The Sanyo Xacti DMX-CA8 is a new waterproof hybrid digital camera/camcorder. Featuring JIS IPX5 and IPX8 waterproof ratings, the DMX-CA8 can be used underwater to a depth of 1.5-meters for 60 minutes or less. The Sanyo DMX-CA8 has an 8 megapixel CCD sensor, 5x zoom lens, and 2.5 inch LCD screen. On the video side, the DMX-CA8 can shoot 680×480 movies at 60fps, with 75 minutes or 200 still images promised from the lithium-ion battery. Currently only announced in Japan, the Sanyo Xacti DMX-CA8 will cost around around 50,000 yen / $500 / £250.

Buy a 50 sheet pack of Ilford Galerie Gold Fibre Silk paper and get 10 sheets of the same size, worth up to £39.99. This special offer is available at participating dealers in the UK whilst stocks last. There’s also a special promotion on Gold Fibre Silk rolls - buy 3 rolls of the same size, get another roll free whilst stocks last.

The new OWC Mercury On-The-Go 500GB is the highest capacity portable, bus-powered storage drive on the market. A palm-sized drive that fits in a shirt pocket, the Mercury On-The-Go 500GB offers FireWire 800, FireWire 400, and USB 2.0 connections and 5400RPM performance. The OWC Mercury On-The-Go 500GB is available now priced at $359.99.

Version 11.1 of Leaf Capture image workflow software features a a brand new Compare View function. Leaf Capture also features an all-new Lens Calibration File Wizard and automatic firmware updates. Leaf Capture 11.1 software supports all of Leaf’s camera systems and is available for an unlimited number of users.

The new Mamiya ProSD Adapter HX702 turns the RB67 Pro-S/Pro-SD into a 22 megapixel digital camera. The Mamiya ZD 22-megapixel Digital Back can be fitted to the Mamiya RB67 Pro-S and Pro-SD medium format film cameras using the new adapter. “With the introduction of the RB67 ProSD Adapter, we’re opening the digital world to a large number of photographers who invested in RB67 equipment.” commented Jeff Karp, Mamiya Product Marketing Manager. The Mamiya ProSD Adapter HX702 will be available in May 2008.

Microsoft has updated Expression Media with a post-SP1 rollup of bug fixes. Microsoft Expression Media (formerly known as iView MediaPro) is now up to version 1.0.9058. Expression Media Post-SP Rollup for Microsoft Windows fixes the following issues from Expression Media Service Pack 1:

- Nikon D3/D300 NEF RAW files crash Expression Media
- Custom fields have garbage characters appended to the end of the fields when opened in Expression Media Service Pack 1
- After upgrading to Apple QuickTime 7.4, files/folders added to a Catalog that previously existed are duplicated in the Catalog Folder pane and uses 8.3 naming instead of long file names.

Website: Microsoft Expression Media Post-SP1 Rollup (Windows)
Website: Microsoft Expression Media Post-SP1 Rollup (Mac)

Olympus have released a firmware update for the mju 1030SW, 1020, 1010, 850SW and the 840 digital cameras. Version 1.1 offers the following improvements:

- Now supports movie recording on 4 GB and higher microSDHC cards.
- Using an xD-Picture Card TypeM+ or TypeH, you can now continuously record movies with VGA quality (640x480) 30 fps up to the capacity of the card.

Website: Olympus Download Files

Rob Galbraith reports that the firmware update (v1.10) that Nikon released for the D3 DSLR earlier this week is intermittently corrupting images. An offset ghost image is appearing when shooting until the memory buffer fills and then taking additional frames. Apparently the Rob Galbraith staff are “able to make the problem surface pretty much at will”. Nikon have made no comment yet about this issue.

Website: Rob Galbraith - Nikon D3 v1.10 firmware appears to cause photo corruption problem

LG’s Viewtyful World photo competition aims to encourage people to explore and capture their surroundings. The Viewtyful World winner’s work will feature in National Geographic magazine and they will receive a copyright fee of £5,000. There are three different themes, night view, retouch, and moments, and the contest will be will be judged by website visitors. Jeremy Newing, head of LG Mobile Marketing, LG Electronics commented “This is a great opportunity for budding photographers to put their skills to the test and take their photography to a new level, via the powerful combination of a world class imaging device with a world class media partner.”

The finalists for the Garden Photographer of the Year 2008 contest have been announced. Theirphotographs will be showcased at an exhibition launched on 22nd May at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, which runs until late September 2008.  The winners themselves will be announced when the show opens, as part of the opening of Kew’s Summer festival. Prizes include £5,000 cash for Best Single Image, £5,000 for Best Portfolio, and over £10,000 worth of vouchers from Manfrotto, Kata and Visible Dust. The competition for 2009 is now open with new categories including “World Botanic Gardens” and “The Edible Garden”.

