Artphotographyforsale.com is a newly launched online gallery that features a selection of limited run, masterfully produced photography suitable for framing and display in the home, office or public space. The website offers the discerning collector prints offered on Hahnemühle 330 gram fine art paper; both paper and ink meet industry standard archival quality. 24” wide prints are €250, 36” wide ones are €300, whereas 36” tall prints are €350 each. Prices include handling, shipping and insurance.

Website: Art Photography for Sale

A giant pigeon “landed” on the grass beside London’s City Hall this morning. The life-like sculpture, which was specially commissioned to mark the UK launch of Panasonic’s Lumix DMC-ZX1 compact camera with an 8x optical zoom, graphically brought to life one of London’s most iconic and hotly debated creatures, Panasonic says. A team of five artists spent two months constructing the 1.52 metre high and 3.2 metre wide fibre glass structure which was lifted into place in Potters Fields, central London at 8am before moving further along the banks of the Thames for a national photo call in front of The Houses of Parliament. The giant pigeon is one of a series of objects which have been magnified and brought to life by Panasonic to illustrate the 8x optical zoom lens of the new, ultra-compact Lumix DMC-ZX1. Users are invited to submit their own photographs which showcase the fun that can be had with perspective for their chance to win a trip to the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games by visiting the website below.

Website: Panasonic 8xLife

The new Olympus E-600 digital SLR camera is now available for purchase. The folks over at 1001 Noisy Cameras noticed that the E-600, announced back in August, has made a debut on RitzCamera.com, where it is offered in a double-lens kit for $749.99. The kit includes the Olympus E-600 camera, a 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 standard zoom and a 40-150mm f/4-5.6 telezoom. The 12.3 megapixel Olympus E-600 is heavily based upon the E-620 model, dropping the backlit buttons, 3 art filters, multi exposure mode and aspect mask control of the latter. At the moment it is unclear if/when the E-600 is going to be available outside the USA.

Via 1001 Noisy Cameras

A new computer company, litl, has unveiled its webbook computer and operating system – billed as “a completely new and simple way for everyone in the family to enjoy online photos and all the web has to offer”. The Boston-based company thinks PCs are “complex” and “hard to maintain”, and argues that their new home computer “was created with a fresh approach that makes enjoying online photos and using the web simple, enjoyable and fun”. The litl webbook features a bright 12” screen and also offers plug-and-play connectivity to large screen, high definition televisions by way of an HDMI output port. The price for the litl is $699, with an optional remote control for $19.

Jobo has announced the Jobo ScanViewer, a high resolution 8” multimedia digital picture frame featuring a built-in photo scanner. The Jobo ScanViewer quickly and easily digitises up to 4x6-inch (10x15cm) prints, and presents them directly on its 8” SVGA display. Somewhat surprisingly, the frame’s aspect ratio is 4:3, whereas that of the prints in question is 3:2. Other specifications include a contrast ratio of 400:1, memory size of 1GB, weight of 370g and dimensions of 237x178x87mm. The Jobo ScanViewer will be available at retail in December for €259.

Digital River has signed a new e-commerce agreement with Pentax Europe, concerning the launch of an online store and the provision of.a range of e-commerce services to support online consumer sales of Pentax cameras in the UK, Germany, France Switzerland and Hungary.  The Pentax Europe store is expected to launch before the end of this year.

In honour of Veterans’ Day, ScanMyPhotos.com is offering all active and retired members of the US military free photo scanning through 5 December 2009. Called “Operation Photo Scan,” ScanMyPhotos.com will scan and digitally archive onto a DVD up to 1,000 4”x6” photos for military families at no charge. The only cost will be the company’s standard $19.95 shipping and handling fee. For complete instructions, refer to the website below.

Website: ScanMyPhotos Order Form

Canon has announced a three-year renewal of the World Press Photo (WPP) Foundation. World Press Photo, an independent, non-profit organisation, was founded in 1955 and is universally acknowledged as the world’s most prestigious competition for photo journalists. The 2009 competition saw over 5,000 professional photographers from 124 countries submit images in 10 categories. The World Press Photo Exhibition 2009 will be on show at the Royal Festival Hall, South Bank Centre from 7th November – 13th December 2009.  Admission is free and the exhibition is open daily from 10am – 11pm.

Starting on Saturday 7 November in the Guardian and The Observer is a 9-part free booklet giveaway called 100 Years of Press Photography. Each booklet will be grouped by decade, starting with 1910s and 1920s in one part. The booklets promise to be a fantastic collection of images from the last century. The scope of the series ranges from hard news photographs from the front line of international conflicts to social documentary of everyday events, fashion photography and portraiture. Each instalment in the series offers a unique and surprising glance at the decade through the eyes of some of the world’s greatest photographers.

liveBooks, providers of websites that allow creative professionals to promote and manage their businesses online, have announced that they had secured $5 million in funding from strategic and private investors, allowing the company to expand into new markets. This funding has also helped liveBooks to lower the cost of entry into the liveBooks suite, introduce a subscription-based service to “eliminate the need for front-loaded monetary commitments” and launch pre-designed site offerings. The company is now offering an array of pre-designed themes and layout options with subscriptions priced at $39 a month. To reflect the expansion of its business model and offerings, liveBooks have also re-launched their website.

