The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) and the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) have just launched two complementary and dynamic photography exhibitions– the ROM’s Vanity Fair Portraits: Photographs 1913-2008, and the AGO’s Edward Steichen: In High Fashion, the Condé Nast Years, 1923-1937. Visitors to either exhibition can retain their ticket stubs for presentation at the other venue to receive 20% off the cost of admission. A reciprocal members’ weekend will also be offered on October 17 and 18, allowing ROM and AGO members free admission to the other attraction. The ROM and AGO will also host a panel discussion focusing on the culture of celebrity and photographic portraiture on Monday, November 9. Facing the Lens, Seeing the Light: Observations on Portrait Photography will be moderated by Sophie Hackett, assistant curator of Photography at the AGO and Francisco Alvarez, managing director of the Institute for Contemporary Culture (ICC) at the ROM, and will include photographer Nigel Dickson, gallerist Jane Corkin and Dr.Lilly Koltun of the Portrait Gallery of Canada. The AGO exhibition Edward Steichen: In High Fashion, the Condé Nast Years, 1923-1937 and the ROM exhibition Vanity Fair Portraits: Photographs 1913-2008 will run from September 26, 2009 to January 3, 2010.

Hot on the heels of the release of the Distagon T* 3.5/18 lens for the EF mount, Carl Zeiss today announced the new Distagon T* 2.8/21 ZE, a 21mm f/2.8 ultrawide lens for the Canon EOS system. Allegedly, the Distagon T* 2,8/21 ZE’s ability to flawlessly correct colour errors prevents colour fringing and unwanted lack of focus that can result from chromatic aberrations. Thanks to the Carl Zeiss T* anti-reflex coating and meticulously-crafted lenses, the Distagon T* 2.8/21 ZE is not affected by reflections or stray light either, the company claims. The Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 2.8/21 ZE will be available in autumn this year for a suggested retail price of €1,549 (including German VAT).

Panasonic has posted a major function-enhancing firmware update to the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3 digital compact camera. Version 2.0 supports several new functions and improves various performance factors, including a claimed 20% increase in AF speed. Furthermore, a 1:1 aspect ratio recording mode is added as a shooting option in addition to the conventional 4:3, 3:2 and 16:9. Other additions include white balance bracketing, a new scene mode for high-contrast scenes, expanded exposure compensation and bracketing ranges, movable compositional guidelines and more. Click through / read on for the full range of improvements.

Website: Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3 Firmware Update

Following a year of ‘critical success’ on the iPhone, Nevercenter released its popular vintage photo app CameraBag for the Mac. “The response to CameraBag on the iPhone has been phenomenal, including top reviews and features by Apple, Macworld, PC Magazine, Gizmodo, and The New York Times,” said Nevercenter President Tom Plewe. CameraBag for Mac features high-quality adaptive photo filters, which bring the “magic” of analog film processing to digital photos by recreating signature looks from popular classic cameras and film techniques. CameraBag for Mac is available through the Nevercenter website for $19.

Website: Nevercenter

Hireacamera.com, one of the leading rental companies in the photographic market,  has announced the arrival of the brand new Canon 7D into stock. Incorporating a new, 18-megapixel APS-C CMOS imager, the Canon 7D features dual DIGIC 4 processors, an ISO range expandable to 12,800, and 19 cross-type AF sensors. There’s also continuous shooting at 8 frames per second, 3 inch LCD screen with 920k dots, viewfinder with 100% magnification, and Focus Colour Luminance metering system, which measures focus, colour and luminance across 63 zones The 7D is available to hire by contacting the hireacamera.com sales team on 01892 603440.

Hasselblad have today launched the new H4D medium format camera series, featuring revolutionary True Focus technology. The H4D-60 will feature True Focus with APL (Absolute Position Lock), making auto-focus substantially easier and more accurate for photography professionals. “This technology takes AF to an entirely new level, correcting for the vertical and horizontal focus-shift that results from the rotation of the camera around an axis close to camera,” says Christian Poulsen, CEO of Hasselblad. Two models have been unveiled, the 60 megapixel H4D-60 and the 50 megapixel H4D-50. The Hasselblad H4D-60 will be available in November 2009 at a price of 28,995 €. The Hasselblad H4D-50 will replace the H3DII-50 and will be available in in Q1, 2010 at a price of 19,995 €.

The Royal Photographic Society has announced the winners for the 2009 International Projected Image Exhibition Awards. Amateurs, students and professional photographers worldwide were invited to submit digital images and slides in three categories, General Digital, Nature Digital and Open Slide. The winning entry of the General Digital category is Barbara Hill’s work, “In the Spotlight”. In the Nature Digital category, the Gold Medal was awarded to Kwong Hui for his photograph, “Pied Advocet” (see above). The Open Slide category winner is Peter Watson, who won the award for his image entlitled, “Temple Sweeper, Agra”.The winning images will form part of The Society’s 2009 International Projected Image Exhibition, which opens at The Lecture Theatre, Chester Zoo on 25th October 2009; and tours the UK and Republic of Ireland until March 2010.

To celebrate the merging of the two premier brands in medium format photography: Leaf and Phase One, Peartree are introducing two major promotions for professional photographers in the UK. Those purchasing a new 56 Megapixel Leaf Aptus II 10 digital back will receive a free Phase One 645 camera and two lenses. Photographers opting to buy a Leaf Aptus II 6 back and a Phase One 645 camera system get an 80mm and a 150mm lens gratis. For pricing and more information, call 020 7033 7371.

