Sigma has announced the US pricing and availability of its new 18-300mm F/3.5-6.3 DC MACRO OS HSM lens. Designed exclusively for APS-C camera sensors, the Sigma 18-300mm F/3.5-6.3 DC MACRO OS HSM features a 35mm equivalent focal range of 27-450mm. It incorporates four “F” Low Dispersion (FLD) glass elements, which have performance equal to flourite, in addition to one Special Low Dispersion (SLD) glass element to minimise the chromatic aberration. Also, this lens comes with a newly developed optical image stabiliser for improved shake compensation. The lens will become available in October for the street price of $579.

Sigma has unveiled two new teleconverters and four new filter lines. The  dust and splash-proof teleconverters TC-1401 and TC2001 have been developed as dedicated attachments for Sigma Global Vision lenses. By mounting it in between a telephoto lens and a camera, the TC-1401 and TC-2001 will magnify a lens’ focal length by 1.4 and 2 times, respectively. The TC-1401 (pictured) will be sold for the street price of $349, and the TC2001 will be available for $399. Also, Sigma will now offer 13 filter size options in four new lineups, including the WR Protector (Water-repellent, antistatic type) and Protector (normal type) as well as the WR UV Filter and the WR Circular PL Filter. The filters will be launched in October, with availability yet to be announced for the teleconverters.

Tether Tools have announced four new AeroTab Universal Tablet Mounts. The AeroTab S2/S4, and AeroTab L2/L4 mounts are compatible with various tablet makes and models and are mountable to any tripod, light stand, arm, clamp, camera sling strap or grip. "Whether taking photos using cabled or wireless tethered capture, editing on-the-spot during a production or integrating a tablet as a video monitor, clapboard, time clock or instant play-back tool for clients - the AeroTab Series gives Acer, Amazon, Apple, Asus, Dell, Microsoft, Samsung, Sony, Wacom and other tablet users a versatile, streamlined and sleek new way to mount portable devices to any tripod, lightstand, arm or clamp used in photography or video work," the company says. Tether Tools will showcase the AeroTab Series at Photokina - September 16-21, 2014 at their booth in Hall 9.1, Stand B.24.

SanDisk today unveiled significant upgrades to its SanDisk Extreme PRO CFast 2.0 memory card and announced that the SanDisk Extreme PRO SSD has been qualified for 4K capture. As a follow-up to the world’s first CFast 2.0 card in 2013, the upgraded SanDisk Extreme PRO CFast 2.0 card delivers shot speeds of up to 440MB/s and data transfer speeds of up to 515MB/s in storage capacities of up to 128GB. Industry leaders ARRI, Canon, Hasselblad, PhaseOne and Leica, and video technology pioneers, Atomos and Blackmagic Design, are strong supporters of the CFast 2.0 standard, SanDisk said in a statement. ARRI has named the SanDisk Extreme PRO CFast 2.0 card as its card of choice for its ALEXA and AMIRA cameras. The new SanDisk Extreme PRO CFast 2.0 memory cards will be available at select photo specialty stores in October. The SanDisk Extreme PRO SSDs are currently available online and purchasable through SanDisk’s worldwide network of authorized distributors and resellers.

Version 18.5 of PhotoLine is now available for download. Improvements versus the previous release include the addition of a new filter called Polar Coordinates, a new vector operation dubbed "Cut," curves optimisation, enhanced PDF Import and Export, improved touch and gesture support under Windows 8, a couple of new alignment functions, and more. PhotoLine is an all-purpose image and graphics editor featuring support for CMYK and lab colour spaces, colour management with ICC profiles, adjustment layers, and 16/32-bit-per-channel.editing. To download the program, visit the website below.

Website: PhotoLine

The Ricoh G800 is a new heavy-duty digital compact camera with a back-illuminated, 16-megapixel CMOS imager. Launching on 26th September worldwide and available from October 2014 in the UK, the Ricoh G800 is water-, dust-, impact- and chemical-resistant enough for the harshest working environments and occupations. Like its predecessor the Ricoh G700, the new G800 can be used at depths of up to 5m (for up to 2 hours) and has been found to withstand drops of up to 2m in tests conducted according to American military standards. New features include an increased resolution, Full HD movies and improved password protection. Ricoh has added support for separate administrator and user passwords, so that in addition to preventing on-site handling errors and unauthorised viewing of photographs, security settings can be fine-tuned separately for administrators and on-site workers according to how each uses the device. Features carried over from the Ricoh G700 include a 28-140mm equivalent lens, a 3-inch LCD screen with a resolution of 920K dots, an electronic level gauge, and a wide array of security functions. The suggested retail price is £599.99.

