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

DxO Labs have announced the availability of 100 new DxO optics modules for DxO Optics Pro. Covering a large selection of Canon, Nikon, Olympus and Sony camera-lens combinations, the new modules are listed at the website below.

Website: 100 new DxO Optics Modules

The book “Wildlife Photography - On Safari with Your DSLR: Equipment, Techniques, Workflow” is now available in the UK. Author Uwe Skrzypczak wrote the book with several goals in mind—to teach the technical aspects and the workflow of digital wildlife photography; to show the beauty of East Africa and his beloved Serengeti National Park, and to educate about its habitat; and to provide a guide for the photographer who is planning to go on an African photo safari. Topics covered include equipment and accessories, conditions on the road, composition, light, migrations and mating seasons, habitats and animal behaviour, river crossings and more. The 240-page book, which was launched in the US a month ago, is now available in the UK priced at £30.99.

The Photography.Book.Now competition, presented by Blurb, today opened voting for the People’s Choice Award. Anyone may visit the Photography.Book.Now Bookstore and vote for their favourite photography book through 20th August. There will be one People’s Choice Award winner in each category – Editorial, Fine Art, and Photography Portfolio.

Website: Photography.Book.Now

The district court in Utrecht/Netherlands rendered a drastic verdict against H.P. Ruitenberg and 4 respective entities of the so-called Crown group in favour of Tamron Europe. Tamron`s lawyers succeeded in providing evidence that Ruitenberg and several of his respective Crown companies violated the trademark rights of Tamron by dealing with illegally imported merchandise, which was not imported into the EU by or on behalf of Tamron. The verdict includes a penalty of €2,000,000 for non-compliance with an earlier verdict that Tamron had obtained in its favour.

The Sinar p-slr adapter lets DSLR users attach their camera bodies to Sinar view cameras, and use them as digital backs. This allows superior perspective control, selective focus and focal plane tilting and gives DSLR users an opportunity to use high-resolution digital Rodenstock lenses. The Sinar p-slr can be used with all Canon and Nikon single lens reflex cameras currently on the market. Thanks to the quick locking adapter supplied with the Sinar p-slr, the format can be changed from vertical to horizontal with only a few motions and within seconds. A positioning- and centering aid serves for the exact positioning of the camera on the optical axis. This upgrading set will be available as of August 2010 and it can be ordered right now at the price of 1980 Swiss Francs (not including the Value Added Tax).

Website: Sinar p-slr

Color Confidence has announced the launch of its inaugural ‘Push Your Creativity’ Awards. The Color Confidence ‘Push Your Creativity’ Awards are open to all creative professionals, including designers, illustrators and photographers of all levels, from student to professional, and invites submissions in any medium with the only proviso being that the work is creative and original. The winning entrants will be published as part of Color Confidence’s 2011 Graphic Supplies catalogue in the form of the cover and the section divider pages. The deadline for submissions is 5pm on Friday 22nd October 2010.

Website: Color Confidence Awards

Tiffen has updated Photo fx Ultra, its photo enhancement software application for the Apple iPad. Version 2 adds a Paint filter to the Image group with the following brushes: Color, Clone, Blur, Black and White, Mosaic, Red Eye, Repair, Scatter and Eraser. Also new is the opacity control feature of the Mask brush, along with crop and rotation enhancements and a correction to the Tint feature. Photo fx Ultra v2 is available at the Apple iTunes store for $5.99 and comes as a free update to current Photo fx Ultra users.

Panasonic has released firmware updates for the Panasonic Lumix LX3 and TZ7 (ZS3) digital compact cameras. Version 2.2 for the LX3 and version 1.3 for the TZ7 both optimise software processing without affecting camera performance.

Website: Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3 Firmware Update Service
Website: Panasonic Lumix TZ7 / ZS3 Firmware Update Service

TNT Magazine’s annual travel writing photography competition is back. The awards are judged by TNT’s specialist panel, including Lonely Planet’s Tom Hall, and are highly regarded within the independent travel market. Readers Choice Awards are also given for both the writing and photography categories with online voting. You have until 16 August 2010 to submit your work. Winners of the photography categories; People and Places, The Natural World, Your London and Readers Choice will each receive an Olympus E-PL1 mirrorless system camera (pictured) with retro camera bag.

Website: TNT Travel Writing & Photography Awards

A Panasonic TZ10 is up for grabs at PicStop - all you need to do is submit a winning image to their current photography contest. You have until 30th September to enter your work. The winner will be picked at random by PicStop and notified by telephone or email. Do note that this competition is open to 18+ legal residents of the United Kingdom and Ireland only. Terms & conditions apply.

Website: PicStop Competition