The OnTheGo2 GoPro case is now available on Amazon. The precision-cut case is constructed in a way that it’s easy to throw into a suitcase or a rucksack without adding too much bulk or weight. The padded interior keeps the camera and all accessories protected from external wear and tear. “We’ve put a lot of effort into creating a GoPro case that fulfils everything a user could want – it’s hardwearing and sturdy, yet also very lightweight and compact,” a spokesperson says. “We’ve provided extra compartments and slots for accessories, and even a carry strap to make it easy to carry and travel with. Now with the launch on Amazon, we’re offering a limited time only discount price for users who want to get their hands on this innovative, robust and secure piece of kit for their GoPro.” The OnTheGo2 GoPro case is currently available for $19.97.

ACD Systems today introduced the ACDSee “Complete Pack,” which bundles five of the photography software company’s products including the new ACDSee Ultimate 8. This pack will absorb the previously offered “Family Pack,” which included ACDSee Pro 8, ACDSee 18, ACDSee Mac Pro 3 and ACDSee Video Converter Pro 4. The ACDSee Complete Pack is available for a limited time, introductory price of $119.99.

The Photography Show has teamed up with Aspire Photography Training to bring photographers a new competition offering a keen amateur the chance to pursue a career in photography. The judges are looking for three pictures demonstrating what love means to the photographer. The first prize is a place on the Aspire Bespoke programme, which counts pro-photographers Brett Harkness, Damien Lovegrove and Tamara Peel amongst its graduates. This 12 month course will show photographers how to build a successful photography business in the area of their choice. The second prize is access to a full online course of Advanced Webinars designed to help existing photographers take their business to the next level. The winner will be announced on Tuesday 12th May. Click through / read on for the details.

The latest addition to the Westcott Basics lineup, the D5, is billed as an ultra-powerful light solution that won’t break the bank. The D5 features 5 ceramic light sockets placed evenly across the unit, each of these high-quality sockets can support a daylight-balanced lamp up to 50 watts. These sockets are housed on an ultra-compact and durable nylon base. The light head has five separate power switchesm each of which controls a single lamp and is complete with a power indicator. The head sells for £120, with a 5-pack of 27W fluorescent lamps available for £50. To direct and control the output of the Basics D5, Westcott have designed a series of custom D5 modifiers, including 24” x 32” rectangular softbox, a 16” x 40” stripbank, and a 32” octabox. D5 modifiers can be purchased separately, or in cost-effective complete studio kits.

Sigma Corporation of America has announced pricing and availability of its 24mm F1.4 DG HSM Art lens. Promising the highest optical performance in its class, the Sigma 24mm F1.4 DG HSM | Art wide-angle lens is the ninth addition to the company’s iconic Global Vision Art line-up. It is designed for full-frame DSLRs, and when used on digital cameras with an APS-C size image sensor, it effectively becomes a 38mm. The lens will be available in Sigma and Canon mounts next month for the street price of $849. The Nikon version will follow in April, and in Sony variant will be available later in the year.

Sigma Corporation of America has announced pricing and availability of its 150-600mm F/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Contemporary lens.  The 150-600mm F/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Contemporary lens is the first hyper-telephoto zoom lens from the Global Vision Contemporary line, and features a light-weight and compact construction for higher usability. In order to allow for mobile, handheld shooting in the field, it has a new and improved image stabiliser and features a new water and oil-repellent coating on the front and rear lenses. Its dimensions will be 4.1 inches by 10.2 inches and will feature 20 elements in 14 groups – including one FLD (“F” Low Dispersion) and three SLD (Special Low Dispersion) glass elements – with a minimum aperture of f22 and minimum focusing distance of 110.2 inches. The lens will become available in Canon and Nikon mounts in March for the street price of $1089.

Want to see exactly what the new Nikon Coolpix L840, S9900, S7000, S3700, S33 and AW130 cameras look like in the flesh?

Check out our extensive hands-on gallery of photos of the new Nikon Coolpix compact cameras for 2015.

Digital Film Tools today launched PhotoCopy v2.0 and reFine Matte v2.0. PhotoCopy copies the brightness, colour, tone, detail, grain and texture from one image and applies them to another. New features in version 2.0 include internet image searching, Retina display support for Mac, layering and seven masking types for photo plug-in hosts, and the availability of the PhotoCopy user interface for all video/film plug-in hosts. It also adds OFX plug-in support, making it compatible with digital intermediate programs Assimilate Scratch and Blackmagic Design Davinci Resolve, the Foundry’s Nuke compositing software and the Sony Vegas non-linear editing system. reFine presents a unique technique for performing selective sharpening, detail enhancement, edge aware smoothing, cartoon, pencil and pastel effects. With the release of reFine 2.0, the plugin is now GPU-accelerated via OpenCL, and supports Retina displays. New features include three new masking types in photo plug-in hosts, and the availability of the reFine user interface for all video/film hosts.. reFine v2 also adds OFX plug-in support.

Olympus has announced that Chinese drone manufacturer DJI, Guangzhou-based JCD(GuangZhou) Optical and FLOVEL, a Japanese company designing the cutting-edge optical equipment, have joined the Micro Four Thirds standard. DJI is a Chinese company established in 2006 that designs, produces and sells high performance flying platforms, flight controllers, aerial gimbals for cameras in addition to the most popular ready to fly quadcopters with built-in cameras and handheld gimbals for filmmaking professionals. JCD(GuangZhou) Optical is a GuangZhou-based company established in 1999 that designs and produces cameras and lenses for still cameras and camcorders. FLOVEL is a Japanese company established in 1968, that designs, produces and constructs the system for the super high sensitivity cameras and shooting system in the medical and bio-science field.

