The 2015 olor Panobook Contest, a major panoramic photography competition, is about to open. The entry period will begin on 2nd February, and photographers have until 3rd March to submit their best panoramic images to the competition. As in the previous years, the best entries will be published in a photobook called the Kolor Panobook 2015. As always, we suggest that you read the rules before entering your work. For more information and to enter, visit the website below.

Website: Panobook

Calumet Photographic has just launched its new Student Photographer of the Year Award for 2015 in partnership with a host of major photographic brands. Designed to recognise photographic talent of students and to provide them with a platform for their work to be recognised, the award is open and available to any student in the UK. Prospective entrants are invited to submit a single photo of their best work - or three if they are a part of the Calumet Student membership programme - and up to 20 words explaining their chosen image. A panel of four judges, including Calumet’s Managing Director, Jon Warner; Professional Photographer, Rory Lewis; Canon’s Product Intelligence Professional, David Parry; Professional Photographer, Tom Barnes, will view all entries and shortlist 10 runners-up and one overall winner who will win an array of prizes worth over £11,000. The deadline for entries is 13 March 2015 and the winners will be announced shortly after.

According  the National Press Photographers Association, Sports Illustrated has made all of its remaining staff photographers redundant. In speaking with the News Photographer Magazine, SI director of photography Brad Smith blamed the move on the current "economic circumstances," adding that the lay-offs were part of a company-wide restructuring effort. Effective March 2015, the staff cuts do not necessarily mean that the six photographers - seasoned veterans including Robert Beck, Simon Bruty, Bill Frakes, David E. Klutho, John W. McDonoughand Al Tielemans - will no longer be able to work for the magazine. "I hope that they may continue to [contribute to the success of the magazine] under slightly different circumstances," Smith told the NPPA.

Via IR Photo: Wikipedia

Tamron has announced pricing and availability for the Tamron SP 15-30mm F/2.8 Di VC USD wide zoom. Featuring an optical construction comprising 18 elements in 13 groups including an XGM (eXpanded Glass Molded Aspherical) element placed at the front group and several LD (Low Dispersion) glass elements used throughout the optical system, the Tamron SP 15-30mm F/2.8 Di VC USD is billed as the world's first full-frame f/2.8 ultra-wide-angle zoom lens with image stabilisation. Tamron's acclaimed BBAR (Broad-Band Anti-Reflection) coating is further refined to render uniformity in transmissivity across the critical bandwidths. Coupled with the eBAND coating, ghosting and flare typically observed on ultra-wideangle lenses are efficiently eliminated, resulting in crisper and crystal-clear images, the company claims. The lens will go on sale on 30th January, priced at $1199.

Olympus has released a teaser video entitled The Future of Award Winning Photography. Evoking the most important milestones in the history of the OM-D line, such as the launch of the E-M5 in 2012, the release of the E-M1 in 2013 and the addition of the E-M10 in 2014 - as well as some of the best photographs taken with these cameras -, the video closes with the mysterious promise: "The Future of Award Winning Photography - Coming February 2015." Click through / scroll down to watch the video.

Adobe has announced that Lightroom 6 will require Mac OS X 10.8 or above, or a 64 bit version of Windows 7, 8 or 8.1. "If you are on Mac OS X 10.7, or a 32 bit version of Windows, you will continue to be able to install and run Lightroom 5 and use Lightroom mobile," the company said in a statement. "However, you will not be able to install Lightroom 6 until you upgrade to a supported operating system."

ioSafe has launched the ioSafe 1515+: a fire and water-resistant 5-bay expandable NAS powered by Synology’s DiskStation Manager OS. Featuring an Intel Atom C2000 family 2.4GHz quad-core processor that provides accelerated encryption, the has a RAM module expandable up to 6GB, quad LAN ports supporting automatic failover and Link Aggregation and built-in redundancy. Its capacity can be scaled up to 90TB of raw storage using N513X expansion units. “The new ioSafe 1515+ is simply the most capable product we’ve ever built. We continue our partnership with Synology to deliver our most technologically advanced product ever.” said Robb Moore, ioSafe CEO. “Along with our unmatched physical protection against fire and water, the latest Synology platform enables blazing hardware digital encryption at up to 448 MB/s reading and 191 MB/s writing. For even faster performance, choosing not to encrypt increases throughput to 450 MB/s reading and 396 MB/s writing.”

The Activeon DX is a compact Full HD / 60fps action camera that comes with an 8-element f/2.8 lens and a variety of accessories including an underwaterhousing that is water-proof up to 196 feet. The camera has a 12-megapixel imager. a body-integral LCD monitor, a WiFi module and an ultrawide lens with a 152-degree angle of view. The Activeon DX is powered by a 1200mh Li-ion battery which is capable of providing up to 120 minutes of recording time when recording video at 1080p/30fps.

