Nikonians.org and published Rocky Nook are launching a new program of books for photographers aimed at professionals and advanced amateurs. The new project, under the Nikonians Press banner, will mostly cover Nikon equipment. The first books in the series, currently in production and scheduled for publication early next year, will cover the newest Nikon systems.

AKVIS Sketch plug-in v5.5 for Windows and Macintosh converts photos to realistic pencil and watercolor drawings. Version 5.5 offers a new effect - Color Strokes -  which converts a photo to a sketch in such a way that it looks like drawn by color pencils. AKVIS Sketch sells for $72 / 55 Euro, and there’s also a free trial with 10 days of fully functional use.

Virgin Media has signed a new partnership with ShootLive to deliver real-time images from every one of this season’s 380 Premier League football matches. Photos will appear on Virgin’s new sports portal, www.virginmedia.com/sport, almost as soon as the action happens. The ShootLive software delivers ‘real time’ photography from sports, entertainment or news events.

Trusted Reviews have reviewed the Sony W200, the first 12 megapixel camera on the market, which offers a 3x optical zoom lens, metal body, 2.5-inch LCD screen and an eye-level viewfinder.

“To be fair, if anyone can produce a successful 12-megapixel compact, it may be Sony. The W200 is equipped with a 1/1.7-in SuperHAD CCD, which is ever-so-slightly larger than the normal 1/1.8-in sensors found in most other high-powered compacts. The SuperHAD design has slightly larger microlenses than conventional CCDs, which may help with light gathering. It also benefits from a Carl Zeiss lens, so hopefully the superior optical quality can make use of the additional resolution.”

Website: Trusted Reviews - Sony W200 Review

The Epson V500 Photo is a 6400dpi scanner featuring Epson ReadyScan LED technology for low energy consumption. The V500 is the first Charged-Coupled Device (CCD) scanner to use white LED as a light source and warms up in just one second. The Epson Perfection V500 Photo features a built-in transparency unit for positive or negative film up to medium format. The Epson V500 Photo will cost £199.99 / $249.99 and be available September 2007.

The Olympus E-510 DSLR camera has won the European Consumer Camera 2007-2008 EISA award. The EISA jury explained that: “The Olympus E-510 is a digital SLR with excellent image quality and some clear advantages over the rest of the market.” EISA (European Imaging & Sound Association) is comprised of around 50 magazines in the areas of audio, video, home theatre, mobile electronics and photography from 20 European countries.

Panasonic has won four European Imaging and Sound Association (EISA) awards. The DMC-TZ3 won “European Compact Camera 2007-2008”. The 2007 EISA Awards will be presented at a special Gala Event on September 1st 2007 in Berlin at the IFA show.

Buy an S5 Pro Body Only Kit and get HyperUtility HS-V3 and Pantone Huey Pro completely free. This special rebate offer is worth $240 and valid in the USA. All required documentation must be received within 30 days after your purchase - full details of how to apply after the jump.

Ever wanted to take photos that are completely free of noise? Guillermo Luijk has published an intriguing article explaining how to do just that, with some seriously impressive example shots.

“The idea is to develop a simple method compatible with the regular shooting technique, to completely eliminate noise from our shots even in the deepest shadows. In this way we will recover all textures that noise made unusable and at the same time we will expand the effective dynamic range of our camera in the low light end.”

Website: Guillermo Luijk - Zero Noise Photography

Canon has signed up for its fourth consecutive year as a commercial partner for this year’s Tour of Britain cycle race. Canon will supply high-end print and imaging equipment to the race as well as the official Tour of Britain photographer. “We’ve been involved in The Tour of Britain since it was resurrected in 2004 and our ongoing support is indicative of our desire as a business to showcase our technologies which enable companies and individuals to achieve their goals” commented Andy Vickers, Managing Director, Canon UK and Ireland.

The Photoshop CS3 Photographer’s Handbook is a step-by-step guide to editing photographs in Photoshop. It provides the essential information for image editing along with step-by-step projects for more advanced Photoshop techniques. Photoshop CS3 Photographer’s Handbook: An Easy Workflow costs $35.95 / £25.99 / 32 Euros.

