Fujifilm USA has underlined its commitment to film by becoming the new national distributor for Hallmark Refining silver halide recovery equipment. “FUJIFILM has a long and positive history of providing high-quality color film, silver halide paper emulsions and photo processing chemicals to our customers.  Given the current market, we believe the need exists to expand our silver imaging solution offerings to our customers to include economical silver recovery equipment and services as well.  Our goal is to make it as easy as possible for our customers who choose to continue offering silver halide imaging products to remain in the silver halide photo processing business.” said Bob Harvey, Director of Marketing, Chemicals Group, for Fujifilm’s Imaging Division.

Today we take a look at the latest digital camera to offer an 18x optical zoom lens - the new Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18. This is an 8 megapixel bridge-style compact with a lens that covers a focal range of 28-504mm, perfect for everything from wide-angle landscapes to close-up sports photography. The Panasonic DMC-FZ18 also features optical image stabilisation, both JPEG and RAW image formats, plus a smart new Intelligent Auto mode for beginners. Read our extensive review to find out if the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18 can compete with its main competitors, the Fujifilm S8000fd and the Olympus SP-560UZ.

Website: Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18 Review

Ridata have announced the availability of its ultra-fast 266X series of Compact Flash memory cards. The Ridata 266X memory card features dual channels of data throughput to achieve the high-speed read of 266X (approximately 40MB/per sec). “We are pleased to offer the ideal combination of ultimate performance, cutting-edge technology and strong consumer value for photographers or mobile device users.” commented Harvey Liu, president of Advanced Media Inc. The Ridata 266X Compact Flash cards will be available in early December in North America.

Hollie Cookson from Warrington has been awarded the title of Britain’s Best Young Photographer in the national Getty Images’ My Britain young photographer competition. Competition judge, Adrian Murrell, Global Vice President, Editorial, Getty Images, said:  “Hollie’s pictures stood out because they are very memorable British images, which capture plenty of emotion.  As well as being technically very strong, she captures her subjects unawares which is a very hard thing to do.” Hollie wins the exclusive prize of a one-day internship with a Getty Images photographer.

i1 Defined is a brand new training package for all Eye-One colour management solutions. It offers users an interactive guide to Eye-One products, plus an overview of the fundamentals of colour management. An enhanced version of the package, including a Personal Color Trainer session, is also available. “Eye-One solutions have always combined user-friendliness with professional standard features, and the extra support from i1 Defined takes this to a new level. i1 Defined offers much more than the standard manual or CD-ROM; it gives users the chance to understand just how their Eye-One system can benefit their specific workflow, and therefore maximise the return on their investment”. commented Geoffrey Clements, Managing Director of Colour Confidence.

Website photo-i has launched a Nikon D40x DVD user guide in association with Nikon. Written and presented by Vincent Oliver, the DVD shows how to get the best from the Nikon D40x without having to wade through hefty manuals. The Nikon D40x DVD User Guide runs for 1 hour and 25 minutes and costs £12.

The inaugural “Photographers of Tomorrow” student photo contest from Olympus USA has a top prize of a $5,000 scholarship plus Olympus E-3 Digital SLR Camera with lenses and accessories. Starting January 14th 2008, students will submit their best work captured with the Olympus E-3 digital SLR. The winning images will be announced in April 2008. “The Olympus competition is our way of helping the next generation of professional photographers and photojournalists to showcase their work nationally, as the winning submissions will be visible on the Olympus Web site,” said John Knaur, senior marketing manager, Digital SLR at Olympus Imaging America Inc.

DSLR Remote Pro Multi-Camera and PSRemote Multi-Camera are new software applications from Breeze Systems that allow you to control up to 25 Canon cameras remotely from a single computer. DSLR Remote Pro Multi-Camera supports the Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III, 1D Mark III, 40D, 30D and 400D/Digital Rebel XTi. All the cameras can be fired from the PC, in which case there is a delay of approximately 1/6 sec between each camera firing, or they can be fired simultaneously by wiring together the cameras’ remote release connections. DSLR Remote Pro Multi-Camera costs US $95 x the number of cameras supported. PSRemote Multi-Camera allows multiple Canon PowerShot SX100 IS, S5 IS, A640, G7 or G9 cameras to be controlled from a single PC. PSRemote Multi-Camera costs $49 x the number of cameras supported.

DSLR Remote Pro v1.6 adds a new photobooth shooting mode and support for the Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III. The popular remote live view mode has been enhanced to allow the image to be inverted or reflected horizontally or vertically. A new photobooth mode aimed at event photography takes a sequence of pictures and then automatically sends them to a printer for printing. DSLR Remote Pro v1.6 costs US $95.

Tamron are introducing a new version of their 18-250mm super-zoom lens which features a built-in motor that makes it compatible with the Nikon D40 and D40x DSLRs. The Tamron AF 18-250mm F/3.5-6.3 Di II lens boasts the world’s greatest zoom ratio of 13.9x. Due to go sale in Japan on December 13th, there are currently no other details on pricing or availability worldwide.

