The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX37 is a new point-and-shoot compact camera with two standout features - a wide-angle, 25-125mm, 5x optical zoom lens, and a 720p HD movie mode. The FX37 offers the widest lens of any camera in its class, yet still manages to squeeze a 5x zoom into its tiny body, providing a versatile focal range. The Lumix FX37 is also the latest Panasonic camera to be able to shoot video at 1280x720 pixels at 30 fps, perfect for playing back on your High Definition TV. Available in silver, black, blue, pink, white and brown, the Panasonic FX37 can be yours for a recommended price of £249 / $399. Read our 299th review to find out if it’s any good…

Website: Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX37 Review

To celebrate it’s 10 birthday, everyone who has ever purchased VueScan can now upgrade to VueScan 8.5 for free. VueScan is, the world’s most widely used 3rd party scanning software. VueScan 0.1 was first released in 1998 with support for a single scanner on Windows only. It now supports more than 1200 scanners on 3 operating systems and in 35 languages, has been downloaded more than 5 million times and has been purchased by more than 170,000 people worldwide. VueScan is available in two editions, Standard Edition ($39.95 USD) and Professional Edition ($79.95).

Due to overwhelming demand, Datacolor is extending mail-in rebates on its Spyder color calibration systems. You can now save $15.00 off of Spyder3Pro, $35.00 off of Spyder3Elite, and $100.00 off Spyder3 Studio until December 31st 2008. The rebate program will continue to be offered in addition to any other promotions currently offered by retailers nationwide in the USA.

BuyThisImage! is a new website widget that allows you to sell your online images. The BuyThisImage! widget can be incorporated into personal blogs or websites with a few easy steps. “This new widget gives even casual web posters the opportunity to earn additional income from the sale of their images and artwork,” said Donovan Janus, CEO of ExposureManager. “We realize that not everyone who posts to the web is set up as a business, which is why BuyThisImage! makes sense. We handle all transaction issues and send monthly payments to our subscribers whenever images are sold.” A nominal transaction fee is deducted from each sale.

Acclaimed landscape and travel photographer David Noton has just launched a new website. Over 80 new images from Noton’s collection are now available as prints in several different sizes, and you can also purchase his DVD, Chasing the Light, and book, Waiting for the Light. Prices start at just £10.

The winners of the 2008 Nikon Discovery Awards have been announced. Gina Brocker of University of Wales, Newport, was named as the Grand Prize Winner at an awards ceremony in Olympia, London, winning £5000 plus a D300 camera kit. The Nikon Discovery Awards, in association with British Journal of Photography, was set up two years ago to encourage photographic excellence by offering students and their universities or colleges.

Portraiture 2 is a new version of Imagenomic’s skin retouching plugin for Adobe Photoshop. “Portraiture 2 is the state-of-the-art software for digital skin retouching, and represents the next generation for workflow performance and finishing effects for the photographic, creative, and advertising communities,” said David McDonell, co-founder and CEO of Imagenomic. Portraiture 2 supports both Mac OSX and Windows XP/Vista operating systems and is fully compatible with Photoshop Elements 4/5/6/7, and Photoshop CS/CS2/CS3/CS4 (including both 32 and 64-bit versions), as well as Creative Suite Extended. New pricing of $199.95 for Portraiture 2 will go into effect on January 2nd 2009.

Heritage Images has launched a new print-on-demand website for its collection of Hollywood star portraits. Over 30,000 artworks, photographs, prints and posters selected from the Heritage Images collection are now available as prints in four different formats. Prices range from £4.89 for a photographic print to £195.74 for a 55” canvas print. To launch the new site, Heritage Images are offering consumers a 15 per cent discount when purchasing any print until 24th December 2008.

DxO Labs have just added the Canon EOS 5D Mark II and Pentax K200D DSLRs to their www.dxomark.com RAW measurement website. “Our goal at DxO Labs is to cover the widest possible range of digital cameras, from RAW-compatible digital still cameras (DSC) to top-of-the-line DSLR,” said Nicolas Touchard, Vice President of Marketing, DxO Labs Image Quality Evaluation. “We are committed to consistently providing the highest level of RAW image data possible in order to build the most comprehensive database of RAW image information available.” There is also a new Frequently Asked Questions & Answers section.

