‘Impossible Instant Nights’ is a monthly event dedicated to all things instant photography, hosted at London gallery and members club Lights of Soho (35 Brewer Street, W1F 0RX). “These evenings provide an open inclusive forum for anyone with an interest in instant photography to share ideas and inspiration, while learning from experts in the field,” said Oskar Smolokowski, Impossible’s CEO. “We’re planning talks and workshops covering all aspects of the art form, based on a series of ever-changing themes.” The first event in the series takes place on Thursday, July 21st, with a talk by photographer Ray Liu. Ray will talk about how he created a series of stunning light trail shots when he took his Impossible I-1 instant film camera to the streets of London at night. Do note that places are limited, and advance registration is required.

Working in partnership with renowned wildlife photographer Moose Peterson, MindShift Gear has updated the three classic Moose Peterson backpacks. Designed for wildlife and safari photographers, the backpacks can carry up to three DSLR camera bodies with telephoto lenses attached. The Moose Peterson MP-1, MP-3 and MP-7 2.0 backpacks also feature the same innovative “Moose Ear” flaps that close automatically, protecting camera gear from dust and debris common in wildlife photography. And because nature photographers often travel to remote locations, the packs are designed to meet airline carry on requirements, and even fit in the overhead compartment of the smallest regional jets. “Moose Peterson backpacks are renowned for serving the needs of traveling photographers,” said Doug Murdoch, Think Tank Photo’s CEO and lead designer. “It has been a joy collaborating with him on bringing these classic designs back to the marketplace. While their design and materials have been enhanced, the designs of all three backpacks retain Moose’s original vision.” The MP-1 2.0 sells for $349.99, the MP-3 2.0 costs $279.99 and the MP-7 2.0 is priced at $199.99.

Twelve international photographers have been announced as the winners of the inaugural Magnum and LensCulture Photography Award. Single-image winners include Ofir Barak (Street Photography), Hannah Modigh (Portrait), Valery Melnikov (Photojournalism), Asger Ladefoged (Open), Kyle Weeks (Fine Art), and Cris Toala Olivares (Documentary). Series winners include Dougie Wallace (Stree Photography), Jens Juul (Portrait), Sandra Hoyn (Photojournalism), Julián Barón García (Open), Mauricio Lima (Documentary) and Aaron Hardin (Fine Art). You can view all the winning images and photo essays at the website below.

Nikon have issued a firmware update for the Nikon D500 digital SLR camera. Version C1.02 addresses an issue that sometimes caused errors with certain UHS-II SD memory cards. "As we were able to confirm that these were read errors arising not in the camera but in the cards themselves, we addressed the issue with a work-around that switches temporarily to UHS-I mode when a card-side error occurs in UHS-II mode," the company said in a statement. "The camera switches back to UHS-II mode when turned off and then on again or when the standby timer restarts. Card-side read errors may still occur after the update, albeit very infrequently." Yiou can download the firmware upgrade from the website below.

Website: Nikon D500 Firmware

Canon today announced its new Canon Connect Station mobile application for the Canon Connect Station CS100 device. The new app makes it easy to connect to the CS100 device from a compatible smartphone or tablet. Users simply connect to the same wireless network and open up the Canon Connect Station app to start browsing, uploading, and downloading images. They can also drag-and-drop images from their computer or select multiple images at a time. The application can save over 1,000 images at one time and easily identifies previously saved and stored photos, helping to eliminate duplicates stored on the Canon Connect Station CS100 device. Additionally, users can now edit album names and add comments using the mobile app. The new Canon Connect Station Mobile Application is available for free on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.

DJI today announced the Zenmuse Z3, DJI’s first aerial zoom camera optimised for still photography. Incorporating a 3.5x zoom lens (plus a 2x digital zoom function), the DJI Zenmuse Z3 is compatible with the Inspire 1, Matrice 100 and Matrice 600 drones and uses the company’s dedicated HD video downlink, Lightbridge and Lightbridge 2, providing up to 3.1 miles of HD transmission range. Weighing in at 263g, the Zenmuse Z3 has a 22-77mm (eq.) f/2.8-5.2 lens and features the same 1/2.3"-type Sony sensor that's found on the DJI Phantom 4. It can shoot still images at 12 megapixels with additional Adobe DNG Raw Support for maximum editing options in post- production. The camera also records video at up to 30 FPS in 4K resolution. Flight time with the Zenmuse Z3 is up to 19 minutes on the Inspire 1. Pilots can extend flight time up to 30 minutes with the dual-battery-equipped M100 and up to 39 minutes with the M600. Available soon, the DJI Zenmuse Z3 is priced at $1,000.

Tether Tools today introduced the new TetherBoost Pro System, billed as "the first streamlined solution for common USB 3.0 tether connection challenges." The TetherBoost Pro System alleviates a common problem among USB 3.0 camera and digital back users who frequently experience dropped tethering connections or are unable to get a tethered connection started at all. The core issue is that computer manufacturers, often in an attempt to be as efficient with power as possible, are either under-powering or dynamically-powering their USB 3.0 ports. The TetherBoost Pro regulates the power from a computer to DSLRs and digital backs, eliminating these limitations and allowing a tethered connection to operate up to full USB3 speeds for connections from 15 to 65 feet without any loss in signal. To achieve this distance, multiple TetherBoost Pro devices can be added to base USB and active extension cables. Included in the TetherBoost Pro kit is a JerkStopper Extension Lock, an effective locking device that keeps cable ends protected from frustrating disconnects, damage, and electrical hazards. The JerkStopper Extension Lock comes with two included rubber washers that waterproof your connection, further protecting your connection and holding the cable in place. The TetherBoost Pro System is now available at the website below.

