Sony USA has announced the recommended retail price of the new, full-frame Alpha A7 II compact system camera. Billed as the world's first 35mm full-frame compact system camera with 5-axis image stabilisation, the Sony Alpha-7 II has a new front dial, an enlarged right-hand grip, a repositioned shutter release and a reinforced lens mount. In addition, the Sony A7 II boasts faster auto focus and better subject tracking capabilities than its predecessor, and benefits from XAVC S and S-Log2 support. In the US, the Sony Alpha-7 II will go on sale on 9th December for $1700 in a body-only configuration and $2000 in a kit with the Sony FE 28-70mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS lens.

The Hasselblad Stellar II is a new camera based on the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 II. Priced at €1,650 (plus tax), the Hasselblad Stellar II comes with an option of four different grip finishes: olive wood; walnut; padouk and carbon fibre. "Fuelled by our ongoing collaboration with Sony and Zeiss, the pocket-sized Stellar models are proving extremely popular,". says Ian Rawcliffe, Hasselblad's CEO. "Photographers are delighted to have the option of owning the latest technology married with Hasselblad's design vision and heritage." For more information, visit the website below.

The Panlight is a light-weight pan and tilt device, which gives you full directional control of your speedlight flashes or Wi-Fi controlled compact system cameras from up to 100ft away. Powered by four AA sized batteries, the Panlight works with all known speedlights and third-party triggers. “As a professional wedding photographer for nearly 10 years, I'm a regular user of off-camera flash," says Panlight inventor Mike Garrard. "I got frustrated needing to accurately set up gridded lighting under time pressures, so to reduce set-up time I wanted to create something to allow this. I also wanted to create a tool to let me reach higher angles for things like large group photos, and aerial scene-setting shots of some of the amazing locations I was working in.” To find out more about Panlight’s Kickstarter campaign or to pledge your support, visit the website below.

As part of the ongoing Panasonic cashback promotion, if you purchase a Lumix camera or camcorder from a participating retailer between 28th November and 1st December, you will be eligible to claim cashback up to £200 (€240). To claim the cashback on qualifying Lumix, Lumix G camera and camcorder models (Panasonic Lumix HC-X920, HC-W850, HC-V750, HC-V550, HC-V250, DMC-GH4, DMC-GH3, DMC-G6, DMC-GX7, DMC-GM1, DMC-LX7, DMC-LF1, DMC-FZ200, DMC-FZ72, DMC-TZ60), participants must complete the online registration form at the website below.

To celebrate the production of a million packs of film in less than a single calendar year, Impossible is offering three people the chance to win a set of three original Polaroid cameras and the entire family of Impossible film. To win one of the three prize sets, you have to find a golden darkslide hidden in the cassette of an Impossible 600-type instant film. You must then email to Impossible an image of the dark slide, showing the verification number, along with your full name and address, and the correct answers to two questions: 1) In what year did Impossible buy the last factory in the world making Polaroid instant film? 2) In which country is this factory located? The competition closes at 11:59pm on 30th December.

Macphun have announced their Black Friday offers for the UK market. Customers have two options to choose from - they can either purchase Macphun's "Creative Kit Plus" software bundle, which includes Intensify Pro, Snapheal Pro, Focus Pro and Tonality Pro, at a reduced price of £79.99 and get a free £15 Amazon.co.uk gift card; or take advantage of a 34-50% discount on a variety of Macphun apps on the Mac app store. For more information, visit the website below.

The new Magix Photostory 2015 Deluxe slideshow editor offers over 300 high-quality effects, animations and decorative elements. You can combine individual images to make panoramas or 3D photos, while travel route animations allow you to create interactive presentations of travel images. With over 50 new music pieces and 500 effects, the program now features more than 850 professional sounds & songs for audio dubbing. You can assign photos, videos and music to up to 8 multimedia tracks, and the optimised multi-track performance allows for a more efficient use of multi-core processors. The software is now available for £59.99 from Amazon.
 

17hats have just launched their business management web app, which tames the chaos of running a small business such as a photography studio. "When my wife started her own business as a wedding photographer, she loved the creative elements, but became overwhelmed and frustrated by the business side of things," remarks founder Donovan Janus. "After looking into different programs and apps to help her, I came up empty-­handed. There was no single service that included everything she needed." Consolidating everything needed on a daily basis -­ contracts, invoices, bookkeeping, to-­do lists, email, client contacts, online payments and more -­ into one easy-­to-­use app, 17hats simplifies business with its template system, enabling users to enter data once and re-­use it with one click. The app offers 3 pricing plans: $19/month annually, $25/month for a 6-­month plan, and $29/month for a monthly plan. The app supports several different currencies and connects to over 10,000 banks in the U.S.

The Panasonic DMC-CM1 smartphone will be available in the UK. The Panasonic CM1 was planned to initially launch in France and Germany only, but due to high interest a number of cameras will be available in the UK from 1st December. The CM1 will be available online through Panasonic Direct as well as selected retailers.

Totally Rad! has announced its annual Black Friday sale. This Friday the company will be offering all of itsproducts, including the bestselling pair Replichrome I: Icon and Replichrome II: Slide, at a 35% discount. Beginning at 12am on 28th November, you will be able to use the coupon code BLACKFRIDAY2014 to take advantage of this offer in their online store.

Fastcut from Magix is a new video editor optimised for action cams. The program allows you to automatically or manually edit your videos, and offers a wide range of thematic templates with fitting songs, cuts and transitions. Additional effects such as vintage look, tracking shots and slow-motion effects can also be added individually. You can minimise wind noise, correct skewed footage, remove lens distortions, adjust the colours and apply post-capture exposure compensation to backlit shots. Fastcut is available now online for a special introductory price of $49.99.

Apple has posted a Digital Camera RAW Compatibility Update, which adds system-level support for raw image files generated by the Canon EOS 7D Mark II, Fujifilm X30, Nikon D750 (pictured) and Panasonic LUMIX DMC-LX100 cameras. You can download the update from the website below.

Website: Apple

ACD Systems have released the ACDSee iPhone app designed to help users capture and perfect photos all from their iPhone. ACDSee for iPhone provides a camera, photo editor and collage maker all in one app with unique features such as the advanced Selfie Mode, Flash Fusion,, HDR Fusion, and manual controls for exposure, focus and white balance. The ACDSee Pro Pack is an add-on to the app and includes additional features for professional photographers or expert users looking for more advanced capabilities. ACDSee for iPhone is $1.99 and available now in the iTunes App Store. The “Pro Pack” can be purchased for an additional $4.99.

On show at The Photographers' Gallery from 4 December 2014 - 28 January 2015, Sun/Screen is a new project by award-winning New York based artist Penelope Umbrico. It continues her exploration into the production and consumption of photographs online, particularly focusing on the persistence of sunset imagery within popular photography. For this project, Umbrico used an iPhone to re-photograph images of the sun she cropped from thousands of sunset images shared on the web.  The process of capturing images directly from the computer screen creates a moiré pattern, which is the consequence of pixel grids, meshes or dot patterns being superimposed. Umbrico further amplifies this effect by editing the images into a single slideshow, with each shot slowly dissolving into the next. This creates a secondary moiré effect that draws attention to the materiality of the screen and further distances us from the natural sunlight source of the original images. Umbrico intends the work to operate as a dialogue between analogue and digital, natural and simulated light and the material and immaterial. The Photographers' Gallery is located at 16 - 18 Ramillies St, London W1F 7LW.