From my Land to the Planet by Sebastião Salgado is a new title from Contrast Books. In this book, the photographer tells us the story of his most famous reportages: the black and white portraits of unknown men and women, workers or refugees, and more recently his Genesis project aimed at the conservation of the most beautiful places of our planet. Inside the book there are fascinating stories of Africa, Brazil, the Americas, Mozambique and Rwanda, and then again the birth of the Instituto Terra, of Genesis project, of the agency Magnum Photos until Amazonas Images. The 160-page hardback, which goes on sale in October, is priced at US $24.95 / CAN $27.50 / £16.95 €16.92.

Adorama is expanding its Flashpoint ZeroGrav stabilizer line with the ZeroGrav 2-Axis Digital Gyro Stabilizer. Featuring the newest gyroscope accelerometer grip, Gyro is compatible with DSLRs and the Blackmagic Cinema Camera.  The unit incorporates twin handles for a steady grip, center of gravity assurance and pitch balance, leaving no room for error. Powered by a lithium gyro motor, the ZeroGrav Gyro stabilizer controls pitch and roll/yaw through calibration of inertial measurement in tandem with the sensors, software parameters and application. The Flashpoint ZeroGrav 2-Axis Digital Gyro Stabilizer is now available to preorder exclusively from Adorama for the special price of $899 (regularly $1,199).

The Ricoh WG-M1 is an ultra-rugged outdoor camera with a 14.0-megapixel sensor, 160° lens and Full HD movie recording capabilities. The newest addition to the waterproof, shock-resistant WG series, the WG-M1 is waterproof to a depth of 10 metres, shock-resistant against a fall from a height of two metres, and cold-resistant to temperatures as low as －10°C. It also offers a host of convenient features that allow you to check real-time images during both still-image and movie shooting, including a 1.5-inch colour LCD monitor and a wireless LAN connection to a smartphone/tablet.. The camera's high-speed continuous shooting capability records subjects in a series of images at a speed of approximately 10 frames per second. The WG-M1’s large control buttons facilitate camera operation — including instant switching between still-image and movie modes — even wearing gloves. It also features a tripod socket on the bottom for the direct attachment of various accessories. The WG-M1 is available in black or orange at an SRP of £199.99.

Hasselblad has announced the upcoming launch of a new medium format camera body. The Hasselblad H5X, which boasts latest capture functionality comes after the spring launch of the world's first 50MP CMOS Sensor H5D-50c camera and the summer launch of the new H5D-50c MS, H5D-200c MS and the CFV-50c CMOS digital back. The H5X, which will retail at €4,595 without viewfinder (or €5,795 with viewfinder), provides the same extensive functionality as the H1 and H2 cameras but with a number of new functions including full HC and HCD lens compatibility, eight memory banks, True Focus mechanism, high-power AF illumination, superior viewfinder options including the HVD 90x viewfinder optimised for 36x48 mm format and HV 90x-II viewfinder optimised for the film and 40.2×53.7 mm format. the camera works with film and digital backs. Hasselblad will showcase the new H5X at photokina 2014.

Fuji has posted six full-resoluion sample photographs taken with the new Fujifilm X100T large-sensor premium compact camera. Shot at sensitivity settings ranging from ISO200/24° to ISO3200/36°, these Fuji X100T samples can be downloaded from the website below.

Website: Official Fujifilm X100T Sample Photos

Fuji today announced an expansion of its Instax line of instant film cameras with the redesigned Fujifilm Instax Wide 300, which uses large format instant film. Sporting a contemporary and professional design for better image composition and easier handling, the Instax Wide 300 features an optical viewfinder, a 95mmm f/14 lens, AE control with exposure compensation, a lens ring dial with a two-range focus zone setting, an integrated flash, a tripod socket and a close-up lens adapter for macro shooting as close as 15.5”from the subject. The Fujifilm Instax Wide 300 uses Instax Wide instant film that is double the size of Instax Mini film. It is ideally suited for fashion photography, group shots at parties and events, landscape scenes, as well as many practical business applications, the company says. The Instax Wide 300 will be available in spring 2015 for USD $129.99 \ CAD $129.99.

The Samyang 12mm 1:2.8 ED AS NCS is a new full-frame fish-eye lens, which will be officially introduced at Photokina in Cologne on 16 September 2014. Offering a 180-degree angle of view, the Samyang 12mm 1:2.8 ED AS NCS has a complex optical construction comprising 12 elements in 8 groups, including three elements made of low dispersion ED glass and two aspherical lens elements. Availability and pricing have yet to be confirmed.

