If you live in or near London and own a Canon, Nikon, Olympus or Sony DSLR or an Olympus Micro Four Thirds camera, now’s the time to express your thoughts and feelings about it. A market research company called Acumen Fieldwork has been commissioned to conduct a qualitative research among DSLR owners to find out more about their views on their cameras. The focus group discussions will take place in central London, and participants will be paid £60 cash for their time and input. The research firm has not disclosed the identity of the manufacturer that commissioned the study so that it does not infuence the respondents’ replies. If you would like to take part, call Abi Fuller on 0161 482 2507.

Current users of Adobe Photoshop Elements can now step up to Adobe Photoshop CS4 for half the price if ordering directly from Adobe. This is a limited-time offer open to registered Elements users only, ending 20 February, 2010. You can order Photoshop CS4 by calling 0800 0280 148 and mentioning the Offer Code WV9V - remember to have the serial number of your registered Elements copy ready for verification. The offer is valid un the UK only.

Oceanhouse Media has released Dr. Seuss Camera - The Cat in the Hat Edition, a unique and whimsical photo card maker. It allows users to create fun photo cards using the iPhone’s built-in camera or Photo Library. Users can pose with characters or choose to become the Cat in the Hat, the playful Thing 1 or Thing 2, or even Sally or her brother. Cards can be personalized with comical and colorful stamps, borders and classic Seussian text. Available for both the iPhone and iPod Touch for $2.99, Dr. Seuss Camera - The Cat in the Hat Edition will also be available for the iPad.

DxO Labs have released their sensor-based data obtained from a pre-production Canon EOS 550D digital SLR camera. The Canon EOS 550D / Digital Rebel T2i, which was only announced a week ago, got a sensor rating of 65.6 on a scale of 1 to 100, which is less than some APS-C competitors (Nikon D5000/D90/D300/D300s, Pentax K10D, Samsung GX20, Sony A380/A550/A700) have received in the past, but it has to be mentioned that all of these competitors offer lower resolution and most of them are prosumer rather than entry-level models.

Website: Canon EOS 550D / Digital Rebel T2i Data on DxOMark

Kingston today announced the release of a Kingston 16GB microSDHC Class 10 card. “Host devices such as high-definition cameras and the latest smartphones are being designed to optimize their write performance which will take advantage of performance of the Class 10 card,” said Steve Hall, Product Development Manager of Flash, Kingston Technology. “Users will benefit from swifter copying and transferring of photos, music, videos and e-books when using a multi-format card reader such as the Kingston Media Reader or Kingston MobileLiteG2 with a PC.” Backed by a lifetime warranty and 24/7 technical support, the Kingston 16GB micro SD Class 10 memory card is available for £74.86, or £74.99 with an SD adapter.

LaserSoft Imaging (LSI) has quietly introduced version 6.6.1r5 of its Silverfast software, which adds a NegaFix profile for Kodak Ektar 100, the world’s finest-grained colour negative film manufactured today. NegaFix profiles within SilverFast are a handy tool to get the colours of a negative film right, which can otherwise be tricky because of the differences in the orange mask applied to different emulsions. Kodak Ektar 100 is a new film introduced a bit more than a year ago in 35mm and almost exactly a year ago in 120 format. So far there has been no NegaFix profile available for this emulsion, but SilverFast version 6.6.1r5 has it - albeit only for Epson and Nikon scanners. As an LSI administrator explained in a reply to a question posted on the official SilverFast discussion board, “Every film has a different response with every different scanner model. We will try to update the profile for different scanner modules but it will take some time.”

Website: SilverFast 6.6.1r5

The first Lomography Gallery Store and official Lomography Embassy will open its doors on the US West Coast on 18 February. The USA’s Lomographic Society is planning an “epic celebration” with drinks, live Mariachi music, tacos and tamales, and dancing girls. The festivities will begin at 7pm - if you want to take part, send an RSVP to [email protected]. A series of workshops will also take place on the first week, starting on 19 February. Lomographic Society USA is headquartered at 7998 Santa Monica Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90047. Click through / read on for the details.

For the first time in Europe, the Pentax K-x is now available in eight new colours. These iclude beige, chocolate, metal fuchsia, pink, metal turquoise, metal dark grey, olive green and soft brown. As the Pentax K-x has already been available in black, pearl white, red and navy blue, the addition of these new colours means Pentax enthusiasts now have a dozen different colour schemes to choose from. These new colours, produced in limited edition kits with the 18-55mm lens, will be launched in March, at the same recommended retail price as the existing black version, £599.99 including taxes.

The winners of the World Press Photo of the Year 2009 contest have just been announced. The overall winner is Italian photographer Pietro Masturzo for his image of women shouting in protest from a rooftop in Tehran after the strongly contested presidential elections. The jury gave prizes in ten themed categories to 63 photographers of 23 nationalities from: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Ecuador, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Mali, Mexico, the Netherlands, Palestinian Territories, Peru, Somalia, Sweden, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and the United States. The winning entries have been chosen from a record 101,960 images submitted by 5,847 photographers. Featured above is the 1st prize winning entry in the Nature Singles category, Hunting Kingfisher by József Szentpéteri (alias Joe Petersburger), National Geographic.

Website: World Press Photo Winners Gallery

Panasonic USA has announced pricing for four of its new Lumix digital cameras. These include the Lumix DMC-TS2, Lumix DMC-ZS7, Lumix DMC-ZS5, and Lumix DMC-ZR3 – all which will be available in mid-March 2010. The Panasonic Lumix TS2 has a suggested retail price (SRP) of $399.95, the Lumix ZS5 and the Lumix ZR3 will be available for an SRP of $299.95 each, whie the ZS7 will cost $399.95.

