Gerald Donovan has posted a 45-gigapixel panorama of Dubai to the Gigapan website. Before Christmas, we wrote about a record-breaking 26-gigapixel cityscape of Dresden, Germany, which was soon followed by a similar resolution panoramic image of Paris. With almost 45 gigapixels’ worth of detail, the Dubai photo - which was allegedly taken with a Canon EOS 7D and a Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L lens mounted on a Gigapan Epic Pro robotic camera stand - is now the world’s largest-resolution photograph. According to Donovan, he stitched together 4,250 individual shots taken at the long end of the zoom over a period of three and a half hours to set a new world record.

Website: Gigapan: Dubai 45 Gigapixels

In keeping with its promise made last month, Panasonic has announced firmware updates for the first three of its Micro Four Thirds (MFT) cameras, including the G1, GH1 and GF1 models. With thess firmware updates, all three cameras are given a new menu option for image stabilisation when the new Lumix G Vario 14-42mm lens is attached, and all three models benefit from improved auto-focus performance with other manufacturers’ MFT lenses. Additionally, the G1 and the GH1 gain improved flash exposure accuracy, whilst the GH1 also benefits from improved auto-focus performance in movie mode with the Leica DG Macro-Elmarit 45mm f/2.8 ASPH. / MEGA O.I.S. lens. Plus, firmware version 1.3 for the GH1 enables auto-focusing in Full HD mode with regular Four Thirds lenses that are compatible with contrast-detect AF.

Website: Joint update service for Four Thirds

Ricoh has issued a firmwre update for the Ricoh CX3 digital compact camera. Version 1.09 addresses the following issue: “After rewinding a movie file in the camera once, there could be a case that the move playback is suspended”. Follow the link below in order to download the firmware upgrade.

Website:.Ricoh CX3 Firmware

Adobe has posted a release candidate of ACR 6.1 for Photoshop CS5 users. This version of Adobe Camera Raw adds support for a range of digital cameras and medium-format backs, fixes bugs and includes new lens correction functionality that can apply profile-based corrections to accommodate geometric distortions, chromatic aberration and lens vignette effects. Manual corrections for geometric distortion as well as vertical and horizontal perspective transforms are also available.

Website: Adobe Camera Raw 6.1 RC

TimeShot is a very interesting web application that allows you to “paint” with your photos. “The inspiration for this came in a talk with a friend,” TimeShot developer Tiago Cardoso says. “After doing a timelapse of sunsetting, it was cool to see what it would look like a photo that blended all the timelapse, showing daytime on one side and nighttime on the other.” The application has multiple uses, including the already mentioned timelapse photography, HDR imaging, “super slo-mo” video, focus stacking and more. While TimeShot is not the only way to achieve these effects, it promises to be easier and more fun than others.

Website: TimeShot

Sigma has launched the Sigma APO 120-400mm f4.5-5.6 DG OS HSM in Sony and Pentax mounts. Incorporating a Hyper Sonic Motor for fast and quiet focussing and optical image stabilisation for blur-free handheld images, the Sigma APO 120-400mm f4.5-5.6 DG OS HSM is constructed of 21 lens elements arranged in 15 groups. Of these, three are Special Low Dispersion glass elements that have been implemented to combat chromatic aberrations. This lens is equipped with a rear focus system and features super multi-layer coating that reduces flare and ghosting. The Sony version is compatible with the 1.4x EX DG APO and 2x EX DG APO teleconverters that provide additional reach, albeit at a light loss of 1 and 2EV, respectively, meaning the autofocus system cannot be used when the lens is mounted to the camera in combination with either of these teleconverters.

Samsung Germany has announced the 13.8-megapixel Samsung WB5500 digital camera with a 26x zoom lens. Spanning a 35mm equivalent focal range of 26-676mm, the Samsung WB5500’s lens bears the prestigious Schneider-Kreuznach name on its barrel. The camera offers manual and semi-manual exposure modes and can store the captured photos as raw image data. Videographers will appreciate the HD movie recording capability and the fact that they can use the 26x optical zoom while filming. Movies are compressed using the H-264 codec and stored in MPEG-4 format. Endowed with an HDMI port, the Samsung WB5500 is available priced at €429.

Website: Samsung press release (in German)

Light & Land has announced a new tour to the Isle of Wight. The tour will be based at the Northcourt Lodge in Shorwell – which was built in 1615 and is the largest manor house on the island, located just 5 minutes from the dramatic coastline of the west Wight. Taking place from 1-5 November 2010, the tour is suitable for all levels of photographers.

Website Light & Land

On 14 June, high wire artist Philippe Petit will engage in a freewheeling conversation with photographer Tom Wool, whose images of Tibet’s Rongbuk Valley are the subject of a current exhibition at the Rubin Museum of Art. Wool’s Rubin Museum exhibition, In the Shadow of Everest, presents images of life in the villages of the valley. In 2001, accompanied by two yakmen and a tiny horse, Wool followed the route taken during the first British expeditions through this area, including that taken by George Mallory and Andrew Irvine as they attempted their ill-fated Everest climb in 1924. Petit and Wool will talk about everything from heights and altitude, to Tibet, to education, to the nature of creativity and motivation. The conversation will take place in the Rubin Museum of Art (150 West 17th Street, New York), at 7pm on Monday, 14 June. Tickets are available via the website below, priced at $15.

