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.

Olympus America has just launched the Olympus Store, a new e-commerce website that helps consumers find the right product by giving them access to knowledgeable customer care representatives. Features of the new e-commerce site include an account dashboard to keep track of multiple orders and view past order history, a product finder and a wish list that enables visitors to choose and highlight their ideal Olympus presents. The Olympus Store is found at the website below.

Website:: Olympus Store

The Underwater Photography Guide (UWPG) is now accepting entries for the first annual Ocean Art Photography Competition. The contest has 11 categories, including a Novice DSLR category, and 3 compact camera categories – giving underwater photographers of all levels a chance to win a prize. Unique categories include Supermacro, Nudibranchs, and Divers / Fashion – a category that will allow pool shots. There are over $63,000 worth of prizes including over 25 live-aboard and scuba diving resort packages, dive equipment and more. Grand prizes include 12 days on the Arenui boutique live-aboard, 9 days on the Solmar V, and 18 nights in Papua New Guinea including a stay on the Febrina. The submission deadline is 14 November 2010. As always we suggest that you read the rules before entering your work.

Website: UWPG Ocean Art Photography Competition 2010

Duckrabbit Digital has announced the winners of its inaugural Portfolio Project contest, naming ten photographers from across the U.S.A. the best of a large submission pool. Duckrabbit Digital is an artisan black-and-white printer, providing high-quality prints to photographers and artists from all over the world. The 2010 Portfolio Project was the first in what the printer plans to be an annual series of competitions meant to encourage the creation and visibility of black-and-white art. The call for artists produced an unexpectedly large response, with submitting artists from almost every US state, as well as from Canada and Europe. The ten winners include Erin Goldberger (for “South of France” - reproduced above), Craig Blankenhorn, Lucas Cotterman, Vivienne Maricevic, Guillermo Martin, Michael Knapstein, Allan Ayres, Yu-Chen Chiu, Arlo Valera and Danielle Baudassi. You will be able to buy limited-edition prints of the ten winning works via Duckrabbit Digital’s website in the coming weeks (the photo above can already be ordered).

iStockphoto today unveiled a redesigned version of its website. The new site offers a clean, contemporary look and feel, and reflects more than a year of customer-focused usability research and design, the company says. A revised navigation scheme, with a renewed focus on the customer, divides the site into three distinct segments: shop, participate and help. Also, the work of exclusive contributors will be more prominently featured throughout the site via large “hero images”. To celebrate the relaunch, iStockphoto is offering its members 25% off all credit-pack purchases throughout this week.

The Plustek SmartPhoto P60 is a compact and easy-to-use photo scanner designed to digitise 4x6-inch prints quickly and effortlessly. This 600dpi scanner offers one-button operation and scanning times as low as 18 seconds per print (at 100dpi). Compatible with both Macs and PCs, the Plustek SmartPhoto P60 photo scanner draws power from the computer via USB, alleviating the need for an extra mains socket. Measuring 2.3“x6.9"x1.5” and weighing approximately 0.4lbs, the Smart Photo P60 is available now from Plustek itself.

US camcorder manufacturer DXG has announced that select styles of its high-definition, affordable pocket camcorders are now available to Canadian consumers. DXG’s high-fashion Luxe Collection line of HD camcorders is the first DXG product range being sold in Canada through The Shopping Channel, with additional camcorder models and Canadian retailers to be announced in the coming months. All Luxe products record video in high definition (720p), take up to 8-megapixel still photos, capture up to 8 hours of video on a 16GB card (sold separately), and feature a 3-inch LCD screen on a slim1½-inches-thick casing. The camcorders also ship with a matching clutch case, HDMI cable, AV/USB cable, and video editing software. Each camcorder in the DXG Luxe range is priced at $139.38 according to the manufacturer.

Corel has released a free Service Pack for CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X5. Service Pack 1 (SP1) includes new functionality to Corel CONNECT that enables users to instantly browse millions of free and for purchase stock images on leading online photo sites including Fotolia and iStockphoto from within the CorelDRAW creative environment. The update also extends file import support for the latest Adobe Photoshop CS5 and Illustrator CS5 formats as well as raw support for new Canon, Casio, Pentax, Fuji and Sony models. CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X5 Service Pack 1 is available as a free download from Corel’s website.

Daemgen.net has recently released version 2.8 of ProCamera. The app has been modified to support all features of the iPhone 4 smartphone (switching cameras, using the LED flash) and to use multitasking features of the iOS 4 software update. Furthermore, ProCamera is ready to take a snapshot the second you open the app, upgrading the iPhone to the fastest point-and-shoot camera available, the developer claims. The ProCamera iPhone application is available in the App Store priced at $2.99.