February 2012 will see London’s Jewish Museum host its first contemporary black & white photography show since reopening in 2010. “No Place Like Home is a beautifully crafted narration of Passow’s journey through Jewish communities in England,” the organisers say. The 98 images by four-time World Press Photo award winner Judah Passow - which will become part of the Jewish Museum’s permanent photographic collection - explore issues surrounding themes of community, charity, social action, humour, faith and identity.

The Camera & Imaging Products Association (CIPA) has announced it will hold the CP+ 2012 Camera & Imaging Show from 9-12 February 2012, at the Pacifico Yokohama, Japan. The history of CP+ stretches back more than 50 years, tracing its origins to the first Japan Camera Show. This year marks the third year since the venue moved to Yokohama, an international port city and one of the largest cities in Japan. The year 2012 also marks the 150th anniversary of Yokohama as the birthplace of commercial photography in Japan, where in 1862 Renjo Shimooka founded a photography studio. Click through / read on for a detailed list of events that will be taking place at CP+ 2012.

If you buy a Carl Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f/1.4 lens - either the ZE or ZF.2 version - from an authorised Carl Zeiss dealer between 1-13 December, you will receive a matching 58mm T* UV filter, worth €49, free of charge. According to the company, the crystal clear glass UV filter with T* anti-reflective coating provides optimal protection without any influence on the optical performance. The recommended retail price for the Planar T* 1,4/50 is €545 + VAT.

Concord Keystone has just introduced its Easy Shot Clip HD Diving Kit, a small, 720p HD video camera and underwater housing that’s waterproof down to a depth of 100ft / 30m. The kit also includes a 360? rotating mounting clip, a 4GB microSD Card, a USB cable, and an adjustable wrist strap. The Easy Shot Clip HD Diving Kit can be yours for $129.99.

Fujfilm has published a dozen full-resolution sample photos taken with its new X-S1 bridge camera. All of the sample images on the Fuji Japan website were captured at ISO 100/21° and a dynamic range setting of 100%. The first seven samples were taken using the Velvia film simulation mode, while the remaining five simulate the look of Fujichrome Provia. You can download the Fujifilm X-S1 sample photos from the website below.

Nikon has just launched its new flagship i-TTL flashgun; the Nikon SB-910. Replacing the SB-900, the Nikon SB-910 features re-designed menus and controls, and offers three distinct illumination patterns, 17-200mm zoom coverage and a tilt-swivel head. The guide number of the flash is 34 at ISO 100/21° (in metres at the 35mm zoom position, using the Standard illumination pattern). For such a powerful unit, the Nikon SB-910 recycles rather quickly at 2.3 seconds when using LR6 NiMH batteries. The flash ships with a set of hard-type incandescent and fluorescent colour filters, and comes with an automatic filter detection feature on board. The recommended retail price of the Nikon SB-910 Speedlight is £449.99 / €522.00 / $549.95.

On 5th December, professional photography consultant Selena Maitreya is offering a one-hour free telesmeinar, entitled ‘Selling From The Heart: Make 2012 Your Best Year’. Highlights include determining the best use of your time, learning how to use portfolio tests as marketing tools, discovering how you can access your own personal spiritual tools and learning how to determine which parts of your photography business need your immediate attention. Note that this training has limited phone lines - you are advised to pre-register at the website below.

Be Pro Now, formerly known as ‘Self Study Apps’ has released two versions of its PhotoGuide app. Available for Android and iPhone, PhotoGuide has both a free and an (updated) paid version, with the price of the latter now reduced to $0.99 from the original $1.99. You can download the app from the website below.

Sony has issued firmware updates for its Alpha SLT-A65 and A77 cameras. According to the company, version 1.04 of the camera firmware (for both models) incorporates the following improvements:

proDAD today announced Mercalli Easy, a Windows application that allows users to easily fix shaky videos. In addition to removing the shake from your footage, Mercalli Easy also fixes rolling-shutter problems common with CMOS sensors. The program is currently available for $14.95 on the Mercalli Easy website.

Panda – Back from the Brink is a new book featuring an extraordinary collection of photographs never before seen in the UK. Photographer Zhou Mengqi has dedicated more than 20 years to photographing the species in the mountains of Sichuan and produced some truly spectacular images that provide a rare glimpse into the world of this much-loved animal. The book, due to be released in January, is priced at £25.

Reallusion has released an updated version of its Big Lens iOS app, which allows you to add a shallow-DOF effect and apply a range of filters to your pictures. The new release adds an HDR button and an option to import high-resolution images, and allows you to restore your last work session without having to open a saved project. Additionally, it enables users to adjust their blur edges by simply moving the blur edge slider. The updated app is available for $0.99 from the website below.

