Macphun has announced its partnership with MILK Tailor Made Books. The first Macphun product to integrate MILK print services is Focus 2, which provides photographers with selective focus, creative blur, tilt-shift and motion blur effects and more. By accessing a new “Order Prints” command in the software, users can now turn their images into fine-quality postcards, folded notecards, framed gallery prints or wrapped canvas prints. The update to Focus 2 (Mac App Store version) and Focus 2 Pro that contains MILK print services is available today, free of charge to current owners of the product. To get the update, select the “Updates” button in the Mac App Store or choose “Check for Updates” in the Focus 2 Pro menu of the Pro software.

IT Supplies have announced four new additions to their Simply Elegant private label collection: Metallic Canvas, Fiber Gold 310, Premium Luster, and Photo Panel Displays. The Metallic Canvas joins the range of five metallic papers from Simply Elegant, whilst the Fiber Gold 310 baryta product can be embraced as a replacement product for past Ilford baryta users, the company says. Premium Luster boasts the best properties of non-glare paper selections, has a clean, bright white finish. Finally, the Photo Panel Displays are rigid, adhesive-faced panels with black edging, ready to receive an image by simply peeling away the release liner to adhere the print to the panel face. Three sizes are available: 5 x 7”, 8 x 10” and 11 x 17”, and are sold individually or in packs of 10, with prices starting at $7.99.

The 2014 Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition will be held from 1st - 18th May at Somerset House (Strand, London WC2R 1LA). In addition to the works of winning and shortlisted photographers of the 2014 Sony World Photography Awards, special curations include a collection of images by American photographer Mary Ellen Mark, the recipient of the Sony World Photography Awards’ Outstanding Contribution to Photography, plus exclusive Sony commissions of celebrated photographer William Klein and a group show by Panos Pictures photographers. British photographers in the exhibition include Spencer Murphy, Amanda Harman and Mary Turner. The exhibition will also include special displays of the winning, shortlisted and highly commended books of the KKF Book Awards for the Best Photography and Moving Image Books of the Year, and the winning and finalist images of a UK-wide student photography competition run in conjunction with Hotel Indigo.

​American photographer Mary Ellen Mark has been honoured with the 2014 Sony World Photography Awards’ Outstanding Contribution to Photography award. "Beginning as a freelance photographer often working on film sets, Mark’s career has spanned four decades and seen her travel extensively," the World Photography Organisation said in a statement. "Her work is characterised by a constant vision to make pictures that reflect a high degree of humanism and to capture and acknowledge people on the edges of society." A special retrospective of Mark’s work will be shown at Somerset House from 1-18 May as part of the 2014 Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition.

G-Technology has announced the first products in its new Studio line – the G-RAID Studio and G-Speed Studio. The G-RAID Studio is a high-performance storage system with hardware RAID. User-selectable in RAID 0, RAID 1 or JBOD, the G-RAID Studio features Thunderbolt 2 technology and has transfer rates up to 360MB/s for editing high-resolution photos or multiple streams of compressed 2K and 4K projects. The G-RAID Studio ships with two removable enterprise-class 7,200 RPM hard drives for total capacities up to 12TB. The G-RAID Studio will be available in May for an MSRP of $1,299.95 for 12TB, $849.95 for 8TB and $699.95 for 6TB.  The G-Speed Studio with hardware RAID is a four-bay Thunderbolt 2 storage solution that supports user-selectable RAID 0, 1, 5 and 10. Shipping with four removable enterprise-class hard drives, the G-Speed Studio will be available in May for an MSRP of $3,599.95 for 24TB, $2,699.95 for 16TB and $2,199.95 for 12TB.

G-Technology has announced the latest additions to its Evolution Series family – the G-Drive ev SSD and the 500GB G-Drive ev external drive modules. Offered in a capacity of 512GB, the G-Drive ev SSD (£374.95) is capable of delivering transfer speeds up to 480MB/s when paired with the Evolution Series G-Dock ev with Thunderbolt. The G-Drive ev 500GB is a 7,200-rpm portable hard drive offering upto 125MB/s transfer rates via USB 3.0, and is available for £74.95.

