Panasonic has issued a firmware update for the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ10 (DMC-ZS7) travelzoom camera. Version 1.1 improves stability on start-up and optimises the light output of INON external underwater strobes, including the following models: S-2000 / D-2000 / Z-240.

Website: Panasonic TZ10 Firmware

International Garden Photographer of the Year has announced the winner of its ‘Spring into Life’ contest, which was organised as part of its ‘4- Seasons’ photography competition series. The overall winner is Colin Varndell, who will receive a £500 cash prize and a copy of ‘International Garden Photographer of the Year Collection 03’ published by David and Charles. The other finalsists are awarded a copy of the book, plus points that will be taken through to the judging of the main competition, deadline 30th November 2010.

Website: Winners’ Gallery

Annabel Williams Contemporary Training has launched a brand new intensive 4-day seminar designed to inspire wedding photographers. The first A to Z of Weddings seminar runs from 31st August to 3rd September at the purpose built Annabel Williams training studio in the stunning Lake District. The seminar, which is hosted by key trainers Catherine Connor, Jane Breakell and pro wedding photographer Stuart Cooper has lessons on topics such as marketing your business, pre wedding and wedding shoots and digital workflow, album design, sales and aftercare.

Website: Annabel Williams

Fujifilm has just launched the Fujifilm GF670 medium-format folding rangefinder camera in the United Kingdom. The Fujifilm GF670 - which is sold as the Voigtländer Bessa III in the rest of Europe - offers 6” x 6” and 6” x 7” format shooting, selectable via a simple switch, with 120 and 220 roll film. Featuring a Fujinon EBC 80 mm lens and coupled rangefinder, the GF670 has manual shutter speed control and offers a setting for aperture priority automation. There is both a hot shoe flash mount and a PC sync connection socket, and the camera boasts a “whisper quiet” shutter. Finished in silver, the Fujifilm GF670 is available now from leading camera retailers priced at around £1,700.

VSO Image Resizer 4 is a stand-alone application which will compress, convert, create copies, import, edit or organise a single picture or a whole batch. VSO Image Resizer 4 offers an improved stand-alone usage and a quick access to profiles from the Windows shell extension. The file selection has been revamped, allowing images and folders to be added together to the same project. With the live preview, a major new feature in VSO Image Resizer 4, users can see what the result will look like before actually resizing or converting images. The output can be sent directly by email or be compressed to a zip folder. Finally, the watermark function has been improved with html-like text formatting features.

Website: VSO Software

VSO Software has released PhotoDVD version 4, which includes a new output format, new transitions as well as an innovative live preview player. PhotoDVD allows users to create a customised video of pictures, with music, text, transitions and a DVD-like menu with chapters. With version 4, the outcome is no longer limited to burning to DVD, as the new output to mpeg4 now allows videos to be transferred to Youtube or Dailymotion in High Definition format. The full version of PhotoDVD 4 costs $29.99.

Website: VSO

One Day on Earth is a documentary and new media project about the “amazing diversity, conflict, tragedy, and triumph that occurs in one 24-hour period on Earth”. On 10th October 2010, thousands of people from every nation around the world will film their perspective and contribute their voice to what the organisers describe as one of the largest participatory media events in history. The event will result in a 120-minute feature documentary and online video archive. The people behind the project have released a pretty amazing trailer that describes the idea in more detail - it’s certainly worth watching. To register for the event, follow the link below.

Website: Sign Up for One Day on Earth

Hundreds of members of the public are invited to participate in two revolutionary photographic commissions to create public art installations using Olympic finish line technology in London and Birmingham. In association with Rhubarb-Rhubarb, image maker Ádám Magyar will create two large-scale outdoor installations, working with Newham Council and Birmingham Cultural Partnership. A minimum of 300 local people will be needed to create each image. The camera used to create the installations records a scene one pixel at a time to capture movement. Using the same technologies as those used on the Olympic Finish Line, UK-based Hungarian photographer Ádám Magyar has built his own software to transpose the thousands of slices per second, captured by the camera, “to create stunning images which embrace time and space in a most intriguing way”. The Newham Walk for the Camera will be staged on Saturday 17 July at the Mayor’s Newham Show in East Ham, while the Birmingham Walk for the Camera will take place as part of the city’s participation in the London 2012 Open Weekend. To register, visit the website below.

Website: Walking As One

Sigma Corporation of America is set to launch its first “Momtographers’ Photo Contest”. The company defines a “momtographer” as a mom who loves capturing and saving images of her family’s happiest, funniest and most memorable moments together. In keeping with that definition, Sigma is inviting parents to submit images to compete for a grand prize of $2,500 in cash. Photo submissions will be accepted from 29 June through 16 August 2010. We will keep you updated as further details are unveiled.