AKVIS have just released Refocus 6.0, a program for improving the sharpness of out of focus images and adding lens blur effects to your photos. This release brings a time-saving batch processing feature, a modernised graphical user interface with support for Ultra HD displays, advanced print options, and other improvements. The product is available as a standalone application and as a plug-in for Adobe Photoshop and other image editors.

Leica has announced the opening of the first-ever Las Vegas Store, located in the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace, 3500 Las Vegas Blvd. South. The Leica Store Las Vegas offers visitors and locals the opportunity to experience the entire Leica camera line through product demonstrations and advice from a highly-trained staff. Guests can visit the store from 10am-Midnight on Friday and Saturday and 10am-11pm Sunday through Thursday.

April Donnelly from Coventry has been chosen as the the third winner of the Jessops Share your summer competition, winning the opportunity to exhibit her work across 52 Jessops store windows. On top of a week-long window display, April will also be invited to show off her work in the Olympus-sponsored Project Space Gallery in Bermondsey, London from 8th – 14th August. The exhibition will be open to the public and anyone can visit to see the images that were taken during the campaign.

Canon today unveiled two new All-in-One PIXMA inkjet printers – the PIXMA MG3050 and PIXMA MG2550S. Using Wi-Fi connectivity, the PIXMA MG3050 enables wireless printing from laptops and PCs as well as smartphones and tablets using the Canon PRINT app. For creative inspiration, the PIXMA MG3050 and PIXMA MG2550S include My Image Garden for Mac or PC, which organises all photos in one easy-to-use location before creating unique photo layouts automatically. The PIXMA MG3050 series is available from September with an RRP of £69.99/€79.99. The PIXMA MG2550S is also available from September with an RRP of £44.99/€49.99.

DJI and Hasselblad today announced a fully integrated high-end aerial camera-platform bundle made up of the 50-megapixel version of Hasselblad’s aerial medium-format camera, the A5D, and DJI’s M600 flying platform. The A5D-M600 bundle is the first joint product following DJI’s recent investment in Hasselblad. ‘Combining best-in-class aerial optics with the world’s most powerful aerial platform is a natural development for DJI and Hasselblad. We are delighted to provide this unique bundle to professional photographers, surveyors and mappers’, said Perry Oosting, CEO of Hasselblad. Pricing and availability have yet to be communicated.

Just in time for Amazon Prime Day, YI Technology is launching the YI 4K Action Camera. Billed as the industry’s first action camera to combine 4K/30fps video recording, integrated touchscreen, and up to two hours of battery life, the YI 4K Action Camera is built with Sony’s 12MP IMX377 CMOS image sensor and the latest A9SE75 processor from Ambarella, allowing users to capture and share moments with increased speed and lower power consumption. “Today’s action videographers demand both long recording times and the best image quality,” said Sean Da, Co-Founder and CEO of, YI Technology. “That’s why we’ve packed the YI 4K Action Camera with the best components the industry has to offer, to deliver truly outstanding performance at an affordable price.” A Bluetooth 4.0 remote control is available for shooting from a distance. And the accompanying apps for iOS and Android allow people to not just shoot, but also edit and share pictures and videos on the fly. The YI 4K Action Camera will be available on July 12 in Night Black, Pearl White, and Rose Gold for $249.

A diverse speaker line-up for this year’s Digital Splash event - a photography show which takes place in the Liverpool Echo Arena on the 15th and 16th October – has been unveiled. Attendees will be able to listen to several presentations delivered by acclaimed photographers Jonathan Critchley, Michael Freeman, Faye and Trevor Yerbury, Tim Wallace and husband and wife wildlife team Ann and Steve Toon. In addition to the workshops and seminars from these top pro photographers; the weekend-long event will also include live shoots & demonstrations, photo-walks and inspiring exhibitions. Visitors will also be able to see all of the major photographic brands under one roof including Canon, Nikon, Panasonic, Olympus, Fujifilm, Pentax & Ricoh, Sony, Sigma, Tamron, Lowepro, Manfrotto and more, with their teams of experts on hand. Those registering in advance on the Digital Splash website will be able to enter Digital Splash 2016 free of charge, and will also be sent a 25% discount code to use against any talk and workshop bookings.

Ashampoo have released Ashampoo Slideshow Studio HD 4 for Windows. New features and enhancements include several new transition effects; support for Apple, Android, Sony and Microsoft devices; and new output formats including MKV, VP9 and MP4. A new wizard helps beginners create slideshows with ease. Other additions include faster encoding with NVENC and Intel Media support, as well as support for 4K resolutions. The program is available now for $39.99.

Want to see exactly what the new Sony Planar T* FE 50mm F1.4 ZA lens looks like in the flesh?

Check out our hands-on gallery of photos of the Sony Planar T* FE 50mm F1.4 ZA lens.