Zoner Photo Studio 17 is now available in the US. Zoner’s latest version of this complete photo editing and management software package offers several exciting new features including Home Sharing, an easy and seamless way to share memories on your TV, PC and smartphone; the new and improved Cartoon and Lens Flare tools, a much more efficient photo management interface and more robust tools for working with raw files. Among the improvements is a new Automatic button that streamlines working with the histogram and colours – one click now reveals the optimal settings. Zoner Photo Studio 17 also now reflects all changes in the raw conversion module in pictures’ previews in the Manager and Viewer. Working with large photo collections is now significantly faster and smoother courtesy of the program’s Smarter Catalog and an improved Side Panel in the Manager. Zoner Photo Studio 17 is available now for $89. Upgrades from older versions are priced at $49.

 Alpine Labs and Vivo Labs have formally merged to "better support the time-lapse photography community." The move will bring the smartphone-programmable Michron (pictured) and Radian time-lapse photography products together and combine the capabilities and staff members of the two organisations. “Everyone at Alpine Labs is very excited by the possibilities this merger will give us to better serve photographers interested in time-lapse photography,” said Greg Horváth, President of Alpine Labs. “Both Alpine Labs and Vivo Labs share a common mission to make time-lapse photography easy and accessible to photographers of all experience levels. The marketing and product development teams of both companies already know each other well, and this merger will enable us to unlock the full potential of those relationships.”

Three new GoPros have been announced - the HERO4 Black, HERO4 Silver, and entry-level HERO. HERO4 is available in two editions, HERO4 Black at MSRP $499 and HERO4 Silver at MSRP $399. HERO4 Black captures cinema-quality 4K video at 30 frames per second (fps), 2.7K video at 50fps and 1080p video at a blistering 120fps. HERO4 Silver delivers the same professional image quality as HERO4 Black less some of the higher performance video capture modes including 4K30, 2.7K50 and 1080p120.

Phase One Industrial today announced the Phase One iXA-R camera platform and the iX Controller (pictured). The new 80 MP, 60 MP and Achromatic iXA-R cameras share many of the same features as the iXA aerial cameras, including focal plane and central leaf shutters, optional Forward Motion Compensation, scalability to form multi-camera arrays, as well as easy integration with popular flight management systems and GPS/IMU receivers. Phase One iXA-R cameras expand the iXA lens range by adding three new dedicated lenses with focal lengths of 40 mm, 50 mm and 70 mm. The Phase One iXA 180-R (including one of three lenses) has a list price of $67000 / €50000. The enhanced lenses are designed and built by Rodenstock. Each lens/shutter combination is adapted for aerial photography and offers low distortion, high MTF and excellent contrast. The iX Controller ($7000 / €5300), a fanless PC with a small footprint, uses a 4th Generation Intel Core i7 processor and is easily integrated into any aircraft. The cameras and iX Controller will start shipping 1 November 2014.

Rift Labs have announced a new high-quality diffuser for the KICK light, which was launched earlier this year and features a portable rechargeable 400 lumen LED panel. Created in response to user requests, the new KICK diffuser creates a softer light with minimal light loss and comes with a micro lens surface 40-degree diffusion front plate for maximum light transmission. In order to emit as much light as possible, the inside of the impact resistant hard shell is coated with a hyper-white material, which reflects 98% of the light and provides the same reflection for all wavelengths. For more information, visit the website below.

Epson today announced the SpectroProofer-UVS, a new in-line spectrophotometer for its 17", 24" and 44" Epson Stylus Pro printers. The new SpectroProofer-UVS models support the M1 measurement illumination standard and are UV selectable between M1 and M2. Current SpectroProofer owners have the option to upgrade to the new ILS30EP component of SpectroProofer-UVS models to ensure full compatibility with the latest industry standards. The new SpectroProofer-UVS will be shipping in late-October 2014.

Nikon has issued a firmware update for the Nikon Coolpix A large-sensor compact camera. According to the company, version C:1.12 resolves an issue that sometimes prevented appropriate exposure control with interval timer photography. You can download the firmware upgrade from the website below.

Website: Nikon Knowledge Base

Canon and Stella McCartney have announced an exclusive collaboration unveiling the limited-edition Linda camera bag. Named after Stella’s mother and specially designed for the Canon EOS 100D White, the bag is crafted with an innovative Eco Alter Nappa leather alternative which uses natural vegetable oil coating that is less harmful to the environment. A limited run of 1,000 bags will be produced and will only be available as a special package with the Canon EOS 100D White digital SLR camera. Within the UK, the package will be available from Harrods and Selfridges for £1,200.

Ricoh has posted a firmware update for the Pentax 645Z medium-format digital SLR camera. Version 1.10 adds support for the new Image Transmitter 2 tethering application and improves overall stability. You can download the firmware upgrade from the website below.