Photology is revolutionary new software that helps you navigate the flood of digital photos on your computer. It automatically examines the photos on your computer and identifies a number of real-world features, such as faces, sky, color, location and time of day. You can then use combinations of these features to quickly find a photo of interest. “Photology solves the problem almost everyone with a digital camera has – how do you find a specific photo when there are thousands of them disorganized on your hard drive? This tool will change how people interact with their digital photos.” said Tim Lenz, Enoetic co-founder and Photology developer. Photology is priced at $39 USD.

The Samsung S860 and Samsung S760 are new additions to Samsung’s entry-level S series digital cameras. The 7 megapixel S760 and 8 megapixel S860 both offer a 3x optical zoom, 2.4” LCD display, 11 scene modes and digital image stabilisation technology. Samsung’s Intelligent Face Recognition Technology focuses on and exposes for the subject’s face. The Samsung S760 and Samsung S860 will be available in black, silver, pink or blue from January 2008. The S760 will cost £79.99, price to be confirmed for the S860.

Michal Honkys from Thames Valley University is the winner of this year’s Nikon Discovery Awards competition. Michal received a £5000 cash prize, £1800 worth of Nikon equipment and national exposure of his work. Chris Hoare, Nikon’s professional business manager said: “The first Discovery Awards competition has been a great success, we are really pleased with the efforts of each of the students and colleges involved in the competition and have had great feedback from the tutors. The winners were all extremely deserving and will no doubt go on to be industry’s finest.”

The LG Video Media Talent Award wants to find the UK’s up-and-coming new talent in both video production and presenting. Two training internships are up for grabs – one for a video presenter and the other for a video production assistant. Both categories require entrants to illustrate, in visual form, what they think style is. The two winners will receive a six month internship with Shiny Media, including an all expense paid assignment to the 2008 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, and an LG Viewty cameraphone. Hurry - the competition closes on 14 December 2007.

The Cintiq 12WX and Cintiq 20WSX are two new desktop pen displays from Wacom, allowing you to edit image directly on-screen. The Wacom Cintiq 12WX combines all the advantages and power of direct pen-on-screen input with a new low-profile, lightweight and flexible design. The Wacom Cintiq 20WSX is the world’s first wide-format desktop pen display, offering a a 20.1” 16:10 aspect ratio LCD display. Available now, the Cintiq 12WX has an estimated street price of $999, and the Cintiq 20WSX will cost $1,999.

The WD Passport portable hard drive is now available in 320GB capacity. At less than five ounces, the lightweight WD Passport drive fits neatly in a pocket or backpack. “The need for travel-friendly storage devices continues to be an area that is growing immensely with the advent of rich media content generated by consumers,” said Jim Welsh, vice president and general manager of WD’s branded products group. “It’s not only music that’s consuming space on desktops. Higher resolution pictures and HD videos eat up storage very quickly so we’re excited to make a portable 320 GB solution available for consumers on the move.” Price for the WD Passport Portable Drive 320GB is $229.99 USD.

The Hama PhotoPlayer 1080i allows you to easily view photos on a Full HD television. It retrieves data using an integrated 35-in-1 card reader or through the USB port and connects to an LCD, plasma device or a projector through the component output. The Hama PhotoPlayer 1080i also boasts slide show function, rotation mode, zoom mode, and background music. Price and availability of the Hama PhotoPlayer 1080i to be confirmed.

Olympus have released a firmware update, v3.1, for the the Olympus SP-560 UZ camera. The changes are:

Functions have been added for use with the optional FL-50R/FL-36R Electronic Flashes.

Website: Olympus SP-560 UZ v3.1 Firmware Update

The long-delayed Microtek ArtixScan M1 flatbed and film scanner is now available in North America. First announced at the end of 2006, the Microtek ArtixScan M1 features 4800 dpi optical resolution, 16-bits per channel, 4.4 maximum optical density, multi-sampling noise reduction, and auto-focus technology.  Microtek also announced today the ArtixScan M1 Pro scanner, a new product with additional features to provide greater productivity when scanning film. “The Microtek engineers pushed the ArtixScan M1 forward to a higher performance level with new improvements to the electronic design, optical design, and mechanical design of the scanner,” said Parker Plaisted, Manager of Product Marketing for Microtek. “And with the added features in the ArtixScan M1 Pro, Microtek addressed the need for higher productivity in film scanning.” The Microtek ArtixScan M1 costs $649.99, and the Pro version $799.99.

PhotoReview have reviewed the Panasonic Lumix FX100, a 12.2 megapixel digital camera with a new 1/1.72-inch large CCD and 28mm wide-angle lens.

“The FX100 is a great little slimline camera for point-and-shoot photographers but serious enthusiasts will find it somewhat limited. Panasonic has extracted excellent performance from the 12-megapixel imager and image processing system. Image quality is as good as we’ve seen from any compact 12-megapixel digicam and noise is very well controlled up to (and including) ISO 400.”

Website: PhotoReview - Panasonic FX100 Review