The Hasselblad Masters exhibition held at theprintspace attracted hundreds of people on the opening night. The exhibition features stunning large-scale works by each of the 10 finalists of the Masters competition. These represent several fields of photography, from fashion, architectural and nature to portraiture. The Hasselblad Masters exhibition continues at theprintspace gallery, 74 Kingsland Road, London E2 8DL until 1 December 2010, Monday-Friday 9am-7pm. Admission is free.

Next week Insight Guides will be launching a free app for iOS devices, entitled the Insight Guides Travel Photography. Every day a new photograph will be delivered to the app, showcasing the best shots from Insight’s extensive range of travel guides, which cover over 200 destinations in 90 countries across the world.  The photographs are accompanied by informative captions, with related cultural insights, useful travel advice, seasonal travel recommendations and photography tips. You can also share these photographs via e-mail, Facebook and Twitter.

Canon has issued a firmware update for its EOS 7D digital SLR. Version 1.2.3 fixes a couple of bugs with the ST-E2 Speedlite transmitter and the MR-14EX & MT24-EX ring flashes. Specifically, the ST-E2 used to revert to the default settings when both the camera and the ST-E2 were set to auto power off, whereas the above specified Macro Ring Lites would not sync with slaves while shooting wirelessly. 7D owners can download the firmware upgrade from the website below.

Website: Canon EOS 7D Firmware Update Version 1.2.3

Canon has posted a firmware update for the Canon EOS 550D (Rebel T2i) digital SLR camera. Version 1.0.9 “fixes a phenomenon in which tone jumps become noticeable in some images, depending on the shooting scene, when shooting with the Auto Lighting Optimizer settings.” as the official release puts it. The update can be downloaded from the website below.

Website: Canon EOS 550D Firmware Updates

PrintedArt, an online fine art photography gallery and printing service, today announced the launch of its Studio Accounts programme. Photographers operating their own studios can now use PrintedArt for their fulfilment needs, utilizing the same gallery-grade material PrintedArt offers their customers. Aside from the standard materials offered, photographers have access to special order items with unusual formats, special hanging materials, or other options not commercially available to the general customers.

Etre has launched its new collection of Fivepoint gloves. Billed as a stylish way of keeping your hands warm and dry while using a touch-screen device outdoors, these gloves feature specially-designed conductive fingertips. Manufactured in the United Kingdom from lambs wool and are available in three different sizes – small, medium and large -, these gloves could be of interest to owners of any touch-screen camera, be it an ultra-compact model like the Nikon S4000 or something as complex as the new Panasonic Lumix GH2. Etre’s Fivepoint gloves are availabl for £24.99 from the website below.

Website: Etre’s Fivepoint Gloves

Manfrotto School of Xcellence has announced “Great Portraits Don’t Just Happen,” a free webinar taking place 2nd December from 2 to 3pm EDT. The host, Sports Illustrated Staff Photographer Bill Frakes, will discuss the planning, preparation and good communication which goes into an alluring portrait. “Each portrait requires the same kind of thought process,” explains Frakes. “Photographers need to know the kind of person that is being photographed and what they want the outcome to be. Once that is decided, photographers can go about planning lighting schemes and preparing or researching backgrounds.” To register for the webinar, visit the website below.

JP Distribution has announced the imminent availability of two new Black Rapid products in the UK market. The Black Rapid RS DR-2 is a slim version of the DR-1 double strap, while the RS-W1B is a camera strap designed specifically for women. The new products are available from December for £130 and £65, respectively.

DxO Labs have launched DxOMark 2011, the latest version of its online service for image quality data. DxOMark 2011 includes a new ranking system that compiles data in an intuitive and comprehensive overall score, and easier navigation and image quality data access. With this update to DxOMark, DxO Labs have revised their Peak Score – now called the “DxOMark Score” –, taking into account more difficult lighting conditions, corresponding to low-light indoor scenes. Under such conditions, high scores are earned by lenses featuring high f numbers so long as their optical performance stays high at the widest apertures, the company says.

