Samsung Germany has announced the 14-megapixel Samsung ES75 with 27-135mm lens and face, blink and smile detection features. The lens has a maximum aperture of f3.5 at the wide end and f5.9 at maximum telephoto. The Samsung ES75 uses an interesting form of digital image stabilisation - it takes two photos in rapid succession, one underexposed shot at a high shutter speed for the “sharpness information” and a well-exposed but potentially blurred photo for the “tonal information” and combines the two for a well-exposed and sharp result. The “intelligent” rear LCD screen adjusts its own brightness automatically based on ambient light levels, while in the unique Self-portrait mode, the camera helps you position yourself in front of the lens by optically and acoustically signalling to you when you are in the right place within the frame. The Samsung ES75 will be available from September priced at 189 euros.

Website: Samsung press release (in German)

Practical HDRI, 2nd Edition, by pro photographer Jack Howard, is a richly illustrated introduction to HDR imaging. HDR imaging can be challenging and frustrating for the uninitiated, as it involves both field and computer expertise. However, Howard explains this complex subject matter in a practical way that will not intimidate the beginner, nor bore the experienced photographer. The emphasis is on the creative process and how to make it work for you—rather than the science behind it. Fully updated for 2010, this new edition covers the HDR process from image capture through post-processing for web and print. The 240-page book is available from O’Reilly for $34.95.

Today is the official launch of PhotoDeck, a service designed to offer photographers a brandable e-commerce solution for presentation and distribution of their images. PhotoDeck was built by a group of professional photographers seeking alternatives to stock licensing outside of the typical stock agency model. It allows self-pricing and sales without the expense of agency commissions. The service gives full pricing control and allows for automated payment as well as digital delivery of images. It can be fully customised and branded for easy integration with existing websites. “I built my own stock website as an early experiment and attracted over 6,000 visitors a day,” said J.F. Maion, PhotoDeck founder. “Our intent is to make this opportunity available to others.”

Website: PhotoDeck

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) has issued the last call for entries to its 2010 Young Photographer Awards. Hundreds of entries have already poured in, but there is still time to put your snaps in the frame to win prizes - provided you are a UK citizen under 19. The winner will receive £1,000 worth of Olympus camera kit as well as a photography break courtesy of Natures Images. Danny Green, who runs Natures Images along with Mark Sisson, will join the overall winner and pass on some of his expertise during the annual deer rut in Bradgate Park, Leicestershire. The closing date for YPA entries is Monday, 6 September.

Website: Young Photographer Awards

Heathrow Express has launched a competition to find the best family holiday photograph. The company has teamed up with Luxury Family Hotels to give away a weekend away in the UK to the carefully chosen winner and his/her family. To enter all participants have to do is submit one of their holiday photographs along with a title, their name and telephone number and some details on where and when the picture was taken. Photographs must be submitted to [email protected] by 30th September at 11:59pm. The competition is open to participants worldwide, aged 18 or over on the closing date.

Newpro has announced the availability of new accessories from Cullmann and Pedco. These include a a complete Cullmann monopod and ball & socket combination comprising a Cullmann Magnesit 550 monopod and CB7.3 ball & socket head (£99.99) and the new Ultraclamp 2.5 kit from Pedco (£34.99). The individual prices are £71.51 for the monopod and £57.00 for the CB7.3 head, so the new Cullmann combination offers a saving of £28.52. The Ultraclamp 2.5 kit (pictured) is a combination of the original UltraMount ball & socket head and a brand new Clamp unit with jaws that have an opening aperture from 1” to 2.5” wide. This is then suitable for mounting cameras, camcorders, spotting scopes etc. on larger or wider objects than the original Ultraclamp can accommodate.

Website: Newpro

Apple has released a Digital Camera RAW.compatibility update for iPhoto and Aperture. Version 3.3 adds support for raw files created by the Canon PowerShot SX1 IS, Olympus E-PL1, Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2 & G10, Samsung NX10, Sony A450, NEX-3 and NEX-5 (pictured) digital cameras. The update is downloadable from the website below.

Website: Digital Camera RAW Compatibility Update 3.3

Akvis has just released Akvis Retoucher 4.0 for both Windows and Macintosh. The program can restore damaged photos by removing dust, scratches, stains, and by reconstructing the missing parts of a photo automatically. It can also be used to improve composition of a photo by removing irrelevant details and even large objects that spoil the impression of a photo. You can remove date stamps, logos, wires, refuse bins etc. Akvis Retoucher 4.0 is available both as a plug-in and as a standalone program, and sells for $87. Registered users with a Home license can upgrade to Retoucher 4.0 for free.

Website: AKVIS

Topaz Labs released a major upgrade of the Topaz DeNoise plug-in, which features a double increase in speed, double the maximum image size and many additional noise reduction capabilities. “DeNoise 5 is twice as fast as its predecessor. It also introduces unique shadow tone restoration and dual-directional debanding capabilities, which enable photographers to solve additional problems caused by heavy noise,” said Dr. Albert Yang, President of Topaz Labs. Topaz DeNoise 5 works with a variety of host programs including Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, Aperture, iPhoto and Lightroom. It is a free upgrade for existing DeNoise customers and retails for $79.99.

