Nikon has posted a firmware update for its Coolpix S9400 and Coolpix S9500 cameras. Version 1.1 (for both models) resolves an issue that resulted in deviation in the timing of movie video and sound

Website: Nikon Coolpix S9400 Firmware Update 1.1
Website: Nikon Coolpix S9500 Firmware Update 1.1

GO Outdoors have launched the Great British Summer Photo Contest. Sinead Miller, Digital Marketing Manager, said: “With this summer predicted to be one of the hottest on record, we hope more people will be making the most of the great outdoors – but for those who don’t know what they’re missing, we want photos that show the Great British summer in all its glory." The competition has three categories for photographers to send their entries to, including Festuvals, Summer holidays and The outdoors. To enter, simply upload a photo using the lunk below.

The Adobe Foundation today announced the winners of the third annual Adobe Youth Voices (AYV) Awards, a global, online competition inviting students aged 13-19 to use digital media to express their vision for driving positive change in their communities. AYV Award winners are chosen in seven categories: animation, documentary, photo essay, music video, narrative, poetry and campaign poster. Youth can submit projects individually or as teams working with an AYV educator. In the Photo Essay category, Jihyeon Park from Irvington High School, USA, has been named as the winner for her work entitled Inner Journey. The runners-up are Agata Mroczek from Fundacja 5Medium, Poland, and Prabhashana Meegammana -- Dilan Wickramakeerthi from the Shilpa Sayura Foundation, Sri Lanka.

Kenro has just announced the UK and Ireland launch of the Benro BRC373TS8 Video Tripod Kit. Developed for use by professional film makers, live broadcasters and commercial film producers, the new Benro BRC373TS8 Video Tripod Kit is manufactured from high quality 8-layer carbon fibree with a breaking point of 134.1 kg. Boasting magnesium alloy castings, the Benro BRC373TS8 Video Tripod Kit includes a tripod, S8 head and carry case; and  features a continuous pan drag system, adjustable legs, a comfortable padded grip, illuminated spirit level, water-resistant rubber lock grips, an elaborate counterbalance system and independent functional locking knobs for pan, tilt and quick-release plate.The kit's suggested retail price is £756, while the S8 Head on its own has an SRP of £264.

Avis has released a short film depicting the very best imagery submitted in the recent photography competition I Can’t Believe My Eyes, run by Avis and judged by Getty Images. Aspiring photographers were asked to send in their most beautiful pictures (captured whilst traveling across the globe by car), stemming from the belief that there is beauty to be found in every journey. Avis received hundreds of stunning photographs and the best were shortlisted by the judges from Getty Images before going head-to-head in a public competition. At the end of the voting period, Aurélie Lemellay from France emerged as the winner of the main prize; a £5,000 dream holiday from British Airways.

Canon has issued an update to its product advisory concerning an LCD illumination issue affecting its EOS 5D Mark III digital SLR camera. The company describes the problem as follows: if the LCD panel illuminates, the displayed exposure value may change. The phenomenon may occur in cameras whose serial number starts with "0" and the sixth digit is either "1" or "2"

The Lowepro Dashpoint AVC 1 and Dashpoint AVC 2 cases have been developed specifically for action cameras. "Ideal for adventurous locations the Lowepro Dashpoint AVC keeps all your gear safe and secure and helps protect against the environment and whatever you might throw at it," the company says. A lightweight composite shell construction provides high-impact-resistant protection – with a built in quick-grab handle for easy carrying and dual zipper opening for fast access. The stackable design also makes cases easy to store at home, in luggage or on location. The Lowepro Dashpoint AVC 1 (£26) is suitable for one action video camera plus accessories, and weighs in at only 0.3kg. The Lowepro Dashpoint AVC 2 (£30) accommodates two action cams complete with accessories.

Lowepro has released an updated and redesigned edition of its popular Toploader Zoom AW series. Available in 3 sizes, the Lowepro Toploader Zoom AW series bags are now lighter in weight, and feature a brand new mesh pocket and built-in key fob as well as new zippers with newly designed zipper pulls, which are easy to grip even in cold or wet conditions. Prices start at £30.

