Manfrotto have launched a fresh set of lightweight and compact tripods for travel photography. The new Befree Color tripods are available in four new colour combinations: Red, Grey, Blue and Green. Reliably supporting a payload of 4kg, and extending to a height of 144cm; these tripods fold down to a mere 41cm and weigh only 1.4kg. The Befree Color tripod is available for £139.95.

The Lume Cube - a powerful and ultra-portable LED lighting tool that's controlled by a free smartphone app - is now available in the United Kingdom. Opening new creative possibilities for photographers and videographers, the Lume Cube is a compact and versatile LED light for capturing both stills and movies, and is compatible with camera phones, action cams as well as more traditional digital cameras. Measuring only one-and-a-half inches, the water resistant Lume Cube produces up to 1,500 lumens of light in either video mode, for a continuous light source, or in strobe mode. Encased in a durable casing built for action and made to fit your lifestyle, the Lume Cube can be attached to any tripod or camera accessory thanks to the standard ¼ inch mount thread. Available in single (£89.99), twin (£169.99) and quad (£329.99) packs, the Lume Cube can also be outfitted with a number of accessory mounts, starting at £19.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2016 in the UK promise to be the biggest shopping days of the year, with deals, bundles, offers, freebies, giveaways and low prices from all leading retailers.

Whether you’re in the market for the perfect Christmas gift for the photographer in your life, or you’ve been saving up for that big new DSLR camera purchase, there’s going to be an offer for you.

Park Cameras will have a record number of free giveaways, Black Friday offers, deals and lower-than-ever prices for you this year – and the best part is that they’ll all be available both in store and online! 

Canon’s new flagship mirrorless camera, the EOS M5, is now available in the United Kingdom. This camera features a 24.2 Megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor and Dual Pixel CMOS AF. The EOS M5 also has a DIGIC 7 processor, DSLR-level AF speed and accuracy, 9fps continuous shooting, and Full HD 60p movies. The Canon EOS M5 (RRP £1,049.99/€1,299.99) is available body only or paired with the EF-M 15-45mm f/3.5-6.3 IS STM zoom lens (RRP £1,149.99/€1,499.99). From December, the camera will also be available with the new all-purpose EF-M 18-150mm f/3.5-6.3 IS STM lens (RRP £1,399.99/ €1,799.99).

Fuji UK have announced they are doubling the cashback on their winter promotion for the Black Friday weekend. This means they are offering up to £250 cashback on selected X Series cameras and lenses. These include the Fujifilm X-T1 compact system camera, the Fujinon XF56mm APD (pictured), XF16-55mm and XF50-140mm lenses, and more. For the full list of qualifying products, visit the website below.

Website: Fuji Promotions

Jessops will offer a number of deals this Black Friday on more than 200 products, including cashback offers and savings of up to £235 across cameras, drones, lenses, photographic courses, accessories and photo gifts. The Jessops Black Friday event will start online at 8pm on Thursday 24th November and will take place across 54 nationwide stores and online until midnight on Monday 28th November. Some of the deals include a free ‘create your own’ photobook with every camera, lens or camcorder purchased this weekend; a Canon EOS 1300D Twin lens kit for £299; DJI Phantom 3 Standard for £399; GoPro Hero Session Gift bundle for £149; a 30% discount on selected lenses; a free Nikon accessory kit worth £49.99 with selected Nikon DSLRs; and much more. Pete Duncombe, Commercial Director at Jessops says: “We are delighted to reveal some of our best Black Friday deals before they even launch to help our customers plan their purchases this weekend. We are pleased to be able to offer excellent savings coupled with our Price Match Promise, outstanding customer service, and expert impartial advice.”

At the DEMA trade show, SeaLife unveiled their latest digital underwater camera, the DC2000. As SeaLife’s most advanced underwater camera to date, the DC2000 includes a full featured waterproof inner camera and an ergonomic, precisely designed and matched 200ft/60m underwater housing. The DC2000 is equipped with a 20-megapixel 1"-type CMOS sensor, which can also capture Full HD videos at 60 frames per second, and a 31mm (eq.) f/1.8 lens. With the option to shoot in JPEG and DNG formats, the SeaLife DC2000 caters to both casual shooters and serious photographers. The housing includes a flash link optical cable adapter that easily connects to one or two external flash or strobes. The wide “Piano Keys” control all the cameras essential functions, making it easy to operate with or without dive gloves. The DC2000 inner camera includes a built-in flash, a 3” 920k hi-resolution color LCD screen and a user friendly feature navigation menu. The included 1130mAh 3.7V ion removable battery will power the camera for over two hours. The camera is available from 1st December, priced at $699.95.

