The first ever Hear the World photography competition, entitled “Joy of Sound”, is now open to amateur and professional photographers with a prize package worth over £2,000. Hear the World educates on the consequences of hearing loss and informs people about the solutions that are available. To celebrate hearing, and to illustrate how essential it is to our experience of the world around us, judges from Hear the World and Digital SLR Photography Magazine are looking for an original photograph that best depicts The Joy of Sound. As always, we recommend that you read the rules before applying via the website below.

Website: Hear the World

Israeli Photographer Atalia Katz presents her solo premier exhibition, Voice of Ethiopia, from 8-30 April at ZONE: CONTEMPORARY ART in New York City. Voice of Ethiopia captures the day to day life of Ethiopian Jews, considered by many to be one of the lost tribes of Israel. Katz was introduced to the Beta Israel community in January when she travelled to Ethiopia on a spiritual journey. Katz’s photographs of the makeshift, metal-hut synagogues of the transit camps reveal vital centers of faith and social life. A grid of nine photographs on display at the gallery will spotlight the religious rituals and daily experience of this unique cultural enclave. ZONE: CONTEMPORARY ART is located at 41 West 57th Street, NYC.

Delkin has announced four new SDHC cards ranging from 4GB to 32GB. Capable of up to 163x transfer speeds, these Class 10 rated cards all exceed the SD Association Specification data transfer rate requirement, the company says. Every card is manufactured with high grade NAND flash, advanced controller design, and quality control guidelines based on ISO 9001:2008 standards.  Additionally, a built-in write-protect switch prevents accidental data loss. Priced from $39.99 for the 4GB card to $219.99 for the 32GB variant, the new Class 10 SDHC memory cards all come with a lifetime warranty.

The Impossible Project announced that it succeeded in its task of re-producing an instant film for traditional Polaroid cameras. The Impossible Project started in October 2008 at the last preserved Polaroid plant in Enschede, the Netherlands, with the aim to save anlog Instant Photography from extinction after Polaroid had discontinued its instant film production earlier that year. Celebrating the beginning of a new era of instant photography, Impossible has just introduced its first two formats in a limited First Flush Edition. These include the PX100 and PX600 Silver Shade monochromatic films, with the first PX Colour Film being promised for summer 2010. A grand Impossible Project‘s Space, hosting a shop as well as a gallery, will open on April 30, 2010 at 425 Broadway in New York City.

Website: Impossible

Adobe today released an update to its Photoshop Lightroom 3 beta software, available immediately through Adobe Labs. New features in this release include tethered shooting support for select Nikon and Canon cameras, the ability to import and manage video files from DSLR cameras for a streamlined workflow and additional behind-the-scenes architecture enhancements for faster importing and loading of images. Adobe encourages photographers to test this new selection of features and provide the product team with feedback.

Website: Adobe Lightroom 3

Sigma USA has announced that the Canon version of the newly-upgraded Sigma APO 50-500mm f/4.5-6.3 DG OS HSM is now available at retail. Incorporating Sigma’s original Optical Stabiliser function, the Sigma 50-500mm f/4.5-6.3 allows sharp hand-held shots at shutter speeds approximately 4 stops slower than would otherwise be possible. Four SLD (Special Low Dispersion) glass elements provide excellent correction of colour aberration, the company says. The Sigma APO 50-500mm f/4.5-6.3 DG OS HSM lens is now available for purchase in Canon mounts through authorised Sigma dealers at the MSRP of $2,400 (Amazon is actually offering it at $1,599 but it still says it “has not yet been released”). Nikon mounts will be available later this month, and they will be followed by Sigma, Pentax and Sony mounts in April.

Sophie Ristelhueber has been awarded the 2010 Deutsche Börse Photography Prize for her retrospective Sophie Ristelhueber at the Jeu de Paume, Paris. The £30,000 prize is awarded to a photographer of any nationality for their significant contribution to the medium of photography through either an exhibition or publication, in Europe, between 1 October 2008 and 30 September 2009. Sophie Ristelhueber was chosen by the Jury members, Oliva Maria Rubio (Director of Exhibitions, La Fàbrica, Spain); Gilane Tawadros (Chief Executive, Design and Artists Copyright Society, curator and writer, UK); James Welling (artist, USA); and Anne-Marie Beckmann (Curator, Art Collection Deutsche Börse, Germany). The Deutsche Börse Photography Prize 2010 is organised by The Photographers’ Gallery and is on show until 17 April 2010.

Website: The Photographers’ Gallery

InVisage Technologies today announced QuantumFilm, the world’s first commercial quantum dot-based image sensor, for use in digital cameras and camera phones. Quantum dot technology, featuring semiconductors with unique light-capture properties, promises 4x higher performance and 2x higher dynamic range than what can be achieved with current sensors. The first application of QuantumFilm will enable high pixel count and high performance in tiny form factors, breaking silicon-based sensors’ inherent performance-resolution tradeoff, the company says. “Silicon has hit a wall,” says Jess Lee, InVisage President and C.E.O. “The fundamental problem is that silicon cannot capture light efficiently, but until now it has been the only option.” While silicon-based image sensors capture on average a mere 25 percent of light, QuantumFilm captures between 90-95 percent, enabling better pictures in even the most challenging lighting conditions.

