PearlMountain has released CollageIt Free 2.0 for iOS, which offers brand new layout templates, text and photo effects, integration with Facebook, and more. Designed to help users create and personalise photo collages, CollageIt Free is billed as "the ideal app to make the photos shine as never before." The app is available now on iTunes.

Casio has posted firmware updates for the Casio EX-TR10, EX-TR15, EX-TR300 and EX-TR350. According to the company, Version 1.0.1 "improves microSD card reading." You can download the firmware updates from the websites below.

Website: Casio EX-TR10 Firmware Update 1.0.1
Website: Casio EX-TR15 Firmware Update 1.0.1
Website: Casio EX-TR300 Firmware Update 1.0.1
Website: Casio EX-TR350 Firmware Update 1.0.1

Tomorrow, Ricoh will begin accepting preorders for its Theta camera, which captures fully spherical scenes in a single shot. The device, designed for consumers, was announced at the IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin, Germany. Available to preorder via the website below, the Ricoh Theta will be sold for a tax-inclusive price of £329 in the UK.

Website: Theta360

We don't usually publish edited sample images here at Photography Blog, but as it's Friday 13th, we thought we'd share 13 of our best photos taken at the recent launch of the Olympus OM-D E-M1.

Want to literally see inside the new Olympus OM-D E-M1 camera? Now you can, thanks to this exploded view of every single component that goes into making the E-M1.

Claimed to be Olympus' most reliable camera ever, the E-M1 has a rigid magnesium body with 60 gasket rings, as well as being dustproof, splashproof and freezeproof, and is guaranteed to work perfectly in temperatures as low as -10°C.

To demonstrate its ruggedness, Olympus demonstrated the E-M1 positioned in a lake with fast-moving horses running past, splashing water over the camera. We're told that it survived the test! An optional underwater case will also be available should you require waterproofness down to 45 meters.

One of the big selling points of the new OM-D E-M1 camera, at least according to Olympus, is its size in comparison with an equivalent DSLR. To illustrate this point, Olympus literally weighed the E-M1 and the Nikon D7100 on the same set of scales, together with three lenses each. The D7100 with the 24-70mm, 10-24mm and the 105mm lenses weighed in at 2765g, whilst the E-M1 and the 12-40mm, 9-18mm and the 75mm lenses came in at a mere 1348g, half the weight of its Nikon rival.

Food for thought if you're thinking of building a camera system, especially for street and travel photographers - but would the size difference be enough to tempt you to choose the OM-D E-M1 (or compact system cameras in general) with their smaller sensors, instead of a DSLR?

Lenovo has launched a new campaign aimed at inspiring the next-generation of entrepreneurial talent. Lenovo is also running a competition to win one of four all expenses paid trips to an inspirational location, plus £1,500 spending allowance and a brand new Intel-powered Lenovo Yoga 11S.

X-Rite has unveiled its schedule of free September webinars. The first session, entitled Portrait Retouching for the Artistically Challenged, will commence at 1pm EDT on 18th September. The second one, Colour Management: The Easy Way Out, starts on 25th September, again at 1pm EDT; while the third online seminar, Processing Ice and Snow Images, is scheduled for 25th September, 7pm EDT. Click through / read on for the details.

Registration is now open for six free Luminance seminars at Photoville NYC, organised by PhotoShelter. Taking place on the afternoons of September 26 & 27 in Photoville's pop-up photo destination in Brooklyn, the events feature a remarkable line-up of speakers including Deborah Dragon, Julie Grahame, Ben Lowy, Stephen Mayes, and Peter Yang.On Friday, September 27th at 5:30pm PhotoShelter is also hosting a Peer Review Happy Hour, offering some unbiased feedback on your and your peers' portfolios. You can register for the event at the website below.

Canon Europe is once again supporting the British Fashion Council at the September 2013 London Fashion Week and Vodafone London Fashion Weekend.The dedicated team of Canon Professional Services (CPS) technicians at the CPS centre at Somerset House will provide accredited professional photographers with advice, essential maintenance services, equipment loans and help with minor repairs. As part of its initiative to support fashion designers, Canon has been working with Henry Holland to bring unique imagery to his House of Holland show and print his actual catwalk stage using an Océ Arizona flatbed printer.  Canon will also collaborate with Ashish to create an instant Look Book about his eccentric and unique collection mixing Western and Eastern cultures, using Canon’s printing facilities.

