Canon has updated its Legria HF M-series with the addition of the new Legria HF M52 (pictured), Legria HF M56 and Legria HF M506 Full HD AVCHD camcorders. Each one of these models comes equipped with an advanced Canon HD CMOS Pro sensor, a 10x zoom lens with an iris diaphragm, intelligent optical image stabilisation, “instant” AF, audio scene selector, a 3” touchscreen. SDXC support and a range of creative cinematic features. The Canon Legria HF M52 and the Canon Legria HF M56 also feature wireless connectivity and on-board memory (32GB for the HF M52 and 8GB for the HF M56). The Canon Legria HF M506 is a cheaper model that nonetheless has all the major features of its more expensive stable-mates, sans the built-in memory and Wi-Fi.

Lexar today introduced new Lexar Professional 600x and 400x SDHC and SDXC UHS-I memory cards, including the industry’s first 128GB SDXC UHS-I card.  The cards include the latest version of Image Rescue 4 software to help with the recovery of lost or deleted photo and video files. The Lexar Professional 600x UHS-I cards are offered in capacities of 16GB (£69.99), 32GB (£119.99), and 64GB (£229.99), and the new Lexar Professional 400x UHS-I cards are available in capacities of 8GB (£34.99), 16GB (£47.99), 32GB (£79.99), 64GB (£179.99), and 128GB (£299.99).  The 16GB and 32GB Professional 600x UHS-I cards and the 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB Professional 400x UHS-I cards will be available in February, while the 64GB 600x UHS-I card and the 128GB 400x UHS-I memory card will be available in March.

Lexar has announced new Lexar Professional 400x CompactFlash card capacities, including the industry’s first 256GB memory card. Also available in 64GB and 128GB capacities, the new Lexar Professional CF cards are speed rated at 400x and provide a minimum guaranteed transfer speed of 60MB per second. The new 64GB and 128GB capacities of the Lexar Professional 400x CF memory card will be available in January, with MSRPs of £269.99, and £479.99 respectively, and include the latest version of award-winning Image Rescue software to help recover lost or deleted photos and videos. The 256GB Lexar Professional 400x CF card is expected to be released for consumer purchase in the first half of 2012.

Corel has announced the release of its newest software application, AfterShot Pro, which it says is “based on technology from Corel’s acquisition of Bibble Labs”. Fully multithreaded and optimised for multi-core and multi-CPU computers, Corel AfterShot Pro delivers fast raw processing and colouraccurate images with regular support for a continually increasing number of camera models. Available for Windows, MacOS and Linux, AfterShot Pro sells for $99.99. Users of Bibble Pro or Lite 5 are eligible for a discounted upgrade priced at $79.99.

Kodak has announced the Kodak Easyshare Wireless Camera M750, which features a 16-megapixel sensor, 5x optical zoom, 3” capacitive touchscreen and built-in Wi-Fi. “The launch of the EASYSHARE Wireless Camera M750 marks the perfect union of the smartphone and digital camera,” said Phil Scott, Vice President of Digital Capture and Accessories. In addition to capturing 16-megapixel stills, the Kodak EasyShare Wireless Camera M750 can also record HD videos at a touch of the dedicated movie shutter release. Available in silver, teal blue and red for $169.95 / £129.95 MSRP, the camera will hit the shelves this spring.

Photography Blog launched a competition last November with Autosport International, the world’s greatest motorsport show, to find a talented amateur motorsport photographer. Following an overwhelming response, five finalists have now been selected to attend the show, which takes place at the Birmingham NEC this weekend (14-15 January).

At last week’s UK press launch of the Nikon D4, a stunning video by Corey Rich was shown as part of the marketing presentation, and it’s now available on Vimeo for everyone to enjoy.

Shot exclusively with the D4, incorporating both stills and video, and featuring a mountain biker, climber and kayaker, the Nikon D4 release video is a mouth-watering showcase of just some of the things that this flagship DSLR is capable of.

Definitely worth a look even if you can’t afford the D4’s eye-watering price-tag - so click through for the full 7min 28sec video.

CES 2012 kicked off this evening, Las Vegas time, with Unveiled, a pre-show event featuring over 70 companies.

Sadly there was little to report from a photography viewpoint, the highlight being the Lytro camera, which has been awarded the Best of Innovations Digital Imaging prize. Other highlights included new Thunderbolt hard-drives from Lacie, a Samsung surveillance camera called the SmartCam, and the PowerBag which promises to recharge your camera on the move by the end of the year.

We’ll have to wait until Monday’s press day for the real photo news, when Fujifilm, Panasonic, Samsung and Sony all have press conferences scheduled, so make sure to keep checking back regularly.

Even though it doesn’t officially exist yet, US readers can now pre-order three lenses for the Fujifilm X-Pro1 camera, courtesy of none other than Amazon. Widely rumoured to be Fujifilm’s new compact system camera, the X-Pro1 will probably be announced tomorrow at Fujifilm’s CES 2012 press conference.

