The Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM is Canon’s first ultra-wide L-series lens to feature image stabilisation. The lens’s optical structure includes two Ultra-low Dispersion (UD) elements to minimise chromatic aberration. Super Spectra Coatings reduce ghosting and flare, while fluorine coatings on the front and rear elements prevent dust and water drops sticking to each element. The newly-designed IS system features a number of additional improvements, including gyro sensors for greater accuracy in traditional shooting or when capturing panning motion. The EF 16-35mm f4L IS USM will be available from June 2014 with an SRP of £1,199.99 / €1,399.99 / $1,199.00.

The white-grey edition of the Canon EOS SL1 camera (originally launched in Japan as the EOS Kiss X7 White) will be available in the USA from the end of June. The white EOS Rebel SL1 camera is complemented by a matching white EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM lens. "[N]ew to the U.S. market, the white EOS Rebel SL1 Digital SLR camera with its companion white lens, provides users with high-quality images in a small, compact body that is easy to bring along on all their summer adventures," says Yuichi Ishizuka, president and COO, Canon U.S.A. The Canon EOS Rebel SL1 and EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM lens kit in white will retail for an estimated retail price of $749.99.

Profoto today released the first B1 off-camera flash kit. Containing 2 B1 off-camera flashes, two batteries, a Fast Charger that recharges the battery in one hour, and a Car Charger that plugs into any standard car cigarette connector and recharges the battery in two hours; the Profoto B1 Location Kit sells at £2,550 (+VAT). This represents a ~

AKVIS has updated its OilPaint software to Version 3.0. Available as a standalone application and as a Photoshop plug-in, AKVIS OilPaint is claimed to offer "an incredible algorithm" for turning photos into oil paintings. The software offers a number of ready to use presets, and allows users to share their favourites with other fans of the oil painting technique. The batch processing feature enables the program to automatically process a series of images in order to create a number of illustrations at the same style or to process all frames in a video. The updated version adds Extra Strokes, a Flat Brush option for the Oil Brush for changing the shape of the edges of the brush strokes and a brand new 3D Brush that lets you bring volume and relief to your painting. Version 3.0 is a free update for all OilPaint customers.

Roca London Gallery will host a photographic exhibition during the London Festival of Architecture (2nd June – 23rd August), exploring some of the capital’s key regeneration projects and their impact on the city’s inhabitants. Entitled Regenerating Capital: Healthy growth, healthy city?, the exhibition will explore the impact regeneration has on green spaces, small businesses, local communities and valued buildings while supporting an increasing population. The exhibition, which is free to visit and open to all, will provide a fascinating insight into how London is coping with the impacts of dramatic shifts within its demography, economy, inhabitants and ecology.

Photographers Lucy Harrison and Katherine Green have collaborated on a new project that surveys the former Warner Estate in the suburbs of East London. The project explores the changing uses of domestic architecture and communities, and compares two points in history of rapid change in East London. A mixture of contemporary photography and oral history will be presented alongside early 20th century photographs as well as other historical material related to the Warner Estate. The exhibition opens on Friday 30th May and runs through Sunday 15th June. To accompany the exhibition, a new limited edition book is also being published and there will be free walks, talks and events throughout.

Manfrotto has announced two innovative tools designed for 'strobists.' The Manfrotto Nanopole is a new lightweight stand that can be easily carried everywhere. The closed size is only 49cm (13.3in), and the stand guarantees a payload of 1,5Kg and outstanding stability. Its main characteristic is being a two-in-one product: pressing the button with Manfrotto’s logo, the central column can be pulled out and easily turns into a hand held boom. The Snap Tilt Head  is an innovative and versatile tilthead with pioneering features that make it unique in the market. The hot shoe attachment is compatible with all branded flashguns and the provided hole for umbrella, makes it the perfect choice for a great variety of situations.

The Profoto B1 off-camera flash has won a TIPA award. The Technical Image Press Association (TIPA) is an international, non-profit association supporting the interests of the photography and imaging magazine publishing industry. This year the association has named the Profoto B1 off-camera flash the Best Professional Lighting System. The jury said: "Battery-powered and cordless, the Profoto B1 has become an instant hit with pros that understand the benefits of the freedom and facility off-camera flash shooting affords. The system’s Air Remote TTL controller attaches to the camera’s hot shoe and becomes a command center for light output and balance, even for manual settings. Each monobloc styled flash can be assigned a channel and controlled from up to 1000 feet away, with results quickly previewed, checked and modified by the photographer without leaving camera position. The 500 w/s units have a 9-stop range, very fast recycling time and LED modeling light, and are powered by a lithium-ion battery with 220 full-power flash capacity."

