The Leica Oskar Barnack Awards are returning for the 37th time this year. Opening for entries on 1 March 2017, the Leica Oskar Barnack Award is one of the industry’s most prestigious photographic competitions. The winner in the main category will be honoured with a cash prize of 25,000 euros and Leica M-System equipment (a camera and lens) valued at an additional €10,000. Photographers interested in taking part can submit their applications and photographic projects online, with a closing date of 10 April 2017. The winner of the Newcomer Award will receive a cash prize of 10,000 euros and will also receive a Leica rangefinder camera and lens. In addition to the two main categories, a further ten submissions to the competition will each be honoured with prizes of €2,500.

We're revealing our favourite products from last year in our annual awards, looking back at the essential photography kit that helped to define 2016.

The Printer of the Year 2016 award goes to the Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-1000.

“Just when we thought printers couldn't get any better, along comes the Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-1000 with print quality that will blow your mind.”

Read our Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-1000 review

Congratulations to Canon!

JK Imaging have announced pricing and availability for their new Kodak Pixpro 4KVR360 camera, a compact device targeting the rapidly growing 360° VR video consumer market. The 4KVR360 adopts a minimalist approach to an all-in-one 360° VR camera, with two 4K fixed focus lenses housed on either side of the futuristic camera body. The lenses are designed to work in tandem, to capture full 360° 4K Video and easily upload 360° content to Facebook and YouTube via the camera’s Smart Device App. “The decision to continue expanding our award winning 360° VR camera line up with the new Kodak Pixpro 4KVR360 was a natural progression,” said Mariame Cisse, Marketing Director for JK Imaging Ltd., Europe. “We are committed to the interactive 360° video format and want to give yet another option to consumers when it comes to choosing a quality 360° VR camera based on their specific needs.” The 4KVR360 will feature a 20-megapixel CMOS sensor and use a Micro SD card (up to 128GB) to record 360° content. The 4KVR360 camera will incorporate Wi-Fi, NFC and Bluetooth connectivity compatibility for Smart device APPs to control and view the camera remotely. JK Imaging anticipates availability of the new 4KVR360 in the first quarter of 2017. The 4KVR360 base model will retail for €499, and the company will continue to provide their customers with optional bundles that will include useful accessories and software designed to work in tandem with the 4KVR360 camera.

Insta360 have announced the launch of their new Insta360 Pro professional VR 3D camera. Insta360 Pro records up to 8K 360-degree videos and leverages 6 independent, high-definition lenses. It captures 60-megapixel 360° 3D stills and supports both HDR and raw image file formats to bring out levels of detail and low-light performance unprecedented in a 360-degree camera of this size. When recording 4K video, the camera supports up to 100fps. In addition, the VR time-lapse mode adds a new dimension to videos and the live preview function allows users to get the best angle before shooting. As a standalone camera, it can be used with both the dedicated Insta360 Pro iOS and Android apps and connects via WiFi, Ethernet or 4G, ready to livestream any event or share instantly on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. The Insta360 Pro's recommended retail price is set to be around $3000 and will be available later this year.

Over the next 6 days we’ll be revealing our favourite products from last year in our annual awards, looking back at the essential photography kit that helped to define 2016.

Kicking things off is the Software of the Year 2016 award, which goes to Macphun Luminar.

“If you do delve deeper into all the different options, you’ll find that there’s a lot to like about the editing software, with it capable of producing some excellent results. You’re unlikely to find a piece of software that is as extensive as this for the same kind of value.”

Read our Macphun Luminar Review

Congratulations to Macphun!

Dell have just announced the World's first 32-inch 8K display. Scheduled to hit the shelves in March, the Dell UltraSharp 32 Ultra HD 8K monitor offers a staggering 33.2 million (7680x4320) pixels, a resolution of 280ppi and a 10-bit panel with more than 1 billion colours and 100 percent Adobe RGB colour space coverage. Plus its near borderless display gives customers 32 inches of screen real estate in a highly compact package. The monitor boasts four USB 3 ports plus two DisplayPort 1.4 connectors. Available from 23 March 2017, the Dell UltraSharp 32 Ultra HD 8K monitor can be yours for $4,999.

ExoLens has announced the upcoming launch of the ultra-durable, dual-layer ExoLens Case. Allowing photographers and videographers to use the ExoLens PRO with Optics by ZEISS mobile photography lenses while protecting their devices from drops and scratches at the same time. Designed with high-end aesthetics and impact-resistant materials, the ExoLens Case serves as a low profile, highly protective solution even without the lenses. “After launching our line of ZEISS ExoLens mobile photography solutions earlier this year, consumers told us that they loved the mobile photography lenses, but also expressed a desire for a solution that protected their iPhone, while still providing the lens attachment capability,” says John Fellowes, Chief Executive Officer of Fellowes Brands. The ExoLens Case will be available for purchase Q1 2017.

