The World Photography Organisation has announced that Bruce Davidson is to be awarded the Outstanding Contribution to Photography Award (previously known as the Lifetime Achievement Award) at this year’s Sony World Photography Awards. Born in Oak Park, Illinois, Davidson is one of America’s most distinguished photographers. After completing his military service in 1957 he worked as a photographer for Life Magazine and in 1958, Henri CartierBresson invited him to join Magnum Photos. His work has been exhibited at many major institutions including The Museum of Modern Art, The Smithsonian Museum of American Art, The International Center of Photography, The Museum of Photographic Arts in San Diego, Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris, The Aperture Foundation in New York, and The Foundation Cartier-Bresson in Paris and Tate Modern in London.

Panasonic USA has announced the suggested retail prices for its premium line-up of Lumix digital camera models. These include the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS8 ($299.99, pictured), DMC-ZS10 ($399.99), DMC-TS3 ($399.99) and FX78 ($349.99).

Photographer and accomplished author Andy Stansfield (pictured) has announced two innovative one-day workshops for aspiring freelance photographers and writers. ‘Photography Skills for Writers’  will help participants gain an increased understanding of editors’ image requirements for different purposes,  and how to shoot images which will complement their writing and appeal to editors; while ‘Writing Skills for Photographers’ will coach photographers in the skills necessary for writing captions, magazine features and even books to accompany their images. The maximum size of each workshop will be 10-12, depending on venue, and the cost will be £85 which includes tuition, light refreshments and lunch.

Rollei has announced the addition of three new 14-megapixel models to its Powerflex series. These include the Rollei Powerflex 470 (€199.90 including a camera pouch and a 4GB memory card, pictured) boasting a 28-196mm equivalent 7x zoom lens, HD movie recording and a 3-inch rear screen; the Rollei Powerflex 460 (€179.99 including a camera pouch and a 2GB memory card) sporting a 26-130mm equivalent 5x optical zoom and a 3-inch screen; and the Rollei Powerflex 455 (€129.90) featuring a 5x Rollei Apogon zoom lens, HD video recording and a 2.7-inch display in a package that weighs just 110g.

Taking inspiration from manual-focus AI, AI-s and pre-AI Nikkor lenses, photographic.ly has created a fun new wristband for photographers, featuring f-stops from f/1.4 to f/16 using the original colour codes. (The colour coding system, which involved consistent use of specific colours on the aperture rings and DOF scales of every manual-focus Nikkor lens, was invented in order to help users quickly estimate the depth of field at any given aperture setting.) “This silicone writsband is a fantastic way to both display your love of photography and your love of photographic history,” says David Schloss, Executive Director at MacCreate/Photographic.ly. Priced at $8.49, the Nikkor-inspired f-stop bracelet ships from the US to “anywhere on the planet” for a fixed cost of $0.99. The sale of each wristband generates twenty-cents for SPCA International.

Website: Photographic.ly

The JVC GS-TD1 - billed as the world’s first consumer camcorder to record 3D footage in Full HD - is now available in the USA. The GS-TD1 uses two camera lenses and two 3.32 megapixel CMOS sensors – one for each lens – to capture three-dimensional images. Video shot using the GS-TD1 can be burned to a Blu-ray disc for 3D playback on a compatible Blu-ray player, and viewed on any 3D TV. The JVC GZ-TD1 Full HD 3D camcorder is available now for $1,699.95.

As noted in our Samyang booth report, the Korean lens maker has announced the development of a new, manual-focus fish-eye lens for Micro Four Thirds. As seen in the photo above, the Samyang 7.5mm f/3.5 UMC for Micro Four Thirds (right) is much smaller than the company’s existing 8mm f/3.5 Aspherical IF MC fish-eye lens (left), which is made for DSLR cameras with an APS-C sized sensor, yet it’s still capable of delivering a diagonal angle of view of 180°. Directly competing with the Panasonic Lumix G Fish-Eye 8mm f/3.5 (read review), the new Samyang lens is the first model in a new series of lenses designed specifically for compact system cameras, the company says.