Sony have released a firmware update for the Alpha A7 II compact system camera. According to the company, version 3.30 "improves a condition that occurs with system software version 3.20 where, when using the Flash, the amount of light at the edge of the image is insufficient." The firmware upgrade can be downloaded from the website below.

Website: Sony A7 II Firmware Version 3.30

Hosted by Calvert 22 Foundation (22 Calvert Avenue, London, E2), the upcoming New East Photo Weekend brings together leading photographers, artists and curators to share their experience and ideas with emerging practitioners.Running in conjunction with the acclaimed New East Photo Prize Exhibition, this event is a two day event packed with panel discussions, one-to-one reviews, discussions and masterclasses aimed at those looking to develop professional their photography skills. The weekend complements the 2016 New East Photo Prize Exhibition in championing excellence in photography from across Eastern Europe and will feature a packed schedule of panel discussions, one-on-one portfolio reviews and print swaps. A series of photography Masterclasses will explore topics from what it means to be a photojournalist today to creating work that avoids cliches and finding a balance between art and society in documentary photography. Tickets are available for£65 / £55 (for students) plus booking fee.

BenVista have released their new image resizing software, PhotoZoom Pro 7, for Mac OS and Windows. This update boasts an enhanced S-Spline Max algorithm, which uses new filters to improve image quality. "PhotoZoom Pro's core strength is its capability to preserve sharpness and detail during enlargement like no other," said Dimitri Schoolwerth, CEO at BenVista. "But what if all you have is a low quality original? PhotoZoom Pro 7 introduces additional tools to not only preserve, but also improve image quality during enlargement. It can remove noise, reduce JPEG artifacts, fix overexposure, brighten unwanted shadows, and enhance image vividness. Now even low quality originals can be enlarged successfully, all in one simple step." Prices start at €159 for new licenses, and €69 for upgrades.

Godox have announced a new wireless TTL flash for Sony cameras. The new TT350 Mini flash has a zoomable tilt-swivel head covering the same angle of view range as a 24-105mm lens, a guide number of 36 (in metres at SO 100, at the 105mm setting), 1/350-1/20,000-second flash duration, and recycle times ranging from 0.1-2.2 seconds when using Eneloop batteries. As a master unit, the TT350S can control the Godox AD600, AD600M, AD360II-C, AD360II-N, V860IIS, V850II, TT685S and TT600 flashes. As a slave, the new flash can be controlled by the Godox X1T-S, V860IIS, V850II, TT685S and TT600 units. Other features include high-speed synchronisation, rear-curtain sync, flash exposure compensation, stroboscopic flash and manual flash exposure control. International availability and pricing to be confirmed.

There are still 5 days to go until the big day, but the Black Friday deluge of special offers has already begun. So make sure to check out our constantly updated guide to the best compact, mirrorless, DSLR and phone cameras, handily split into different price bands for every budget, and even into US and UK prices. And remember, our Best Cameras guide is based on the hundreds of expert reviews that we've published.

Leica UK is to host Curtain Call, an exhibition by photographer Matt Humphrey. Featuring a unique collection of never-before-seen backstage theatre photographs and portraits, the images in this exhibition were captured entirely on Leica cameras including the Leica M-P (Typ 240) with the Leica Summilux-M 35mm f/1.4 and Leica Summarit-M 90mm f/2.4 lenses, and the Leica Q. Many of the black and white photographs going on display have never been made available for public viewing before. The exhibition runs from 21 November to 9 December 2016. Prints and the Curtain Call book are available for purchase. Leica Store City is located at 18 The Royal Exchange, London EC3V 3LP.

GekkoGum is a highly versatile and ultra-fast mount for action cameras and smartphones. Essentially a malleable adhesive ball, GekkoGum is odourless, free of grease and doesn´t stick to your fingers. GekkoGum can be cleaned with fresh water to remove superficial dirt and keeps its characteristics for several years without shrinking or becoming brittle. Currently seeking funding via Kickstarter, GekkoGum is recommended for devices with a maximum weight of 200g (which includes all common smartphones and action cams). Priced at €15, GekkoGum will become available in 2017.

Akvis today released a major update to Chameleon, their photo collage creation software for Windows and Macintosh. This edition offers new selection and post-processing tools, an advanced montage algorithm, a redesigned interface with support for 4K and 5K displays, and other improvements. The software runs on Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, 10; and on Mac OS X 10.7-10.12. The product is available as a standalone application and as a plug-in to Photoshop and other popular image editors. This update is free for users who bought Chameleon in the last 12 months.