Wacom have unveiled their new Intuos Pro and Intuos Pro Paper Edition of pen and touch tablets. Currently on display at the Consumer Electronics Show, the next-generation Intuos Pro is the slimmest of its kind and more compact than the previous version, offering the same sized active area in a smaller package. It comes equipped with anodized aluminium backing, a smaller pen stand with 10 nibs and a new pen case. Both sizes of the Intuos Pro, medium and large, use a TouchRing, Multi-Touch and eight ExpressKeys for the creation of customised shortcuts to speed up the creative workflow. The Intuos Pro Paper Edition boasts the same features as the Intuos Pro, but the Paper Edition model adds a Paper Clip, pressure-sensitive Finetip gel ink pen and the Wacom Inkspace App. The new Wacom Pro Pen 2 comes with the Intuos Pro and Intuos Pro Paper Edition, featuring four times the pressure sensitivity than the former Pro Pen, delivering 8,192 levels of pressure. The Intuos Pro Medium ($349.95, £329.99, €379.90) and Large ($499.95, £449.99, €529.90) will be available in January. The Intuos Pro Paper Edition Medium ($399.95, £379.99, €429.90) and Large ($549.95, £499.99, €599.90) will also be avaiable later this month.

LaCie today announced significant updates to their Rugged and d2 storage solutions. The LaCie Rugged Thunderbolt USB-C (pictured) combines Rugged toughness with USB-C compatibility and fast Thunderbolt speeds. Users can store even more footage, and so carry fewer devices, thanks to the industry-leading mobile HDD capacity up to 5TB. The LaCie Rugged features Seagate Barracuda drives for best-in-class reliability and performance. In addition, the 1TB SSD version delivers speeds of up to 510MB/s, a 30% increase over the previous SSD generation. The LaCie d2 Thunderbolt 3 is intended to be a companion to limited-capacity SSD-based laptops and all-in-one computers to expand storage up to 10TB for professional bandwidth-intensive creative applications. Featuring speeds of up to 240MB/s, a 10% improvement over the previous generation, photographers can spend less time moving files from camera cards into Adobe Lightroom. Dual Thunderbolt 3 ports mean the user can daisy chain dual 4K displays, a single 5K display or up to six total LaCie d2 drives—all through a single cable connected to their computer. It's even possible to power a compatible laptop such the latest MacBook Pro through a USB-C port. The new LaCie Rugged drive will come in 2TB, 4TB and 5TB HDD and 500GB and 1TB SSD capacities starting at $249.99. The new LaCie d2 drive will come in 6TB, 8TB and 10TB capacities starting at $429.99. The LaCie Rugged and LaCie d2 drives will be available at LaCie resellers worldwide this quarter.

Canon is celebrating the 30th anniversary of the launch of its Electro Optical System (EOS), which includes EOS-series interchangeable-lens cameras and a diverse range of system accessories. The system debuted in March 1987 with the launch of the EOS 650 SLR camera (pictured) and EF lenses, making EOS cameras the World’s first to incorporate an electronic mount system, representing a new generation of auto focus SLR cameras. Currently, the EOS system, including the Cinema EOS system, comprises 24 models with a selection of 97 EF lenses.

At the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), visitors to The Kodak Studios – located at LVCC South Hall 1, Booth# 20619 – can see functioning prototype models of the new Kodak Super 8 camera in action and view test footage demonstrating the camera’s ability to capture 8mm images. The Limited Edition Super 8 camera will be available in Spring 2017. In addition, the company is developing a range of cameras to suit all types of users at various price points.

Western Digital  today unveiled the World's first microSD memory card that meets the Application Performance Class 1 (A1) requirements from the SD Association's latest specifications. The A1 spec allows the new card to manage random read input-output access per second (IOPS) of 1,500 and write IOPS of 500, so it can quickly open apps and process photos, videos and accompanying tasks. The new SanDisk Ultra microSD card with A1 will be available later this month7 with a UK MSRP of £166.99.

At the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nikon are exhibiting their latest products including the Nikon D5600 digital SLR, the Coolpix A300 and W100 compacts and the KeyMission line of action cameras. Visitors to the Nikon booth will have the opportunity for hands-on time with the products, as well as hear from Nikon professional photographers at the Nikon School Theatre. Other experiences on the show floor include the return of Project HeliX powered by Nikon and an interactive VR area featuring content captured with the KeyMission 360. Click through / scroll down for the full presentation schedule.