Rollei has introduced two touch-screen cameras, the Rollei Compactline 360 TS and 370 TS, which will be on display at Photokina and available at retail from the end of September. The Rollei Compactline 360 TS is a 12-megapixel model with 4x optical zoom starting at 28mm, and 720p HD video recording functionality. The Rollei Compactline 370 TS is the same thing with a 14-megapixel imager. Both cameras include a 3-inch LCD touchscreen display with gesture support. The recommended retail price of the 360 TS is €99.95, while that of the 370 TS is €129.95.

Lexmark Canada has announced the launch of the Lexmark Pinnacle Pro 901 all-in-one (AIO) printer. The Lexmark Pinnacle was awarded an Outstanding Business Inkjet 2010 Pick Award by Buyer’s Laboratory Inc, as well as a 2010 Hot Tech Demo Award at the Fifth Annual Small Business Summit 2010. Featuring the world’s lowest-cost black ink (based on MSRP and average yield), Lexmark’s Pinnacle is available now via major national and regional retail outlets, online retailers, distribution partners and direct from Lexmark at Lexmark.com for $299.99 CDN.

32 Float is the industry’s first HDR-specific plug-in for Adobe Photoshop that brings 32-bit colour controls and editing tools to Photoshop users. Powered by Unified Color’s patented Beyond RGB colour space, 32 Float is able to separate colour data from brightness information, to make brightness adjustments without introducing the colour shift often seen using other HDR solutions. “Photoshop has supported 32-bit images for many years, but provided only limited functionality to actually work with the images in 32-bit mode,” said Alfred Zee, CEO of Unified Color Technologies. “With 32 Float, Photoshop users can finally take full advantage of all the data in their 32-bit images and process them for colour and tone without having to first down sample them to 8 or 16 bits to use editing tools.” Starting August 23, 2010, 32 Float will be available for purchase at www.unifiedcolor.com at a list price of $99.

The Casio EX-Z800 and EX-S200 are new compact cameras featuring Single Frame SR Zoom which extends the zoom range. The 14.1 megapixel Casio Z800 and S200 both offer a 4x optical zoom lens that starts at 27mm wide-angle, CCD-shift image stabilization mechanism, Premium Auto and Dynamic Photo functions. The EXILIM Card EX-S200 is a slim, high-quality, card-sized camera that is just 17.8 mm thick and only 14.9 mm at its thinnest part, while the EXILIM Zoom EX-Z800 is compact enough to fit in the palm of the hand. The Casio EX-Z800 and EX-S200 will both be available at the beginning of September 2010.

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

1st Place
Making a family! by Rachel Scott-Renouf

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

Aurora Expeditions have created a special photographic expedition for 27 photographers of all levels to spend a week on the Antarctic Peninsula. Accompanied by two professional photographers, David Burren and Martin Bailey from LuminOdyssey, passengers will spend time exploring the historic and rich wildlife at Vernadsky Station, taking in the spectacular rugged coastline from Lemaire Channel to the Gerlache Strait. For digital photographers, David and Martin will explain how to process and organise images with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3. Prior to the voyage, the two experts will be available to advise participants regarding their photography equipment. During the passage to Antarctica they will present classes and seminars to help prepare passengers for the Peninsula & Falkland Islands, and these will continue throughout the voyage. Prices start from US$9350 and include ship accommodation, all meals onboard, all shore excursions, lectures, medical services, port charges and taxes.

Peak Systems has released the first update for Diptic, a recent Top 5 paid iPhone and iPad photography app. An application that lets you quickly and easily combine multiple photos to create a new image, Diptic 1.1 features adds 14 new layouts for a total of 19 – nearly 4 times as many as Diptic 1.0. This update is available as a free download to all current Diptic owners. New users can get the app for $1.99.

Website: Diptic

Pixpa has launched the ability for its portfolio website users to publish and share their portfolio galleries anywhere on the web. Pixpa users can now publish their photo galleries directly on their Facebook wall, any website or blog or a number of social networks as an interactive slideshow with full navigation controls. Pixpa users can also use this feature to share specific galleries as stand-alone slideshows with clients.

Website: Pixpa

K. B. Canham Cameras has struck an agreement with Kodak to supply a variety of Kodak emulsions in a range of sheet film sizes. Kodak Tri-X, Ektar 100 and 400NC can be preordered in sizes ranging from 11x14 inches to 16x20 inches, while Kodak TMax 400 is available in 5x7” size. Since demand for most of these sizes is rather limited, prices are naturally high and interested photographers are required to pay the full amount in advance. Those who order a box or two of these films will be placed on a list along with everyone else that has ordered the same size and emulsion, and once enough orders are placed to reach the minimum number of boxes needed, as listed on their website, K. B. Canham Cameras will contact Kodak and should receive the film in approximately 6 weeks.

Microsoft is devising a new way to combat image blur resulting from camera shake. The 1001NoisyCameras blog points to a research paper presented by the Redmond based software giant at the SIGGRAPH 2010 conference, which discusses a solution that uses a combination of an external “image deblurring attachment” and sophisticated software algorithms to reduce the adverse effects of camera shake on image quality. “Our approach uses a combination of inexpensive gyroscopes and accelerometers in an energy optimization framework to estimate a blur function from the camera’s acceleration and angular velocity during an exposure,” Microsoft says. “We solve for the camera motion at a high sampling rate during an exposure and infer the latent image using a joint optimization.”

Website: 1001NoisyCameras