The Little Black Gallery and The Estate of Bob Carlos Clarke have embarked upon a new Kickstarter project to raise the funds to make a short-film entitled “Darkroom - The Obsessions of Bob Carlos Clarke.” Directed by the award-winning female duo Bert & Bertie, the film is intended to be a tribute to the legendary photographer whom Terence Pepper, Curator of Photographs at the National Portrait Gallery, described as ‘one of the great photographic image-makers of the last few decades.’ “We have decided to go down the film route, rather than a TV documentary, because we want to produce a creative piece of work that will last in perpetuity,” the filmmakers say. “We also feel that Bob would have loved the fact that two women are making a film about him.” To learn more, visit the film’s Kickstarter page.

Ten years ago today, Phase One released the first version of its Capture One raw conversion and image editing software that added support for DSLR cameras. “
Born in the late 1990s to process raw files exclusively from Phase One’s first digital image capture devices, the software that would become Capture One was one of the first raw conversion solutions,” the company said in a statement. “Its general availability in 2003 helped support a growing DSLR market.” The latest iteration, Capture One 7, is localised for Simplified Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Russian, and Spanish.

Canon has updated its next-generation photo management solution, Project 1709 beta, introducing version 1.1 with Flickr integration. This update makes it possible to publish images and comments directly to Flickr from within the Project 1709 interface, as well as to pull in images already stored on Flickr, and additionally offers new management and organisation features. Consumers interested in participating in the beta programme can register at the website below.

The Trygger camera clip, a detachable iPhone 5 accessory that incorporates a polarising filter, is now available for purchase. Funded through Kickstarter, the Trygger camera clip’s integrated polariser reduces glare and cuts out unwanted reflections off non-metallic surfaces, while delivering richer colours and superior contrast. Priced at $39.99, the Trygger camera clip is available through the BiteMyApple webshop in a choice of white and black.

Greg Dash, a graduate student from South Wales, has designed a tiny, 12-megapixel digital point-and-shoot camera with a 170° fisheye lens. “Originally, I designed the camera for myself after being unable to afford a good fisheye lens for my DSLR,” the inventor says. “After I began using the camera, people started to stop me in the street and ask where they could buy one – so I’ve decided to try to raise the funds to allow people to get their own little fisheye cameras.” To that end, Greg has launched a project on crowfunding website IndieGogo, and managed to raise nearly £17,000 in just two weeks - but in order for the project to succeed, he’ll need another £18,000. With 16 more days to go, that doesn’t seem unfeasible - so if you’ve fallen in love with the tiny lo-fi digicam - which also boasts a time lapse mode, HD video and microSD storage -, head to the website below.

The Minox DCC (Digial Classic Camera) 14.0 is a new miniature camera with a fourteen-megapixel sensor. Essentially an updated version of the Minox DCC 5.1, which was released in 2010, the Minox DCC 14.0 features a CMOS imager, VGA video, 2-inch rear display, 41mm equivalent lens and a detachable eye-level optical viewfinder. The range of optional accessories includes a wide-angle and teleconverter, classic camera flash, soft leather bag, metal lens cap and various straps. The tiny camera measures 82x67x46mm and weighs 113.5 grams. Drawing power from a proprietary lithium ion battery and recording images on SD(HC) memory cards, the Minox DCC 14.0 is available in black and silver, priced at around £170/$240.

Via 1001 Noisy Cameras

PhotoShelter has recently published its latest guide. Pricing Your Work: Magazine Photography. Filled with insights on how to develop an estimate for potential magazine assignments, the guide also includes 6 tips to help photographers profit from these shoots, a look at the three basic types of magazine contracts, the most common magazine shoot expenses, plus FAQs and other online resources.

Website: PhotoShelter

BeFunky has unveiled an upgraded, interactive online photo gallery. The new Channels feature takes into consideration the kinds of photos people love looking at, and not only helps them find those pictures, but gives them the tools to see the content in a variety of ways. Filtering options are incorporated throughout the gallery, giving people an “unparalleled” amount of control, the company says. BeFunky has also created a sophisticated algorithm that takes into account numerous factors to help photos get noticed.The latest version offers a new screen for saving and sharing photos across multiple social networks at once. Finally, BeFunky has added new features that let users customise their user profiles.

The Lowepro Flipside Sport 20L AW photo backpack, which launched last week in the US, is now available in the UK. The lightweight and breathable bag fits 2 pro SLR cameras with integrated grips (one with attached 300mm f/2.8 lens, 2 extra lenses and a flash, a tablet or laptop, tripod or monopod,, a battery charger and other accessories plus trekking poles and other personal gear. The Flipside Sport 20L AW carries a recommended retail price of £145.