Ilford now offers over 145 free ICC profiles for their Premium Plus and Premium Photo inkjet papers. Available to download for free from http://www.ilford.com , each ICC profile is built by in-house specialists at Ilford, allowing you to obtain a more striking and professional look in your prints. “ILFORD is dedicated to developing premium digital imaging technology for photographers, whether they are enthusiastic amateurs or ‘happy snappers’,” said Andrew Stewart, Sales and Marketing Director, ILFORD Imaging Switzerland GmbH. “We are delighted at the feedback we’ve been getting from the public. The increasing number of users downloading our profiles further proves that more and more people are turning to home printing.”

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ50 is new 9 megapixel, 10x zoom compact camera with built-in Wi-Fi. The Panasonic TZ50 can connect to a standard 802.11b/g wireless LAN, access the T-Mobile HotSpot service in the USA, and upload to Google’s Picasa Web Albums. “Active users will appreciate the TZ50’s Wi-Fi capabilitilies so they can share photos while on-the-go, but they will also benefit from HD video recording, a 10x optical zoom and a 28mm wide-angle lens, so capturing images, whether far or wide; moving or still – is all possible with this compact camera.” said Alex Fried, National Marketing Manager, Imaging, Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ50 will be available in silver in May 2008 for $449.95.

Nikon have released a new firmware update for the D3 full-frame DSLR camera. Version 1.10 adds a Vignette control to the shooting menu, a Focus point brightness option, and a number of other changes and fixes.

Website: Nikon D3 Firmware Update 1.10 (Windows)
Website: Nikon D3 Firmware Update 1.10 (Mac)

Nikon have released a new version, 1.3.3, of Capture NX. Version 1.3.3 includes support for RAW images captured with the D3 and the Vignette Control option has been added.

Website: Nikon Capture NX 1.3.3 (Windows)
Website: Nikon Capture NX 1.3.3 (Mac)

Nikon have released a new version of ViewNX, a file browser which ensures quick access to images for instant viewing. Version 1.0.4 of Nikon ViewNX includes support for RAW images captured with the D3 and the Vignette Control option has been added.

Website: Nikon ViewNX 1.0.4 (Windows)
Website: Nikon ViewNX 1.0.4 (MAC)

A beta version of DxO Optics Pro v5 for the Apple Macintosh platform is now available. The free public beta, available in English only, will run for several weeks. “Although both the Mac and PC versions are identical in terms of functionalities, Mac users will be especially pleased with the consistency of DxO Optics Pro v5 in the Mac environment,” says Cyrille de La Chesnais, Sales & Marketing Director of the Photography Business at DxO Labs. “For instance, the palette and tab icons follow Mac OS X toolbar guidelines and the select tab reproduces the three viewing modes that Mac users are accustomed to using.” DxO Optics Pro v5 is available in Standard and Elite editions for $169 and $299 respectively.

The new Digital Photo Grey Card from Perfect Pixs helps you get better exposures and tonal balance in your photos. Using a grey card is the ideal way to start with a correctly exposed image for the lighting conditions you are shooting in. Priced at £10.95 in the UK, the Digital Photo Grey Card is 9"x7” in size and uses an industry standard reflectance value and low glare matte finish.

Schneider B+W Infrared Filters allow anyone to create infrared images using the right digital SLR camera. Schneider Optics offers two B+W Infrared Filters for digital SLRs; the IR 092 and the IR 093. The B+W IR 092 is nearly opaque, and creates infrared images that also include a portion of the visible red spectrum. The completely opaque B+W IR 093 Infrared Filter blocks the entire visible spectrum, resulting in pure infrared photographs. B+W Infrared Filters 092 and 093 cost $105.00 each and are available with screw-on mounting rings to fit a wide range of DSLRs.

The latest update to Filter Forge has added support for Adobe Photoshop Elements 6.0 and Corel Photo-Paint X4. Filter Forge is a Photoshop plugin that allows users to create their own filters. Version 1.012 also includes fixes for a number of bugs. This update is free for registered users.

iCorrect Online is a new a web-based color correction and color editing application from PictoColor. The initial launch of iCorrect Online features PictoColor’s OneClick Color technology, which automatically removes any color cast, corrects the tonal range, and adjusts the overall brightness and saturation with a single mouse click. “By seamlessly integrating iCorrect Online with photo sharing communities, social networking sites and a growing list of web-based photo services, we intend to offer users around the world the fastest and easiest approach to improving their digital photos.” said Craig Huelskoetter, president of PictoColor.