Rollei has unveiled two new digital picture frames. The Rollei Designline 5130 comes with a remote control and features a 13.3” LED panel with a resolution of 1280x800 pixels and offers additional functions such as a clock and a calendar. The Designline 5160 has a 15.6” display with 1366x768 pixels and offers an automatic slideshow function with background music and ten different transition effects. Both frames can be wall-mounted in either landscape or portrait orientation, and both are capable of playing back HD videos. The Rollei Designline has an RRP or €149.90, while the Rollei Designline 5160 carries a price tag of €199.90. Availability is slated for March.

Mamiya and Leaf have created a new, worldwide Mamiya Leaf brand that integrates both companies’ product lines into a single medium-format digital camera system. “Creating a new Mamiya Leaf brand represents a win-win situation for photographers” said Dov Kalinksi, Leaf General Manager. “Not only will photographers be able to immediately benefit from a highly advanced, fully-integrated medium format system from the industry’s leading suppliers, but they will also be able to enjoy powerful new products emerging from a unified R&D effort.” Cameras and lenses made by Mamiya and backs manufactured by Leaf will retain their respective Mamiya and Leaf labels and they will still be sold as individual components. For more information, visit the website below.

Redeye, a photography network based in Manchester, is launching an annual bursary with leading professional photographic printer Rob Sara. The bursary will involve two days of directed hand printing to produce a series of images for a photographer’s portfolio. To enter, applicants must be Redeye members. They will be judged on a body of work that can be uploaded on the members’ portfolio page of the Redeye website or send in a maximum of six printed images. This should be accompanied by a paragraph explaining why they wish to take part, what they hope to gain from the bursary, a summary of experience to date and any words supporting the images. The deadline is 20th February. For details, visit the website below.

Swann today introduced its first Full HD wearable video camera: Swann Freestyle HD. Housed in a sturdy case that is waterproof to 20 metres, Swann Freestyle HD can be worn on the body or mounted to bikes, cars, helmets, skateboards and more via a range of included interchangeable mounts and brackets. In addition, the Swann Freestyle HD can be used as a standard point & shoot camera for taking 8-megapixel stills. Real-time viewing is made possible by the detachable 4cm LCD screen, so you immediately see if you’ve captured the shot. Swann Freestyle HD also allows you to watch your footage afterwards on an HDTV via an HDMI cable or you can transfer your recording to the computer via a MicroSD card or the included USB cable. Swann Freestyle HD retails for £279.99-

Jessops’ customers can now order prints from photos stored on their smartphones by connecting them directly to the in-store photo kiosks. “Printed photos are still the best way to enjoy treasured images but it’s often hard to get your photos from your phone to print,” said Stephen Cochrane, Head of Jessops Photo. “Now it couldn’t be easier, come into any Jessops store, connect your phone to our photo kiosks using the supplied mobile adapter and we’ll do the rest.”

The Association of Photographers is reminding interested photography students that the AOP Students Awards deadline is fast approaching. Entry is open to photography students studying a BTEC HND or higher within the UK. Each entrant can submit an unlimited number of photos but do note that entry fees apply. The submission deadline is 27 January 2012. As always, we suggest that you read the Terms and Conditions before entering your work.

Website: The AOP Awards

Kodak has filed a lawsuit against Fujifilm, alleging infringement of certain patents related to Kodak digital imaging technology. Specifically, the complaint alleges infringement of the following five patents: “Single Sensor Color Camera With User Selectable Image Record Size”, “Electronic Camera For Initiating Capture of Still Images While Previewing Motion Images”, “Electronic Still Camera For Capturing Digital Image and Creating a Print Order”, “Electronic Camera With Quick Review of Last Captured Image” and “Electronic Still Camera Providing Multi-Format Storage of Full and Reduced Resolution Images”-

With 1.861 million net square feet of exhibit space and over 3,100 companies, CES 2012 is the largest in the show’s 44 year history, and it certainly felt like that as we made our way around the crowded hallways.

The sheer scale of the show hasn’t prevented us from bringing you 97 CES stories and literally hundreds of hands-on photos during the last couple of weeks. As CES 2012 has now officially ended, we’ve taken a quick pause for breath and looked back on the show to choose our Best of CES products.

Fujifilm X-Pro1

Despite a seemingly endless series of leaks before the show even began, the Fujifilm X-Pro1 is our pick of CES 2012. It’s a serious mirrorless camera aimed at professionals, with an innovative new sensor, optical and electronic viewfinder, and perhaps most importantly of a range of fast prime lenses from day one. Confirmation that an X-Pro1 Leica M adapter will also be released is even sweeter music to many photographers ears. The X-Pro1 is sure to continue the recent success that Fujifilm has previously made with the X100 and X10 models, a remarkable turn-around for a company that didn’t have a high-end camera just a couple of years ago.

Sony is expanding its range of SD cards with a new flagship UHS-I series. The Sony UHS-I cards offer significantly higher transfer speeds up to 94MB/s (read) and 45MB/s and maintain Class 10 speed when used with non-UHS-I supported hardware. Available in capacities of 32GB (SF-32UX), 16GB (SF-16UX) and 8GB (SF-8UX), the Sony UHS-I SD cards will be available in March, starting at $44.99.

A virtual tour of the PMA @ CES hall.

Usually held in March each year, for 2012 PMA has moved to join CES, occupying its own hall in the Venetian hotel. With most of the larger imaging companies moving to the main CES site, Pentax Ricoh are the biggest manufacturer in a rather small area Other interesting brands include Lensbaby, Think Tank Photo, Gigapan, Tamrac, Novoflex, Datacolor and Blackrapid.

