From June 9 to July 2, Craftsman Tools is encouraging DIY enthusiasts and budding photographers to submit their photographic interpretation of the phrase “Trust in Your Hands.” The competition is hosted on Twitter. Entry tweets should read “@CraftsmanClub: Look how I put #trust in my hands,” followed by a URL link to the photo. At the end of the contest, 10 winning submissions will receive a Craftsman C3 tool package valued at $750 each. The contest is open to legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia, 18 years or older. For official rules, visit the website below.

Website: Craftsman Photo Contest

Sigma has confirmed the launch date of the Sigma SD15 digital SLR camera, which was first announced nearly two years ago. According to Photoscala, the Sigma SD15 will become available on 25 June, at the surprisingly high price of €1,199 (earlier this year, the official German website of the company quoted a recommended retail price of €899. which has now been modified). In the UK, the camera will start shipping at the beginning of July, priced at £899.99. The Sigma SD15 has a Foveon sensor with 4.7x3 megapixels, and incorporates a TRUE II processor, a 77-segment metering sensor as well as a 3-inch rear screen with a resolution of 460,000 dots. The shutter is rated for 100,000 actuations.

Update: 14/6/2010 - We’ve just added a press release issued by Sigma UK.

From now till July 19th, you can submit a photo or video of your “moments of wonder” to a dedicated website set up by Samsung, for a chance to win one of 7 DualView cameras or a 24” HD monitor. Your moment can represent an everyday joy or a once-in-a-lifetime event, like sitting front row at your daughter’s college graduation. Note that this competition is open to US citizens only. As always, we recommend that you read the rules before entering your work.

Website: Moments of Wonder

Photobucket announced today that its “Photobucket Mobile” application is available now in RIM’s BlackBerry App World. The app allows users to interact with their Photobucket albums no matter where they are right from their phone. Blackberry users can download Photobucket Mobile from BlackBerry App World by searching for “Photobucket”. The application is also available in the Android Market and the App Store for iPhone and iPad.

Website: Photobucket Mobile

The first ‘Create by Jason Wu’ digital camera intended for the UK market has been unveiled at the Graduate Fashion Week in London. The ‘Create by Jason Wu’ line was first announced in the U.S.A. earlier this year, resulting from the unique collaboration between General Imaging and Jason Wu, the 27-year-old designer who has claimed the international fashion spotlight, dressing celebrities like Drew Barrymore, Diane Kruger and Natalie Portman. The first UK model has a stunning leather body with luxurious matching case, elegant wrist strap and neck strap. The camera also boasts an internal memory capable of storing over 1,000 images, and a retractable USB plug for easy connection to a laptop or PC. Available this month, pricing to be determined.

In the wake of the recent acquisition of Microsoft’s Expression Media software for digital asset management, Phase One has updated Capture One to improve the applications’ compatibility. Version 5.1.2 allows users to easily add a selection of images from Capture One to an Expression Media catalogue, preview images in Expression Media using Capture One’s default rendering, and create a Capture One album with images found by searching in Expression Media. Additionally, Capture One 5.1.2 adds support for Leaf Aptus-II 10R and Olympus E-PL1, updates firmware for Leaf digital backs and adds QuickLook and WIC support for Leaf MOS files. This is a free service release to existing Capture One 5.x users.

Announced at the beginning of the year, the Kodak ESP 7250 printer is now officially launched in the United Kingdom. Compatible with the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch (second generation), the Kodak ESP 7250 features easy-to-use wireless functions, an intuitive control panel and the lowest total ink replacement cost in the industry, according to Kodak. Apart from its wireless capabilities, the Kodak ESP 7250 features a built-in duplexer, intelligent paper sensor and auto-engaging photo trays saving time and money, and a 2.4” LCD screen as well as a number of memory card slots. Available this month, the Kodak ESP 7250 retails for £169.99.

Lomography has announced the Spinner 360°, a fully mechanical camera that captures 360° panoramas on 35mm film with a spectacular spin. Simply take the Spinner 360° in one hand, pull the trigger-cord with the other and release it – in a split second the camera spins 360° around its own axis and records everything that’s around you on a frame more than 4 times longer than a conventional landscape picture. For best results, it is recommended to load the Lomography Spinner 360° with ISO 400/27° film. Given the size of the panoramic images, you can expect to manage approximately 8 frames on a standard 36-exposure roll.

Website: Lomography

Datacolor has announced the first in a series of upcoming webinars designed to demonstrate the simplicity of achieving optimum monitor calibration. Hosted by Datacolor Education Manager, Joshua Fischer, and Manfrotto Distribution Product Manager, Will Holowka, the first webinar will discuss Datacolor’s entire line of Spyder3 monitor calibration products with step-by-step instructions on how to achieve accurate colour on your monitor. Guests will have the ability to interact with the speakers, allowing for first-hand input for their calibration queries. Taking place on 16 June from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM EST, the webinar is accessible at the website below.