Following the success of the inaugural ArtGemini Prize 2013 which attracted 744 entries from 33 countries, 15th May sees the launch of the ArtGemini Prize 2014. Open to all photographers and painters form anywhere in the world, the ArtGemini Prize is described as "a celebration to promote international contemporary art for emerging and established artists." A cash fund of £5500 will be awarded to the winners in 4 categories, Photography, Painting & Sculpture, Young Artist and Public Choice. The shortlisted entries will be exhibited in London and Singapore. Do note that entry fees apply. The deadline for entries is 7th September.

Three design students at Royal College of Art, London, have teamed up for a fun project about creating photography filters out of... sugar. "The Lomo Filter Kreator Kit is reintroducing the art of using photographic filters and gives the user full creative control," says project manager Morten Grønning Nielsen. "Having three silicon trays, one for flat filters, one for gradients and one for vignettes, the user can create filters in unlimited colours and compositions. The process is outrageously simple, using a special sugar called Isomalt, and sugarcolours, the filters can be created in a household microwave or oven. If they scratch they can be remolded into a new filter or even consumed. Making one filter takes about 2 minutes to create and 10 minutes to cool down. Using our kit, you could make around 50 filters for $10 worth of isomalt." To learn more, visit the project's home page on Behance.

The Vivo Xshot is an Android "phablet" with an f/1.8 lens. Manufactured by BBK, one of the biggest Chinese smartphone manufacturers, the Vivo Xshot has a 13-megapixel main camera with a head-turning f/1.8 lens, optical image stabilisation, dual LED flash, physical shutter release and 4K movie recording. It also has an impressive secondary camera with an 8-meegapixel sensor, 720p video and a LED flash, a 2,600mAh battery and a 5.2" Full HD touchscreen. The BKK Vivo Xshot will be available in two versions from the end of this month, priced at around CN¥3,500 and CN¥3,000. There is currently no word on international availability and pricing.

Via Engadget

Samsung today announced the Samsung NX3000, the latest edition to Samsung’s award winning NX series of compact system cameras. Key features include an APS-C sized 20.3-megapixel CMOS imager, 3" flip-up display,  5fps continuous shooting, Wi-Fi and NFC connectivity and a top shutter speed of 1/4000s. The NX3000 will be available in White, Black and Brown, and will feature Samsung’s new compact 16-50mm f3.5-5.6 Power Zoom ED OIS lens. Availability is slated for June, with pricing to be communicated.

Photo Shanghai is China’s first art fair dedicated to photography. Running from 5-7 September 2014, the Photo Shanghai fair will see as many as seventy leading galleries exhibit works from fine-art photographers and legendary photojournalists such as Josef Sudek, Edward Burtynsky, Nick Brandt, Robert Polidori, Peter Lindbergh, Patrick Demarchelier, Araki, Mokiyama, Martin Parr, Steve Mc Curry, Sebastiao Salgado and Henri Cartier-Bresson. Sandy Angus, co-founder of ART HK (now Art Basel Hong Kong) and Chairman of Montgomery and the World Photography Organisation, said: “The vast Asian art market has seen considerable growth over the past decade and in that time photography has been an ever-increasing part within the contemporary art space. China has the advantage of a treasure trove of ancient photographs as well as an appreciation of the medium of photography and its place in the art world. Photo Shanghai has the opportunity to draw on this interest amongst both Chinese and Asia-Pacific collectors.” For those wishing to showcase at Photo Shanghai, the application deadline is 30 May 2014.

Iridient Digital has released Iridient Developer 2.4, a major update to its critically acclaimed raw converter and image editor for Mac OS X. This update includes a number of new features to provide better integration with other photo management tools, in particular Lightroom and Aperture. New features include 'Find and Open raw' for doing a local search for the raw source of a standard image, the ability to overwrite standard images in place and support for automatically opening the raw source image when sent a standard image for external editing. Version 2.4 also adds support for the Leica T, Samsung NX mini, Canon Powershot G1 X II, Sony A77 II, Nikon 1 V3, Nikon 1 J4 and Panasonic DMC-GH4 cameras, and fixes bugs. Do note that this release is a paid upgrade for users who originally purchased a license prior to 1 November 2012.

Ilford Photo has decided to re-introduce its Ilfobrom Galerie FB Matt Double Weight Baryta Fibre Base photographic paper. This product has been brought back into the range due to customer demand from users of this flagship range of Graded Silver Gelatin Baryta papers who have long requested a matt alternative. Available in Grade 2 only, the Ilfobrom Galerie FB Matt paper comes in sizes ranging from 17.8cm x 24cm all the way to 50.8cm x 61.0cm. Shipping starts in June 2014.