Renowned news photographer Mikael Buck used the Sony QX1 to capture a series of striking macro images, using only the lens-style camera attached to his smartphone to show the breadth of photography that it can produce. Crisp icy crystals can be seen close up in the frosty scenes - the combination of the lens style camera paired with a macro lens reveals the intricate ice structures. The second in the series of shots were also captured with a QX1 using a macro lens, and show the beauty of insects, beetles and butterflies in microscopic detail. Shots include the cellular structure of a Golden Ring Dragonfly's wings, hairs on the bottom of a Common Green Birdwing Butterfly's wings, close up of a Purple Emperor Butterfly's eyes and the iridescence on the wings of a Purple Emperor Butterfly. Scroll down for a gallery of photos taken by Mikael Buck.

Kenko Tokina have posted a total of 32 high-resolution sample photos taken with the new Tokina AT-X PRO 11-20mm f/2.8 DX zoom lens. Shot with the Canon EOS 70D and the Nikon D7100 dSLR cameras, these samples depict a variety of subjects and span a number of genres from portraiture to landscapes to architectural photography.

The winners of the 2014 Terry O’Neill Award have been revealed. The overall winner is Giorgio Bianchi from Italy, who convinced the jury with his series "Behind Kiev's Barricades." The runners-up are Miguel Angel Sanchez and Javier Arcenillas from Spain. An exhibition of the winning and shortlisted entries is on display until 1 February 2015 in theStrand Gallery, 32 John Adam Street, London WC2N 6BP
 

Version 3.5 of WebRotate 360 Product Viewer is now available to download. The revamped tool set includes a new interactive 360 product viewer based solely on JavaScript & CSS, advanced desktop publishing software for Windows and Mac, as well as free integration modules for various e-commerce and CMS platforms. Major enhancements include instant non-destructive image editing, watermarking, animated GIF publishing, smart crop resize, instant photography filters and clipping path, and more.

Want to see exactly what the new Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF7 camera looks like in the flesh?

Check out our hands-on gallery of photos of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF7 camera.

The Panasonic GF7 is a lightweight and compact Micro Four Thirds camera featuring a tiltable 3" 1040k-dot touchscreen, a 16-megapixel Four Thirds sensor, Full HD / 50p video recording capabilities and built-in Wi-Fi. The camera also sports a wide variety of automatic and rapid AF functionalities including a Low Light AF mode that sets focus on your subject more precisely in darker conditions without the need for an AF assist lamp. In addition to the conventional Face Recognition AF, the Lumix GF7 also incorporates Face / Eye Detection AF, which automatically set the focus right on your subject’s eyes. The camera’s advanced Intelligent D-range Control also gives you greater control over the final image so that every part - from the dark sections to bright – is faithfully reproduced. The on-board Wi-Fi module enables you to shoot both photo and video using your smartphone or tablet as a remote control for the shutter, zoom, focus, aperture and more. The Panasonic Lumix GF7 also features a new Jump Snap function, where you can achieve great shots of you and your friends jumping in the air. The remote control smartphone automatically detects the highest point of your jump, and releases the GF7’s shutter while you’re mid-air. The camera will be available from March, priced at £429. In the U.S.A. the Panasonic Lumix GF7 will be sold in a bundle with the 12-32mm collapsible zoom lens, for a kit price of $599.

Canon U.S.A. has issued a product advisory to users of its Powershot SX280 HS (pictured), S120, ELPH 135, 150 IS, 340 HS and 140 IS digital compact cameras. According to the company, some units of the potentially affected products may exhibit certain operation errors due to insufficient contact between the camera’s battery terminal and the battery, even when the battery has sufficient power remaining. To check if your camera is affected, follow the instructions below.

Expert Studio Workshops has announced the first in a series of workshops for photography enthusiasts interested in studio based photography, hosted by Doug Harman and Jamie Harrison. Taking place on 1 March 2015 in Southend-On-Sea, Essex, this introductory workshop is limited to 10 participants to alow plenty of one to one time with two professional models throughout the day. The tuition includes an introduction to strobes, modifiers, studio basics, safety, working with models, make-up and styling as well as image analysis and basic Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop retouching tutorials. The tuition fee is £150.

Adorama is now shipping the new Flashpoint CoolVee7 Video Light, which features seven cool-running, daylight fluorescent spiral lamps that deliver a total output equivalent of up to 760W of tungsten lighting. Available for $199.95, the Flashpoint CoolVee7 comes with two light modifiers, including ae detachable, pebble-finished reflector and an octagonal softbox. The scope of delivery also includes seven Daylight Compact Fluorescent 32W/120V bulbs. The Flashpoint 30W Spiral Fluorescent Replacement Bulb is available for $3.95. The Flashpoint 45W Spiral Fluorescent Upgrade Bulb can be purchased for $5.65.