Manfrotto School of Xcellence will be present at the Focus On Imaging trade show, offering inspiring and informative talks and the chance to meet some of the UK’s top photographers. Drew Gardner, Michael Freeman, Phil Coates and Jacob James, will be among the photographers hosting one-to-one sessions to share their professional hints and tips. Budding photographers will also have the chance to bring their portfolios for more in depth tutorials with the experts. Meanwhile, Manfrotto itself will be showcasing a number of pioneering photographic products at Focus on Imaging including the Gitzo Systematic Tripod, Kata and National Geographic Bags and Lastolite products.

Samsung announced today that it is now shipping a new line of SD and microSD cards. The seven new models of SD and microSD cards are now available as part of either the High Speed Series or the Plus Extreme Speed Series, both of which deliver up to 24MB/sec read speeds on cards with a capacity of 4GB or higher. Water-, shock- and magnetproof, these models are guaranteed to survive up to 24 hours in water, withstand the force of a 1.6 ton vehicle, and resist up to 10,000 gauss (slightly less than the power of a medical imaging magnet). MSRPs range from $14.99 to 89.99.

The Rollei Movieline Live 100 WiFi is a Full HD pocket camcorder with an articulated screen and Wi-Fi connectivity. Equipped with a five-megapixel 1/3.2” sensor and a 4.3mm f/2.8 lens, the Rollei Movieline Live 100 WiFi features automated time-lapse recording, automatic shadow brightening and face recognition technologies, and weighs in at only 105 grams. Offering 125MB of internal memory as well as a microSD card slot, the Rollei Movieline Live 100 WiFi is available in black, white and red for €149.90.

Digital Film Tools have released Film Stocks, a film simulation plugin for Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, After Effects, Premiere Pro, Apple Aperture and Final Cut Pro. Film Stocks offers users simulations of 288 different colour and black-and-white photographic film stocks, motion picture film stocks, and historical photographic processes. Apply one of the many presets and customise the settings, or create your own interesting looks and simulations and save them as presets. The Film Stocks photo plugin is available now for $95. The Film Stocks video/film plugin sells for $195.

Innova Art has launched FibaPrint Warm Cotton Gloss, its newest premium inkjet paper targeted at fine art photographers. FibaPrint Warm Cotton Gloss consists of a 100% cotton base with Innova’s latest high-performance ink receptive coating technology.  “There are no optical brighteners, so this paper grade presents a pleasing, luxurious, warm-tone shade and ensures no worries concerning long term color shifts,” states Wayne Connelly, US President of Innova. FibaPrint Warm Cotton Gloss will be officially launched at the WPPI tradeshow and convention, 20-22 February, in Las Vegas. Innova will be featured in the Shades of Paper booth #329.

The Simply Elegant Print & Display Kit from IT Supplies consists of a cut-to-size, adhesive-faced foam board and a one-inch deep recycled plastic frame in black or silver. The print is simply applied to the foam board, trimmed, and placed into the frame for a professional, elegant finished look. The kit is available in three sizes: 8 x 10”, 11 x 14” and 16 x 20”. Retail pricing for the Simply Elegant kit ranges from $8.49 - $29.99 per unit, sold as singles or 3-packs.

Sigma has released a firmware upgrade for the Sigma SD15 dSLR. Version 1.03 incorporates the following improvements and fixes:

  * New languages have been added to the setup menu.
  * Accuracy of evaluative exposure metering is improved.
  * Corrects the rarely occurring phenomenon that it is not possible to magnify X3F files or show the histogram in review mode.
  * Various bugs have been corrected to achieve more stable operation.

Website: Sigma

The Lomographic Society has launched the Spinner 360° Motorizer, which allows you to create remote-controlled photos with the Spinner 360° film camera. Simply attach your camera to the base and press the remote control - the Motorizer works anywhere from 5-8m in an unobstructed space. The Spinner 360° Motorizer is available separately for €149 or in a bundle with the Lomography Spinner 360° camera, for €238.

Website: Lomography Online Store

Concord Keystone has announced the Keystone ECO MarineCase, a slim, IP58 certified waterproof case that encapsulates the iPhone 4S/4, keeping it safe and dry. Enclosing the iPhone in the compact MarineCase allows you to capture photos and video underwater up to 20 feet / 6 metres. The clear protective silicon cover of the MarineCase supports full touch-screen functionality. The Keystone ECO MarineCase is available in black and white for $39.99.

