The HD PENTAX-D FA645 35mm F3.5AL[IF] lens is now available in the US. The 27.5mm-equivalent prime adds a new wide-angle option to the Pentax 645 digitalmedium-format camera system, and combines a newly designed, high-grade glass-moulded aspherical element with a high refractive index low-dispersion glass element plus a hybrid aspherical element to effectively compensate for chromatic and spherical aberrations. An inner-focus mechanism keeps the lens’s total length the same during focusing, which allows the photographer to maintain stability during handheld shooting. The HD PENTAX-D FA645 35mm F3.5AL[IF] lens is available now for a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $1,599.99.

Nikon is developing the Nikon D5 digital SLR camera, which "represents the next generation of professional Nikon FX-format models," the company says. Further details including features,release date and suggested retail price will be communicated at a later time. Alongside the new flagship dSLR, Nikon is also developing a new top-of-the-line flashgun (the Nikon SB-5000) and a wireless transmitter (WT-6).

AOC have announced a new space-saving 23.6" UHD display with a 3,840x2,160-pixel PLS panel. Offering wide viewing angles of 178°/178°, the display exploits 100 % of the sRGB colour gamut and comes with HDMI 2.0, MHL 3.0 and DisplayPort 1.2 connection ports. The AOC U2477PWQ will be available later this month, priced at £289.

Bowens is set to launch a number of new products in 2016, including innovative lighting equipment the company believes will be ‘game-changing’ in the industry. "New product development is the number one target for us," said John Gobby, Managing Director. "Our R&D team is expanding and not only are we going to be launching exciting new products but we are going to be launching them much faster." New technical director John Gass, added: "We are working more closely than ever before with photographers on focus groups and already as a result of this we are planning new and different products that will appeal to diverse segments of our market. Our professional photographer customers worldwide will see that Bowens is in the business of providing genuine design innovation and functionality across its portfolio."

DxO has released DxO OpticsPro 10.5.2, DxO FilmPack 5.5.2 and DxO ViewPoint 2.5.10 for Mac and Windows. These applications now support seven additional cameras - the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, the Pentax 645D, the Panasonic Lumix GF7, Lumix G7, Lumix GX8, and DMC-ZS50/DMC-TZ70 - and add 787 more modules to the DxO Optics Modules library, which now contains nearly 28,000 combinations. DxO OpticsPro, DxO FilmPack and DxO ViewPoint are available in the DxO online store and at photo resellers at a special discount price through 25 December 2015.

Schneider Kreuznach has appointed Klaus Stephan as the distributor of its Exakta branded lens accessories. The Exakta range currently includes UV filters, circular polarisers, fold-up lens hoods, lens caps as well as lens care products. The filters are designed by Schneider-Kreuznach and made with high-quality optical glass and a mount made of black anodised aluminium. Prices start at €24.95 for the UV filters, €59.95 for the polarisers and €7.95 for the lens hoods.

Adorama has joined forces with Canon to support the Heart Gallery NYC and the NYC Department of Homeless Services initiative “Through the Eyes of the Homeless” by providing 25 Canon PowerShot G7-X compact cameras and photography training to homeless. Under the mentorship of professional Canon photographers, 14 currently or previously homeless individuals were asked to photograph the city, capturing their unique perspectives of New York City. The strongest photos were chosen for a gallery presentation that will be on exhibit to the public at the Prince George Ballroom (15 East 27th Street), opening today, and subsequently featured in City Hall.

Magix have released the latest version of their slideshow creating application, Photostory 2016 Deluxe. This edition has a number of new features including beat-based editing, dynamic new editing templates, virtual tours in 360° recordings, improved travel route animation, new title templates, post-capture image stabilisation and compatibility with a range of new video formats. Magix Photostory 2016 Deluxe is available now for £69.99.

Roland Ramanan has been unveiled as the winner of this quarter's theprintspace PhotoVoice Awards. Roland has won a £250 print credit to use at theprintspace, participation in a group exhibition and a feature in PhotoVoice’s quarterly publication for his project Gillett Square. Focused on a vulnerable group of people in a corner of East London that is undergoing rapid change, this project has been ongoing since 2012. Roland's pictures attempt to create an encounter with the viewer that shows them in different lights and raises questions. Roland and the shortlisted artists ‐ Jacek Obloj, Laura Marques, Elisabeth Blanchet, Camille Mack and Piotr Karpinski ‐ have their work up in a group exhibition showcasing their photography. The exhibition takes place at theprintspace Gallery (74 Kingsland Road, E2 8DL) and will continue until Monday 16th November. Admission is free.

