The Royal Ontario Museum will be hosting an interesting exhibition entitled House Calls with My Camera, a poignant series of photo essays capturing the lives of the patients of Toronto physician Dr. Mark Nowaczynski. Running from 15 May to 11 October 2010, House Calls with My Camera features 36 black-and-white photographs taken in black and white using a 4x5 large format camera, and printed traditionally on silver gelatin fibre-based paper. Visitors will experience a photographic journey into the lives of four patients captured by the lens of Dr. Nowaczynski during his House Calls visits, including John L. (pictured), a Korean War veteran, and three other patients. Admission to House Calls with My Camera is included with general Museum admission. House Calls with My Camera will be on display on Level 2 in the Hilary and Galen Weston Wing.

CTPhoto Workshops at Tunxis Community College in Farmington, Connecticut, is now registering students for its one-day photo workshops to be held on select Saturdays in May and June. Scheduled to run on May 8 & 22 and June 12 & 26, these one-day classes provide hands-on instruction on Mac and Windows platforms in Photoshop use, while courses in digital photography include How to Take Better Pictures and How to Use Your Digital Camera. The cost per class is $99, and course participants qualify for student discounts on Adobe software products. For more information or to register online, visit the website below.

Website: CTPhoto

Magix has released PhotoStory on CD & DVD 9, a slideshow editor for Windows. This program allows you to import photos and videos, transform them into multimedia slideshows, and automatically burn them to disc with a DVD menu. You can enhance and correct poor-quality snapshots in a non-destructive manner, and add suitable background music, effects and personal text. New features in version 9 include thematic style templates, automated soundtrack creation, Windows 7 support, automatic red-eye reduction and direct access to Flickr from within the program. Magix PhotoStory on CD & DVD 9 is available now, priced at £39.99.

Website: PhotoStory on CD & DVD 9

Canon UK has announced a new cashback offer on the Canon Pixma MP560 all-in-one printer. Legal residents of the UK and Ireland who purchase a Pixma MP560 before 10 June 2010 can claim £30 / €35 cashback. Claims must be received by 10 July 2010. The Canon Pixma MP560 is the most compact Canon inkjet printer to have both wireless capabilities and built-in Auto Duplex Printing, and also is the first Canon Pixma printer to have the ability to print out pictures directly from a USB Flash Memory device.

Lexar has just announced the availability of its Lexar Professional ExpressCard CompactFlash Reader and the Lexar Professional 600x and 300x 32GB CF cards in traditional and online retail channels. The Lexar Professional 600x and 300x CF memory cards offer increased speed and performance, with a guaranteed minimum sustained write speed capability of 90MB/s and 45MB/s, respectively, when paired with an UDMA 6-enabled device. The Lexar Professional ExpressCard CF Reader is a portable, high-performance reader that requires no cables and connects directly to a PC or Mac laptop computer’s ExpressCard slot. The reader is compatible with all UDMA and non-UDMA CF cards, supports read/write speeds up to 133MB/s, and features a design with an extra deep card slot for added card protection. The 300x card is priced at $249.99, while the 600x card costs $499.99.

The Technical Image Press Association (TIPA) has announced the winners of the 20th round of the TIPA Awards. Among the award-winning products are the Nikon D3s, Pentax K-x, Canon EOS 550D and EOS 7D digital SLRs, the Leica M9 digital rangefinder camera, the Canon PowerShot G11, Casio Exilim EX-G1 and Sony Cyber-shot HX5V compacts and the Fujifilm FinePix HS10 superzoom camera. This year, there were two new categories, “Best Compact System Camera Advanced” and “Best Compact System Camera Entry Level”. The winners of these new categories are the Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2 and the Olympus E-PL1 (pictured), respectively. To see the entire list of award-winning products, from photo kiosks to backup systems, head to the website below.

Website: TIPA Awards 2010

Today LaCie announced the latest addition to its Rugged family of mobile hard drives – the LaCie Rugged USB 3.0. The LaCie Rugged USB 3.0 provides speeds of up to 110 MB/s – three times the speed of USB 2.0. Housed in the award-winning Rugged casing designed by Neil Poulton, the it features a unique scratch-resistant aluminium shell, internal anti-shock absorbers, and a shock-resistant rubber bumper to better protect files against everyday blunders. The LaCie Rugged USB 3.0 will be available in 500GB capacity through the LaCie Online Store, LaCie Corner, LaCie Reseller+ and LaCie Storage Partner starting at the suggested retail price of £139.

Website: LaCie

The Pentax Optio M90 is a 12.1-megapixel digital compact camera with 5x optical zoom and a 2.7” Anti-Reflection rear screen. The lens has a 35mm equivalent focal range of 28-140mm, while the body features a sophisticated metal rubber coated soft-touch exterior. Improved face detection, smile capture and blink detection and 20 scene modes including an auto panorama mode round off the features list. Powered by a Lithium-ion battery, the Pentax Optio M90 will be available from mid-June for a recommended retail price of £119.99.

Gitzo’s new Basalt Collection of tripods, heads, monopod and microphone boom is now available in the UK. With the new collection Gitzo introduces a High Performance basalt fibre tube, created from a radical innovation of the aerospace technology used to manufacture its composite tubes, starting from the raw fibres. The new technology boosts a higher level of resin into the raw basalt fibres to increase the tube performance by up to 22 per cent depending on the tube diameter. The new high performance basalt tubes are 20 per cent lighter than aluminium and offer intermediate performance between aluminium and carbon 6X tubing. The new Gitzo Basalt Collection tripods are available from Gitzo stockists priced from £339.95 to £469.95 depending on model. The Gitzo Basalt Collection monopod GM3860C is £179.95, while the microphone boom costs £159.95. The prices of the new Gitzo centre ball heads have not been confirmed yet.