PhotoShelter has just released a new free educational guide, How to Grow a Wedding Photography Business. This guide coaches photographers on both basic and advanced approaches to grow a thriving wedding photography business including the secrets of building a unique brand, establishing competitive pricing tiers, improving search engine rankings, and more. How to Grow a Wedding Photography Business is the latest in PhotoShelter’s ongoing series of free business guides for photographers and marketing professionals. All can be downloaded from the website below.

Colour Confidence today announced the UK launch of a new line-up of camera bags from Booq. The range comprises 4 bags, including the Python courier, Python pack, Python sling and Python toploader. The Python courier (pictured) is a shoulder bag designed to protect a large SLR with attached lens, up to four additional lenses or similarly sized equipment, and a tablet. The Python pack is a backpack designed for 1-2 SLRs, up to 4 mid-size lenses, 1 large zoom lens, tripod, tablet, and a 15-inch notebook. The Python sling is a sling bag designed for 1-2 SLRs, up to 4 mid-size lenses, 1 large zoom lens, tripod, plus an 11 or 13-inch laptop or tablet. Finally, the Python toploader camera bag is a shoulder bag designed to protect either any size SLR with a larger lens attached, or a SLR with a smaller lens attached plus a second small lens. All four bags are available immediately from Color Confidence and photographic resellers across the country.

Akvis has released version 13 of Enhancer, a post-processing application that improves image detail and enhances photos through tone correction. It is available both as a standalone application and as a plug-in to a photo editor. The new version adds support for GPU acceleration, a range of new ready-to-use presets and DNG files. It is now possible to adjust Image View Modes (various options for displaying the original and processed images, “Before” and “After” states). Akvis Enhancer Home Licence (plug-in or standalone) sells for $69. Registered users of Versions 10-12 can upgrade to Version 13 for free. Users of older versions have the option to upgrade for $29

Lomography has launched a new Western Edition of its La Sardina 35mm film camera. The Lomography La Sardina Western Edition comes in two versions, called Belle Starr and Clever Coyote. Known as the “Queen of the Oklahoma Outlaws,” Belle Starr has been described as “the most dangerous and wanted woman of her time”. The Sardina clone named in her honour (pictured) is decorated with filigree patterns and arrows, while the Clever Coyote carries an image of the prairie and the coyote, engraved in oxidised metal. Like all other cameras in the Sardina range, the Western Edition models feature an ultrawide 22mm lens with a fixed f/8 aperture and an 88° angle of view. The cameras can be yours for £179 each.

Pentax Ricoh has published new and updated lens roadmaps for the Pentax K, Q and and 645 systems. The most extensive of the three - the K-mount system - will be joined by no less than 7 new lenses and a 1.4x teleconverter over the next two years. These lenses can be used with the company’s APS-C digital SLRs and the new K-01 compact system camera without the need for any adapters. For the Pentax Q system, the company plans to launch 2 new primes, a telezoom and a “body cap lens”. Finally, the Pentax 645 system will be expanded with a 90mm f/2.8 lens and three zooms. Click through / scroll down to view all three lens roadmaps.

Rollei has unveiled the ten-megapixel Sportsline 62 Dual LCD camera, which offers a 1.8” front-mounted LCD panel in addition to its more conventional 2.7” rear screen. Dustproof, shock-resistant to 1.5m and waterproof down to a depth of 3m, the Rollei Sportsline 62 features a 35mm equivalent fixed-focal-length lens with a bright f/2.8 aperture, a 3-second pre-record function and 720p HD video recording. Available from March in pink, orange, blue, green and silver, the Rollei Sportsline 62 Dual LCD camera is powered by a pair of AAA batteries, and carries an RRP of €69.95.

Lensbaby today launched the 80mm Edge 80 Optic, the newest addition to its Optic Swap System. This new optic is compatible with the Lensbaby Composer Pro, Composer, Muse, Scout and Control Freak, and will transform any of these bending lens bodies into a tilt lens that delivers a selective slice of sharp focus through an image.  Like the Lensbaby Sweet 35 Optic, the Edge 80 features Lensbaby’s internal 12-blade adjustable aperture. The Edge 80 provides a flat field of focus that, pointed straight ahead, takes photos that are sharp from edge to edge. Tilting the Edge 80 allows photographers to create vertical, horizontal and diagonal slices of focus through the image. Objects in both the foreground and the background can be in focus within that slice.  Photographers can control the size of the slice of focus by changing the 12-blade aperture. The Lensbaby Edge 80 Optic is available for $300.