Tucson, Arizona based photographer Spencer Boerup has launched a Kickstarter campaign to help fund a new, magnetic system of mounting flash modifiers that works with almost any strobe. "For photographers, attaching a flash modifier is a chore," Boerup says. "Either you need a special mount designed just your flash, or you have to use velcro, elastic, or a whole slew of other materials just to get your modifiers to stay in place." Magmod promises to change it all. Each Magmod modifier attaches to your speedlight by magnetising to the MagGrip, an elastic,one-size-fits-all band that stretches around the flash head. The system is modular - in addition to the MagGrip, it currently includes the MagGrid honeycomb grid and the MagGel Kit, which comprises a gel slot and various colour temperature modifying gels. You can add as many modifiers as you want, simply stacking one on top of the other. Interested readers are encouraged to visit the project's Kickstarter page.

Optrix has announced two new products dubbed CycleX and PhotoX. The CycleX is billed as the first and only iPhone bike mount to offer portrait and landscape views while mounting in line with the bars to lower wind resistance and increase visibility. The PhotoX is a brand new, entry-level iPhone photography system featuring two all-glass lenses, bringing affordable pricing to the existing line of rugged, waterproof cases from Optrix. For more information visit the website below.

Olympus UK are offering a £100 Accessory Cashback voucher to anyone purchasing an E-M1 body or kit from authorised dealers. The offer is valid on any Olympus accessory worth over £199.99, and runs until 15 January 2014. For details visit the website below.

The 2014 Grant for Outstanding Personal Photography Project is open for submissions from photographers self-publishing on fotovisura.com. The grant aims to support personal photography projects and encourage the production and development of photography outside of the commercial realm, Members can submit a public or private album. The winner of the FotoVisura Grant will receive $2,000. The recipient of the Spotlight Student Grant will be awarded $1,000. The deadline for entries is 10 January 2014.

Momentage is a new social media platform where users can integrate photos, videos and SoundImages "to showcase a more artistic expression of reality." To craft a moment, users can select and edit photos and videos, or shoot photos and record up to 20 seconds of video. Once photos and videos are selected to be in a 'moment,' users can rearrange them by dragging and dropping each piece of media into a different area of the layout. Moments can be made public for general viewing by anyone on the app, or shared privately with just one person or a select group of followers. Momentage is currently available for iPhone and can be downloaded from the App Store.

In an open letter addressed to the Lomography community, Dennis Olbrich, president of Personalised Imaging at Kodak Alaris) has stated that Kodak will ‘continue to offer the full portfolio of photographic films and papers. "Whether you prefer shooting on the award-winning KODAK PROFESSIONAL PORTRA films or an all time classic like the KODAK PROFESSIONAL TRI-X or you look 
forward to print your images on the unmatched KODAK PROFESSIONAL ENDURA Metallic paper – Kodak Alaris will continue to offer all you need," Olbrich says. The Lomographic Society responded: "As partners in the mission to keep a great selection of film available for analogue photographers, we at Lomography are thrilled by this news."

Delkin's Fat Gecko Kaboom promises to provide its users with hundreds of new and unique ways to record video from perspectives that were "never before possible." This carbon-fibre action camera mount utilises interchangeable sections that snap together to make up five different mounts in one. The Fat Gecko Kaboom kit includes a Self-Portrait hand held extension, a High Angle Boom, a Vehicle Mount (which requires two separately sold Fat Gecko suction cup mounts), a Tripod Extender, and a Helmet Boom. "The most impressive of the five set ups has to be the Helmet Boom," says Marketing Manager, Anna Lopez. "A regular helmet mount captures either whatever the user sees from a POV perspective, or a close-up shot of the user's face with minimal room left for anything else. Because the Kaboom puts the camera twenty or so inches off of the user's helmet, you're able to capture the entire body, the user's surroundings, and any obstacles or equipment that is involved in the activity." The complete kit is available at retailers worldwide for $129.99.

