Casio has launched a limited-edition Hello Kitty version of their Casio Exilim EX-Z2 digital compact camera. Pink with Swarovski diamond dotted outer lens and body decorations, the Casio EX-Z2 Hello Kitty camera is available for pre-order from dreamkitty.com for $499.99.

Via DCVIEWS

Sony have revealed their highest-capacity Memory Stick PRO Duo card to date. The Memory Stick PRO Duo line now goes all the way up to 32GB thanks to the launch of a new high-capacity model.
Handycam owners shooting in FH mode (1920 x 1080 Full HD) can now record 225 minutes (3 hours 45 minutes) of HD video using a single card. And with the latest models of their Cyber-shot digital camera range, each video clip now can be recorded up to 29 minutes (using Fine mode: MP4 1280 x 720). The new card will be available from the end of September for about $200.

The School of Visual Arts (SVA) has announced a lecture series entitled “Art in the First Person”, and the first event in the series, a conversation with photographer Hellen van Meene, will take place on 14 September. Dutch photographer Hellen van Meene has exhibited her work in New York City, London, Holland and Germany. Her photographs have been collected in several books, including the recently published Hellen van Meene: New Photographs (Schirmer/Mosel, 2009). The conversation about her work, which is free and open to the public, will be held in the SVA Theatre, 333 West 23 Street, New York.

InfoTrends has announced that Fujifilm will sponsor the 2009 Digital Imaging Forum and will participate in three educational panel discussions during the event. The forum features the 2nd annual Photo Publishing Summit taking place September 15-16, 2009 and the 8th annual Digital Imaging Conference which follows directly after on September 16-17. Both events will be hosted at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport in Burlingame, California. During the Photo Publishing Summit, Fujifilm will participate on a panel entitled Sales and Marketing Strategies for Growing Your Products Business. At the Digital Imaging Conference, Fujifilm will take part in two panel discussions: Making the Right Equipment Choices and Convergence of Online Photo Services and Social Networks.

Pandigital recently announced its PanTouch Clear range of digital photo frames, in Europe - and today marks the US launch of the eight-inch model. The PanTouch Clear 8” digital floating frame incorporates a true touch screen frame, made possible by the brand new PanTouch Clear ITO (Indium-Tin-Oxide) Technology. To create the floating effect, the new PanTouch Clear frame features an 800x600 high-resolution display that appears to be floating in the surrounding glass. You can view your photos and control the frame’s functions with easy-to-understand icons that can be touched directly across the entire glass surface of the frame. To accomplish this, the frames feature leading-edge touch technology, which “prints” invisible circuits on fingerprint-resistant, clear glass. The benefit is that you can now enjoy intuitive full touch-screen capabilities while still enjoying the premium home décor-style look of the glass on the Pandigital Digital Photo Frame. This is unlike frames using capacitive-touch technology that require the consumer to directly touch the LCD panel, which prevents the use of glass. The PanTouch Clear 8” has an MSRP of $129.99.

Sony has recently discovered that, with a limited number of its Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W170 digital compact cameras, the possibility exists that small particles of metal plating may peel off from the casing part surrounding the lens. Sony will offer a free of charge replacement of the casing containing the applicable part surrounding the lens. Click through / read on for the applicable serial numbers.

Microsoft Hardware has announced LifeCam Cinema, which is allegedly the first consumer webcam on the PC to offer widescreen video with a native 720p sensor. The sensor captures HD quality video at up to 30 fps, and the LifeCam Cinema webcam has auto-focus on board to keep the footage sharp even during close-ups. Maintaining a high frame rate even in the lowest lighting, LifeCam Cinema helps ensure that users look well lit and that video remains smooth. LifeCam Cinema will be available in September for the estimated retail price of $79.95.

Apple has issued an update to the Apple iPhoto application. Version 8.1 adds several new print product options to iPhoto ‘09. These include three new photo book themes with travel-oriented designs: Tropical, Asian and Old World; and a avariety of new holiday greeting cards themes. Additionally, hardcover books can be ordered in a new extra-large (13” x 10”) size. The update is recommended for all users of iPhoto ‘09.

Website: Apple iPhoto 8.1

Canon has introduced a new flagship model to its 2009 VIXIA high-definition digital camcorder line, the Canon VIXIA HF S11 Dual Flash Memory camcorder sporting advanced HD features and professional-level manual controls.  The Canon VIXIA HF S11 offers the ability to record up to 24 hours of crisp high-definition video to a 64GB internal flash drive and the option of recording video directly to removable SDHC memory cards for fast and easy sharing of memories. Two new features that help enhance the video capture and viewing experience are Canon’s new Dynamic SuperRange OIS system, which delivers the ultimate in shake correction by providing continuous adjustment throughout the entire zoom range, and an Advanced Video Snapshot Mode. The Canon VIXIA HF S11 features a Genuine Canon HD Video Lens, Canon designed and manufactured 8.59-megapixel Full HD CMOS Image Sensor and Canon DIGIC DV III Image Processor, all of which allow the camcorder to produce hiogh-definition video and 8-megapixel photos. Scheduled to be available in mid-September, the Canon VIXIA HF S11 Dual Flash Memory Camcorder will sell for an estimated retail price of $1,499.

Nikon Vision Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Nikon Corporation, is has introducedt the Fieldscope Digital SLR Camera Attachment FSA-L2 for use exclusively with Nikon EDG Fieldscopes and Nikon D-SLR cameras. The Digital SLR Camera Attachment FSA-L2, which has 3.5x zoom and 500-1,750mm (f/5.9-21) focal length, used together with the new EDG Fieldscopes enables super-telephoto shooting with Nikon D-SLR cameras. The D-SLR cameras’ Aperture-Priority Auto Mode can be used when the camera is connected to the FSA-L2 and EDG Fieldscope. The FSA-L2 features a bright optical path with fully multilayer-coated lenses.