ExpoImaging has announced a number of new improvements to their range of portable lighting accessories. The FlashBender 2 range now incorporates new custom made reflective fabric which makes it 20-30% lighter and a new integrated attachment strap that can be adjusted to fit all popular brands of accessory flashes. New and improved Rogue FlashBender 2 versions include the FlashBender 2 XL Pro System, the FlashBender 2 Large and Small Reflectors, FlashBender 2 Bounce Card, FlashBender 2 Large and Small Softbox Kits and the FlashBender 2 Portable Lighting Kit. ExpoImaging has also made product improvements to its best-selling Flashbender XL Pro Kit, a large light portable studio kit, by reducing its weight as well as making improvements to the attachment design. The Rogue FlashBender 2 range is available to purchase through leading photography retailers and is distributed exclusively by Color Confidence.

Kenko Tokina has released the official specifications of the Tokina AT-X PRO SD 24-70mm f/2.8 (IF) FX standard zoom lens. The optical formula comprises 15 lens elements in 11 groups, the minimum focus distance is 38cm, and the maximum reproduction ratio is 1:4.73. The lens will weigh around a kilogram. Price and availability are to be communicated.

Via PR

The second International Landscape Photographer of the Year competition has just been announced. Open to all photographers. the contest is aimed at finding the best 101 landscape images from the past 12 months and publishing them in a beautiful coffee table book which will be available in a variety of formats. The judges will also be on a search for the International Landscape Photographer of the Year (based on a folio submission of at least 4 images) and the International Landscape Photograph of the Year. Prizes on offer include $10,000 cash, trophies, limited-edition copies of the awards book and large framed prints of winning images. The contest opens on 16th February and closes on 15 May 2015.

Tether Tools has launched the TetherBoost Core Controller, which provides consistent reliable power to boost and maintain a stable, dependable connection for tethered image transfer when using a DSLR or medium-format digital back system connected to a computer via USB cables. This new product alleviates current frustrations among photographers experiencing dropped signals when shooting with USB 3.0. These issues are due to camera and computer manufacturers’ varying USB 3.0 firmware versions and the additional power required to transfer images via USB 3.0 vs USB 2.0. TetherBoost eliminates these limitations allowing for tethering connections from 15 to 35 feet without any loss in signal. Tether Tools will be debuting TetherBoost and other newly released tools at the WPPI convention in Las Vegas and the Society of Photographic Educators Expo in New Orleans.

Lightroom mobile 1.3 for iPhone and iPad is now available to download. New features include a Presentation mode, a new Segmented view in Collections and the ability to copy image adjustments and paste them onto another photo for faster editing. Additionally, the update includes several bug fixes.

Website: iTunes

The Outdoor Photographer of the Year [(OPOTY) 2014 competition comes to a head this weekend at the Telegraph Outdoor Adventure & Travel Show, ExCeL London, where the judges will be announcing the overall winner of the contest. The prize at stake is a trip of a lifetime on the Fjällräven Polar dog-sled expedition. The awards ceremony itself will be taking place on the Outdoor Photography PhotoBox Stage and a live stream will be available on the OPOTY website from 14:30 on Sunday 15th February, so viewers can witness the event first-hand, see the winning and commended images and hear from the photographers. To view the live stream, visit the website below.

Website: OPOTY

We take a look at the brand new Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II camera in our detailed hands-on preview...

The Nikon Coolpix P610 is a 16-megapixel superzoom camera with a tilt-swivel screen, an eye-level EVF and 60x optical zoom. Other features include a 7fps continuous shooting mode, Optical Vibration Reduction, a range of filter effects, special effects, picture controls and a macro mode. Additionally, users can shoot Full HD movies with stereo audio recording or create a time-lapse video using the camera’s new Time Lapse feature. The Nikon P610 also features built-in GPS and Points of Interest (POI), allowing users to geo-tag shots and view where they were taken on a map. The Coolpix P610 also allows users to quickly and easily send photos to a compatible smartphone or tablet using the camera’s built-in Wi-Fi and NFC technologies. The Nikon Coolpix P610 will be available for an SRP of $499.95, starting March 2015.

Nikon has announced a brand-new high-resolution dSLR camera optimised for astrophotography and other scientific applications. The Nikon D810A shares its architecture with the D810, and includes other new features designed uniquely to help capture the cosmos. The infrared (IR) cut filter has been modified to allow transmission of the hydrogen alpha spectral line, resulting in four times greater sensitivity of the 656nm wavelength. A new Long Exposure Manual Mode is implemented, giving users the ability to set shutter speeds from 4, 5, 8, 10, 15, 20, 30, 60, 120, 180, 240, 300, 600 or 900 seconds (15 minutes), as well as Bulb and Time settings. The ISO range has been optimised from 200 to 12,800 (Hi-2 51,200), for maximum sensitivity with an optimal signal-to-noise ratio. The Nikon D810A will be available in late May 2015 and pricing will be announced at a later date.

The Nikon Coolpix S3700 is an NFC and Wi-Fi enabled digital compact camera with a 20.1-megapixel CCD, 8x optical zoom and lens-shift VR.  For photographing fast-moving kids and pets, the S3700 features Subject Tracking to track the subject and keep it in focus. Users can also capture 720p HD video, or use various photo effects and Glamour Retouch modes to fancy up their photos. The  S3700 will be available in Silver, Red and Pink for a suggested retail price of $139.95. (Note that the Coolpix S3700 was already announced in the UK in January.)