Olympus is introducing a new range of Mju Tough compact cameras in January 2009. Likely to be unveiled at CES 2009, Olympus’ new range of freezeproof, waterproof and shockproof cameras will be renamed from Mju SW to Mju Tough (and from Stylus SW to Stylus Tough in the US). “Since some of our cameras even go beyond shockproof and waterproof – certain models are freezeproof and crushproof as well – we needed a name that was more reflective of the true nature of the SW series. The Mju TOUGH brand lets our customers know what these cameras truly have to offer: strength that’s always ready to go, even in the most extreme conditions”. explained Miquel Angel Garcia, Managing Director Marketing at Olympus Imaging Europa GmbH.

Ricoh have released a new firmware update for the GX200 compact digital camera. Version 1.20 includes the following bug fix:

When you playback a 1:1 image in the playback mode, the small window may not move to the right edge in the position display window that is shown in the right corner in the LCD.

Website: Ricoh GX200 Firmware Update 1.20

Ridata have unveiled a new 300x speed CompactFlash flash memory card for professional photographers. The Ridata 16GB 300x CompactFlash card’s reading capability equates to approximately 45MB/per sec, while the high-speed writing capability is about 31MB/per second. The Ridata 16GB/300x Supreme Series CompactFlash card is apparently “competitively street priced” and carries a two-year warranty.

ProShow Producer 4 is a new version of Photodex’s photo and video slide show software for professionals. “Producer 4.0 has simple-to-use, one-click features, that allow users to achieve professional results in less time and with less work. Combined with an all-new interface the path to professional slide shows is much simpler and more powerful.” said Paul Schmidt, President and Founder of Photodex Corporation. ProShow Producer 4 features the new Slide Styles feature, pre-made effects that can be easily applied to any slide in a show, plus the ability to add Adjustment Layers. ProShow Producer 4 is available now for $249.95.

ContrastMaster, a plugin for effective contrast enhancement, is now available for MacOS X. ContrastMaster can also create dramatic contrast looks, photorealistic paintings and HDR-like effects and works with 8bit and 16bit RGB images. ContrastMaster sells at $69.95 (Regular License) or $39.95 (Academic/Educational License). A demo version can also be downloaded.

Create your own unique personalised digital photo album with createyourframe.com. This new website allows you to create original slide shows online for free, then send a personalised photo frame featuring your photos. Sean Fergusson managing director of createyourframe.com explains more: “The complete packaged service option is also particularly ideal as a gift for an elderly relative because everything is done for them, all they have to do, is plug-it in”. There are 7’’, 8’’, 10.4’’ and 15.1’’ frames available and the service includes free delivery and a free 2GB SD card. Prices start from £79.

AKVIS Sketch 8.5 converts photos to pencil drawings and watercolor paintings. Version 8.5 offers a new tab Text, which allows adding a signature or a greeting to your drawing. AKVIS Sketch 8.5 is available as a stand-alone application, as well as a plugin to a photo editor. AKVIS Sketch 8.5 Home License costs $129 USD / 99 Euros.

The Fujifilm FinePix F60fd is the latest addition to Fujifilm’s affordable range of compact digital cameras that offer something to both beginners and more serious photographers alike. Building on the success of the previous F50fd model, the new Fujifilm F60fd features a new 3 inch LCD screen, Face Detection 3 system and Scene Recognition-AUTO mode, whilst retaining its 12 megapixel sensor, 3x zoom lens, semi-manual shooting modes and stylish good looks. Priced at £199 / $299, read our 298th product review to find out if the Fujifilm FinePix F60fd is the right pocket camera for you.

Website: Fujifilm FinePix F60fd Review

Nikon have released a new version, 2.1.1, of Capture NX. Version 2.1.1 includes support for RAW images taken with the new D3X DSLR, and Mac OSX 10.5.5.

Website: Nikon Capture NX 2.1.1 (Windows)

Website: Nikon Capture NX 2.1.1 (Mac)

Nikon have released a new version, 2.4.0, of Camera Control Pro. This software allows photographers to control a camera remotely from a computer using either a wired or a wireless connection. Changes in this version:

- Support for the D3X has been added.
- Windows 2000 is no longer supported.
- In some rare cases, when images with file sizes of 14 MB or larger were transferred, the transferred images were corrupted.  This issue has been resolved.

Website: Nikon Camera Control Pro 2.4.0 (Windows)

Website: Nikon Camera Control Pro 2.4.0 (Mac)

The Royal Photographic Society has unveiled its workshop programme for 2009. New for this year are the ‘Fashion Photography’, ‘Product Photography’ and two business focused workshops. All workshops are open to members and non-members of The Society, and are held at the RPS headquarters in Bath.