BosStrap.com has announced a promotion valid on all BosStrap products. The BosStrap system differs in two important respects from other sling straps: the attachment point is the left camera strap lug, not the tripod socket, and with a BosStrap, a shoulder pad is not necessary.  The former feature means that the tripod socket is always available for its intended use, and the camera is carried with less chance of damage to internal seals and tripod thread; the latter feature means that with no shoulder pad, a BosStrap can be worn under a jacket concealing the strap which is great for street photographers, weather protection, and anti theft. New products in the line-up include the BosStrap Generation 3 Sliding Sling Strap (pictured) and the Ultra Light Hand Band. Throughout March, you can save 20% on any BosStrap products order through the website below. The discount will be automatically applied at checkout by entering the code photoblog20.  Do note that a minimum purchase of $17.00 USD is required to take advantage of this offer.

Website: BosStrap

The Maxell AirStash A02 Flash drive offers Wi-Fi as an option to connect to a PC, tablet or smartphone. This allows users to transfer their files simply and easily to almost any target device, even if it has no USB port. It also enables them to view their photos and videos on up to eight devices at once, without having to transfer the files. Additionally, the AirStash A02 features an SDHD card slot for storage, ships with a 16GB SDHD card,.“AirStash is the only device to combine the portability of a standard USB flash drive, the flexibility of SD flash media, the power of a media streamer, and the convenience of wireless two-way file transfer,” the company says. Note that in order to be able to use the AirStash A02 with a tablet or smartphone, users need to download the free AirStash+ Android / iOS app from Google Play or iTunes. The 16GB Maxell AirStash A02 is available from play.com and Amazon UK for a suggested retail price of £94.99.

Adata Technology has launched its Premier series SDHC, SDXC and microSDHC / microSDXC memory cards, all of which implement the UHS-I U1 specification. Offered in 8, 16, 32 and 64 GB capacities, the new Premier SDHC and SDXC memory cards are billed as an economical option for those looking to utilise the speed of the UHS-I U1 standard, with price points comparable to older class 10 cards. According to the manufacturer the 64-gigabyte SDXC cards can achieve sequential read and write speeds of up to 50 and 33 MB/second, respectively.

Click through / scroll down for the MSRPs of the Adata Premier SDHC and microSDHC cards.

Sigma has announced availability and pricing for the three lenses unveiled at the CP+ trade show held earlier this year in Yokohama, Japan. The new and restyled Sigma 19mm f/2.8 DN and 30mm f/2.8 DN (pictured) will be available for MFT and NEX cameras from late March, priced at £189.99 / $199.00 each. The Sigma 30mm f/1.4 DC HSM dSLR lens will hit the shelves in Canon and Sigma fit, in late March / early April respectively, priced at £499.99 / $499.00. The availability of the F mount version has yet to be announced.

The new Rollei Racy Full HD is a new action camera capable of shooting five-megapixel stills as well as 1080p movies. Weighing in at 72 grams and measuring just 74x52x33mm, the Rolley Racy is supplied with an underwater housing that’s waterproof down to 10 metres, and features a 135° ultra-wide lens and a 6cm touchscreen. The camera comes complete with a remote control, a helmet fixture, 3M attachment stickers, the underwater housing and a USB cable. The Rollei Racy Full HD will be available from the end of April in silver and black for a recommended retail price of €139,95.

The RawTherapee development team have announced that they’d completed Version 4.0.10 of the program, which shall be available to download “within a day or two.” This update adds an array of new and improved features, and includes DCP profiles for a number of new (and older) digital cameras and backs including the Leaf Aptus 75, Canon EOS 5D Mark III, the Nikon D800, the Olympus E-510, E-520, OM-D E-M5 and XZ-1, and the Panasonic DMC-G5. The new builds will be available in a few days from the website below.

Canon U.S.A. will showcase its breadth of input to output imaging devices at the 2013 Wedding & Portrait Photographer International (WPPI) Convention. On display at the Canon booth (#401) is a diverse selection of EOS camera models, including the EOS-1D X, 5D Mark III, 6D and 7D; a broad range of Canon EF lenses; some of the imagePROGRAF and Pixma Pro series of printers as well as the Canon DreamLabo 5000 production inkjet printer. For wedding and event videographers, the XF305 and the compact, highly portable XF105 professional camcorders are on display as well. Both deliver Full HD video utilising Canon-designed and developed native 1920 x 1080 CMOS image sensors, professional XLR microphone inputs, and Canon’s proprietary MPEG-2 4:2:2 50Mbps XF codec. The WPPI 2013 trade show is being held in the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas.

Issue 3 of GIMP Magazine, a free publication featuring works created by the worldwide community of GIMP users, is now available to download. This edition includes an article on photographing motion, a test and tutorial on G’MIC, a feature-by-feature comparison of GIMP 2.8 and Photoshop CS5.5 Extended, an extensive image gallery and interviews with photographers Andrea Zanovello and Cyril Bosselut - and much more. You can read the magazine online or download the latest issue as a PDF. A print version is also available for $23.

