International Garden Photographer of the Year (IGPOTY) have announced the winners of their Monochrome Photo Project competition. The overall winner is Matthew Woodhouse whose photo 'Three,' reprinted above, depicts an avenue of beech trees in Northern Ireland planted in the 18th century by the Stuart family, with the intention to impress visitors as they approached the entrance to their home, Gracehill House. The runners-up are Annette Lepple and Ceri Jones.

Back in 2012, Hasselblad caused quite a stir with the introduction of the Hasselblad Lunar compact system camera. Dismissed by many as nothing but a Sony NEX-7 in drag, the 24-megapixel Hasselblad Lunar was arguably the most talked-about product at Photokina 2012. The intense interest that surrounded the announcement had as much to do with the camera's uniquely ergonomic handgrip and eye-catching, designed-in-Italy body shell as with its astronomical price tag of $6,995. While this actually made the Lunar the cheapest Hasselblad digital camera by a (very) wide margin, it was still a lot more expensive than the NEX-7 with which it shared almost every component - including the sensor, lens mount, AF system, viewfinder and TriNavi control system. If you've always wanted to own one, we've got good news for you - B&H has reduced the price to a much more affordable $1,495. (Meanwhile, the Sony NEX-7 with 18-55mm lens can be yours for $498.)

Via MLZphoto

Serf and Shoot The Frame — the photography contest site — are launching a new Affinity Photo photography contest. There's no restriction on subject matter - landscapes, wildlife, architecture, portraits, etc. are all accepted – and photographers can also submit as many entries to the competition as they wish for more chances to win. The contest only has one main requirement – that entrants use Affinity Photo (currently available for free in beta) to edit their entries.

Tamron USA announced today their first foray into "phototainment" with Season 1 of a video series designed to entertain while teaching valuable photo tips. Launched in conjunction with year two of their national Tailgate Tour to promote photography, the six episode series captures the adventures of two photo road warriors as they make their way across the country, capturing some of the most beautiful photo vistas in the US..

To celebrate National Photography Month, Digital-Tutors today announced a photo manipulation challemge. To enter the contest, contestants need to use their photo editing and manipulation skills to turn features from 2-5 separate images into a single, final image. The original images must also be uploaded with each entry. The submission deadline is 24 May 2015. Click through / read on for more information.

To celebrate Earth Day 2015, Triggertrap brought together photographers from five continents to create EarthLapse: a spectacular timelapse window on our world from many perspectives. In a follow-up to last year’s highly successful LapseLondon, when 40 photographers timelapsed a day in the life of London, EarthLapse drew on the vision and enthusiasm of photographers across the globe to highlight how breathtaking every far corner of the world can be. The beautiful outcome illustrates why days of global appreciation such as Earth Day remain important to preserving our planet’s environment.

Macphun today announced an update to FX Photo Studio. In addition to a number of feature improvements to the app, the new update adds a new collection of 3D effects filters including Black and White 3D, CMYK, Bokeh, Cinema, Red and Green, and 3D Glitche; plus 8 new stickers. The app is available for €2.99 (€0.99 from 1-3 May) on the iTunes App Store.

Lomography has announced the Lomo LC-A MINITAR-1 Art lens for M-mount rangefinder cameras. This pancake type interchangeable lens has a focal length of 32mm, a minimum focus distance of 0.8m and a maximum aperture of f/2.8. The optical construction features 5 elements in 4 groups and a 4-step zone focusing system. "The signature vignetting, sharp contrast and gloriously rich character of the LC-A legacy can now be achieved on a wide array of both digital and analogue cameras," the company says. Interested photographers can pre-order the lens for £249. Delivery is currently planned for July 2015.

Want to see exactly what the new Leica M Monochrom (Typ 246) camera looks like in the flesh?

Check out our hands-on gallery of photos of the Leica M Monochrom (Typ 246) camera.

The Leica M Monochrom (Typ 246) is a new black and white rangefinder camera. The Leica M Monochrom (Typ 246) features a newly developed 24 megapixel full-frame black-and-white CMOS sensor, ISO range of 320-2500, high-performance Leica Maestro image processor, 2Gb buffer, Live View function with focus peaking, 1080p HD video recording, 3-inch 921K-dot LCD with a Sapphire Crystal screen, and compatibility with almost all lenses of the Leica R series.

The Leica M Monochrom (Typ 246) will be available in early May for £5750 / €7200.

In the UK, JP Distribution will be running a PocketWizard end-user cash back promotion. Starting tomorrow, customers purchasing any of a number of PocketWizard products - including the PocketWizard PlusX Twin Set, PocketWizard Plus lll Twin Set and the PocketWizard Mini & Flex Kit for Canon or Nikon (1 x MiniTT1, 2 x FlexTT5 & 1 x AC3 ZoneController) - from authorised UK and Republic of Ireland resellers, will be entitled to claim up to £50/€60 cash back by redemption of a voucher and valid proof of purchase. THe promotion ends on Tuesday 30th June.

This weekend, five local Canon dealers across the US will host “Canon Experience Days” featuring well-known local photographers who will teach new parents how to get the most out of their DSLRs as well as their best tips and tricks on how to capture great family photos. Participating retailers include CameraLand in Old Bethpage, Christian Photo in Urbandale, RockBrook Camera in Omaha, Tempe Camera in Tempe and Kenmore Camera in Kenmore. Click through / scroll down for the exact times and dates.

Zeiss have posted several high-resolution sample images taken with their new Batis 2/25 and Batis 1.8/85 lenses mounted to a variety of bodies including a mysterious new Sony camera. The pictures can be downloaded from Carl Zeiss Lenses' Flickr photostream and one of them is an 56-megapixel portrait taken with the Batis 1.8/85 telephoto prime. The pixel size is 8910x6300, with the aspect ratio being 1.41:1, suggesting that the photograph has been cropped to this size from an even higher-resolution original.

GoPro has announced an agreement to acquire Kolor, a leader in virtual reality and spherical media solutions. All Kolor employees will join GoPro and will maintain operations at their headquarters in Savoie. “We are excited to welcome Kolor to GoPro,” said Nicholas Woodman, GoPro’s founder and CEO. “GoPro’s capture devices and Kolor’s software will combine to deliver exciting and highly accessible solutions for capturing, creating and sharing spherical content.” Spherical media enables a range of immersive viewing experiences and is an essential building block of virtual reality technologies. “Kolor’s mission is to enable the ultimate visual experience - to transport an audience to another time and space. Joining GoPro makes this possible,” said Alexandre Jenny, CEO of Kolor. “When the best spherical media software is combined with the world’s most versatile capture devices, our imagination become our only limitation. We’re excited to see what the world captures and shares with GoPro and Kolor.”