A retired Belgian engineer who calls himself Foto Opa, or Photo Granddad, has created his own self-contained laser rig for high-speed photography. Consisting of a reflected laser light system, an external shutter, two flashguns and a system of extra lenses to look for insects in focus, the unit works in full darkness just as well as in broad daylight. It takes only 40 microseconds for the system to determine if the subject is in focus, to which the external shutter adds a lag of a mere 5-7 milliseconds. This allows him to take photos of insects in flight and other extremely fast-moving subjects. His online gallery is well worth a visit.

Today, Leaf Imaging announced the 40-megapixel Leaf Aptus-II 8, billed as the industry’s fastest medium format digital back. At a capture rate of under 0.8 seconds per frame, the Leaf Aptus-II 8 delivers a sustainable burst of 60 full resolution images per minute. Boasting a 44x33mm CCD imager with a sensitivity range of ISO 80-800, the Leaf Aptus-II 8 offers connectivity with over 80 different camera platforms including large-format cameras. Bundled with both Leaf Capture 11 and Capture One 5, the back is priced at €13.995 and is available now.

Website: Leaf Imaging

The New York City Police Department (NYPD) has released a series of previously unseen aerial photographs that document the collapse of the World Trade Center on 11 September 2001. The Twin Towers were destroyed in a devastating terror attack conducted by Al-Qaeda, acting in accord with the 1998 fatwa issued against the United States and its allies. After the terrorists had flown a pair of passenger jets into the skyscrapers, the only vehicles allowed in the air space near the World Trade Center were police helicopters, which is where these newly released photos were taken from. The photographer was Detective Greg Semendinger, who allegedly took three rolls of film with a Minolta camera, plus 245 digital photos. Many of the latter have been published since then, but his film shots were only released yesterday, after ABC News had filed a Freedom of Information Act request back in 2009.

Website: See 12 images on MSNBC

Panasonic has announced a new colour scheme for the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1 Micro Four Thirds camera. From March, the GF1 will also be available in pink, in addition to the existing black, silver, white and red options. Panasonic plans to produce 5,000 units per month of these cameras. If you are more interested in what the Panasonic GF1 can do than what colours it comes in, make sure to check out our in-depth review.

Source: Panasonic Japan via 1001 Noisy Cameras

Terra Incognita Ecotours, an adventure travel company that specialises in wildlife-focused ecotours, is offering a new photo expedition to takes wildlife enthusiasts to Madagascar, the “land that time forgot”. In Madagascar, travellers find all of the world’s lemurs and over half of the world’s chameleons, as well as more than 170 kinds of frog. Every year scientists discover new species of plants and animals in its deserts and forests, so it’s a chance to photograph some of the world’s rarest creatures. The cost of participation in the expedition is $5399 For each participant, a $250 donation will be made to Project Angonoka, a project of the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust.

Website: Photo Expedition to Madagascar

LaCie has announced the Rugged eSATA, claimed to be the first mobile external hard drive on the market that features a Power eSATA interface. The USB-eSATA combo interface, also known as Power eSATA, features a slightly different connector than eSATA and is frequently found on late-model laptops. The LaCieRugged eSATA drive is also compatible with standard eSATA ports when the included USB power-sharing cable is connected. Housed in the award-winning Rugged casing designed by Neil Poulton, the LaCie Rugged eSATA drive 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 eSATA will be available in 500GB capacity through the LaCie Online Store, LaCie Reseller+ and LaCie Storage Partner starting at the suggested retail price of $159.99 / £129 incl VAT.

Samsung has posted a number of sample shots taken with the all-new Samsung NX10 system camera and (mostly) the 30mm f/2 lens. Available on SamsungImaging.net, the photos link to their own full-resolution versions on Flickr. The entire set consists of 87 images, of which 13 are reproduced on the SamsungImaging blog.

Website: SamsungImaging

Via 1001 Noisy Cameras

Pentax has posted two entertaining short films shot by professional production companies to demonstrate the possibilities of shooting HD video on a Pentax K-7 digital SLR camera. The All Terrain Studios filmmaking team of Dave Rosner and Melissa Rosner produced The Rider in the Colorado high country using the smc Pentax DA 15mm F4 ED AL Limited, the smc Pentax DA Star 55mm F1.4 SDM and the smc Pentax DA Star 300mm F4 ED(IF) SDM lenses. The other film, Uncle Jack, produced by Futuristic Films, is a fast-paced nocturnal odyssey shot in downtown Denver entirely at night using the smc Pentax DA Star 16-50mm F2.8 ED AL (IF) SDM, the smc Pentax DA 10-17mm F3.5-4.5 ED (IF) zooming fish-eye and the smc Pentax DA Star 60-250mm F4 ED (IF) SDM lenses.

A Spanish trawlerman has fished out a digital camera from the Atlantic Ocean and was able to retrieve five photos stored on its memory card. The BBC reports that the camera may have been dropped overboard from the ocean liner Queen Mary 2, most likely in October 2008. One of the photos features the cruiser Queen Elisabeth 2 in the background, and it was in that month that the two liners sailed together for the last time (the QE2 is now out of service). The BBC report does not mention the brand or the type of the memory card or the camera.

At press time, the identity of the camera’s owners was unknown; but it’s likely that the shooter belonged to the people seen in the salvaged snaps.

Via BBC News

Update: The camera’s owners have been identified as Barbara and Dennis Gregory from South Africa.