A new subscription service for amateur, enthusiast and semi-pro photographers has launched at PhotographyCourses.biz. Presented by by professional photographer Mike Browne, the site offers a range of easy-to-understand photography videos. Subscription costs £9.75 per month, and subscribers can tell the site owners about what topics they would like to be covered in upcoming videos.The service has launched with a library of around 30 photography clips, and a minimum of five new videos will be added each month, the company says.

According to multiple online sources, it is now illegal for amateur photographers to use their DSLR cameras in public in Kuwait. The curious regulation appears not to concern any other type of camera - so while you can’t use, say, an entry-level Digital Rebel or D3100 on the streets of the emirate; it is perfectly legal to shoot an EOS 1V or a Nikon F6, not to mention any Leica, analog or digital. Compacts and cell phones are also exempt from the ban. (Accredited journalists may carry on using their DSLRs too.)

Source: The Kuwait Times via 1001 Noisy Cameras

Update: Kuwaiti Paper Retracts Report on DSLR Ban

iClone4 from Reallusion is an affordable, real-time 3D animation tool with stereoscopic output capabilities, which allows any Photoshop project to be turned into 3D stereo prints. Adobe Photoshop users can now import image layers into iClone4 to create 3D Stereo prints in a matter of minutes, the company says. iClone4 is available at a list price of $149.90. Reallusion has also created a specially designed landing page for Photoshop users to visit, and learn all about the benefits and tools with several step-by-step tutorials made exclusively for graphic artists. To see more, just visit the website below.

The new gps4cam application allows iPhone users to geotag pictures taken with any digital camera. Photographers wishing to use it will need to install both the iPhone and the Mac/PC versions. The app doesn’t need to connect to a network to be used, and doesn’t require the user to manually synchronise the time and date between his iPhone and his camera, thanks to the use of a QR-Code generated by the app itself. gps4cam for iPhone is for sale in Apple’s App Store for $1.99, whereas the desktop (Mac/PC) version is free.

Swiftspin360 is a unique membership scheme giving complete access to professional 360 product spin techniques and advice. Building on the increasing popularity of 360-degree product photography, Swiftspin360 offers members access to manuals and guides for setting up a profitable 360 product spin service, discounts on turntables and other photographic equipment, personal e-mail support, and more. The company has now released a free 50-page guidebook, available as a PDF. You can download it from the website below.

Hamrick Software has released a public Beta of its upcoming VueScan 9 software. The current version, VueScan 9.0.b2, was posted yesterday with developer Ed Hamrick saying that “most things are now working well, and the final version will be released in the next few days”. VueScan 9 adds support for 64-bit versions of Linux, Mac OS X and Windows, boasts an easier-to-use user interface, starts up and shuts down much faster than previous versions, plus it is easier to install and generally faster and more responsive than it used to be. You can download the Beta from the website below.

Website: Hamrick Software

Ambarella has announced the availability of a complete 3D camera solution that includes the company’s new 3D video pre-processor. The S3D pre-processor works with Ambarella’s A5s and A7 camera systems on chip (SoCs) to enable full HD 1080p 3D video recording and high-resolution 3D photography. It connects to two standard CMOS image sensors and processes the image data to create a single video stream for the A5s or A7 camera SoCs. It also supports the display of 3D video and still images on the camera’s 3D LCD display. The S3D and full 3D camera reference design kit with A7 or A5s SDK are available to camera manufacturers immediately

Transcend has announced the addition of 64GB models to its Ultra Speed series USB flash drives. Taking full advantage of the dual-channel technology, Transcend’s Ultra Speed series USB flash drives deliver read speeds of up to 32MB/s and write speeds of up to 18 MB/s. The new Transcend JetFlash 600 (black) and Transcend JetFlash 620 (white) flash drives are are now offered in 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, 32GB and 64GB capacities, and carry Transcend’s Limited Lifetime Warranty. The JetFlash 620 also comes bundled with Transcend’s JetFlash SecureDrive software, which helps safeguard users’ confidential data by creating a private, password-protected area on their JetFlash drive.