The Society of International Nature and Wildlife Photographers (SINWP) have announced the winners of their Animals in Action Photography Competition. John Hunt’s image entitled ‘White Tailed Sea Eagles in aerial spat’ was chosen as the winner from over 430+ images entered in to the competition. John has won a 12-month membership to the SINWP organisation. Runners-up Elizabeth Howell from New South Wales and Peter Jones from Nottinghamshire both won 6 months memberships.

Elinchrom’s collection of newly updated Deep Umbrellas replaces the venerated Varistar Umbrellas and combines innovative design with carefully selected, high-quality materials. Available in White, Silver and Translucent versions and two sizes (41” or 49”), Elinchrom Deep Umbrellas feature a unique shape that provides an even quality of light and offers total control over its spread; utilise 16 fibreglass rods to maintain a consistent circular shape, and include a portable umbrella sleeve. Pricing starts at $96.95 for the 41" Translucent model. In addition to these new umbrellas, Elinchrom has also introduced compatible diffusers and reflectors that add a second level of functionality for a fraction of the cost.

Today, Meyer-Optik announced the development of their new Primagon 24mm f/2.8 lens. "Even though the Primagon takes its name from a famous line of historic Meyer-Optik lenses, the new Primagon 24 is a totally new development," the company said in a statement. "With the help of world famous development engineers, the Meyer-Optik team has been working on the Primagon 24 for more than a year." The optical formula will comprise 7 elements including 1 aspherical glass element. Weighing in at 250 grams, the new lens will be available for "practically all mirrorless cameras," starting early 2018. The suggested retail price will be €4.999/$5,499.

Zeiss have added a new full-frame telephoto lens to their Batis lens family. The new Zeiss Batis 2.8/135 Apo Sonnar T* is the first 135mm AF lens developed specifically for Sony’s E-mount cameras. In addition to a fast and precise auto focus mechanism, the Batis 2.8/135 offers an optical image stabiliser to help you avoid blurring caused by shaky hands. Additionally, this latest addition to the Batis line features an OLED display that enables precise visualisation of the depth of field. The optical formula comprises 14 elements in 11 groups, while the metal housing is sealed against dust and moisture. Weighing in at 614 grams, the lens offers a minimum focus distance of 87cm and a maximum reproduction ratio of 1:5.3 The ZEISS Batis 2.8/135 will be available from specialist dealers starting May 2017, and will retail at £1,749.99.

The CAMEO360 is the World's smallest dual-lens 360°4K active camera. Currently raising funds on Kickstarter, the CAMEO360 takes 24-megapixel photos and records 4K video at 24 frames per second. “There are many high-quality cameras, but many are expensive, bulky and very inconvenient to carry around,” says creator Roland Nguyen. “There are also many social media channels available to us today that can be very time consuming when it comes to editing videos and managing multiple platforms. We embraced these two issues and created a versatile, high-quality pocket size camera with easy-to-use features – along with our own social media platform. This makes it easy for CAMEO360 users to create and share their creation in our community and other social media channels.” For more information about CAMEO360 and the accompanying Flicksee smartphone app, visit the project's Kickstarter Campaign Page.

Sekonic today announced that their new L-858D-U Speedmaster Light Meter is now available for purchase. The Sekonic L-858D-U Speedmaster is the first fully featured light meter to offer flash duration measurement from 1/40 to 1/55,500 sec at t0.1 through t0.9, which can be changed in 0.1 steps. Plus, with an additional 3-stops of light sensitivity for incident light, 2-stops of light sensitivity for reflected light, and an ability to capture a reading down to 0.1 lx of illuminance, accurately metering candle-lit scenes or getting the right measurement for long-exposure night photography is now a possibility. In addition, Sekonic have created a couple of hot-swappable radio control modules for the L-858D-U Speedmaster. With the PocketWizard module, photographers can easily trigger any PocketWizard wirelessly and control the power of their lights with any Control TL compatible unit. With the combined Elinchrom & Phottix module, Phottix users have Strato II and Ares II triggering capabilities, while Elinchrom users have access to wireless triggering and Skyport’s full range of power-control capabilities. The Sekonic L-858D-U Speedmaster is available for $599; whilst the RT-EL/PX Elinchrom & Phottix Transmitter Module and the RT-20PW PocketWizard Transmitter Module retail for $159.95 each.

Sigma today released a firmware update for its sd Quattro cameras. Version 1.04 adds an option to save images in raw 12-bit DNG format, improves the focusing speed of Contemporary, Art and Sports lenses by about 10-30%, adds comptibility with the SFD mode and Live View Display of Sigma Capture Pro, delivers enhanced white balance with the Sigma EF-630 flashgun, and fixes bugs.

Picktorial Innovations today released Picktorial 3, their latest non-destructive raw photo editing platform for MacOS. This edition provides advanced local adjustment options, all of which are fully non-destructive and offer real-time preview. These include luminosity and colour masks used by fine-art photographers, a high-end edge-aware brushing engine, state of the art skin-smoothing capacities, blending modes and more.The latest version also offers full support for the latest Fujifilm X.trans cameras' raw image files (including compressed/uncompressed RAF) and auto lens correction based on embedded metadata. The update is free for owners of the previous version.