Website: Rubin Museum

Datacolor has launched the “Real New York” online photography competition. This contest invites photographers to submit examples of their work that capture the essence of the city that never sleeps, and the urban core of the metropolis that goes beyond tourist hotspots. The grand prize winner of the ‘Real New York’ photo contest will be awarded a trip to the Photokina trade show taking place September 21-26, 2010 in Cologne, Germany.  The first and second runner-ups will receive a Lensbaby Composer and a $250.00 B&H gift card, respectively. There is a limit of 10 entries per submitter. The contest is open to any person 18 years or older residing in the United States. All entries must be received no later than July 24, 2010.

Website: Real New York

Canon announced today that combined production of the company’s EOS-series film and digital SLR cameras passed the 40-million mark. The Canon EOS system was born in 1987 when the company announced the discontinuance of its FD line of manual-focus SLR cameras and lenses, and introduced the EOS 650 autofocus SLR camera along with the first EF lenses. In 1997, the 10th anniversary of the series, production reached 10 million camera units, and in 2003 passed the 20-million mark. After the rapid spread of digital SLR cameras, Canon went on to reach the 30-million mark during the series’ 20-year anniversary in December 2007, followed by the current 40-million-unit production milestone.

ArtistsWanted.org has issued a call for submissions to their second annual photo competition, Exposure. An international open call for inspired photography, this opportunity is open to photographers of all backgrounds “who speak exquisitely in the language of lenses and aperture”. One Grand Prize winner will be awarded a Manhattan gallery reception, international publicity and their choice of $10,000 cash or 1 year living rent free in a $1.2 million dollar apartment provided by The Edge in New York City. The public will also cast their vote and the highest rated portfolio will receive the People’s Choice Award comprising $2,000 in cash, a Manhattan gallery reception and airfare and shipping to and from New York City for the event. Furthermore, all participants will receive an online portfolio searchable by gallerists, press and commercial buyers; a free digital subscription to JPG Magazine; $100 in credits from Zipcar.com; and discounts and freebies from the contest’s corporate sponsors.

Website: ArtistsWanted

To celebrate the launch of its iPhone app British Military Fitness: My Fitness Instructor, Military Fitness Ltd. has announced a photography competition entitled, “Witness the Fitness”. To enter, all you have to do is take a photograph of yourself listening to your iPod or iPhone and exercising in an unusual place, be it the board room, on a merry-go-round, in front of Sydney Opera House or deep within a Peruvian jungle. Once you’ve taken your photo, upload it to Military Fitness’ Facebook page. The photo that gets the most ‘likes’ by the end of the competition will win an iPad, with 5 runners up winning copies of British Military Fitness: My Fitness Instructor.

Website: British Military Fitness App on Facebook

Talenthouse has issued a new Creative Invite for photographers to shoot electric violin player Caitlin Moe for the cover of her new album. “The image captured in the cover shot should be mysterious and dramatic like her songs, fun and loud like her personality and should push the boundaries just like her violin playing,” Talenthouse says, adding, “the shot should incorporate the violin in some artistic, out of the ordinary way.” Interested photographers should submit two of their best artistic shots via the website below. The selected photographer will be flown to New York City for the photo shoot, receive album credit and will be introduced to Caitlin’s network of musicians and other artists.

Website: Talenthouse

Over 1,000 historic BT Archive images from the 1860s onwards can now be downloaded thanks to Telefocus - the new BT Archives Image Gallery. The gallery offers an insight into the history of telecommunications through images. David Hay, BT’s head of heritage and corporate memory, said: ““As the world’s oldest communications company and guardian of the UK’s telecommunications legacy, we recognise and attach great value to our long and rich history. We are particularly proud to encourage greater accessibility to these fascinating images through Telefocus. In doing so we are opening up BT’s heritage to a whole new audience”.

Website: Telefocus

Still in Motion is a company that aims to promote contemporary photography both in Paris and London by way of organising a photography festival that will “build a bridge over the Channel”. The opening of the Still in Motion London Photography Festival will take place in Paris, at La Cartonnerie, on the 29th and 30th of May 2010 and one week later, at the Horse Hospital in London. The festival programme includes an exhibition of pinhole photographs, a pinhole photo contest on the theme of the changing city, free pinhole portraits in a Victorian lay-out, an exhibition of young photographers, and more. Throughout the weekend, a discovery workshop will be delivered for the public that will play upon the pinhole camera’s origins and the experience of taking a picture in a 19th century studio. “One of the targets of this event is to recreate the social link within the city through photography, and to bring urban people to rediscover their city,” the organisers say.

Website: Still in Motion

The winning entries for ADP’s second student photography competition, Architecture Naturally, have been announced at an exhibition, held at London’s Bankside Gallery. The competition this year focused on the relationship between architecture and the natural world. Ryan Manton from University of Kent, won first prize for his image, ‘Tree Sleeve’. Ryan won a £1000 photographic commission, £750 of camera equipment vouchers, a one-year subscription to Digital Photographer Magazine, plus 12 months discounted printing with CallPrint.

The Annenberg Space for Photography presents its next exhibit, Pictures of THE YEAR International (POYi), with images from one of the most prestigious photojournalism competitions in the world. With approximately 60 images, the print exhibit will cover 2009 with views of youth culture, soldiers’ stories, the continued economic crisis, environmental disasters, pop culture, and more. A separate digital exhibit will feature hundreds of additional winning images and will follow winning photojournalists ‘behind the lens’ in the field, such as- Barbara Davidson and Brian L. Frank. The exhibit will kick off June 24-25, 2010 with the POYi Education & Awards programme, a two-day event that includes presentations by the exhibited award-winning photojournalists. The Annenberg Space for Photography is located at 2000 Avenue of the Stars, Century City, California and is open Wednesday through Sunday, 11am-6pm.