Lexar has created a video offering a look into the Lexar Quality Labs, facilities with more than 800 digital cameras and memory card devices, to ensure performance, quality, compatibility, and reliability. The short movie shows how Lexar memory cards are tested to withstand intense temperatures, vibrations, impacts and other external shocks. To view the video on YouTube, follow the link below.

A Peek Inside the Lexar Quality Labs

With the introduction of its new 72-hour online clipping path service, graphics outsourcing pioneer uClip has lowered the price to less than $2 per image. “Clipping path is the art of masking out an object of interest from a picture,” the comapny explained in a statement. “Once the image has the clipping path, the object outlined can be edited, moved or placed in any publication or web page without any distracting background elements.” uClip’s professional, 24-hour service - which costs $3.89 per image - has been used by major publishing houses worldwide. New users can register for a trial account, and receive one clipping path for free.

Website: uClip

Nikon Australia is poised to launch Nikon School, a series of hands on classes that will guide students through the vital steps in the digital photography process. Sessions will be held at Melbourne’s Marriot Hotel, the Quay West Suites in Brisbane and the Sydney Harbour Marriot Hotel, and will be presented by some of Australia’s most talented and revered photographers. The series will begin with an Introduction to DSLR class on Saturday, 26th June. The course will cover everything from basic layout of the camera through to in-camera post production methods. From August 2010, additional classes will be added to the series alongside the Introduction course. These classes will cost $240 and are scheduled from 10am – 4pm on Saturdays.

Website: Nikon School

AOP Student has announced that the next Careers Talk will be held on Wednesday, 30th June. Hosted by aerial photographer Jason Hawkes, the talk will take place from 3pm to 5pm at the AOP Gallery, 81 Leonard Street, London. You do not need to book a place in advance, but make sure to be there early, as no one will be admitted after 3pm. Entry is free, and everyone is welcome to attend.

Website: AOP Student

Launching during London Fashion Week, Ten Times Rosie is a high-end fashion photography book featuring the bold and contemporary designs of Paula Thomas, founder and head designer of the luxury label Thomas Wylde, as shot by British photographer Rankin. The publication of this glossy coffee-table book will be accompanied by an exhibition at Rankin’s Annroy Gallery, London, and will launch internationally in Los Angeles and Paris. Shot on location in and around LA in April of this year at the Amboy Salt Flats, Joshua Tree National Park, the Château Marmont and downtown streets, Ten Times Rosie “epitomises the creativity and theatrical flair of Rankin, Paula Thomas and stylist Maryam Malakpour”, the publisher says. The book will be available to purchase from Turnaround, while the exhibition will run from 21st September – 29th October at Annroy Gallery, London.

Team Noton has announced a brand new Edinburgh venue for the ‘Chasing the Light’ Road Show. Tickets - priced at £15 - are now on sale for the event, which will take place on 28th September at the Royal College of Physicians in Edinburgh. The show includes David Nonon’s latest unpublished photographs, video clips from shoots around the world, the stories behind some of his most iconic images and of course, all delivered with David’s unique sense of humour:

Website: David Noton

The official UK launch of the Sony NEX-5 and NEX-3 took place at The Vinyl Factory in London, where collections from up-and-coming designers Bodyamr and Edward Finney were unveiled giving celebrity guests the chance to try out the latest kit. Pop starlet Keisha Buchanan took to the runway in a figure hugging creation from Bodyamr (see picture above), and onlookers were able to capture the moment with the new Sony NEX cameras. Rachel Banin, Category Head – Digital Imaging, at Sony UK said: “The exciting new NEX-3 and NEX-5 cameras from Sony are the first to offer interchangeable lenses, outstanding D-SLR quality images and HD movie recording in a body the size of a compact camera. It was great to be able to launch these cameras with the help of some fantastic up and coming fashion talent and unique circus performers – creating the perfect setting to really put these cameras to the test.”

Pentax has added a vibrant-orange version of the Pentax Optio W90 waterproof camera to its digital compact line-up. Named the Pentax Optio W90 Shiny Orange, this new model has an orange-colour aluminium-alloy front panel that features a fine hairline finish. The 12-megapixel camera, which is equipped with a 5x zoom lens, is sand- and dustproof, waterproof down to a depth of 6 metres and shockproof to approximately 1.5 metres. The recommended retail price of the Pentax Optio W90 Shiny Orange is £269.99 in the UK, and $329.95 in the USA. Availability is slated for July.