We attended the UK press launch of the new Olympus E-P2 earlier today, and can exclusively bring you a photographic comparison of the new Olympus EP2 and Panasonic GF1 Micro Four Thirds cameras. There are 26 photos in our Gallery showing off the new Olympus EP-2, a mixture of side-by-side shots with the GF1 and some showing off the E-P2 with its all new, all-serious black finish. The E-P2’s new viewfinder is particularly impressive - it may be bigger than the Panasonic GF1’s in term of size, but it certainly blows it out of the water in terms of visibility and resolution, coping easily with the dark indoor conference room. Carry on reading to view the Gallery…

Apple has released the Mac OS X v10.6.2 Update which, in addition to containing general operating system fixes, cures a number of problems experienced by Photoshop users. John Nack reports that “the Photoshop team has been helping Apple test these fixes”, which address software crashes, program errors, and various issues with images failing to open, cursors not displaying correctly etc. Some of the problems resolved in the Mac OS X v10.6.2 Update affect multiple versions of Photoshop, while others are specific to CS4.

Website: About the Mac OS X v10.6.2 Update

Via John Nack

Nikon Australia has announced the Nikon Ambassador Programme – a selection of Australia’s top professional photographers. To launch the Nikon Ambassador program, seven dedicated photographers have been selected based on their commitment to the art of photography and their allegiance to the Nikon brand.  Ranging from diverse backgrounds and specialities, the Ambassadors vary from Wedding and Sports to Photojournalism, Portraiture and Movie Stills. “The Ambassadors have been selected because they are experts, masters and innovators in their chosen field of photography. Their dedication and commitment to photography is not only Australian based but also respected globally. Our Ambassadors are dedicated Nikon users and leaders in their disciplines having been highly awarded and praised their services and contributions to the photographic community,” said Nick Segger, Senior Marketing Manager at Nikon Australia.

Kodak, through a partnership with the National Geographic Society and Miller’s Professional Imaging, is offering consumers an opportunity to purchase décor prints of rarely seen images from the newly published book, National Geographic Image Collection. This new book showcases the work of 204 celebrated photographers, with images culled from the Society’s library of 11.5 million images, dating from the late 19th century. Many of the photos are previously unpublished. Through the partnership, consumers will be able to purchase prints in sizes up to 20 x 30 inches, all printed by Mpix, a division of Miller’s, on Kodak professional paper. Information and pricing for the décor prints can be found at:the website below.

Website: National Geographic Image Collection

Bibble Labs have released a public preview version of their Bibble 5 raw image conversion and workflow solution. Improvements include support for 50 new cameras, the addition of on-demand and background printing features, “dramatically improved” selective editing, upgraded metadata handling and workflow automation. Supported operating systems include Linux Fedora Core 6 or later, Ubuntu 6.06 or later , Mac OSX 10.4 or greater, as well as Windows 7, Vista and XP. The company warns that while this preview does include many of the major features that Bibble 5.0 will be introducing, it is still in active development, some features have been disabled, and it still has stability issues.

Website: Introducing Bibble 5

Panasonic today announced the debut of its first audio system with iPod dock and photo frame - the MW-10. Boasting a 9-inch WVGA LCD, the Panasonic MW-10 can display photos from a CD, SD Memory Card and internal memory. The latter offers a generous 4GB of storage capacity. In addition to a full-screen photo slideshow, the MW-10 offers a versatile combination of screen options: clock and iPod track menu, calendar and photos, clock and photos, and audio and calendar. Other highlights include a built-in CD player and an FM/AM radio tuner that has 45-station preset memory. The Universal Dock for iPod plays music and video downloads. Panasonic’s MW-10 will be available in December 2009 with a suggested retail price of $299.95.

Flickr has announced it is partnering with Snapfish by HP to “provide Flickr members worldwide with a wider range of photo printing and gift creation options”. Snapfish will now enable Flickr members to quickly transfer, organise, and print photos, as well as create unique photo gifts using their existing Flickr photostream. Not only can members print photos from anywhere in the world, but they can also ship photos to anywhere in the world. Additionally, members in the U.S. have the option to pick up their prints locally at any of Snapfish’s retail partners’ stores, including Walmart, Walgreens, Staples, Duane Reade, and others.