In the meantime, you can jump to the head of the queue and pre-order the X-Pro1 18mm F2.0 lens ($499.99), X-Pro1 35mm F1.4 lens ($499.99) and the X-Pro1 60mm F2.4 Macro lens ($599.99), or more conservatively check out the specifications for each one.

Update: Amazon has now pulled the pre-order pages for the lenses and for the X-Pro1 body, which also briefly appeared for an hour. Expect them to magically re-appear tomorrow if the X-Pro1 is officially announced.

The Nikon J1 is currently the most popular compact system camera in the UK. According to figures supplied by Nikon, the J1 was the best-selling CSC model in the week before Christmas, outperforming its nearest rival (the Panasinic G3) by almost two to one.

The Nikon J1 also achieved the distinction of registering the most ever sales for a mirrorless camera in a single week since the category was first established, helping Nikon to become the number 2 brand for compact system cameras in the UK.

Aimed predominantly at people upgrading from a compact camera, the J1 is Nikon’s entry-level mirrorless camera, sporting a 10.1 megapixel sensor and a built-in flash and retailing for just over £500 with the standard 10-30mm kit lens.

Read our in-depth Nikon J1 review here.

Want to see exactly what the new Nikon D4 DSLR camera looks like in the flesh?

Then check out our extensive hands-on gallery of photos of Nikon’s new flagship DSLR camera.

Nikon gave a detailed presentation of the impressive new Nikon D4 DSLR camera at yesterday’s UK press event.

Click through for all the slides, which are also available in PDF format.

The Nikon D4 is a new flagship D-SLR for photographers who are looking for the ultimate digital SLR camera. This professional FX-format camera brings new levels of image quality, speed and precision to both still photography and video. The Nikon D4 has a 16.2-megapixel FX-format sensor, EXPEED3 image processing engine, 11 fps burst shooting, ISO 50-204,800 and Full HD (1080p) movies. The new WT-5 Wireless Transmitter (£649) features HTTP and FTP connection modes. The Nikon D4 will cost £4,799.99 / €5,658 and be available from 16th February.

The AF-S NIKKOR 85mm f/1.8G is a new fast aperture medium-telephoto lens.

Sony has announced its new range of XQD memory cards, which support the recently adopted XQD specification for high-speed, high-performance digital image capture. Using the new cards, Nikon D4 camera users can capture up to approximately 100 frames in raw format in continuous shooting mode. Sony is also introducing a USB 2.0/3.0 compatible XQD card reader and an XQD ExpressCard Adapter. The new family of XQD Memory Cards by Sony is available from end of January.

Nikon has posted five full-resolution sample images taken with the new Nikon D4 digital SLR camera. Three of the sample photos were taken at a sensitivity setting of ISO 100, while the other two were captured at ISO 6400, using lenses of varying focal lengths. Do note that while the images are full resolution, they are quite strongly compressed..

Website: Nikon D4 Samples

Update: Nikon has apparently pulled the full-resolution versions of the photos from its website.

Datacolor has unveiled Spyder4, a line of advanced colorimeters able to calibrate monitors, laptops, projectors, TVs, iPads and even iPhones. A range of Spyder 4 devices are available, enabling users to choose the model that best matches their colour management needs. Spyder4 Express is a cost-effective colorimeter that quickly calibrates a single display computer or laptop right out of the box, Spyder4 Pro is ideal for those that want more control over light and colour management, while Spyder4 Elite offers the highest level of customisation. All models feature a simple install wizard, and deliver an average of 26% more accuracy and improved low-luminance performance over previous Spyder3 technology. The Spyder4Express is priced at $119, Spyder4Pro is $169, and Spyder4Elite is $249.

Fantasea Line has announced the FP7100 underwater housing for the Nikon Coolpix P7100 high-end compact camera. Ergonomically designed and fully functional, the shock-resistant FP7100 housing features easy-to-use and clearly labelled controls and is depth rated to 60m. The housing is compatible with the complete FP7000 dedicated accessory line, including wide angle and macro lenses. Additional accessories include a variety of colour correction filters and lighting sets, which enable photographers to further enhance the quality of their images and videos.

Burrard-Lucas Photography has launched a new nature photography competition. The contest is open to anyone who is a member of their Facebook community. The winner receives a new Canon EOS 60D digital SLR camera (pictured) and a $100 Amazon gift voucher. , while two runners-up will be awarded with $25 gift vouchers. Entry to this contest is free and you will retain copyright over any pictures you submit. The submission deadline is 31st December 2012.

The International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) has announced the IFES 2012 photography contest. The competition, which seeks photographs of individuals taking part in the electoral process or other activities that demonstrate the values of democratic governance and citizen engagement, is open to amateur and professional photographers, and entries are accepted through 16th February 2012, 11pm ET. Full contest rules and entry information are available online at the website below.