Nik Software’s Viveza 2 plugin (review) has been updated to support 64-bit versions of both Macintosh and Windows. If you are currently running a workflow that supports 64-bit operation, such as Adobe Photoshop CS5 and/or Macintosh OS 10.6 (Snow Leopard), you are encouraged to download this update from Nik Software’s website. However, for those currently using Adobe Photoshop CS2 and/or Macintosh OS 10.4 (Tiger), which do not run natively in 64 bits, the company does not recommend the installation of update version 2.003.

Website: Nik Software Updates

Sony Japan has announced pricing and availability of the 18-200mm f3.5-6.3 OSS lens for the Sony E mount. Compatible with the Sony NEX-3, NEX-5 and Handycam NEX-VG10 products, the Sony E18-200mm f3.5-6.3 OSS lens will be released on 10 September 2010 in Japan, priced at 99,750 yen. Weighing in at 524 grams, this 27-300mm equivalent ultra-zoom lens features optical image stabilisation, smooth and quiet autofocus and stepless aperture control, as well as an aluminium alloy exterior barrel with high-quality finish.

Talenthouse has teamed up with celebrity photographer Gavin Bond and JPGmag.com, to open a worldwide search for aspiring photographers.  The search is aimed to give one lucky photographer the opportunity to learn the tricks of the trade and work with Gavin on set during one of his upcoming celebrity photo shoots. Photographers are asked to visit Talenthouse and submit a photograph by 9 September 2010 that best evokes the theme of up his upcoming shoot, “Passion”. Besides working with Gavin on set, the selected photographer will also receive travel and accommodations to the shoot which will take place in either Los Angeles or New York. They will also see their winning submission appear on JPGmag.com.

Website: Talenthouse

Pentax has updated its raw codec, which enables preview of raw image files captured with Pentax cameras in Windows Explorer, by adding support for PEF files produced by the Pentax 645D. The software is compatible with 32-bit versions of Windows Vista and Windows 7, but Pentax expressly states that it is not compatible with 64-bit versions of either operating system. The updated codec can be downloaded from the website below.

Website: Pentax Raw Codec

Wedding & Portrait Photographers International (WPPI) has announced that its second annual WPPI Road Trip will begin on Monday, 23 August. The WPPI Road Trip full day of educational classes cover important topics such as Business and Marketing, Lighting, Posing, Wedding and Portrait photography, Photoshop and Postproduction workflows. The Road Trip takes place in the following 10 U.S. cities: Irvine, CA, Sacramento, CA, Seattle, WA, Dallas, TX, Washington, D.C., Chicago, IL, Atlanta, GA, Orlando, FL, New Brunswick, NJ and Detroit, MI. The registration rate is $149 for a full day of education, lunch, and mini trade show. Registrants can also bring a guest for $75. The Road Trip rate and guest rate also includes free registration to WPPI 2011 in Las Vegas, NV.

Website: WPPI Road Show

EMS Internet has launched PhotoCart, a new product providing an online photograph shop for UK photographers. “PhotoCart by EMS Internet allows professional photographers to sell photos to their clients within an easily manageable and affordable package,” the company says. “Photographers can set up a login area for Wedding Guests to access and purchase images of the bride and groom via PayPal.” For more information, visit the website below.

Website: PhotoCart

onOne Software has announced its upcoming schedule of free Pro Series Live Webinars. The hour-long online seminars willbe hosted by photographers and postprocessing experts. Topics will include lifestyle, landscape, portraiture, travel and HDR photography, with new sessions being added regularly. The first webinar, Creating Fine Art Children’s Portraits, will be held today at 1pm PDT and on the 17th at 11am PDT. The other August webinar, Creating Images with Impact, will start at 11am PDT on 25th August, and will also be held on 8th September. In this webinar, travel photographer Scott Stulberg will show you how to make your images truly stand out using onOne’s FocalPoint, PhotoTools and PhotoTune. A third webinar, Live from Las Vegas, will go on air on 2nd September, again at 11am PDT, when Vincent Versace demonstrates how he uses Plug-In Suite 5 to achieve an iconic look to his photos. Finally, on 14th September professional photographer Dave Cross will be hosting a webinar titled Enhancing Your Portraits, which is jam-packed with tips and tricks for getting the most out of your portrait images using PhotoFrame 4.5 Professional Edition.

Website: onOne Webinar Registration

Every person who writes a qualifying consumer review of an electronics item on Sears.com until 18th August is eligible to win one of five Samsung DualView TL205 cameras. This camera features Samsung’s DualView technology, plus a front-facing 1.5” LCD screen that allows users to take pictures of themselves.  It also has a 2.7” rear screen, 3x optical zoom and a 12.2-megapixel imager. For full information and rules, visit the website below.

Website: Sears Review Promotion

Transcend has introduced CF200I, an advanced version of the company’s high-end industrial grade CompactFlash cards. The advanced new CF200I Industrial Grade CF cards transfer data using Ultra DMA (UDMA) 4 as default transfer mode, while they can also support up to UDMA 5 under customizing request. The cards boast average read/write speeds of up to 40MB/35MB per second while maintaining the highest level of stability. Now available in 128MB, 256MB, 512MB, 1GB, 2GB, 4GB, 8GB and 16GB capacities, Transcend’s CF200I CF cards come with the new Flash Life Guard software. Once enabled, this endurance-monitoring tool automatically monitors the flash cells in the card and reports when the safety threshold for write/erase cycles is reached. With this information, users can manage stored data more efficiently, and avoid the possible risk of unrecoverable data loss.