The 19th issue of Adore Noir Magazine is now available for purchase. Adore Noir is a fine art photography magazine available exclusively in digital format. Featuring photographs of deserted Baltimore buildings by Perry Manuk, images of Paris by Laurence Garçon, artistic nudes by Marc Koegel, and much more; this edition reinforces the magazine’s commitment to high-quality black-and-white Photography. The latest issue of Adore Noir is available for $2.95 from the website below.

Adobe has released final versions of Adobe DNG Converter 8.4 and ACR 8.4. These updates add support for the Canon EOS 1200D, Canon PowerShot G1 X Mark II, Casio EX-100, Fujifilm X-T1, Hasselblad H5D-50C, Hasselblad HV, Nikon 1 V3, Nikon Coolpix P340, Nikon D3300, Nikon D4S, Olympus OM-D E-M10, Panasonic TZ60 / TZ61, Samsung NX mini, Samsung NX30, Sony A5000 and Sony A6000 cameras, the Phase One IQ250 digital back (pictured) and the DJI Phantom quadcopter; similarly to Lightroom 5.4. Additionally, ACR 8.4 brings support for a host of new lens profiles, implements changes to local corrections and updates to the Preview Controls, and fixes bugs. Camera Matching color profiles for more than a dozen Fujifilm cameras have also been added.

Source: Lightroom Journal

Adobe today announced the availability of Lightroom mobile for iPad, a companion app to Lightroom desktop software, only available as part of Adobe Creative Cloud. The app enables iPad owners to sync mobile edits, metadata and collection changes back to the Lightroom catalogue on a Mac or Windows PC, automatically import images captured on an iPad and sync back to a Lightroom catalogue on the desktop, work on images even when your iPad is offline and sync photos between Lightroom 5 and Lightroom mobile. "With the launch of Lightroom mobile, we’ve unlocked professional-class photographic workflows from the confines of the desktop,” said Winston Hendrickson, vice president products, Creative Media Solutions, Adobe. "Lightroom and Photoshop redefined digital photography on the desktop and now, photographers can perfect images, wherever they are and, via Creative Cloud, seamlessly synchronise them back to their desktop catalogue.”

Datacolor has announced SpyderHD, a new flagship colour calibration suite for photographers. Designed to colour manage photo workflows, from scene, camera and editing, to final output; SpyderHD includes the Spyder4 ELITE HD integrated display calibration application and the innovative SpyderWEB, a universal mounting system that securely mounts the Spyder for calibration of most screens. In addition to display calibration offerings, SpyderHD consists of two important camera solutions: the SpyderCHECK colour reference and gray card system and the portable SpyderCUBE, which provides white balance, exposure, black level and highlight references. SpyderHD is available immediately for £229.

Blackmagic Design have announced the Blackmagic Studio Camera, which is billed as the world’s smallest live broadcast camera with the world’s largest viewfinder. Available in 1080 HD and Ultra HD models, the Blackmagic Studio Camera includes features specifically targeted at the requirements of live production. Inside the lightweight magnesium alloy body, the Blackmagic Studio Camera boasts a 10” viewfinder, 4-hour battery life, talkback, tally indicators, phantom powered microphone connections and built in optical fiber and SDI connections. Additionally, the Blackmagic Studio Camera features an active Micro Four Thirds lens mount meaning customers can start out with a more affordable setup based on photo lenses and then move to larger but more expensive ENG lenses (attached via an MFT-to-B4 lens mount adapter) as they grow their business, the company says. The Blackmagic Studio Camera HD is available now for $1,995. The Ultra HD version will be available in June for US$2 ,995.

The Blackmagic URSA is a new high-end digital motion picture camera featuring a user upgradable sensor and lens mount. Built to handle the ergonomics of large film crews as well as single-person use, the Blackmagic URSA has multiple accessories built in, including a massive 10 inch fold out on set monitor, Super35 size 4K image sensor and internal dual raw and Apple ProRes recorders. Because the sensor and lens mount assembly can be changed, customers can choose EF or PL lens mounts, or even a broadcast video sensor with B4 mount, then upgrade the camera in the future. The Blackmagic URSA EF model will retail for $5,995. The camera is now on display at the Blackmagic Design NAB 2014 booth (#SL219).

