Epson is expanding its Signature Worthy line of professional media for photographers and fine artists by offering a wider selection of roll-based products. Citing the growing popularity of Hot Press and Cold Press papers as the main reason, Epson is now offering these products in rolls of 17-inch, 24-inch, 44-inch, and 60-inch widths. The company is also expanding its offerings of Exhibition Fiber Paper to include 17-inch, 24-inch, 44-inch, and 64-inch wide rolls. The new papers are available now through authorised Epson Professional Imaging resellers.

Hahnemühle has just completed new longevity tests for its papers and canvases, and has made the test results for the Digital FineArt Collection and the ‘Harman by Hahnemühle’ product line are available to every customer. Bärbel Manggold, Hahnemuhle Product Manager, explains: “According to the respective testing conditions, our media are certified a lifespan of more than 200 years. The results emphasise our standard to supply top quality, as the market leader.” All the test results and testing conditions can be found at the websites below, under the menu item ‘Longevity’.

Website: Hahnemühle
Website: Harman by Hahnemühle

Kubota Image Tools has launched a new “artist series” of instructional style books and DVDs. The first product in the series is a style book and DVD tutorial from acclaimed children’s photographer Tamara Lackey.  Her step-by-step guide to improving your portrait work through smarter use of Photoshop features before and after comparisons that detail the actions used to create the finished work. In addition to a walk-through of Lackey’s digital workflow, the included tutorial DVD will help photographers with tips on how to manage their youthful subjects. Whether identifying useful poses, inventive tactics to spark a smile or quiet a rowdy child, Lackey’s entire approach to children’s portraiture is on display. “Kubota Artist Series Style Book & DVD Tutorial, Artist: Tamara Lackey” is available through the Kubota Image Tools website at a price of $125.

Canon USA has just launched this year’s “Why Do You Love Football” Photo Challenge. Fans of American football are invited to express their love for the sport through photography and submit their best youth football photos, which could earn the winning photographer a trip to Super Bowl XLV in North Texas. The contest is divided into two divisions, Adults ages 18 and over and Teens 13-17, and consists of two categories. The category Action focuses on any image that captures football action during game play and Feature comprises any football imagery outside of game action. The deadline for entries is 1st December 2010, and the challenge is open only to legal US residents.

Website: Canon’s “Why Do You Love Football?” Photo Challenge

Understanding Motion and Emotion is a new sports photography webinar organised by the Manfrotto School of Xcellence. Taking place on 9th September from 2pm to 3pm EDT, this online seminar is hosted by Sports Illustrated staff photographer Bill Frakes, who will explore how action and feature images are made during actual games from little league tilts to the Super Bowl. Topics for discussion include properly positioning yourself in the right spot to best take advantage of the action and the light, different techniques that photographers should consider when photographing various sports, as well as some gear advice. To register for this free webinar, visit the website below.

Website: Sports Photography: Understanding Motion and Emotion

Canadian photographer Linda Rutenberg’s exhibition Eden at Nightis on show at Cornwall’s The Eden Project. Rutenberg’s current exhibition explores the rarely witnessed life of plants after dark in The Eden Project’s famous biomes. The innovative work leads on from two books, The Garden at Night and After Midnight, which were shot in North American public gardens. The prints were made with help from Shiraz Software, developers of RIP software package Shiraz Focus.

Panasonic has announced its newest 8GB and 16GB SDHC UHS-I memory cards. UHS-I is the new standard for higher-speed Bus interface defined by the SD Association as part of the SD Memory Card Specification Ver.3.01, which provides up to 104MB/s performance. Both memory cards have maximum data transfer speed of up to 60MB/s and Class10 speed specification. Both new incorporate Super Intelligent Controller (SICS), which is designed for high-level data protection.cards. The two new SDHC UHS-I memory cards from Panasonic will become available in November.

A major Eadweard Muybridge retrospective will open its gates on 8 September at Tate Britain. Bringing together over 150 works, this exhibition will demonstrate how Muybridge broke new ground in the emerging art form of photography. From his iconic images of motion to depictions of the sublime landscapes of America, the exhibition will present the full range of Muybridge’s work, exploring how he created and honed remarkable images that continue to resonate powerfully. Admission is £10, and the exhibition will run until 16 January 2011. A fully illustrated catalogue, published by Tate Publishing, will be available.

Tamron is to release a profile for the lens aberration correction plug-in in Adobe Lightroom 3 and Photoshop CS5. The lens profile will include Tamron’s Di series (lenses for full size image sensors) and the Di II series (lenses for cameras with APS-C size image sensors. Tamron, utilising design data, created this profile for image editing software that allows customers to easily correct distortion, chromatic aberration, and peripheral brightness1 for Di series and Di II series SLR lenses.

Datacolor has released SpyderLensCal, an accessory designed to take advantage of the autofocus micro adjustment feature of recent digital SLR cameras. Many newer models of popular DSLR cameras have a lens micro calibration feature which requires a reference test system to adjust the autofocus. SpyderLensCal was designed to aid in correcting the autofocus by enabling photographers to store them in custom camera settings on recent DLSR bodies. With the capability to store lens autofocus corrections on recent DSLR cameras, users can easily change from lens to lens without needing to recalibrate. Retailing for $49, SpyderLensCal comes with a built-in level and is tripod mountable for optimum consistency.