Lens makers Samyang are making their UK debut at Focus on Imaging, with their full range of manual focus lenses on display. This includes the new Samyang 35mm f/1.4 AS UMC, a bright wide-angle lens for manual-focus enthusiasts, the Samyang 14mm f/2.8 IF ED MC and lenses for the Samsung NX system. On show behind glass was the recently announced Samyang 8mm f/3.5 Fish-Eye CS VG10, a manual-focus fish-eye lens designed for the Sony NEX-VG10 interchangeable-lens camcorder, and a world first, a concept version of a new 7.5mm Micro Four Thirds fisheye len providing 180 degree field of vision.

The Sony HX100v, HX9v and WX10 are three key products in the Cybershot range for 2011. At around £400, the HX100v is literally the big draw, with a 30x zoom lens and a tilting LCD screen. The HX9v, priced at around £340, is a serious rival to the Panasonic TZ-series, with a 16x zoom in a pocketable body. The WX10 at £280 is the best-specified member of the slim and stylish W-range. All three cameras share exactly the same 16.2 megapixel Exmor R CMOS sensor. The HX100v and HX9v will be available in the UK from April, and the WX10 will be in the shops by the end of March.

Samyang has modified the design of the Samyang 35mm f/1.4 AS UMC lens by adding a DOF scale at the request of photographers. Originally announced on 16 September 2010, this ultra-fast moderate wide-angle manual-focus lens has also seen a reduction in size, Samyang says. Available in Canon, Four Thirds, Nikon, Pentax, Samsung NX and Sony Alpha fit, the lens is priced at €379 including taxes.

Panasonic has announced a range of new SDHC UHS-I Memory Cards with read and write speeds of up to 95MB/s and 80MB/s, respectively. The new Gold cards will be globally introduced in April 2011 with 8 GB, 16 GB, and 32 GB capacities. Pricing to be announced.

Global Delight’s Camera Plus Pro app has been updated to Version 3.3. This latest update allows users to add attractive borders such as stamp, polaroid, torn, grainy and more to their collection of photos, and adds 18 new photo effects for iPhone 3G users. And the app now also supports gestures such as pinch, pan and swipe while editing for better viewing of the applied effects on your iPhone 3G, 3GS, 4 and iPod touch. Camera Plus Pro 3.3 is $1.99 in the App Store.

Phase One and Profoto today announced the availability of a unique image capture and light control solution that allows photographers to capture images and to control lighting from within Capture One Pro 6, when using Profoto lighting equipment. The new light control solution requires installation of Capture One Pro 6, a Profoto Studio plugin, and the Profoto Air USB transceiver to wirelessly control the Profoto lighting equipment. “Prior to this solution, photographers would have to either switch between Capture One and Profoto Studio to get the optimal light on their set or they had to adjust the light manually,” said Carsten H. Olsen, senior product manager, Phase One. “Now photographers can stay focused on the scene and get their desired captures much faster.“ The solution is currently available on the Mac platform only.

The DreamLabo 5000 commercial inkjet printer marks Canon’s European entry into production photo printing. The device offers the production photo printing market a viable alternative to silver halide technology and, according to Canon, “will revitalise the photo printing market”. Incorporating Canon’s FINE (Full-photolithography Inkjet Nozzle Engineering) technology, the wide print head enables the printing of high-quality photos and detailed text to support a variety of high-value-added output, from premium photo albums, photo books, photo calendars, photo collages and other merchandise. The DreamLabo 5000 will be available to photo shops across Europe from early 2012.

The New York Institute of Photography (NYIP) has launched its own blog. Promising ‘eclectic content’, the official NYIP blog has something for every photographer, the editors say. Contributing authors include NYIP Student Advisor Chris Corradino who specialises in nature, photojournalism, and multimedia; and other staff members including the Director of the School, Chuck DeLaney. The school encourages open dialogue with its readers by sharing and discussing content via Facebook, Twitter, blog comments, and forums.

Photodex has just announced a partnership with SmugMug to offer new, integrated solutions for creating and sharing HD video slideshows online. ProShow Web now seamlessly pulls photos and video clips from SmugMug galleries to create fully custom video slideshows online from any Mac or PC. Videos can be easily shared across a number of platforms and sent back to SmugMug to view in full 1080p HD video.

MakeRetro.com is a website that allows anyone to upload photos and apply different “retro” effects to them. Currently in Beta, MakeRetro.com offers the following effects: Lomo, Chrome, Diana and Vintage. Some of these effects can be customised further to suit your tastes. The service is free.

Website: MakeRetro