Website: Transcend USA

International Garden Photographer of the Year (IGPOTY) is reminding interested photographers that the submission deadline for its summer seasonal competition is 31st August. The summer seasonal competition is part of IGPOTY’s new format – ‘4 Seasons’ – four seasonal competitions, based on specific themes, which allows photographers to win cash prizes throughout the year as well as gain judging points that can help them win the overall IGPOTY title. The theme for the summer seasonal competition is ‘Insect Beauties’. IGPOTY is looking for originality and images that reveal the secret life of micro-creatures in gardens from around the world. As always, we recommend that you read the rules before entering your work. Note that entry fees apply.

Website: IGPOTY

Fujfilm is to cease manufacture of the Fujichrome Sensia slide film range with immediate effect. Fujifilm’s Product Manager for Professional Film, Gabriel Da Costa explains the move: “Due to increasing production costs and decreasing demand globally, all Fujichrome Sensia film (100, 200 & 400 ISO) has been discontinued. Our laboratory in Leeds will continue to process and mount Fujichrome Sensia film until all stocks are depleted, including all rolls previously sold and awaiting processing.”

Tamron’s anniversary model SP 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens features VC (Vibration Compensation) image stabilization and an ultrasonic auto-focus drive. Available for the Nikon mount on August 26, 2010, with the launch of mounts for Canon and Sony to follow, the SP 70-300mm F/4-5.6 Di VC USD lens can be used with both full-frame sensor and APS-C sensor cameras, where the angle of view will change the zoom range to 109-465mm.

Phase One has launched a survey designed to better understand the needs and preferences of all Expression Media owners. All registered customers of Expression Media are eligible to participate in the market research, which will run until 31 August. For more information and to participate in the survey, visit the website.

Website: Phase One Expression Media Survey

The Praktica DVC 10.4 HDMI is a Full HD camcorder that can also capture 10-megapixel photos. Equipped with a 36-428mm equivalent 12x zoom lens and a touch-screen interface, the Praktica DVC 10.4 HDMI can record 1920x1080-pixel Full HD video at 30 frames per second (fps), 1280x720-pixel HD and 640x480-pixel SD movies at either 30 or 60fps, and WQVGA clips at 240fps. Featuring a 3-inch touch-sensitive LCD screen and both USB 2.0 and HDMI out ports, the Praktica DVC 10.4 HDMI stores movie files in MOV format on Class 6 SD and SDHC memory cards. As regards pricing and availability, Amazon.de quotes a price of €234.50 but does not have the product in stock yet.

Website: Praktica DVC 10.4 HDMI

The Praktica DPix 5000WP is a new 5-megapixel waterproof digital camera. The fixed-focus snapper has a 5.14mm lens and a super-tiny 1/3.2” CMOS sensor and is compliant with the IPX8 standard. Drawing power from a pair of AAA batteries, the Praktica DPix 5000WP has 5 scene modes, 5 white balance settings and and autoexposure system with +/-2EV exposure compensation available. Apart from capturing five-meagpixel stills, the DPix 5000WP can record 720p HD video at 30 frames per second. Amazon.de says the camera is going to be “available soon”, and quotes a price of €63.98.

Adobe has posted new release candidates for Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) and Lightroom. The updates extend raw file support to 12 new camera models, improve on several of the lens correction profiles introduced as part of the Lightroom 3 and Camera Raw 6.1 releases, and add over 50 new lens profiles to help photographers automatically correct for a number of distortion and aberration effects. The Lightroom 3.2 Release Candidate is available as a free download for Lightroom 3 customers, and the Photoshop Camera Raw 6.2 Release Candidate is available as a free download for Photoshop CS5 customers.

X-Rite has announced its August webinar schedule. There will be two online seminars this month, the first one - “Raw Colour Power with Adobe Lightroom and the ColorChecker Passport” - being held this Thursday at 1pm EDT, and the other - “Beyond Monitor Calibration - Get Prints That Match Your Display!” - scheduled for 1pm EDT on 26 August. Both webinars will be repeated at 3pm EDT on the same days as above. On all occasions, attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions to the live trainers. To register, visit X-Rite’s website.

Website: X-Rite Webinars

Rollei will introduce the Rollei Kids 100, its first digital camera for children, at IFA and Photokina 2010. The extremely robust snapper has been designed with kids of 4 and older in mind. Available in orange from the end of September, the Rollei Kids100 is equipped with a Xenon flash and 64MB of internal memory, which is enough for approximately 500 pictures, the manufacturer says. The VGA-resolution photos are displayed on a 1.5-inch LCD screen on the back of the camera. The suggested price of the Kids 100 is €59.95.

The Rollei Compactline 312 is an entry-level digital compact camera with a 12-megapixel imager and 3x Apogon zoom. While the lens is a rather conventional 35-105mm zoom, the Rollei Compactline 312 does offer a 2.7” LCD screen and 720p HD video at 30 frames per second in a lightweight, 105g package, all for €79.95. The new Rollei camera will be available from specialist retailers from the end of September.

The Rollei Compactline 390SE is a 14-megapixel digital compact camera with 5x optical zoom that comes with a leather case, a replacement battery and a 1GB SD card. The lens is a versatile, 26-130mm equivalent affair, whereas the camera itself boasts functions like optical image stabilisation and in-camera stitching for effortless panoramic photography. High definition movie recording at 1280x720 pixels and 30 frames per second rounds off the features list. The Rollei Compactline 390SE will be introduced for the first time at this year’s IFA and Photokina 2010, and will be available from specialist retailers from the end of October at a recommended retail price of €149.95.