Website: InVisage

Polylooks, Deutsche Telekom’s online photo agency, is offering microstock photographers a bonus of €0.25 per image for photos they sell exclusively via Polylooks. The offer will run from today until 30 April 2010 and is valid for the first 100,000 images which are accepted by the Polylooks team. Photographers will also get the higher payment of 50 per cent of the net sales price per sale for images offered exclusively via Polylooks rather than 35 per cent for non-exclusive photos.

Website: Polylooks UK

Kata has introduced a range of “Bumblebee” photo backpacks. These include the D-Light Bumblebee D-210, the Pro-Light Bumblebee D-220 (see photo above) and the Bumblebee Ultra-Light D-222. Designed primarily for camera gear, the D-Light D-210 can also be used as daypack. The larger and more rugged Pro-Light Bumblebee features an aluminium skeleton and the manufacturer’s Gecko harness system made from EVA foam; whilst the flagship Bumblebee Ultra-Light D-222 has a Spine Guard and a suspended mesh back for great ventilation.

The Kata Pro-Light Beetle 282 is a lightweight yet capable photo backpack / roller bag. Able to accommodate up to 3 DSLR bodies with 4-6 lenses and other accessories as well as a 17” laptop, the Kata Pro-Light Beetle 282 has been designed to comply with the strictest regulations regarding carry-on baggage (though Kata still recommends checking with your airline, due to “constantly changing” regulations). Depending on configuration, the Kata Pro-Light Beetle 282 bag weighs 2-3kg when empty.

Sony today announced the amateur category winners of the Sony World Photography Awards. Out of 43,745 amateur submissions from 144 countries, nine winners have been chosen. Richard Brocken from the Netherlands won in the Portraiture category with his image entitled Eva (see above). Other category winners include Marianna Marcantonini (Architecture), Jake Lowe (Conceptual & Constructed), Fredrik Jalhed (Documentary), Alex Chebotar (Fashion), Hayri Kodal (Landscape), Vitali Seitz (Music), Alex Goh (Natural History) and Maksym Gorbatskyi (Sport). The amateur category winners will be showcased at the Winners’ Exhibition as part of the World Photography Festival, a five day celebration of the craft of photography held in Cannes from 22-27 April. All the winning and shortlisted amateur images can be viewed at the Sony World Photography Awards 2010 website.

Website: Sony World Photography Awards 2010

Canon Japan has announced that there is a shortage of Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens due to higher-than-expected demand. Announced at the beginning of this year, the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM features enhanced optical performance thanks to a fluorite element and a fifth UD element. Other noticeable improvements include faster auto-focus, a wider focusing ring, and sleeker design by reducing the thickness of any protruding elements such as the switch panel. Despite the shortage announced today, the lens appears to be in stock at a number of online retailers.

Source: Canon Japan via 1001 Noisy cameras

ImageRights today announced the availability of its first service, a low-cost, easy to use solution designed to help protect the copyrights of photographers and stock photo agencies. Targeted to the estimated three million worldwide commercial photographers, ImageRights is applying visual search and image recognition technology to track the use of photographs and illustrations across the Internet, enabling rights holders to discover and ultimately recover fees for the unlicenced use of their works. Users upload their photographs and illustrations to the system, and the ImageRights service will provide a weekly report detailing any image matches that it has found on the web. The report provides contact information for the infringing sites, enabling users to follow-up with those persons or companies directly. Subscription fees start at $4.95/month.

Website: ImageRights

Outdoor photographer Andy Biggs has launched the Kiboko bag that allows all photo gear to be safely stored and comfortably carried but also quickly accessed. The Kiboko bag is deep enough to accommodate a pro level SLR camera body, as well as medium format cameras. The bag will also hold up to a 500mm and 600mm lens simultaneously. The first design from Biggs’ Gura Gear line, the Kiboko bag can be carried either as a backpack with a retractable, expertly engineered harness system or as a shoulder bag using ergonomically placed handles.

Website: Gura Gear

The winners of the Britain iS competition, launched by iStockphoto and the Guardian, have been announced. The overall winner is Aaron Yeandle (pictured) whose entry, “Western Ranger”, has been appraised as “a great representation of a British child play acting as a US cultural icon in a back-alley of a midland city” by Guardian Picture Editor, Roger Tooth. Best landscape went to Glen Humphries’ scene of Saltburn Beach in North Yorkshire; best urban to Luca di Fillipo’s summer scene of London’s Southbank; and best stock went to Chris Rutter’s dramatic tree shot.  Winners can be viewed at the website below.

Website: Britain iS

Sigma has announced that a new firmware upgrade will become available for the Sigma DP2 on 26 March. According to the company, version 1.04 will bring about an improvement in AF speed. We will keep you updated and provide a link when the firmware upgrade is posted.

Sigma Japan is launching the Sigma APO 150-500mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM telezoom in Pentax and Sony mounts. Sigma’s original OS (Optical Stabilizer) function offers the equivalent of using a shutter speed approximately 4 stops faster. The 150-500mm lens incorporates HSM (Hyper Sonic Motor), which ensures a quiet and high-speed AF as well as full-time manual focusing capability. A removable tripod socket is included as a standard accessory. The Pentax and Sony versions of the Sigma APO 150-500mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM lens will be available from the end of March.

Ricoh has issued a firmware update for the Ricoh GXR body as well as the two interchangeable units that were announced along with it. Version 1.07 introduces two new AF modes for the A12 50mm unit, QK-AF and FR-AF, improves exposure accuracy, white balance and focus accuracy in certain circumstances, and fixes a couple of bugs.

Website: Ricoh GXR Firmware