The World Photography Organisation (WPO) has announced the winners of the Open, Youth and 3D categories in the 2013 Sony World Photography Awards. Judged on a single image taken by an amateur photographer, the winning Open category photographers were selected from nearly 55,000 entries. The winners include Martina Biccheri, Gilbert Yu, Hoang Hiep Nguyen, Elmar Akhmetov, Krasimir Matarov, Yeow Kwang Yeo, Hisatomi Tadahiko, Mac Kwan, Matías Gálvez and Manny Fajutag. Open to photographers aged 19 and under, the Youth competition looks to uncover the next-generation of photography talent. The category winners include Alecsandra Dragoi, Xu Wei Shou and Berta Vicente. The winner of the 3D category is Matjaž Tan?i?.

The XL Pro Kit is a new addition to the Rogue FlashBender lighting system. The kit includes a FlashBender XL Pro white reflector, an XL Pro Strip box diffuser, an XL Soft Box diffuser and a reversible XL Pro silver/black reflector. The Rogue XL Pro Lighting Kit is available to buy now, at a guide retail price of £90.

The Wacom Cintiq 13HD is a new 13-inch interactive pen display. Aimed at creative professionals working in areas such as design, art and image editing, the Cintiq 13 HD combines a 13” HD screen, slim and compact design, simple setup, an adjustable stand and an improved pen for creating directly on the screen. The new Wacom Cintiq 13HD will be available for £749.99 (incl. VAT) / $999.99 from April 2013 onwards.

The Red Bull Illume Image Quest, billed as the world’s greatest photography contest for action and adventure sports, is open for entries. Photographers can submit images to 10 categories: lifestyle, playground, energy, spirit, close up, wings, sequence, new creativity, experimental and illumination. Submissions are accepted through 30th April.

RCP-Technik has had to rename the recently announced Rollei iSY photo printer for legal reasons. The new name is simply “Rollei Photo Printer.” Available in two versions, with or without Wi-Fi, the Rollei Photo Printer is a dye-sublimation printer that can output prints of up to 10x15cm (4"x6”) from regular photos and up to 10x45cm (4"x18”) from panoramic images, at a resolution of 300dpi. The simpler version is available for €159.95. The Wi-Fi version retails at €179.95. Each printer comes with a starter cartridge. Replacement cartridges - sufficient for 36 borderless prints in 10x15cm format - are priced at €13.99 each.

Martin Usborne’s new photographic exhibition, The Silence of Dogs in Cars, is now on display at the Little Black Gallery in London. Usborne’s photographs focus on the ever-curious relationship between humans and other animals. The Silence of Dogs in Cars was inspired by a childhood memory of waiting in a car whilst his parents were shopping in a supermarket, and the youthful fear that they would not return. He will be signing copies of his book of the same name, which was awarded ‘Best in Show’ in the Creative Review Photography Annual, on Saturday 23rd March from 11:30am-12:30pm. The exhibition is on show until 27th April. The Little Black gallery is located at 13A Park Walk, London SW10 0AJ.

Amazon has recently added a new tool helping users find the ‘right’ lens for their cameras. After selecting their camera brand, series and model, customers are presented with a matrix showing all available lenses for the chosen camera. They can then filter the results by lens brand (if more than one is applicable) and lens type (such as fisheye, telephoto, macro etc.). It seems that the project is currently going through a “soft launch” phase as the ‘Find Lenses for This Camera’ link is not yet available with every interchangeable-lens camera carried by Amazon - only select models, with presumably more coming soon.

Via 1001 Noisy Cameras

JVC has developed two new professional camcorders, branded as “Mobile News Cameras.” The JVC GY-HM600 and the JVC GY-HM650 are nearly identical handheld camcorders, designed for traditional HDTV broadcast productions as well as Internet distribution. Each features three Full HD 1/3” CMOS sensors and a Fujinon 23x zoom lens, with a 35mm equivalent focal range of 29-667mm, and separate controls for zoom, focus and iris. The JVC GY-HM650 additionally boasts Wi-Fi connectivity with the ability to upload footage directly to a remote server as an FTP client. The JVC GY-HM600 and the JVC GY-HM650 digital video cameras are available from B&H.

Reuters photographer Dylan Martinez used a huge Zoom-Nikkor 1200-1700mm f/5.6-8P IF-ED super-telephoto lens to take photos of Pope Francis from ground level on Saint Peter’s Square. This is a rare but not exactly new manual-focus lens - in fact it was first used at a Japanese tournament held in March 1990. The large (888mm long), expensive and unwieldy (16kg) lens isn’t often seen out in the wild but when you do see one in person you won’t mistake it for anything else. Italian newspaper La Stampa published a couple of pictures of Martinez working the monster lens on 12 March 2013 here. The pictures he took with the rare super-telephoto zoom appeared on the Reuters blog as well as in publications worldwide.

Via MLZPhoto