Website: Manfrotto Distribution

PhotographyBB has announced the release of the 27th edition of the PhotographyBB Online Magazine. This issue features an 11-page special report on the release of Photoshop CS5. Additionally, photographers interested in starting their own photography business will get an overview of the type of business entity they may become, along with important considerations when selecting a business name. The magazine also has an article on simplifying your digital workflow, and for the portrait photographers they have a tutorial on creating drama through subtle selective colouring. PhotographyBB Online Magazine is available for free download through the PhotographyBB Website.

Website: PhotographyBB Online Magazine

X-Rite’s “Image Levitation” Webinar with professional photographer Eddie Tapp will be held tomorrow at 1pm EDT. This webinar will teach attendees how to apply creative and subjective image enhancements that suit their mood or creative vision. In addition, Eddie Tapp will share skin tone enhancement techniques, show how to apply fashion contrast and use edge masking, provide the scoop on “Double Smart Image Processing” and show how to integrate color management to streamline creative vision and get the desired results. For more information regarding this event, visit the website below.

Website: X-Rite Photo

Generations United is now accepting submissions for its annual photo contest, Stronger Together: Generations Side by Side. Open to amateur photographers of all ages, the contest organisers seek photos that “capture the power and beauty of intergenerational relationships in action, and convey the important roles that younger and older people play in each others’ lives”. Submissions for the 2010 contest must be uploaded to the Generations United Flickr group by 15 June 2010. As always, we suggest that you read the rules before entering your work.

Apple has released Digital Camera Raw Compatibility Update 3.2 for the Mac, adding system-level support for a number of new digital cameras. These include the Canon EOS 550D, the Leica S2 (pictured), the Olympus E-450, E-600 & E-620, and the Sony Alpha DSLR-A230, A330, A380 and A450. Furthermore, the update corrects raw processing issues with three older cameras, including the Canon EOS 30D, the Pentax K-x and the Pentax K-7.

Website: Digital Camera Raw Compatibility Update 3.2

The Nokia N8 is a new 12-megapixel camera phone that can also record HD-quality movie clips. With a Carl Zeiss lens, xenon flash and a sensor that allegedly rivals those found in compact digital cameras, the Nokia N8 comes with 16GB of built in storage space and a MicroSD memory card slot. Users can also share location and photos via Facebook and Twitter, using a single app directly on the home screen. Available from the third quarter of 2010 at an estimated retail price of €370, the Nokia N8 comes with free global Ovi Maps walk and drive navigation, guiding people to places and points of interest in more than 70 countries worldwide.

In parallel with the UK launch of its X2 family of wireless memory cards, Eye-Fi is expanding its Hotspot Access service, making on-the-go uploads from the camera available from hundreds of thousands of Wi-Fi networks across the world. The service will go live in May 2010 and owners of an Eye-Fi Pro X2 or an Eye-Fi Explore X2 card will automatically benefit from the service expansion in several ways. The 8GB Eye-Fi Pro X2 is available for £119.99 including a year of access to Devicescape’s network of Wi-Fi hotspots. The Eye-Fi Explore also has a capacity of 8 gigabytes, and also includes a year of hotspot access, for a recommended retail price of £99.99. The other members of the X2 family are the 4GB Eye-Fi Connect (£49.99, pictured) and the Eye-Fi Geo (£69.99). Eye-Fi Cards are available now from UK retailers including Amazon.co.uk, Best Buy, Jessops and Warehouse Express.

Paragon Software has just releasedParagon Drive Copy 10 Personal, a program that allows you to create a virtual clone of your PC, including the operating system; drivers and settings; and all your applications and files. Simply create a virtual clone of your PC by saving a virtual disk of your PC to an USB drive. Plug the USB drive into another computer which has a virtual player already installed and then you can use your system anytime you need it. Paragon Paragon Drive Copy 10 Personal is available at the price of £19.95.

Website: Paragon Drive Copy 10 Personal

Sony UK is introducing a new initiative whereby consumers can trade in their old consumer electronics goods – whether in working condition or not – in return for money off new Sony products. The campaign will run from 29 April until 11 July, the day of the World Cup final. The promotional offer is valid at participating stockists only. For more information, visit the website below.

Website: Sony Uk Trade-In Promotion

Nikon has just announced the new AF-S Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G ED VR II lens. Incorporating Nikon’s VR II image stabilisation technology, the AF-S Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G ED VR II features Automatic Panning Detection and an Active VR Mode to help compensate for movement from an unstable position such as a moving vehicle.  Additionally, VR is always engaged when shooting in the D-Movie mode on select Nikon D-SLRs, helping to stabilise HD video capture. Other highlights include Nikon’s exclusive Nano Crystal Coat for reduced ghosting and flare, and a new a/M autofocus mode that enables autofocus priority even if the focus ring is being handled during shooting. The lens projects an imaging circle that is large enough to cover FX sensors, but can of course also be used on DX bodies. The AF-S Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G ED VR II lens is scheduled to be available at authorised dealers in late May 2010 with an estimated selling price of $6,999.99 in the USA, and recommended retail prices of £6249.99 / €7400.00 in the UK and the euro zone, respectively.