Plustek have announced a new 35mm film scanner with motorised film transport for automated batch scanning. Offering a maximum input resolution of 3,600ppi; the Plustek OpticFilm 135 comes with Plustek’s new QuickScan Plus utility which allows users to apply a variety of automatic image enhancement tools as well as preset filters and effects. Users can also upload images directly to Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, and Picasa. The Plustek OpticFilm 135 is priced at $399 and is available exclusively through B&H Photo Video and Adorama in the United States. UK availability and pricing to be confirmed.

The University of Derby plays host to INFOT 2015 – a conference for commercial and industrial photographers – this weekend. Taking place at the University’s Markeaton Street Campus, the event includes seminars, talks and practical workshops by some of the UK’s finest commercial and industrial photographers. To book your place at INFOT 2015, visit the website below.

Photocrowd is an online community that's on a mission to rethink the humble photo contest and turn it into a truly rewarding experience. Founded by professional photographers Mike Betts and Liam Bailey, Photocrowd offers a novel approach to rating images, and a variety of "challenges" that harness the power and opinion of the crowd. As well as the crowd ratings, challenges are judged separately by an expert chosen from their panel of over 100 distinguished professionals, including well-known names such as Matt Kloskowski, Jack Hollingsworth and Robert Caplin. The expert also writes a series of informative image reviews, which are devoured by the site’s users who enjoy the insight into how professionals’ brains work. Winners get exposure that can’t be bought, on sites such as The Guardian, The Huffington Post, and The Daily Mail Online, and prizes come from photography brands like Lowepro, Alamy, B+H, Manfrotto and Peak Design.

Eyefi has acquired OKDOTHIS, the mobile app that pioneered idea-sharing for photographers with its unique way of inspiring photographers to stretch their creativity. The app is designed to get photography out of the rut of taking the same picture over and over again by providing a “DO” - a specific idea of what subjects to shoot and what mood, topic, theme or attribute to highlight. OKDOTHIS encourages photographers to ‘stretch’ beyond their standard shooting styles. Photographers can simply browse, select a DO, and use their phone to take and post the photo on the spot. With the Eyefi Cloud integrated with the OKDOTHIS mobile app, photographers can now use photos from their digital camera (with a Mobi WiFi SD card) or their WiFi camera to submit a photo for one of the challenges. The terms of the Eyefi-OKDOTHIS transaction were not disclosed.

The winners of the second international Felix Schoeller Photo Award have been announced. The Award, which kicked off on 1st January, has received 1200 entries from 65 countries around the world. The Gold Award went to Karolin Klüppel from Berlin, for her work entitled “Mädchenland 2013-2014.” The other prizewinners are Sandra Hoyn with her work “Displaced by Palm Oil: Indonesia‘s Last Orangutans” in the landscape/nature category, Sebastian Mölleken with his work “Kitchen in a Home for Asylum Seekers” in the architecture/industry category, Christian Werner with his photo series entitled “74.” in the photojournalism / editorial category (reprinted above) and Thomas Friedrich Schäfer with his work “Experiential Spaces” in the free choice / conceptual photography category. The Emerging Photographer Award sponsored by Phase One went to Mohammad Fahim Ahamed Riyad from Bangladesh for his “Children of the Dead River.”

The World Press Photo Foundation has announced the members of the 2016 Photo Contest juries. The general jury will be chaired by Francis Kohn, photo director Agence France-Presse, and will comprise Tim Clayton, Michaela Herold, George Steinmetz, Narda van ‘t Veer, Vaughn Wallace and Huang Wen. The contest will open for entries on 2 December 2015. The deadline for submissions is 13 January 2016, 23.59 CET. The winners will be announced on Thursday, 18 February 2016.

Leica and Magnum Photos have unveiled an exciting new body of work by Magnum photographer, Olivia Arthur, in collaboration with Philipp Ebeling, entitled ‘Sound of Harris’. Named after the stretch of sea that runs directly below the Isle of Harris in Scotland, Sound of Harris is a photographic journey into the Outer Hebrides, guided by centuries-old stories of the land and tales of the sea. The project was commissioned by Leica and shot on the Leica M (Typ 240), and will be exhibited at the Leica Studio in Mayfair (27 Bruton Place, London W1J 6NQ) from 2-10 December 2015.