Take a closer look at the PMA @ CES hall in our extensive photo gallery.

A virtual tour of Pentax Ricoh’s CES 2012 stand.

The recently formed Pentax Ricoh haven’t announced any new products at CES, but they are by far the largest company in the PMA@CES zone.

On display were two separate areas showcasing the Pentax and Ricoh product ranges, including the Pentax Q compact system camera and the Ricoh GXR A12 camera module with a Leica lens fitted.

Ricoh have a clever peaking-like system for the A12 which very clearly shows when the subject is in focus (check out the last photo in our gallery to see it in action).

Take a closer look at the Pentax Ricoh CES booth in our photo gallery.

A virtual tour of Tiffen’s CES 2012 stand.

Tiffen have a large booth at CES that’s home to a number of different accessory brands, including Lowel lighting, Domke bags, Tiffen Filters, Tiffen Dfx filter software, and Steadicam camera stabilizing systems.

Take a closer look at the Tiffen CES booth in our photo gallery.

SanDisk and Lexar have both confirmed that they have no plans to release XQD memory cards in the near future. Speaking to Photography Blog at CES, representatives from both companies stated that they’re committed to Compact Flash, which is still popular with photographers. Lexar additionally pointed out that their new 1000x UDMA 7 is actually faster than the first XQD card from Sony, offering a guaranteed read speed of at least 150Mb/s, and that the current CF specification goes up to 167Mb/s, providing additional headroom for even faster CF cards.

In addition neither company is set to release an open-format wireless SD card, following the SD Association’s announcement last week. SanDisk already have a wireless card in Europe with Eye-Fi (but not in the US), while Lexar had a similar partnership that has now elapsed.

Adobe says it will offer special introductory upgrade pricing on Creative Suite 6 to customers who own CS3 or CS4. “This offer will be available from the time CS6 is released until December 31, 2012,” the company announced in a statement. “More details on this offer, as well as any introductory offers for existing customers to move to Creative Cloud membership, will be announced when CS6 and Creative Cloud are released later this year.”

BosStrap has reengineered the BosStrap Camera Sling System with an improved one-piece design, the BosStrap OP Camera Sling. This strap incorporates a sliding fitting that moves along the strap, not requiring the strap itself to move. In use, the camera glides smoothly along the strap up to your eye; when not in use the camera rests comfortably at your hip. The one-piece construction of the BosStrap OP means you never have to worry about the camera becoming disconnected from the strap. Made in the USA, the BosStrap OP Camera Sling sells for $39.95 on the website below.

Hasselblad has announced the eleven recipients of the 2012 Masters Award. The winners are Frank Meyl (Architectural), Jon Lowenstein (Editorial), War Kuen Eric Wong (Fashion), Christian Tagliavini (Fine Art), Ken Hermann (General), Tom D. Jones (Landscapes), Denis Rouvre (Portrait), Joe Felzman (Products, for his image shown above), Vincente Ansola (Up and Coming), Milosz Wozaczynski (Wedding) and Lucas Pupo (Wildlife).

Lowel-Light’s Blender and Ego systems offer easy and intuitive lighting solutions for avid photographers and videographers. Developed in conjunction with cinematographer Tom Robotham, the Lowel Blender LED Light is an easy-to-use lighting solution, ideal for mixed-source environments and run and gun–style video productions. Users can adjust the Tungsten and daylight colour dimmers until they match the ambient light of the location. The Lowel Ego (pictured) is a tabletop fluorescent digital imaging light that creates a soft light ideal for taking digital tabletop shots of food, products etc. It’s an effective alternative to conventional light tent systems that limit the size of objects and the angle in which users can shoot from, the company says.

Tiffen is showcasing the new Tiffen Variable ND Filter line at CES. Introduced in August 2011, Tiffen’s Variable ND offers both photographers and videographers convenience in price and performance by combining seven ND filters into one high-performance optical filter, the company says. They allow continuous control over the amount of light coming through the lens in an approximate range of two (ND 0.6) to eight (ND 2.4) stops. “What makes our filter stand out from the rest is the manufacturing,” said Jill Conrad, product manager for Tiffen. “The Tiffen Variable ND is made with high-quality optical glass using Tiffen’s established ColorCore technology. Many variable NDs on the market today use plastic or resin for one or sometimes both of the optical elements. Compared to glass, plastic and resin do not provide optimal image quality.” The filter is already available in 77mm size for a list price of $239.99. At CES, Tiffen is also showcasing the newly released 58mm and 72mm filter sizes.

Blurb has announced a further collaboration with Adobe Systems, with the integration of bookmaking into the public beta of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4. This provides users with the tools directly within Lightroom 4 to create professional-quality photography books, coupled with a direct link to Blurb.com for printing, marketing and distribution. This integration with Lightroom is the second bookmaking solution Blurb has created for Adobe customers, joining the plug-in for Adobe InDesign, which launched in 2011.

Available in 4TB and 8TB capacities, the new LaCie 2big Thunderbolt Series delivers speeds up to three times faster than FireWire 800. It also features RAID security, hot-swappable disks, daisy chain convenience and a solid-aluminium casing. Videographers working in Final Cut Pro X or other professional software can even stream multiple HD video streams directly from the drive. Photographers using Lightroom or Aperture will notice significantly more responsive photo library browsing, the company says. In addition, LaCie also introduced the new eSATA Hub Thunderbolt Series, which connects to a late-model Mac via the Thunderbolt port and features two eSATA ports. This lets the user connect two eSATA external hard drives to the Hub and get full eSATA speeds on their new Mac. The 2big Thunderbolt Series and eSATA Hub Thunderbolt Series will be available in the first quarter of 2012.