X-Rite has just released the English version of Francesco Marzoli’s Camera Raw 6 User’s Guide. A winner of the Adobe YouGC Contest, Francesco is an Adobe Certified Expert, X-Rite beta-tester and d co-founder of CCC-Color Correction Campus. His 37-page electronic guidebook covers all the tools of Camera Raw, including hidden ones, and devises a fast and safe workflow for processing your images. You can download the free e-book by clicking the link below.

The Lab Magazine has announced a new photography competition entitled, “Twelve Days of Christmas”. The Lab Magazine is a printed publication and an online culture hub dedicated to art, fashion, music, photography and film. Now they are calling for submissions of photos that represent the 12 presents from the song “Twelve Days of Christmas”. Entries may be submitted via the magazine’s Facebook fan page or Twitter. The author of the winning photo each day receives a $20 iTunes gift card. The contest runs from 1-25 December. For more information, visit the website below.

Website: The Lab Magazine

PictoColor has released iCorrect Portrait 2.0 plug-in for Adobe Photoshop CS5. The plug-in now offers full compatibility with the program in both 32- and 64-bit Windows and Macintosh environments. In addition to one-click image optimisation, iCorrect Portrait 2.0 offers tools for improving colour balance, adjusting brightness and contrast, correcting skin tones, and more. All colour correction settings can be saved and applied to multiple images with similar characteristics. iCorrect Portrait 2.0 may be purchased for $124.95 through the website below.

The fast-paced, glamorous world of motorsport is one of the most exciting and challenging environments for a professional photographer.

Autosport International, the world’s greatest motorsport show, is offering one Photography Blog reader the unique opportunity to experience this thrill first-hand through its inaugural Amateur Motorsport Photographer competition.

The contest is open to any amateur photographer over 18 years old, who is invited to submit an original image on the theme of Motorsport. The winning entry will be selected by a panel of experts to receive a money-can’t-buy prize: photography accreditation for the world-renowned Goodwood Festival of Speed.

The judging panel will feature a professional photographer from LAT Photographic, the largest motoring and motorsport photographic collection in the world, Photography Blog’s editor Mark Goldstein and representatives from Goodwood circuit and Autosport magazine.

Five finalists will be chosen to attend Autosport International 2012, which takes place at the Birmingham NEC, UK, on 12-15 January, where they will enjoy a busy programme of spectacular live racing, race car exhibitions and appearances from personalities including F1’s Paul Di Resta, Jake Humphrey and David Coulthard. For more information visit www.autosportinternational.com or follow @autosport_show on Twitter.

Autosport International will unveil the overall winner of the competition at the LAT Photographic exhibition stand, who will be presented with their prize: one-to-one tuition from a professional LAT photographer at the Goodwood Festival of Speed on 29 June - 1 July 2012.

To enter the competition, simply submit your photograph along with your name, address and contact telephone number to [email protected] no later than Sunday 1 January 2012.

Ricoh Japan has released an updated roadmap for its GXR system. The chart now includes a new APS-C sensor-lens unit featuring a 16-megapixel CMOS sensor and a 24-85mm (equivalent) lens. The unit is slated for release in early 2012.

Via PR

Sigma Corporation of America has launched a sweepstake/contest on its Facebook fan page. Participants are required fill out an entry form and draft a “Dear Sigma” letter describing what Sigma products they’re dreaming of this holiday season. “Our Facebook fans are constantly telling us what Sigma gear they love and want, so we decided to give them an opportunity to win it this year,” said Mark Amir-Hamzeh, president of Sigma Corporation of America. “We’ll be judging the finalists based on their humour, creativity and overall appreciation of our products.” The deadline for submissions is 16th December at 12pm ET. Once all of the submissions have been received, online voting will commence. The top five vote-getters will become the contest finalists and a winner will be selected on 22nd December by a panel of judges. The winner will receive his or her wished-for Sigma products totalling up to $2,500 of the manufacturer’s suggested retail price

Iridient Digital has released an update to Iridient RAW Developer. Version 1.9.3 adds support for 14 new camera models, and offers various performance improvements and a couple bug fixes. The newly supported camera models include the Canon PowerShot S100, Fuji X10 and F600EXR, Nikon P7100, J1 and V1 (pictured), Olympus E-PM1, Panasonic DMC-FZ150, Ricoh GR Digital IV, Samsung NX200, Seitz 6x17, Roundshot D2x and Roundshot D3 and the Sony NEX-7. The update can be downloaded from the website below.

Website: Iridient Digital