Kenro has launched the full range of Marumi EXUS UV filters in the United Kingdom. The Exus range features a special 'anti foul' coating meaning that in rain or inclement conditions water will be repelled off the surface. With a special black ink coating on the outer rim, the incidence of reflection is less than 0.3%. The filter mount is ultra-thin for wide-angle use and has light blocking ridges and a patented new glass securing system. Available in a range of sizes between 49mm to 82mm, the Marumi EXUS UV filter are available for £58.32 to £138.00.

Adobe has released an update to Lightroom 5. Version 5.4 adds compatibility with Lightroom mobile, fixes bugs, and adds support for the Canon EOS 1200D, Canon PowerShot G1 X Mark II, Casio EX-100, Fujifilm X-T1, Hasselblad H5D-50C, Hasselblad HV (pictured), Nikon 1 V3, Nikon Coolpix P340, Nikon D3300, Nikon D4S, Olympus OM-D E-M10, Panasonic TZ60 / TZ61, Samsung NX mini, Samsung NX30, Sony A5000, Sony A6000, Phase One IQ250 digital back and the DJI Phantom quadcopter. You can download the update from the website below.

Website: Adobe

Issue 38 of Landscape Photography Magazine is now available to download. This edition includes a test of the Sony A7R compact system camera, a guide to microphotography, a portfolio of images by Jens Inge Ringstad & Bjorn-Erik Thorud, a beginner's guide to exposure, an article on photographing wildflowers in Texas, and much more. Do note that the full contents of Landscape Photography Magazine are available to subscribers only.

JVC Kenwood has joined the Micro Four Thirds (MFT) standard. In a jointly issued statement, Olympus and Panasonic welcomed the move and added that JVC Kenwood would "soon be introducing an exciting new line of advanced new Micro Four Thirds products." In fact, the company already has two prototype video cameras on display at the NAB show in Los Angeles; the JVC GY-LSX2 and GW-SPLS1, each of which features an MFT lens mount and, perhaps surprisingly, a Super35 sized sensor (which is wider than most Four Thirds imagers but not really wider than the oversized multi-aspect sensor of Panasonic's GH series CSCs).

The Photographer's Guide to the Sony DSC-RX10 is a new title from White Knight Press. In this comprehensive guide book, author Alexander White discusses the RX10's numerous shooting modes as well as its menu options for shooting, playback, setup, and special effects. The book includes complete coverage of the Wi-Fi features of the camera, including the capability to transfer images and videos over a wireless network and to control the camera remotely with a smart device. In three appendices, the book provides information about accessories for the RX10, including cases, external flash units, and microphones, and includes a list of web sites and other resources for further information. The paperback version is available now at a retail price of $25.95 through Amazon.com and other online sellers. It also is available for the Kindle, Nook, and iPad through the normal channels for those formats

Kenro, the official UK and Ireland distributor of the Benro range of photo equipment, has announced the availability a larger size in its New Generation series of monopods. Manufactured from either aluminium alloy (BRA48F) or 8 layer Carbon Fibre (BRC48F) with a breaking point of 134 kg, the New Generation series of monopods have been designed for photographers who need a fast set up support. The new versions have a height range of 53cm to 161cm with a maximum load capacity of 20kg. The new larger sizes have SRPs between £71.88 and £143.88.

The Reflecta x8-Scan is a new device designed to digitise 35mm film. Featuring a 5-megapixel area-array CMOS sensor, the Reflecta x8-Scan comes with ArcSoft MediaImpression software, user manual, a cleaning brush, a mounted slide holder for 3 slides and film holder for up to 6 images. There is a one touch button on the device which connects to Windows and Mac computers via a USB port. The new Reflecta x8-Scan will be available from May in specialist shops at an SRP of £59.04.