application and Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. The online seminar is free to attend but advance registration is required.

Want to see exactly what the new Leica S (Typ 007) medium format camera looks like in the flesh?

Check out our extensive hands-on gallery of photos of the Leica S (Typ 007) medium format camera.