Facebook has announced a major redesign that sees the launch of several new features including a separate ‘Photos’ feed. In this new feed, you will be able to see photos shared by your friends - and the pages you’ve “liked” - displayed more prominently than in the current all-encompassing News Feed. Facebook says it will be rolling out the new design slowly over the coming weeks, but if you want to be among the first to experience it, you can add yourself to the waiting list at the website below.

Sekonic and X-Rite have launched the Litemaster Pro L-478D and L-478DR light meters bundled with the new special edition X-Rite-Sekonic ColorChecker Passport with Sekonic Grey balance Card. Using free software from Sekonic and X-Rite, this new bundle enables photographers and cinematographers to quickly and easily create an exposure profile of their cameras, calibrate their meters and create colour profiles. Incident-only calibration of Sekonic’s Data Transfer System enables creating exposure profiles for precise metering without the need for additional accessories. Incident and Reflected-light calibration requires the L-478 series View Finder 5°, available as a separate purchase, to read the Passport’s Sekonic grey card for calibrated reflected-light readings. Retail pricing is $512 for the Sekonic L-478DR and $438 for the Sekonic L-478D. Current Sekonic L-478D/DR owners can purchase this special edition of the X-Rite ColorChecker Passport with Sekonic Gray Balance Card at the special introductory price of $49.

X-Rite has announced its schedule of March 2013 webinars. The first online seminar, “Simply Amazing Colour: Take Control of your Monitor, Printer and Camera,” will take place from 12pm EDT on 18th March. This webinar will review the company’s ColorMunki solutions including software demonstrations and discussions of how each solution is used. The second webinar, “Professional Monitor Calibration for Still & Video,” will be held from 12pm EDT on 25th March, and will review how to access and utilise the video presets in i1Profiler software and briefly look at use of ColorCheckers in the video footage as a visual reference. Finally the third webinar, “Fine Art Travel Photography with Andy Katz” will take place from 11am and 1pm EDT on 27th March. Andy will talk about how he communicates with people, listens to their stories, and creates the relationships that allow him to capture beautiful and revealing portraits.

Starting today photographers living in the UK and Ireland can claim cashback on a range of Canon products including DSLRs, lenses and accessories, compacts, camcorders and printers. The amount of cashback ranges from £20/€25 on the PowerShot S110 camera (pictured) to £235/€300 on the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM and EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM lenses. To take part in the offer and check the terms and conditions, visit the website below.

Corel has launched VideoStudio Pro X6, the latest version of the company’s easy-to-use video editing software. This release adds support for Ultra HD and AVCHD 2.0 as well as motion tracking, a new Subtitle Editor, swappable tracks and much more. Also announced today is Corel VideoStudio Ultimate X6, a premium version which offers a multitude of high-end plug-ins from proDAD, Boris Graffiti and NewBlue. Suggested retail pricing for VideoStudio Pro X6 is £59.99 including VAT. Users of VideoStudio Pro X4 or higher are eligible for upgrade pricing of £44.99. VideoStudio Ultimate X6 is £79.99, or £59.99 for an upgrade.

Phase One today updated its Capture One software with the release of version 6.4.5. This edition includes support for Canon tethering on Mac OSX 10.8 and better support for Samsung EX2F files. The update is free to existing owners of all versions of Capture One 6.

McAfee Social Protection safeguards your Facebook photos by letting you control exactly who can view them. Available in desktop and Android editions, McAfee Social Protection enables you to authorise who can see your Facebook photos without allowing them to save, print, download, or screen capture the images. “In short, your photos stay your photos,” the company says. You can get the free app via the website below.

Panasonic has announced the upcoming release of firmware updates for the Lumix GH3 compact system camera and three Micro Four Thirds lenses. Scheduled to be available later this month, the Panasonic GH3 firmware upgrade will enable users to connect their camera to a PC over Wi-Fi by inputting the computer’s name, and add a 60p, 28Mbps Full HD video recording mode for MP4 movies. The firmware updates will also enhance AF speed and continuous shooting performance when using the camera in AF-C mode in conjunction with the 14-42mm, 40-150mm and 45-175mm lenses.

Panasonic has signed a partnership agreement with the Rankin Film Productions (RFP) to produce three 3-minute films using three Lumix GH3 cameras.  Aptly named ‘GH3-Minute Movies’, this campaign will showcase the GH3’s videography capabilities. Panasonic Lumix G product manager Barnaby Sykes commented: “We are excited about the prospect of what our latest Lumix GH3 can offer to creative filmmakers and wanted to find the right partner to help explore those possibilities. As soon as we met RFP’s roster of young director talent we knew we’d found the right team to put it to the test.” The ‘GH3-Minute Films’ will be released at the end of March and will be showcased across Panasonic’s digital and social platforms.