Simplify Media has launched a new application on the App Store called Simplify Photos. Essentially, the application connects to your home computer and syncs batches of photos over to your iPhone, so you can view the photos on the go. In order to get the photos over, you need to have both Simplify Photos running on your computer, and your iPhone/iPod Touch, and the syncing process will begin. The photos are never stored on the iPhone/iPod Touch, and this brings a big advantage of the application — this frees up gigabytes of space on your iPhone or iPod Touch. Simplify Photos lets users browse photos by folder and timeline, or GPS location on a map, view thumbnails, individual photos or slideshow, access iPhoto albums, events, faces and places, search by tags, comments, title or description. Simplify Photos is $0.99 and available from the App Store today.

iStockphoto has announced the nine winners of its Punctum Day competition, now in its third year. This year’s categories included best photo, vector, video, Flash and design of the year with audio included for the first time. The top 10 finalists from each category were selected from a pool of more than 1.75 million entries. The Photo of the Year category winner is Vladimir Piskunov, who receives the award for his entry entitled “Full Moon Calling” (see above). Piskunov, like the other category winners, will receive a cash prize of $5,000.

ScanMyPhotos.com has announced a partnership with Mixbook for creating photo books. Tens of millions of photographs scanned by ScanMyPhotos.com’s photo scanning service are now to be turned instantly into bookstore-quality photo books using Mixbook’s photo book software. With this partnership, ScanMyPhotos.com customers will be able to use their digitised photos in photo books created directly on Mixbook’s Web site. For more information about the partnership, visit: http://www.scanmyphotos.com/photobook.html.

Fujifilm Professional has announced details of an exhibition of images from the 2009 Fujifilm Student Awards. All 30 merit winning images from the Awards will be on view, including the eventual winner, taken by Andrew Partner from Leicester College. The awards were a tie-in between Fujifilm Professional and Penguin Classics and the brief was to supply a cover image for the next edition of Rachel Carson’s work Silent Spring (pictured). The exhibition is on display at the London pro lab, Bayeux on Newman Street, W1T 3EP from now until Friday 16th October. Bayeux is open from 9am to 7pm, Monday to Friday, admission is free and no booking is required.

LIFE’s newest title, Wonders of the World, is a photographic compilation of the Top 50 Wonders in the universe. These contain the original Seven Wonders of the World conceived in the 5th century B.C. by the Greek historian Herodotus, seven new man-made wonders and seven runners-up chosen by almost 100 million voters in a global poll fielded by the New 7 Wonders Foundation, 14 of nature’s wonders, 14 modern wonders of engineering and construction and One Lone Wonder - the magnificence of the Northern and Southern Lights. LIFE Wonders of the World, which retails for $29.95 U.S./$34.95 Canada (hardcover), will be available online and at bookstores nationwide on October 20, 2009.

Ricoh today announced the release of the Ricoh CX2, a new digital camera featuring a 10.7x (28-300 mm equivalent) superzoom lens in a compact body only 29.4 mm thick. The new Ricoh CX2 inherits many popular features from its predecessor, the CX1 - introduced less than half a year ago -, such as the unique expanded dynamic range; but also adds new features like full-resolution continuous shooting at 5 frames per second, Pre-AF and Continuous AF. The lens is also new, and its 10.7x zoom ratio is quite an achievement given the compact dimensions of the CX2. New scene modes such as “high-contrast B&W mode” and “miniaturize mode” have been added to stimulate shooting creativity, and various CX1 model functions have received enhancements, such as the addition of face recognition to easy shooting mode and the addition of an AUTO option for automatically defining the range expansion effect in dynamic range double shot mode. The CX2 will be available at an SRP of £299.99.

The Casio EX-Z33 is a new entry-level 10.1 megapixel camera. The stylish Casio Z33 features a 3x optical zoom lens, 2.5 inch widescreen LCD,  Automatic face recognition and Best Shot function. The Auto Shutter mode shoots automatically when the subject smiles or when there is no blur. The EX-Z33 will also be available in September with an MSRP of $119.99.  The EX-Z33 will boast stylish new colors, including black, light pink, vivid pink, silver and blue. 

ExposureManager, a customisable full-service online sales resource for photographers, announces EM Photo Day – an efficient new order placement system for photographers using handwritten order forms. ExposureManager’s latest offering to its community of photographers who cater to sports leagues, groups, schools, special events such as school dances, dance troops, theater groups or any other situation wherein orders are taken in writing by the photographer, is available now. To get started, for each photo day or event, photographers just send ExposureManager the blank order form they’ll be using for their event. EM Photo Day staff will then configure the order entry interface and set-up the price sheets. Once the photo day or event is complete, a CD or DVD of the images or an FTP link must be sent to ExposureManager for import into the system. The EM Photo Day System allows photographers to fully preview all the images to be ordered along with the capability to review any customised products too, as they will print, so as to catch any mistakes, saving time and money.

Adobe today released the Photoshop Camera Raw 5.5 plug-in and DNG Converter 5.5 Release Candidates available immediately. The update extends raw file support to four of the latest popular camera model releases, including the Nikon D300s, Nikon D3000, Olympus E-P1 and Panasonic DMC-FZ35. The Release Candidate also includes a correction to the demosaic algorithms in the raw conversion process for Bayer sensor cameras with unequal green response. The Photoshop Camera Raw 5.5 plug-in and DNG Converter 5.5 Release Candidates are available as free downloads for existing customers of Photoshop CS4.

Website: Adobe Labs