Nokia and world-class National Geographic photographer Stephen Alvarez have partnered with Talenthouse to invite photographers to submit an image inspired by the spirit of travel, nature and adventure. Five lucky winners will be able to join Stephen on a mentoring road trip through Puerto Rico in January 2014. The round of submissions is open until 10 October 2013. Forty finalists will be provided with a Nokia Lumia 1020 ‘trial’ device in which to submit their final works. The overall winners will be selected to take the trip with Stephen, a Nokia Lumia 1020 and exclusive exposure across NationalGeographic.com/nokia website.

Olympus Image Space @ The Loading Bay is the first in a series of events designed to showcase the Olympus OM-D E-M1 camera (pictured). On show Wednesday 18th to Monday 23rd September, from Olympus Image Space @ The Loading Bay features an exhibition of new images by photographer Gabrielle Motola - Women of Iceland. Images from Olympus Ambassadors will also be on display, including one of the first images shot on the new OM-D E-M1 by Olympus Principal Photographer Damien McGillicuddy. The Olympus Image Space @ The Loading Bay Gallery is located on Dray Walk, (Old Truman Brewery), off Brick Lane, London, E1 6NJ.

SanDisktoday announced the SanDisk Extreme Pro CFast 2.0 memory card. The 120GB1 SanDisk Extreme Pro CFast 2.0 memory card is the world’s fastest memory card, with read speeds of up to 450MB/s (3000X) and write speeds up to 350MB/s (2333X). This is the first card to utilise the CFast 2.0 specification. SanDisk Extreme Pro CFast 2.0 memory cards are available in the U.S. and Europe at select photo specialty stores and at Arri authorized storefronts in 60GB and 120GB capacities.

ReallyNiceImages have announced an important update to their film-emulating tools for Adobe Lightroom users. The new version of the package includes 37 iconic films emulating the most famous films of the 20th century, 21 faded films emulating colour artifacts of expired and faded films and prints, and 19 film essential tools allowing user to adjust contrast, frame, grain and other parameters of their image. All the presets are compatible with Adobe Lightroom 4 and higher. "Iconic Films" or "Faded Films" can be purchased separately for $69.99 and $79.99, respectively.

Patrick Lichfield's Caribbean images will be on display at the Little Black Gallery in London from 29 October - 7 December 2013. This is the first exhibition of these photographs, many unpublished, representing all genres of Lichfield’s photography: landscape, portraiture, fashion and nudes. The Little Black Gallery is located at 13A Park Walk, London SW10 0AJ.

BosStrap has released two light versions of its sliding sling strap for CSCs, bridge cameras and camcorders. Both sliding sling straps use a special fitting that moves along the diagonally worn wide strap, and the camera attaches to the sliding fitting. In use, the camera glides up to shooting position because of the sliding fitting; the strap itself does not to move. The 64” long adjustable BosStrap LT attaches to the left camera strap lug rather than the tripod socket. The two BosStrap LT sliding string straps are priced at $46.95 and $38.95.

LockCircle has premiered the Prime Circle XE wireless programmable controller and the Prime Circle EF Pro mount. The PrimeCircle XE System is a complete range of innovative prime lenses with electronic aperture and wireless control up to 300 feet. Prime Circle XE lenses blend world-class optics (Carl Zeiss) with cine-style ergonomics complete with dedicated XE and XE-Z wireless controllers. Available in 10 different focal lengths from 15mm to 135mm, PrimeCircle XE lenses feature large focus scales on both sides of lens barrel for precise focus-puller work and a 95mm front mount across the range. The new XE - EF Pro mount offers innovative positive locking for precise and tight lens mounting, while the XE System Controller comes with programmable aperture ramping features. Deliveries are expected to start in the first week of November.

SanDisk today announced the availability of the 256GB SanDisk Extreme Pro CompactFlash memory card. The card delivers minimum sustained write speeds of 65MB/s, optimized to capture 4K and Full HD video. The 256GB SanDisk Extreme Pro CompactFlash card has transfer speeds of up to 160MB/s, and delivers fast shot speeds of up to 140MB/s for fast action and continuous burst mode shots. The cards are durability tested, include RTV silicone coating inside for added protection against shock and vibration, and perform in extreme temperatures from -13 °F to +185 °F. All this goodness comes at a price, though: the recommended retail price of the 256GB card is an eye-watering $1809.99.

The Canon EOS-1D C has recently been independently tested in accordance with European Broadcasting Union standards for HD content acquisition and found to be the first DSLR ever to provide an image of high enough quality for use as a broadcast production tool. Results indicated that the EOS-1D C provides ‘exceptional’ HD resolution from a 4K source with ‘very low’ aliasing, and ‘good’ colour performance and motion portrayal. The test results also confirm that the EOS-1D C camera system and its imaging performance comply with the recommended specification for inclusion in HD Tier 1 for HD production.