Website: The Flickr Blog

The new DMW-TA1 Tripod Adaptor makes it possible to use a tripod when a large-diameter lens is attached to the Panasonic GF1. These lenses include the 45-200mm/F4.0-5.6 and 14-140mm/F4.0-5.8. There’s no word yet on price or availability of the DMW-TA1 Tripod Adaptor.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1 camera has won a DIWA Gold Award. Kai Thon, test manager of DIWA Labs, concludes: “Our test results show that Panasonic has equipped the Venus Engine processor in the GF1 with exceptionally clever algorithms, delivering outstanding performance in virtually all respects. Combined with the qualities of the high speed and compact size G Lumix 20 mm f/1.7 lens, the Panasonic DMC-GF1 masters most shooting conditions with excellence”. DIWA Awards are based on test results carried out in the DIWA Labs, and evaluations on more than 200 different criteria carried out by DIWA members.

Canon USA have just published an in-depth white paper for the new EOS-1D Mark IV DSLR camera. The EOS-1D Mark IV is a high-speed camerar with a 16-megapixel Canon CMOS sensor, Dual DIGIC 4 Imaging Processors, and 14-bit A/D data conversion, all at 10 frames-per-second. The EOS-1D Mark IV white paper is available now as a free PDF download.

Website: Canon EOS-1D Mark IV White Paper

Double Oscar winning actor Kevin Spacey is to star in an Olympus PEN TV campaign in the UK. You can catch the first showing on TV during “I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here” on Monday 16th November. The Olympus PEN ad was directed by Duncan Jones, who was recently at the helm of the acclaimed movie “Moon”. The new Olympus E-P2 will be available in January 2010.

9 out of 10 people in the UK share their photos, according to a survey by Futuresource. “The survey found that on-camera and via email are the most popular methods of sharing pictures. However, nearly half of all respondents are still sharing physical prints with friends and family, though this behaviour varies widely depending on the age of the respondent. Females are also more likely to share physical prints than males” commented Simon Bryant. 70% of all respondents said that they shared video. The Futuresource consumer research study was carried out online with a UK sample size of more than 1,000 respondents aged 16 and over.

The Páramo Dark Cloth provides a clear viewing screen in all conditions and is practical and comfortable to use in wet and windy weather. Although designed primarily for large and medium format, a number of photographers have used the Dark Cloth successfully with Digital SLR to slow down the process, thereby improving composition and the visibility of the LCD screen, especially for fine focusing among live view users. The Páramo Dark Cloth is available now for £90.

Eye-Fi have added FTP upload support to their Share, Share Video, Explore Video and Pro memory cards. “Due to popular demand, the FTP upload feature many of you have requested is now live. We have added FTP and FTPS support for photos (JPEG only) and videos. The new FTP option is listed alongside other online destinations and selecting it is as easy as choosing any other supported Online photo or video destination.”

Website: Eye-Fi Support

A new range of Orkio Urban Bagz has been launched. Small DSLR Bagz, Laptop Backpackz, Laptop Sleevez and Pro Sleevez have all been added to the Orkio collection. Orkio bags are beautifully finished, feature rich and made from high quality materials with original designs that make them stand out from traditional specialist bags. These bags are available now, prices from £19.99.

imphoto for pc reveals the details in photos, bringing detail out of the shadow areas whilst respecting brighter zones and maintaining colour balance. “imphoto is orders of magnitude faster than any existing solution and produces unmatched quality so that everyone can see the pictures they want, whether for sharing with friends or for publishing professionally” commented CEO of imsense, Philippe Dewost.  imphoto pro edition views, processes and save any type of image in their natural format and resolution. In addition to the core features this version provides batch processing, handling of linear 32-bit per channel HDR images and the ability to save in multiple formats. imphoto retails at $29.99 for the home edition and $99 for the professional edition.

The opening title sequence of NBC’s Saturday Night Live was shot using the Canon EOS 5D Mark II and EOS 7D digital SLR cameras. The concept behind the opening sequence was portraiture as the director and crew looked to capture “living” portraits of the city, the cast and the unique characters that make up the New York City nightlife. The entire segment was captured and edited in a week’s time, incorporating 30p footage from Canon’s 5D Mark II as well as 60p footage used for slow-motion segments shot with Canon’s EOS 7D Digital SLR camera.

The new Lastolite TriFlip 8:1 Kit includes the acclaimed Lastolite TriFlip, TriGrip bracket, a flash gun attachment arm, and an air cushioned stand and shoulder bag. The ball joint connector of the TriGrip bracket enables you to position the TriFlip on the stand exactly where you want leaving your hands free to operate the camera. The Lastolite TriFlip 8:1 Kit is available now for £179.99.

SF Digital have launched a downloadable eDVD that explains how to take stunning portraits. This 45 minute DVD by portrait and wedding photographer Uzair Kharawala showcases various scenarios on-location and how to setup and shoot. The eDVD can be downloaded straight to your computer and is available now at the special pre-launch price of £15 (RRP £25).