The average European desires a more rural and peaceful lifestyle, according to a psychological report by Canon. The report analysed over 13,000 images taken by members of the European public to celebrate their national identity. ”The emphasis on the beauty of nature suggest that an ever increasing number of Europeans yearn for a simpler, rural lifestyle, perhaps as enjoyed by their parents or grandparents.” explained psychologist Dr David Lewis.

CameraLabs have reviewed the Panasonic DMC-FX30, the world’s slimmest digital camera with a 28mm wide-angle lens.

“The important thing to remember though is this noise is only a serious problem if you’re examining images on-screen at 100%, or making big prints. If you prefer to view your entire images at once or make smaller prints, then it becomes much less of an issue. And to be fair this is a problem which also faces most compacts these days, so while Panasonic’s models suffer in this respect, they’re certainly not alone.”

Website: CameraLabs - Panasonic DMC-FX30 Review

Wrotniak.net have reviewed the Olympus E-510 DSLR camera, which features a built-in image stabiliser in the camera body. The E510 also has a new image processing engine that offers excellent noise performance and 3fps with a seven image RAW buffer in burst mode.

“The colors are vibrant, tonal transitions smooth and detailed. The kit lenses work much better than their size or price would indicate. The biggest shock comes, however, when you disable the in-camera dynamic noise filtering: the gain in sharpness reveals a quite incredible amount of detail (and the lenses are capable of filling it in).”

Website: Wrotniak.net - Olympus E-510 Review

Website: Read our Olympus E-510 Review

ePhotoZine 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.

“With a massive 12Mp resolution, noise issues were always going to be a concern and sure enough, there’s visible noise at ISO80. However, it isn’t enough to worry about, and nor is the visible coloured mottling at ISO100 either. It does however get worse at ISO200 and is visibly patchy in the grey card area. At ISO400 the noise becomes more sharply defined with patterns appearing and the image now starts to get softer as well.”

Website: ePhotoZine - Panasonic Lumix FX100 Review

General Imaging caused quite a stir back at the PMA show in March when they unveiled a completely new range of digital cameras, to be sold under the venerable General Electric (GE) brand name. Nearly 6 months on cameras are finally shipping, and today we take a look at the mid-range GE E850 model. This camera has an amazing specification given its budget price tag. An 8 megapixel sensor, a 28mm wide, 5x optical zoom lens, large 3 inch LCD screen, Face Detection mode and a stylish design should be enough to make most people sit up and take notice of the GE E850. But as we all know, what looks good on paper can prove to be terrible in practice, so does the E850 deliver on its promise? Mark Goldstein subjected the GE E850 to a few weeks of in-depth testing to find out..

Website: GE E850 Review

The Sony Ericsson K770 Cyber-shot phone is a digital camera, a photo album and an elegant phone all in-one. The K770 features a 3.2 megapixel camera, auto-focus, 3x digital zoom and a 1.9 inch LCD screen. “If you like the idea of having a snapshot camera on your phone, and want shots that look good in your family album, then the K770 is perfect.” says Helene Barnekow, Head of Central Marketing at Sony Ericsson. The Sony K770 will be available in selected markets from Q4 2007.

The Zink Digital Camera/Printer is a 7 megapixel camera with a built-in printer. Utilising the unique ZINK (Zero Ink) printing technology, the integrated digital camera/printer will produce 2” x 3” borderless prints, onto both conventional and sticky-backed paper. The Zink Digital Camera/Printer will also feature a 2 inch LCD screen, 3x optical zoom lens and be available later this year.

The DXG-572V digital camcorder records full motion MPEG-4 video and captures 5 megapixel photos. Other standout features of the DXG 572V include a 4x digital zoom, 2-inch flip-out LCD screen, and built-in digital voice recorder. The DXG-572V is available immediately with a suggested retail price of $149.99.

MyPlace is a new community-based website from Panasonic which allows people to to post pictures of their favourite places in Great Britain and Ireland. MyPlace was inspired by Panasonic’s sponsorship of Our Place - The World’s Heritage, soon to become the largest ever photographic collection of UNESCO world heritage site pictures. MyPlace will be live from 10th August 2007.