The Leica S2, which was originally scheduled to go on sale in the summer and later postponed until October, will apparently not hit the shelves before December. According to Amateur Photographer, Leica is citing unexpectedly high demand and says, ‘Orders for the system have been much higher than expected, and in order to meet this higher demand, we have decided to adapt the S-System production lines to enable a higher daily output.’ The new launch date is calendar week 50, i.e. mid-December.

Via Amateur Photographer

Athentech Imaging today announced the release of a Windows version of a Photoshop plug-in of its patented Perfectly Clear image correction technology. This plug-in delivers one-click photo correction automatically. The application works on both 8 bit and 16 bit images within Photoshop, the company said. The official introduction of Perfectly Clear Photoshop Plug-in is taking place at the PhotoPlus International Conference & Expo, Oct. 22-24 at the Jacob Javits Center in New York. Athentech Imaging is located in Booth #1066. The company also will show its new Perfectly Clear iPhone v1.2 application – which lets users capture and correct images taken with Apple iPhone and iPod Touch devices and save out the corrected images at full resolution – as well as its entire Perfectly Clear portfolio. Full and 30-day trial versions of Perfectly Clear Photoshop Plug-in for Windows will be available on the Athentech Imaging web site.

Website: Athentech

M-Rock is introducing a fresh new look, along with several new sizes and capacities to its complete line of camera bags at this year’s PhotoPlus Expo trade show in New York. The new bags include a complete re-design of its existing line, along with new selections including backpacks, roller bags, shoulder and messenger bags as well as a new trolley system that makes taking your gear on the road or to a location easy and convenient. The toploaders pictured above are priced from $52-$84, the sling-bag backpacks cost from $95-$166, whilst the M-Rock compact camera bags range in pricing from $31-$44.

The Casio Exilim CA003 is a twelve-megapixel camera phone with 3x optical zoom (28-84mm equivalent) and autofocus. According to Engadget, the Casio Exilim CA003 has a 3.3-inch WVGA OLED screen, integrated GPS and Wi-Fi support. It also boasts a 20fps burst mode, though the buffer appears to be big enough to accommodate one second’s worth of images only. The Casio Eximilm CA003 camera phone records images on microSD memory cards of up to 16GB. A smaller-resolution sister model, the eight-megapixel Casio Exilim CA004, has also been announced. It comes with a slightly smaller screen and supports cards of up to 2GB only, but is otherwise identical to the CA003. There is no word on international availability and pricing.

Via Engadget

The Leaf Aptus-II 5 is an “affordable” 22-megapixel digital back for medium-format cameras. Take the word “affordable” with a grain of salt though - while the Leaf Aptus-II 5 is the least expensive Aptus back manufactured today, it still sets you back some $7,995; and that’s without a lens, or indeed a camera body. However, for $2000 more, you can get both a Phase One 645 AF body and a 80mm lens, which means that for just under $10,000 you can now have a completely functional medium format digital system up and running. While this is still nearly $2000 more than the price of a Nikon D3x with a comparable 50mm lens, the Leaf back does have a couple of head-turning features in its favour, like a 16-bit A/D converter and a claimed 12 stops of dynamic range.

Website: Leaf Aptus II-5

Ichikawa Soft Laboratory has published a new release candidate version of Silkypix with support for cameras with Foveon x3 sensors. The full name of the product is Silkypix Developer Studio Pro Foveon 4.1.24.1. The trial period expires on 30 November 2009. The cameras supported in this test version include the Sigma DP1, DP2 and SD14. To download the program, visit the website below.

Website:  Silkypix Developer Studio Pro Test Version for Foveon

Vicon, a UK company based in Oxford, has obtained a licence from Microsoft to mass produce their wearable camera, which was originally developed to help people with Alzheimer’s disease. According to The New Scientist, the ViconRevue camera, which is worn around the neck, can automatically take a picture every 30 seconds, and can store up to 30,000 such snaps at a time in its built-in 1GB memory. Therefore it can help create a visual log of one’s life (as long as the photos are backed up on a regular basis, of course). Vicon will initially market the ViconRevue to its original target market of researchers but plans to launch a consumer model next year. The price is expected to be in the region of £500.

Via The New Scientist

Canon has released a firmware update for the Canon EOS 7D digital SLR camera. Version 1.0.9 incormporates the following fixes:

  1.  Improves AF accuracy during Live View shooting.
  2. Corrects a phenomenon where in rare instances, movie images shot by the camera may exhibit abnormal colours.
  3. Corrects a phenomenon that at certain timings, the shutter cannot be released when the camera’s built-in flash or an external Speedlite is used for shooting.

Website: Canon EOs 7D Firmware Update Page

Seven Snaps is an ongoing international iPhone photography contest which runs until 18 December. The contest challenges you to be creative and share the fun of telling a story in a sequence of seven images. The most funny, touching and amazing seven snaps will be selected around Christmas by an international jury of diverse creative backgrounds including the writer Paulo Coelho, composer Max Richter and sculptor Jason de Caires Taylor. The winning entries will be rewarded and will be published in a book and exposed in a public environment. For more information, visit the website below.