Website: Datacolor Webinar

Between Here and There: Passages in Contemporary Photography, on view 2 July 2010 through 13 February 2011, is a new exhibition to be held in the the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The first half of the exhibition shows how artists in 1960s and 1970s, working in the context of Minimal and Conceptual art, were drawn to photography for its differences from traditional art media. The second half features photographers from the 1980s to the present day including Rineke Dijkstra, Doug Aitken and Weng Fen. The exhibition will be on display in the Joyce and Robert Menschel Hall for Modern Photography.

The majority of GE’s new cameras, announced earlier this year, are now available in the UK. These include the GE X5 superzoom camera with 15x optical zoom (pictured), the GE E1486TW touch-screen model featuring an 8x optical zoom in a slim body, the 14.2-megapixel GE J1455 that sports a 5x zoom lens with image stabilisation, and the smart-looking GE A1255 and A1455, which come with 5x optical zoom and a 12 and a 14 megapixel imager, respectively. The 12.2-megapixel GE G5WP waterproof compact and the 14-megapixel GE E1486W - which is essentially an E1486TW without the touch-screen interface - are slated for July.

The National Association of Photoshop Professionals has launched its new Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Learning Center. Timed to coincide with the release of Lightroom 3, the NAPP Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Learning Center is open to the public and offers new in-depth tutorials on the most talked about features including: the new import dialogue, tethered capture, improved noise reduction, lens correction, the new grain feature, and more.

Website: NAPP’s Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Learning Center

Fujifilm has posted firmware updates to a number of their S series digital cameras. The affected models include the FinePix S2500HD, S2550HD, S2600HD, S2700HD, S1800, S1850, S1880, S1900, S1600, S1700, S1730, S1770 and the S1780. Firmware version 1.04 addresses the issue that unwanted number of sheets are printed by setting with “PictBridge” function, and improves handling when playing back images.

Website: Fujifilm Finepix Firmware

Nikon has released firmware updates for the Nikon Coolpix S3000 and S4000 digital compact cameras. Version 1.1 for the S3000 and version 1.2 for the S4000 both address an issue related to the EN-EL10 battery. The issue was that when the battery was inserted in the camera and charged, charging sometimes did not stop after the designated amount of time had passed.

Website: Nikon Coolpix S3000 Firmware 1.1
Website: Nikon Coolpix S4000 Firmware 1.2

MonoPhix HD 1.0 is a completely new app for the iPad that allows you to turn any picture on your iPad into a high quality, high contrast monochrome image. The outcome is fully customisable by using multiple, “Lightroom-like” sliders, the developers say. Featuring a real-time preview of your changes, high-speed filters, separate tools for dodging and burning and more, MonoPhix HD 1.0 for iPad is available on the App Store priced at $1.99.

Website: MonoPhix HD 1.0

Panasonic has anounced the price of the recently-introduced Panasonic Lumix FX70/FX75. The new super-slim digital camera, which has a 24-120mm equivalent Leica DC Vario-Summicron 5x zoom lens, a 14-megapixel imager and a touch-screen interface, will be available in mid-July 2010 in black and silver for a suggested retail price of $299.95.

Camera Bits has unveiled a bundle of new improvements for users of its Photo Mechanic photo browser and workflow tool. Version 4.6.4 offers faster browsing and new support for raw files captured by the Olympus E-P2 and E-PL1 cameras as well as various Phase One models, and recognition of extended range ISO values (Lo and Hi) for certain Nikon digital SLR cameras. The new version also enables new advanced workflows when combining Photo Mechanic’s unique “variables” and “code replacements” features, such as the ability to split still images from movie files during ingest to aid the import of video clips into Final Cut Pro using Canon’s EOS Movie Plugin-E1.

Website: CameraBits Downloads

SanDisk has launched a professional photography contest on the SanDisk Extreme Team Facebook page. The submission deadline is 31 July, 11:30pm PT. Entries are accepted in four different categories – Nature, Wedding/Events, Action and Fashion. The grand prize winner will be offered a one year spot on the SanDisk Extreme Team and the grand prize winning photo will be exhibited in the “Winner’s Circle” gallery showing during the PhotoPlus Expo in New York City. The four finalists, the winners of each category, will each receive a $1,000 cash prize and their photos will be featured in the online Winner’s Circle gallery. Eight runners-up will receive $250 worth of SanDisk memory cards, and their photos will be featured in the online Winner’s Circle gallery.  The winners will be announced on or around 31 October.

Website: SanDisk Extreme Team Facebook Page

The Sony A290 and A390 are two new 14.2-megapixel DSLR cameras targeted at the entry-level market. The main difference versus the existing Sony A230 and A380 is a redesigned right-hand grip (one of our most important criticisms levelled against the previous generation of Sony’s entry-level DSLRs concerned the rather uncomfortable handgrip). As regards the A290, the 14-megapixel sensor is also a novelty, given that the A230 had a 10-megapixel imager. In virtually all other areas, the Sony A290 and A390 are identical to their respective predecessors, with the A390 boasting Live View with fast autofocus (though no movie mode), and the A290 trading in Live View for a bigger optical viewfinder. Available this summer, the Sony A290 and A390 are priced at €450 and €500, respectively, including a Sony DT 18-55mm SAM kit zoom in each case.