Casio Japan has announced the Exilim EX-10, a raw-capable compact camera with a 1/1.7-type 12-megapixel sensor, 28-112mm (eq.) f/1.8-2.5 lens, an articulated screenm a dual-variable bracketing mode, built-in Wi-Fi and a magnesium alloy chassis. The dual-variable bracketing function allows the camera to shoot nine bracketed shots in rapid succession, varying two exposure variables. The Casio EX-10 will be launched on 29th November, at a price of approximately 80,000 yen.

Source: Casio Japan

Western Digital has expanded its recently introduced My Cloud family of personal cloud solutions with My Cloud EX4, a four-bay network attached storage (NAS) solution for creative professionals. Featuring the category leading WD Red line of hard drives specifically designed for home and small office NAS systems, My Cloud EX4 provides several capacity options ranging from a drive-less enclosure that allows customers to customise their capacity and add additional drives as their library of digital content grows, or an 8TB, 12TB or 16TB model. MSRP is $379.99 for the drive-less My Cloud EX4, $799.99 for 8TB, $949.99 for 12TB and $1,149.99 for 16TB.

Lowepro has confirmed its support for two teenage wildlife photographers – Alex Berryman and Kyle Moore. Over the past 3 years, North East Hampshire based Alex Berryman, now aged 16, has focused particularly on the birds of Britain. His work has been published in numerous national magazines, including BBC Wildlife Magazine, RSPB Phoenix magazine, Bird Watching and the Telegraph newspaper. Kyle Moore (pictured) is a 15-year-old wildlife and nature photographer based in Suffolk. His favourite subjects to photograph include barn owls, foxes, deer and kingfishers. Loraine Morgan, Senior Marketing Manager said: "We are very proud to already support some of the UK’s top photographers - but equally excited to be supporting and guiding the next generation... Both Alex and Kyle’s skill and enthusiasm caught our eye and we are really pleased to have them on board."

Manfrotto has launched an exclusive mini site for shopping during the Christmas season. The Manfrotto Christmas Shop  offers a range of ideas for Christmas gifts, both big and small, for photography professionals and enthusiasts alike. The site also features a section of advice and tips for photographers hoping to capture this year’s Christmas festivities with their cameras.With the opening of this mini site, Manfrotto has also launched an exclusive Christmas promotion. All Manfrotto UK products will come with free shipping during the Christmas period – this offer ends 31st December.

SmugMug has released an Android edition of its Camera Awesome app. The program offers a huge number of creative editing features, including hundreds of special effects, presets, filters and frames. In addition, there are numerous Android-specific features such as high-speed burst, panorama, and HDR photography, video image stabilisation, face recognition, manual ISO adjustment, multiple resolutions and selective editing. You can download the Camera Awesome app from the Google Play Store free of charge.

Brian Griffith has released Iridient Digital, an update to his photo editing software for Mac OS X. This edition adds support for raw image files produced by the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera, the Nokia Lumia 1020, the Nikon Df, the Olympus Stylus 1, the Pentax K-3, the Phase One IQ280, IQ260, IQ260 Achromatic, IQ160 and IQ140; and fixes bugs. Do note that this release is a paid upgrade for users who originally purchased a license prior to 1 April 2012.

Canon Japan has announced a white-grey edition of its EOS Kiss X7 (a.k.a. 100D and Rebel SL1) digital SLR camera. The first-ever white SLR from Canon is complemented by a 18-55mm STM and 40mm f/2.8 STM lens sporting the same colour scheme. Availability is slated for 28 November 2013. Pricing has yet to be communicated.

Source: Canon Japan

Nikon has updated its Capture NX and View NX applications. Nikon View NX 2.8.2 adds support for the Nikon Df (pictured) and D5300. Capture NX 2.4.5 also adds compatibility with these cameras and incorporates the following changes:

Blackmagic Design  have released Blackmagic Camera 1.5 software which adds new 12-bit Log CinemaDNG raw recording to their Pocket Cinema Camera. Wide-dynamic-range raw recording allows users to capture the brightest highlights and the darkest shadows simultaneously, capturing more of the scene than is possible with a regular video camera. In addition, high-quality lossless CinemaDNG files are fully compatible with DaVinci Resolve 10 for seamless colour grading and editing workflows. The Blackmagic Camera 1.5 update is available now free of charge from the Blackmagic website.