Website: Ricoh Japan

Bowens has launched an exclusive five-strong range of flash heads for its Creo Generator system. The special effect flash heads include two new long penlights (from £900); two new long strip lights (from £1,749) and a 250mm diameter Fresnel spot light (£2,879). Robert Cook, Bowens marketing director said: “These innovative, precision-engineered and high-spec accessories offer supreme quality and will provide fashion and commercial photographers – and even automotive photographers - with a wide range of creative lighting opportunities using our Creo high performance power packs."

Limelite has launched two new LED-based Studiolite products. Developed for broadcast video and photographic applications,the SLED4 (£865 plus VAT) and SLED8 (£1250 plus VAT) provide users with four or eight flicker-free, state of the art linear tubes of LEDs. “These LED-based Studiolites are another first for Limelite," Tim Haskell, Limelite business development manager said. "They create a soft, wide beam of beautifully even light that wraps around the subject to produce extremely flattering illumination." The new models also feature a wide range of optional accessories and modifiers including grids; Barn Doors and filter frames.

Fotodiox Pro have announced their newest concept in LED lighting: the FlapJack LED Edgelight series. Designed to be lightweight, portable and easy to set up, the FlapJacks produce soft, even light that is ideal for impromptu interviews, portraiture, food- and product photography. Rather than using forward-facing LEDs common in conventional panels, the FlapJacks’ LEDs are mounted around their outer edge, aimed inward at layers of diffusion material to produce bounced light. Their compact design makes it easy to mount them to light stands, tabletop tripods, light clamps or even a camera’s accessory shoe. For more information, visit the wbsite below.

We’ve teamed up with SanDisk for a product bundle giveaway featuring the Ultra Dual USB Drive and newly upgraded Ultra microSDXC UHS-I and Extreme SDXC UHS-I memory cards - a total value of $490 for one lucky winner!

The contest has now closed and the lucky winner is Alex Hooley. Congratulations!

Today, users are capturing photos and videos on more devices than ever, ranging from digital cameras and smartphones to tablets and action cams. So now is your chance to grab some news products that will help you save and transfer content for a number of host devices. The SanDisk Ultra microSDXC UHS-I card, Extreme SDXC UHS-I card and Ultra Dual USB Drive make the perfect bundle to tackle storage restrictions and safely store and transfer photos, videos, music and more!

SanDisk Ultra Dual USB Drive 64GB

The Ultra Dual USB Drive allows you to easily transfer files between Android™ smartphones and tablets, PC and Mac computers, freeing up space for photos, videos and more! You can listen to more music, share more videos and photos, and watch HD movies—without worrying about filling up your phone’s internal memory!

SanDisk Ultra microSDXC UHS-I 128GB

The Ultra microSDXC UHS-I card is perfect for today’s Android™ smartphone and tablet users who want the highest storage capacity available. With 128GB capacity, the SanDisk Ultra microSD™ UHS-I card allows you to capture, carry and keep it all with you without having to figure out what to delete. With an improved write speed of up to 48MB/s, you save even more time transferring photos and videos from the card to your computer.

SanDisk Extreme SDXC UHS-I 128GB

The Extreme SDXC UHS-I card offers enough speed, capacity, and durability to meet the demands of advanced photographers and passionate shutterbugs alike. The Extreme line now features 60 MB/s write and 40 MB/s read speeds in addition to 30 MB/s sustained write speed (U3) that gives users the speed and capacity to capture video that looks great on Full HD or 4K Ultra HD video screens.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

NY Through the Lens by Vivianne Gucwa is a new title from Ilex Press. Nearly a decade ago, Vivienne Gucwa began walking the streets of New York with the only camera she could afford, and started taking pictures. Choosing a direction and going as far as her feet would take her, she noticed lines, forms and structures that had previously gone unnoticed. Having limited equipment forced her to learn about light, composition and colour, and her burgeoning talent won her blog thousands of readers – and wide recognition in the photographic community. Based on her blog of the same name, NY Through the Lens is filled with spectacular photographs and Vivienne’s own insightful commentary. the 192-page hardback will be available in October for £20.

Plasq have released Comic Life 3, the latest edition of its award-winning photo comic creation software for iOS. This edition includes a new suite of image processing tools including new parametric filters and an Instant Alpha tool that makes it easy to knock out backgrounds right inside the app. Comic Life 3 also introduces a script editor letting you create stories right in the app and easily take your words to the comic page thanks to new SmartScript technology. Comic Life 3 for iOS is available from the App Store for $2.99

ACDSee Pro 8 is the most complete solution for the enhancement and control of image production for professional photographers. The standard version, ACDSee 18, gives any photographer the high-end tools they need to produce professional quality photos and manage their photo library. ACDSee Pro 8 is available for $199.99 and ACDSee 18 is available for $79.99. Both products are also available via subscription starting at $79 per year.

Little Pixels have released a new iPhone app that gives users direct control over white balance, shutter speed and ISO sensitivity. Available for all devices running iOS 8, the Manual – Custom Exposure Camera app also allows you to control focus, engage exposure bracketing, view a live histogram, display various grid overlays and save photos directly to the Camera Roll. Manual – Custom Exposure Camera is available on iTunes for $1.99.