Adobe today announced that its Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4 software is now available as part of Adobe Creative Cloud membership. “The addition of Lightroom to Creative Cloud delivers on our promise to bring the best in Adobe innovation to Creative Cloud members,” said Winston Hendrickson, vice president products, Creative Media Solutions, Adobe. “Over the next few months we’ll continue to add new products and services, keeping Creative Cloud members up to date with the latest advancements in Adobe software and services.”  Pricing for Creative Cloud membership for individuals is £38.11 (ex VAT) per month based on annual membership and £57.17 (ex VAT) per month for month-to-month membership. A special introductory offer of £22.23 (ex VAT) per month for CS3, CS4, CS5 and CS5.5 individual customers is also available.

Jura single malt whisky, in partnership with Olympus, has launched an online photography competition to find images from across the world that best embody the theme of ‘community spirit’. These images could include photos of groups or individuals that evoke the spirit of the neighborhood in which they live, or even photos of festivals and events that conjure the character of a particular place. Each one of the three winners and their partners will enjoy a week’s all-expenses stay in the exclusive Jura Lodge and a VIP tour of the Jura distillery and island. The winners will also receive an Olympus PEN E-PL3 camera to create a lasting memento of their visit to Jura, and a photography workshop on the island from award-winning photographer David Nightingale. The competition runs until 3 August 2012.

Website: Jura Whisky

Blue Crane Digital has announced its newest training DVD, “Introduction to the Nikon D3200 – Basic Controls”. Topics covered include Scene Modes, Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority, Depth of Field, Focusing on Moving Subjects, Live View Shooting, Focus Options for Live View, Video Recording Basics and more. The DVD is scheduled for world-wide release mid-July, with a street price of $24.99.

Nokia has announced that the 41-megapixel Nokia 808 PureView is now available for pre-order through Amazon UK, The news comes hot on the heels of a similar announcement by Nokia USA. In the UK, the Nokia 808 PureView will be released on 30th June, for £499.98 (unlocked).

Fujifilm has released a new roadmap for its Fujinon lenses for the Fujifilm X-Pro1. This autumn the company will introduce the Fujinon XF 14mm (21mm equivalent) f/2.8 ultra-wideangle prime and the XF 18mm-55mm (27-84mm eq.) f/2.8-4 zoom. In early 2013, these lenses will be joined by three primes that include the XF 56mm (84mm eq.) f/1.4, the pancake XF 27mm (41mm eq.) f/2.8 and the XF 23mm (35mm eq.) f/1.4. Then in mid-2013, Fujifilm will launch a telephoto zoom called the XF 55mm-200mm (83-300mm eq.) f/3.5-F4.8 and the super-wide XF 10mm-24mm (15-36mm eq.) f/4 zoom lens, both with optical image stabilisation.

Hasselblad has launched its new Phocus Calibration Guide for the Hasselblad digital camera system. This fine art reproduction configuration guide provides all of the steps necessary for calibrating the Hasselblad digital camera system to meet the Metamorfoze and FADGI (Federal Agencies Digitisation Guidelines Initiative) imaging guidelines. The ‘How To’ guide includes specific instruction on creating custom ICC input profiles using third-party charts and profiling software. Additionally the guide offers Phocus configuration suggestions for capturing two-dimensional originals as well as three-dimensional objects. For more information and to download the new Phocus Calibration Guide for free, visit the website below.

Black+White Photography Magazine has launched the Black + White Photographer of the Year 2012 competition. Now in its seventh year, the contest offers five categories across the genres with the chance to win cash prizes plus copies of the book, Magnum Contact Sheets Special Edition worth £325. The overall winner will receive a Leica M Monochrom (pictured) complete with a Leica Summicron-M 35mm f/2 lens. The closing date for entries is 23rd September. The winning entries will be exhibited at Leica Mayfair, London, following an awards night in November. For more information visit the website below.

To celebrate the launch of the new Pentax K-30 DSLR camera, Pentax Ricoh Imaging UK todaylaunched Meet Britain, a nationwide competition asking members of the public to submit images of the things they feel make Britain great. Entrants can submit images across five different categories, including Great British Outdoors, Great British Culture, Friends and Family, Summer Holidays and Celebrations. The best images will then be shortlisted and will feature in an exhibition which will be open to the public in September. One winner from each category will take home a Pentax K-30 camera and one overall winner will be awarded £1,000. For more information, visit Pentax UK’s Facebook fan page.