PhotoMatte by Plum Amazing is a new layout and graphics editor for Macintosh. With this app, you can easily create collages and montages courtesy of a host of built-in templates, backgrounds, frames, effects and more. The program also includes 15 integrated video tutorials to help you get going. PhotoMatte for Mac sells for $30, with a free trial version available.

International Garden Photographer of the Year is reminding interested photographers that entries for its Competition 8 "Macro" close on 30th  June. There’s a £500 cash prize for the winner, plus the opportunity for their image to be featured in the IGPOTY book and also the exhibition, which tours the UK and worldwide including Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, plus venues across Europe and venues as far afield as Sydney, Australia. International Garden Photographer of the Year has a top prize of £5000 cash for the overall competition and images entered in any of the special art projects can still be entered separately into the main annual competition.

TeoreX has released a new version of its intelligent resizing utility iResizer. Version 2.5 brings built-in aspect ratio presets for easier conversion of images to printer-friendly formats, optimised memory usage and a number of usability improvements. Users can now pick a destination aspect ratio, select the image elements they want to preserve, click a button - and watch the photo transform magically into a format that fills the target paper size completely while all important elements of the image remain intact. The program is available for Windows XP or higher and for Max OS X 10.7 or higher for $19.99.

Nikon has announced its sponsorship of a photography exhibition titled, Dennis Hopper: The Lost Album. Hosted at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, the exhibition will present more than 400 original photographs taken between 1961 and 1967 by Dennis Hopper, the American actor, film director, and artist. The photographs were personally selected and edited by Hopper for his first major exhibition at the Fort Worth Art Center in Texas in 1970, and the vintage prints were only re-discovered after his death in 2010. Jeremy Gilbert, Group Marketing Manager at Nikon UK, comments: “Hopper shot some fantastic images that reflected a personal perspective of an interesting period in history. Knowing that Hopper shot his work on a Nikon camera, with no formal training is truly inspirational and we look forward to celebrating his work with support of the exhibition this summer.” Te exhibition will run from Thursday 26 June – Sunday 19 October 2014.

Transcend today introduced the ESD400, its latest SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Portable Solid State Drive (SSD). Featuring storage capacities ranging from 128GB to 1TB, transfer speeds of up to 410MB/s read and 380MB/s write, and an extra durable and compact design, ESD400 SSDs are best suited for consumers demanding massive storage space and high-speed data transfer. The ESD400 USB 3.0 Portable SSD is equipped with a next-generation SuperSpeed USB 3.0 connection interface that provides 10 times the bandwidth of USB 2.0. With USB 2.0 backwards compatibility, the ESD400 ensures that users will be able to move files between computers that do not support SuperSpeed USB 3.0. Transcend’s ESD400 Portable SSDs are available in 128GB ($109), 256GB ($189), 512GB ($349) and 1TB ($699) capacities, and all models carry Transcend’s three-year limited warranty.

Canon has announced the upcoming launch of Digital Photo Professional (DPP) 4.0. The latest version of DPP - available for download at the end of this mont - has been updated with a number of new features and enhancements, These include faster, real-time adjustments, better integration with EOS Utility, movie playback support, improved raw file workflow, enhanced highlight recovery, and much more. A new colour adjustment palette allows hue, saturation and luminance adjustment for eight individual colour gamuts, enabling the user to adjust one specific colour in isolation without affecting the image as a whole. For those photographers with dual monitors, DPP now allows a secondary monitor to be used as the preview window on the primary display. Do note that DPP 4.0 will be compatible only with 64-bit operating systems.

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court approved the sale of the brand and assets of Tamrac to Gura Gear. Tamrac, which entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in early 2014 will continue to operate normally until the acquisition is finalised later this month. Once the transaction is complete, Gura Gear will relocate Tamrac's assets and expand its Ogden, Utah facilities.

The Tamron 28-300mm F/3.5-6.3 Di VC PZD is a new superzoom lens for full-frame cameras, featuring a Piezo Drive AF motor, moisture-resistant construction, and a more compact build than its immediate predecessor. Headline features include optical vibration compensation, advanced anti-reflection coating, four low-dispersion elements, three molded glass aspherical elements, one hybrid aspherical element, one extra-refractive-index glass element and one element of UXR (Ultra-Extra Refractive Index) glass. The lens will be available in the U.S. in both Canon and Nikon mount on June 26, 2014 at $849.