Website: Seven Snaps

Dell has announced Where Do You Like to Learn photography competition. This is a children’s photography competition that celebrates the digitally connected world we live in. “Today, learning is no longer limited to the four walls of a classroom,” says Mark Horan, vice president and general manager of Dell’s K12 education business. “Whether it’s in your favorite bookstore or on your living room floor; in your neighborhood park or your best friend’s backyard, we can all be a little more creative with where we choose to study. Learning can take place anywhere!” To take part in the month-long contest that kicked off yesterday, email your photograph(s) to [email protected]. The grand prize is a Latitude 2100 netbook (pictured) for the student and a tablet PC and projector for his or her classroom. Parents or teachers must enter for children under 18 years of age. As always, make sure to read the rules beforehand.

Alien Skin software is offering a 20% discount on everything in the Alien Skin Store. The sale lasts until 21 October. Alien Skin Software makes Photoshop plug-ins for photographers and graphic designers. Some of their products include Exposure, Blow Up, Bokeh, Snap Art and Image Doctor.

Website: Alien Skin

In addition to the special rebates announced two months ago, Tamron USA now has a mail-in rebate offer on its two newest lenses: SP AF17-50mm F/2.8 XR VC Di II LD Aspherical IF and SP AF60mm F/2.0 Di II LD IF 1:1 Macro. The two new lenses are designed for APS-C size DSLRs and are available in Canon and Nikon mounts (plus Sony in the case of the macro). The $25 rebate is valid on purchases of these lenses made by US residents at an authorized Tamron USA retailer from 15 October 2009 through 31 December 2009. As noted, there are other, ongoing rebates on offer too: consumers receive $70 back on the 18-270mm VC and $60 on the 18-200mm, both popular and award-winning all-in-one zooms, when purchased between until the end of this year

Pentax Japan has announced a limited-edition, multicoloured version of the new Pentax K-x digital SLR camera. If you can’t choose from the black, white, red and blue colour schemes offered, you can now have all of them combined, with yellow and grey thrown in as a bonus. You do have to live in Japan though, and be quick to place an order, as the multicoloured version announced today comes in a very limited quantity - only 100 such K-x kits will be produced. Pentax took the inspiration from the hand-made, wooden “Korejanai” toy robot that has been quite popular in Japan for years. The top of the built-in flash even features the face of the robot! If you thought the camera itself was a toy too, you would be mistaken: the camera body and lens specifications are the same as that of the regular K-x.

Website: Pentax K-x “Korejanai” Press Release in Japanese

An exhibition from the pages of Dispatches’ first five issues will be held in Bar 61, 3 rue de l’Oise, Paris. The exhibition opens at 7 p.m. on 20 October and runs until 1 November 2009. Dispatches is a quarterly that has been conceived “to fit somewhere between Gutenberg and Google, a lively source of fresh knowledge about a world changing at warp speed in a format for people who savour the heft of words and images on paper”. The exhibition features photographs by Antonin Kratochvil, Yuri Kozyrev, Seamus Murphy, Gary Knight and Philip Blenkinsop.

Website: Dispatches

The UK band Editors have decided to promote their new album in a unique way - they have augmented Google Street View’s London content with their own custom panoramic photos!  Within each location the user can hear music from the album, which was inspired by the mood and magic of London at night. Each of the nine tracks on the album has its own location which are unavailable on the regular Street View. Editors modified version of Google Maps allows users to enter into these locations and make the transition from light to dark so fans can explore the band’s atmospheric vision of London at night. The shots for this projects were taken by photographer James Royall in multiple parts using a 180-degree fish-eye lens, and stitched together using PTGui. .

Website: Editors Custom Street Views

X-Rite has announced a free webinar entitled “Raw Color Power with Adobe Lightroom and ColorChecker Passport”. Topics covered include white balance and camera calibration, creating and applying DNG camera profiles in Lightroom & Photoshop, one-click image enhancements, matching colour response with different cameras and matching colour response under different lighting conditions. The webinar takes place at 10 a.m. GMT on 23 October 2009. To register, visit the website below.

Website: RAW COLOR POWER with Adobe Lightroom and ColorChecker Passport

Lexar announced today it will host presentations from critically acclaimed Lexar Elite Photographers Jerry Avenaim, Douglas Dubler, and Rick Sammon during PhotoPlus Expo 2009 at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City. These world-renowned digital photographers will share their latest work, imaging tips and techniques, and best practices with visitors in the Lexar Media booth (#1036) on October 22-24, 2009. Additional information on these and other Lexar Elite Photographers, as well as their photography and techniques can be found at the website below.

Website: Lexar Digital Photography

PhotographyBB has just announced the release of the Portrait Magic Pro Action Package for Photoshop. Portrait Magic Pro retains natural skin texture while smoothing imperfections, blemishes, and wrinkles. Additionally, the actions apply a unique portrait sharpening enhancement to give your portraits an instant one-click retouch in seconds.  Detail in the eyes, hair, and teeth are preserved while skin is naturally smoothed. The package launches with a 30% discount on this action pack (and all existing action packs) by using the COUPON CODE: ATN30 in the shopping cart at: http://www.photographybb.com/actions

Canon has announced its free Easy Photo-Print App, which is now available on the App store. The Canon Easy Photo-Print App enables wireless photo printing from your iPhone or iPod touch to a compatible Canon PIXMA printer via a wireless network with a few taps. The app allows users to print photos as large as 8 1/2 x 11 on six different types of paper. Additionally, this new application allows consumers to print up to 20 copies at one time to a compatible Canon PIXMA printer, PIXMA MP990, MP640 and MP560 Wireless Photo All-in-One Printers.The Canon Easy-PhotoPrint App is available for free from the App Store on iPhone and iPod touch.