Along with the release of Adobe Photoshop Elements 8, Adobe also unveiled version 8 of its cosumer-oriented video editing software, Premiere Elements. The new version offers automated “smart” options that take the work out of video editing, easy-to-apply professional-quality effects, and a new Organiser to manage all media in one convenient location. Some of the intelligent features include SmartFix, which ensures that every clip looks its best by automatically fixing shaky footage and colour and lighting problems, Smart Trim, which identifies and helps users get rid of the least interesting, lowest-quality footage; and SmartMix, which seamlessly balances audio elements to give videos professional-quality sound throughout. Adobe Premiere Elements 8 is available for £65.93, excluding VAT.

As the hour of twilight moved across the globe, a series of seven games of football were played in seven of the world’s most breathtaking locations. The games took place in the UK, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, Argentina and Australia with the Twilight Football finale taking place in South Africa, home of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The Twilight Football campaign from Sony celebrated the beauty and passion of football and was designed to showcase the capability of the recently unveiled Exmor CMOS sensor. For further information on Twilight Football, visit the website below.

Website: Sony Twilight Football

PhotographyBB has announced the release of the 20th edition of the PhotographyBB Magazine Online. The September 2009 edition features a theme of image processing related articles. Readers also have their questions answered in the continuing FAQ series. What’s the best time of day to take photos? How to I get the best exposure in tough lighting conditions?  Furthermore, in their “Portraiture Photography 101? series, we examine methods for reconstructing the main elements of a portrait shoot, from analysing an existing portraiture photo. PhotographyBB Online Magazine is available for free download through the PhotographyBB Website

Website: PhotographyBB

Red River Paper, a Dallas based specialty paper company, has announced the release of the Cordovan Textured Glossy inkjet photo and note card paper. Cordovan Gloss features a unique textured surface similar to a fine leather finish. The texture adds a unique look to any image and perfectly balances the need to see the texture but not distract from image details. Cordovan’s ability to reproduce beautiful saturated color and sharp detail is thanks to a professional quality microporous emulsion compatible with any inkjet printer, the manufacturer claims. The new Cordovan Textured Gloss comes in a number of popular pre-scored printable note card sizes as well as 8.5x11, 13x19, 4x6, and 5x7 sheets. Interested photographers can purchase the new paper in packages of 20, 50 or 100 at the website below.

Website: Cordovan Gloss

NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has revealed frozen water hiding just below the surface of mid-latitude Mars, captured by the unit’s HiRISE camera after meteorites excavated fresh craters on the Red Planet. HiRISE is an acronym for “High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment”, which involves the use of a special on-board camera to survey the surface of the planet. The finds indicate water ice occurs beneath Mars’ surface halfway between the north pole and the equator, a lower latitude than expected in the Martian climate. To view images of the craters and learn more about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, visit the website below.

Website: Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

Pearl Mountain Software has released Standard and Pro editions of Picture Collage Maker v. 2.0, a simple-to-use Windows program that turns ordinary photos into collages, scrapbooks, invitations, calendars or greeting cards. Version 2.0 introduces the new Pro version, with the ability to make multi-page collages. The Pro version also includes dozens of additional greeting card, calendar, and all-purpose templates, more than 50 new fonts, and nearly 500 additional collage resources such as frames, masks, and clipart. Other new features in version 2.0 include adding a layer thumb-view bar to make it easier to adjust layers, the ability to add a calender to any photo collage, and a new grid collage wizard for quickly making, say, a 4x4 (or any number) image collage. Picture Collage Maker v. 2.0 runs under Windows 98/Me/NT4/2000/XP/2003-Server/Vista, costs $29.90 for a personal license, and may be purchased online at the website below.

Website:  Picture Collage Software

Wacom has announced the introduction of Multi-Touch in its new family of Bamboo tablets. Bamboo tablets are USB peripherals that deliver natural and intuitive input to desktop or laptop computer users.  Wacom combines Multi-Touch (finger-based input) with pen input to deliver an “entirely new standard” in human-computer interaction. Bamboo goes beyond current mouse and other input solutions by adding the power of Multi-Touch gestures such as zoom, scroll, pan and rotate. The new Bamboo family is comprised of three core products: Bamboo Touch ($69); Bamboo Pen ($69); and Bamboo Pen and Touch ($99). Two additional tablets, Bamboo Craft ($129) and Bamboo Fun ($199) form the rest of the lineup, each having its own features and benefits to satisfy different consumer tastes and needs.

Think Tank Photo has announced the release of a “new standard” in rolling camera backpacks, the Airport TakeOff. It is designed as a solution that combines the portability of a backpack with the ease of a rolling suitcase. Designed to comply with international airline carry-on requirements, the Airport TakeOff accommodates pro-sized photography gear, including two pro or regular size DSLR bodies with or without lenses attached. The Think Tank Photo Airport TakeOff rolling camera backpack is available for $299.

The brand new Diana F+ lens adapters let photographers attach Diana F+ lenses to their Canon EOS or Nikon SLRs. According to the manufacturer, they bring “the world of Diana to your SLR cameras, yielding creative possibilities that were once limited to Diana F+ cameras”. The adapters themselves are priced €12, while adding a Diana F+ lens may cost you anywhere between €35 and €50.

Website: Diana F+ Adapters - Lomography Shop

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Shutterstock, the world’s largest subscription-based stock photo agency, announced that it has acquired BigStockPhoto, a leading credit-based stock photo agency, headquartered in Davis, California. This move signals Shutterstock’s expansion into the credit-based stock photo market, the company remarks. According to the deal, BigStockPhoto will remain a separate entity, and Shutterstock plans to grow the company’s global presence by investing heavily in marketing, infrastructure and user experience.

Olympus has released a firmware upgrade for the Olympus FE-4000 digital compact camera. Version 1.1 is supposed to improve the quality of the live-view display when shooting in low light. Remember you have to install either the Olympus Master or the Olympus Studio program on your PC, and update the firmware from within the software, with the Olympus FE-4000 hooked up to the computer via USB.

Website: Firmware Update Instructions