Website: Datacolor

The Samsung HMX-T10 is a new full HD camcorder. Featuring an innovative 20-degree Slanted Lens that removes any discomfort to the user’s arm or wrist, the HMX T10 also offers a 2.7-inch touch screen LCD, a 10x zoom lens with Optical Image Stabilization, and the ability to capture 4.7 megapixel still images and video footage at the same time. The Samsung HMX-T10 will be available in September 2010 for $299.

The winners of the August 2010 Photography Blog Competition have been announced. The theme for August was “Trees” - you can view all of the entries in this gallery. Here are the 5 winners:

1st Place
Trees in the mist by jonathan bean

Prize: X-Rite ColourChecker Passport
Kindly donated by X-Rite
http://www.xritephoto.com/

Epson today introduced the Epson Stylus NX625, a powerful all-in-one with built-in Wi-Fi and Ethernet connectivity. The Epson Stylus NX625 features built-in memory card slots and a 2.5-inch color LCD to easily view, select, edit, and print photos without a computer. Utilising Epson’s all-pigment DURABrite Ultra ink, this versatile all-in-one delivers superior photo quality and durable prints that are fade-, smudge- and water-resistant, while also printing a 4x6” photo in as fast as 20 seconds. In addition, the Epson Stylus NX625 offers high-quality scanning at 2400dpi. Available from September, the Epson Stylus NX625 all-in-one device is expected to retail for $149.99.

To celebrate the company’s 60 years of being in business, Tamron USA has announced a promotion which involves giving away 60 Tamron SP 70-300mm Di VC USD zoom lenses. For the next 60 days, every US resident that’s signed up to receive Tamron news by e-mail will automatically be entered into the prize draw. Each day, one lucky winner will get a Tamron SP 70-300mm Di VC USD lensm with four other entrants winning other prizes ranging from $15 to $499 in value. For complete details and to sign up to enter Tamron’s 60th Anniversary 60-Day Lens Giveaway, visit the website below.

Website: Tamron USA

The Sony Bloggie Touch is a Full HD pocket camcorder that also takes 12-megapixel photos. Available in two versions - the MHS-TS20 and MHS-TS10 with 8GB and 4GB of embedded memory respectively -, the Sony Bloggie Touch has a 3-inch capacitive touch screenthat automatically adjusts for vertical or horizontal shooting and viewing, enabling customers to shoot video right-handed, left-handed, right-side-up or even upside-down. Equipped with an f2.8 wide-angle lens and a sensitive Exmor CMOS sensor, the Bloggie Touch has SteadyShot image stabilisation for smoother footage and a built-in USB arm for easy charging and uploading to a computer. Available in silver or black, the MHS-TS20 and MHS-TS10 will be hit the shelves in October for about $200 and $180 respectively.

Sony has unveiled a range of new digital photo frames with innovative features. The Sony DPF-XR100 ($250) and DPF-VR100 ($200) models offer AVCHD video playback capabilities on the units’ 10” high-resolution WSVGA LED backlight LCD screens. The frames also feature stereo audio and Sweep Panorama playback, while Sony XR100 additionally features the manufacturer’s exclusive TruBlack technology. Other models in the new S-Frame range include the Sony DPF-D830 ($150), an 8” unit which bears the distinction of being Sony’s first battery-operated digital photo frame; and eight additional models that vary by screen size and internal memory and range in price form $70 to $150. The three advanced frames will be available from November, while most of the others will be launched in October.

X-Rite has announced its inaugural Coloratti XritePhotoWalk event-taking place next month during Photokina 2010 in Cologne, Germany. Photographers of all levels are invited to walk in, learn about and photograph Cologne while also learning about photographic techniques and tips from world class professional photographers Vincent Versace, Natural Light Photographer (USA) and Jens Petersen, Fashion, Editorial and Lifestyle Photographer (Germany). The walks will take place at 7am on 22 and 24 September. The meeting point is Train Station Deutz. A German-language tour will also take place at 5pm on 22 September, with the meeting point being the Köln Tourism Information centre in front of the main entrance to the Dome.

The Digital Imaging Websites Association (DIWA) has honoured the Panasonic DMC-G2, DMC-FX66 (pictured), and DMC-TZ10 with a DIWA Gold Award. The G2 won in the Advanced Digital System Camera category, the second finished first among Digital Amateur Mini Cameras, whilst the third was found to be the best among Digital Advanced Megazoom Cameras. Kai Thon, test manager of DIWA Labs comments: ”Not long ago, Panasonic were an outsider to the established camera industry. In many respects, they are now leading the way. All the three awarded cameras have vital common factors, such as innovative thinking, supreme engineering and craftsmanship, and user-friendly design. Most importantly, however, is that all cameras deliver the highest image quality of their class.”

At this year’s IFA and Photokina Rollei will be presenting two new compact Full HD camcorders in the “Movieline” product range: Both the Rollei Movieline SD-15 and the Rollei Movieline SD-23 have 5-megapixel sensors and can thus capture still photographs as well as videos. The SD-15 (€169.95) has 10x optical zoom, whereas the SD-23 (€199.95) boasts a 23x zoom lens. Both models feature 3” displays, with the one in the SD-23 being of the touch-sensitive variety. Additionally, both camcorders feature Motion Detection and video stabilisation, and both record movies and images on SD and SDHC memory cards. Shipping with bundled HDMI, AV and USB cables, the Rollei Movieline SD-23 and Movieline SD-15 are scheduled to hit the shelves at the end of October.