Website: liveBooks

Panasonic has launched a bid to take over Sanyo in a deal that would make it one of Japan’s biggest electronics companies. The Guardian says Panasonic is offering ¥402bn (£2.7bn) to secure a majority stake in Sanyo. According to CrunchGear, the new firm “will rival Japan’s biggest electronics company, Hitachi, in terms of sales”. The main reason for Panasonic’s interest in Sanyo, however, is that the takeover would fortify the former’s position in the field of “green” energy.

Via The Guardian | CrunchGear

Landscape and travel photographer David Noton has announced the next location in his series of inspirational evening events – the ‘Chasing the Light’ Road Shows. The event will take place at the Pennine Lecture Theatre, City Campus, Sheffield Hallam University on Thursday 25th February, with take-off scheduled for 8.00pm. “The Chasing the Light Road Shows will take guests on a global adventure, using the latest high definition projection and satellite navigation to whisk them around the world,” Noton says. “Of course we’ll be talking photography and travel, but the Chasing the Light Road Shows will be much more than that.” Tickets are priced at £16.50. To book your place, visit the website below.

Website: David Noton

Olympus has published a roadmap for its Micro Four Thirds lens releases over the next two years. Apart from the existing two lenses and the two zooms planned for 2010, there are four lenses planned for spring 2011. These include a telephoto zoom and three primes including a 50mm macro, an 8mm fisheye and a wide-angle lens whose exact focal length is hard to determine from the roadmap. Currently, there are two Olympus-branded Micro Four Thirds lenses available, including a 14-42mm zoom and a 17mm “pancake”, plus one Leica- and five Lumix-branded optics, with two more Lumix lenses coming, according to Panasonic.

Source: Olympus PEN Micro Four Thirds Lens Roadmap [PDF]

Fujifilm’s president and CEO, Shigetaka Komori, has been awarded the prestigious decoration, The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star. Mr Komori is being recognised for his accomplishments in industry and in furthering culture through his leadership roles at Fujifilm, Japan’s Broadcasting Company – NHK, and a range of industry and cultural organisations including the Photo-Sensitised Materials Manufacturers’ Association, the Japan-German Society, and the Japan-Netherlands Society, among others.

George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film is commemorating its 60th anniversary in 2009 with a deluxe portfolio of 12 photographs created by celebrated international artists. The featured artists are Edward Burtynsky, John Divola, Harri Kallio, Mark Klett & Byron Wolfe, Astrid Kruse Jensen, Richard Misrach, Abelardo Morell, Lori Nix, Erwin Olaf, Martin Parr, John Pfahl, and Alex Webb. Their portfolio photographs represent the wide range and variety of approaches, techniques, and aesthetics that characterise today’s photographic art practice. Special preview events are being held in New York City and Los Angeles in November to showcase the portfolio. For more information, and to view the photographs, visit the Eastman House website.

Website: George Eastman House 60th Anniversary Portfolio

The Institute for Contemporary Culture (ICC) at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) continues The Question of Celebrity, a series of events and programmes inspired by the exhibition Vanity Fair Portraits: Photographs 1913-2008. The events include an illustrated panel discussion entitled “Facing the Lens, Seeing the Light: Observations on Portrait Photography”, which will explore the photographic portrait, its significance through the history of photography and its enduring fascination; a Sony Family Portrait Weekend on 14-15 November; and a series of film screenings.

Website: Royal Ontario Museum

Sony has updated the firmware of its A230, A330 and A380 digital SLR cameras, all of which have been reviewed on this site. Version 1.10 brings about the following improvement: when the metering mode is set to centre-weighted or spot, the exposure will be locked when focus is confirmed. This applies to shooting in AF mode.

Website: Sony DSLR Firmware Update (Windows)
Website: Sony DSLR Firmware Update (Macintosh)

Photo enthusiast Jarle Aasland has set up a website in an attempt to fund a Leica M9 for himself - and possibly another photographer too. “Like many photographers, I’d love to get a Leica M9, but it’s an expensive tool. First I’d have to sell a kidney, and then I would have a hard time convincing my wife that I really need a Leica,” he says. Seeing that it would be a difficult path to trod, he created a website and online store called Leicadream instead. Through this website, he is selling a huge variety of rangefinder-themed T-shirts, baseball caps, bags and other merchandise; and of course accepts donations as well. But he has gone one step further: “If I’m able to fund a Leica M9 for myself (which remains to be seen), I could do the same for someone else,” he says. So if you feel like helping him realise his Leica dream, and/or would like to get a chance to win an M9 for yourself, pay a visit to the website below.

Website: LeicaDream