Via its official blog, Nokia has announced that it is launching the Nokia 808 PureView smartphone in the US. Featuring a 41-megapixel sensor, high-performance f/2.4 Carl Zeiss optics, plus new PureView Imaging and pixel oversampling technologies, the Nokia 808 PureView also incorporates full HD 1080p video recording and a 4” AMOLED capacitive touchscreen. The smartphone will be available unlocked and unsubsidised through Amazon, starting 8th July.

Canon has posted a firmware update for the Canon EOS C300 and EOS C300 PL interchangeable-lens digital video cameras. Version 1,0,6,1.00 incorporates the following features:

1. Genlock synchronisation can now be used to synchronize the camera’s 24.00P, 24.00PsF, 23.98P, and 23.98PsF input signals.
2. Adds the Korean language to the camera’s menu.
3. Minor corrections to simplified Chinese language menus.

Website: Canon

Sony has announced that it plans to invest approximately 80 billion yen in Sony Semiconductor Corporation’s Nagasaki Technology Center to increase the production capacity for stacked CMOS image sensors. These imagers “layer the pixel section containing back-illuminated structure pixels onto chips containing the circuit for signal processing, in contrast to the supporting substrates used in conventional back-illuminated CMOS image sensors,” the company says. “These products enable Sony to mount large-scale circuits while decreasing the chip size of image sensors, thereby enhancing image quality and functionality and allowing for a more compact size for digital cameras and mobile devices.” These stacked CMOS sensors are going to be used primarily in camera phones and tablets.

Pixite has released an update to their Flickr photo management app, Flickring HD for iPad. The new update adds 2048-pixel, high-resolution photo viewing on the new iPad, and full-resolution photo viewing during zoom-in on all iPads. Furthermore, Flickring HD now also supports Full HD video playback and makes protecting the users’ privacy easier by including the option to strip location data from images and to set privacy levels on the photos during uploading. Flickring HD for Flickr is available on iTunes for $3.99.

The Aquatica Team has unveiled the Aquatica A5D Mk III underwater housing for the Canon EOS 5D Mark III digital SLR camera. Featuring a newly designed camera tray that smoothly and precisely positions the camera in the housing, the Aquatica A5D Mk III is aimed at professional photographers and videograpers. “Given the immense impact its predecessor, the Aquatica 5D Mk II, had on the underwater video industry, it was deemed absolutely important that this new housing be optimized even more for this task, all video controls where redesigned for easier reach and smoother operation, without sacrificing nothing to the still image side of the housing operation,” the company claims. Also, the new housing has the same standard 90m/300ft depth rating and can still be upgraded to 130m/425ft. The Aquatica A5D Mk III is priced at $3,199.

Datacolor has announced that its SpyderCheckr now supports Hasselblad’s Phocus software. “Spectrally engineered with 48 colour patches and user-friendly profiling software, Datacolor SpyderCheckr enables photographers to achieve consistent, predictable colour control from capture to edit,” the company says. “The only colour reference system that supports Hasselblad’s Phocus software, SpyderCheckr allows photographers to obtain consistent, accurate colour within a standard raw processing workflow.” The SpyderCheckr Pro bundle, a bundle package that includes both the SpyderCheckr and the SpyderCube, is now available for a special promotional offer of $139 (regular price $179).

OmegaBrandess and Phottix have announced the revolutionary Phottix Odin TTL Flash Trigger for Nikon. Consisting of an on-camera transmitter and control unit (TCU) and receivers for hot-shoe flashes, this accessory lets Nikon photographers wirelessly trigger their system flashes, retaining full TTL functions, as well as remotely control power and flash zoom settings. The manufacturer’s suggested retail price for the TCU and Receiver sets is $350 USD and $140 USD for individual receivers.

Lynda.com has released a new course on photographing cars, taught by Adobe Photoshop senior product manager Bryan O’Neil Hughes. The course, Photo Workshop: Car Photography Tips, is a summation of a workshop hosted by lynda.com and Adobe Systems Incorporated on 5th May. Lynda.com staged professional studio lighting for the workshop in three separate spaces — a cleared-out warehouse, an outdoor setup, and a professional studio in its newly redesigned production centre. The course is available from Lynda.com’s online training library.