The Fujifilm X-T1 Graphite Silver Edition boasts a rich, high-quality finish, an ultra-fast electronic shutter and a range of other additions. Delivering shutter speeds as fast as 1/32,000sec, the electronic shutter is completely silent, making the Fujifilm X-T1 Graphite Silver Edition one of the most discreet professional cameras out there. New to the suite of Film Simulation modes is Classic Chrome, which delivers subtle colours and beautifully muted tones reminiscent of vintage reversal film. Additionally, the X-T1 Graphite Silver Edition has a new Natural Live View function that removes the image quality settings from the viewfinder image while shooting, displaying natural, real-world images, close to what the naked eye would see through an optical viewfinder. The Fuifilm X-T1 Graphite Silver Edition will be available in the UK from November 2014 with a suggested retail price of £1199.99. To complement the premium-coated camera, a luxury leather shoulder strap and aluminium hot shoe cover are supplied with the camera in a limited-edition kit.

The Fujifilm X100T is a premium large-sensor digital compact camera with an ultra-fast electronic shutter and an advanced hybrid viewfinder featuring real-time parallax correction and an electronic rangefinder. In electronic rangefinder mode, the focus area is enlarged and displayed in the bottom right of the viewfinder. Part of the original optical image is blocked and the EVF display is projected in the resulting space to facilitate manual focusing. Additionally, Focus Peaking and Digital Split Image modes can be selected and the magnification of the focused area can be adjusted. Full HD videos can now be recorded while using the optical viewfinder. A completely silent electronic shutter that is capable of exposures up to 1/32,000sec has also been added, making the Fujifilm X100T one of the most discreet cameras out there. Other highlights include a 16.3-megapixel X-Trans CMOS II sensor with on-chip phase detection, a 23mm (35mm equivalent) f/2 lens, a 3-inch 1.04-million-dot monitor, seven customisable function buttons, raw shooting capability and a top sensitivity setting of ISO 51,200. The Fujifilm X100T will be available in the UK in both black and silver from November 2014 with a suggested retail price of £999.99.

The Fujinon XF56mmF1.2 R APD - billed as the world’s first AF lens with an apodisation filter - is a new ultra-fast telephoto lens for Fujifilm's X-series compact system cameras. Offering a 35mm equivalent focal length of 85mm, the lens has a maximum aperture of f/1.2, making it the world’s brightest autofocus lens designed for digital cameras with an APS-C sensor. The XF56mm F1.2 R APD offers "brilliant levels of sharpness," even when shooting  wide open at f/1.2. In addition, the apodisation filter smooths the outlines of out-of-focus highlights resulting in superior bokeh. The apodisation filter delivers its best results at wider apertures. To enable wide apertures to be used even in bright environments, an ND filter is included that adjusts brightness in three levels. To indicate the apodising effect, the lens features an aperture ring showing the effective F-number in red. The difference between the FNo. and the effective FNo. indicates the effectiveness of the apodisation filter. The Fujinon XF56mmF1.2 R APD will be available in the UK from November 2014 with a suggested retail price of £1099.99.

The Fujinon XF50-140mm f/2.8 R LM OIS WR is a new weather-resistant X Series telephoto zoom lens featuring optical image stabilsation and the world’s first Triple Linear Motor, which enables quiet and high-speed auto focus. With a 35mm focal length equivalent of 76-213mm, the Fujinon XF50-140mm f/2.8 R LM OIS WR has an optical construction with 23 elements arranged in 16 groups, including 5 ED lens elements, and 1 Super ED lens element with low dispersion characteristics. Fujifilm’s unique HT-EBC (High Transmittance Electron Beam Coating) ensures ghosting and flare are controlled for sharp, clear images. Also, using the newly developed Nano-GI (Gradient Index) coating technology, which alters the refractive index between glass and air, ghosting and flare are effectively reduced for diagonal incident light, the company says. The Fujinon XF50-140mm f/2.8 R LM OIS WR will be available in the UK from November 2014 with a suggested retail price of £1249.99 

Kenro, the official UK and Ireland distributor of the Benro range of photo equipment, has announced two additions to the Benro Travel Tripods range. The Benro IT15 and IT25 Travel Tripod kits are lower cost additions to the range and are suitable for those who wish to travel light, while still achieving good stability for their cameras. They are manufactured from high-quality aluminium with magnesium alloy castings that are anodised and treated with high temperature anti-corrosion powder paint. These tripods are supplied with matching IH ball head, flip lock legs with rubber feet, and carry case. One of the legs is quickly removable, and when attached to the centre column is instantly converted to a full size monopod with ball head. The Benro IT15 costs £119.94, while the IT25 is available for £143.94.

Underwater Photography by Tobias Friedrich is a new title from Rocky Nook.  This book's award-winning author teaches us how to create stunning underwater images, covering everything from the equipment needed, to creating powerful compositions, to processing the final image. He uses case studies to show how his own images were created, and provides detailed explanations for specific techniques that can be applied to your very next dive. The 216-page volume is available for$39.95.