The Fine Art Society has announced Who are wE +, an upcoming solo exhibition by British light artist, Chris Levine. The exhibition presents Levine’s latest portrait series with sitters including the iconic British supermodel Naomi Campbell, the explorer and author Sir Ranulph Fiennes, and fashion designers Paul Smith, and Giorgio Armani. Levine’s work marries art and technology investigating the ways in which we accept and perceive light, and the effect it has on our sense of being. He has worked extensively with laser light, exploring its capacity to both produce illusions and elicit a subliminal response in the viewer, and has pioneered new mediums such as holograms, light boxes and lenticular lenses, creating new mechanisms and technologies to express his ideas. In his portraiture Levine unlocks the light from within his sitter. He sees light both in the physical sense, as an electromagnetic force, and in a spiritual sense. It is his belief that a greater awareness of light as fundamental to our existence will ultimately help us know ourselves better and experience life more brightly. The Who are wE+ exhibition will be on show from 24 April to 19 May 2017 at The Fine Art Society, 148 New Bond Street London W1S 2JT.

Nikon today announced its range of commemorative models and goods to celebrate its 100th Anniversary on July 25, 2017. The Anniversary range, which features the 100th Anniversary logo and special finishes and details, includes Nikon’s two flagship digital SLR cameras - the D5 100th Anniversary Edition and the D500 100th Anniversary Edition -, a telephoto zoom lens - the Nikkor70-200E 100th Anniversary Edition -, a special set of three Nikkor lenses, and finally, commemorative editions of three binoculars. A special collection of commemorative goods will also be available, including the Nikon 100th Anniversary Crystal Creation Nikon Model I - a beautiful crystal reproduction of the first Nikon 35mm camera from 1948 -, the Nikon 100th Anniversary Pin Collection, the Nikon 100th Anniversary Miniature Nikon F Camera - a 1/2-scale model of Nikon's first flagship model - and the Nikon 100th Anniversary Premium Camera Strap. In addition to launching these products, Nikon has also set up a100th Anniversary website.

Fotodiox Pro have announced the FACTOR series of high-output, bi-colour LED light panels. Designed for spot illumination, studio-style shoots and area lighting, the series contains nine models in various sizes and shapes that are built to use an assortment of creative, series-specific modifiers for shaping and directing the FACTOR lights’ soft beams. “At the core of the new FACTOR series is our Factorsoft technology,” says Bohus Blahut, marketing director for Fotodiox Pro. “Factorsoft refers to our unique use of LED chips, which are set deep in the body of each FACTOR light and produce a soft, beautiful beam with no hot spots and a single, clean shadow. We’ve also built the lights to have fully adjustable color temperature – anywhere from 5600 Daylight to 3200 Tungsten – without sacrificing their fantastic output.”

Sigma today announced the availability and suggested retail price of the Sigma 100-400mm F5-6.3 DG OS HSM Contemporary lens. Boasting an optical stabiliser, fast AF and a dust- and splash-proof construction, the 100-400mm F5-6.3 Contemporary also features Sigma’s unique macro function (with a maximum reproduction ratio of 1:3.8), and a push/pull zooming mechanism for ease of use. The all-new Sigma 100-400mm F5-6.3 DG HSM OS Contemporary lens supports Canon, Nikon and Sigma mounts and works with Sigma’s MC-11 Sony E-mount converter. The Nikon variant features a brand new electromagnetic diaphragm. The SRP of the 100-400mm F5-6.3 DG OS HSM will be £799.99 / $799.00 and will be available in April 2017.

B+W Filters have launched a range of new ND Square Filters and XS Pro Screw-in Filters. Guaranteeing excellent image quality due to the finely ground, polished special glass that is used as the base, the new ND filters do not have any adverse effects on a correspondingly high-quality lens, the company says. Resistant to scratches, they will last significantly longer than plastic filters. The new B+W Square Filters are priced at £129.95. B+W have also announced the launch of the XS Pro screw-in ND filters, entry-level Exacta filters and GoPro Filter Holder Sets.

AOC have announced the availability of the U3277PWQU Ultra HD monitor. Featuring a 31.5” VA panel with 3840x2160 pixels, the AOC U3277PWQU comes equipped with VGA, DisplayPort, DVI, HDMI-MHL and four USB ports, and offers both PiP (Picture-in-Picture) and a PbP (Picture-by-Picture) functionality. The display also comes with a 60 Hz refresh rate and a short response time. The AOC 32-inch 4K UHD Display has an MSRP of $699 and is now available on Amazon and B&H Photo Video for a special promotional price of $499.

Now in its fifth year, the ArtGemini Prize will open for entries on 3rd April 2017. Open to all photographers and painters form anywhere in the world, the ArtGemini Prize is described as "a celebration to promote international contemporary art for emerging and established artists." A cash fund of £5000 will be awarded to the winners in three categories, Photography, Painting & Sculpture and Public Choice. Do note that entry fees apply. The deadline for entries is 3rd July.