onOne Software has announced a special upgrade offer for owners of Nik Software plug-ins. Anyone who owns any version of Color Efex Pro, Silver Efex Pro, HDR Efex Pro, Dfine, Viveza, Sharpener Pro, or the Nik Software Complete Collection may upgrade to onOne Software’s all-in-one image editing solution, Perfect Photo Suite 7 Premium Edition for $149.95, which is a 50% discount off the regular price. Perfect Photo Suite 7 Premium Edition includes the new Perfect B&W for black and white conversion, Perfect Portrait 2 for simply easy portrait retouching, Perfect Layers 3 for a layered workflow without Photoshop, Perfect Effects 4 for creative effects, Perfect Mask 5.2 for background replacement, Perfect Resize 7.5 for image enlargement and print preparation, and FocalPoint 2 for depth of field control after the shot. The Perfect Photo Suite 7 Premium Edition Upgrade for Nik Customers is now available from onOne Software.

Issue 13 of David Noton’s Chasing the Light eZine is now available. This special anniversary edition includes Garry Ridsdale’s exploration into the intricacies of auto focusing, David Noton’s account of his travels in Myanmar and Peru, an in-depth analysis of how useful the speed and auto focus performance of cameras like the Canon EOS 1DX are for general photography, and much more. Do note that the full contents of Chasing the Light eZine are available to f11 subscribers only.

Optrix has unveiled the XD5, a rugged wide-angle camera case for the Apple iPhone 5. Optrix’s XD5 camera case is made with a thinner, lighter and stronger body when compared to the Optrix XD Sports Case, but boasts a higher waterproof rating of up to fifteen feet. In addition, the XD5 incorporates a second door to access charging connectors and headphone jack, has an interchangeable conversion lens system and can be removed from the mounting system. The phone’s 1080p HD video is captured through our three layer, all glass, wide-angle lens. The kit includes the ultra-rugged main housing, iPhone 5 sled, 2 mounts (curved and flat) and the quick release rail system to securely mount the XD5 “just about anywhere.” The XD5 is available for pre order now at £89.95 to include delivery and will ship the second week in February.

Issue 24 of landscape photography magazine is now available for purchase. This month’s edition includes a guide to live view, a feature on Namibia, a review of the book “Unleashed 3,” a test of the Sigma SD1 Merrill digital SLR camera, an interview with Jeff Cable, and more. Do note that the full contents of Landscape Photography Magazine are available to subscribers only.

The 51st and 52nd issues of “On Landscape” magazine are now available for download. “On Landscape” is both a community and an editorial publication representing photographic styles from Ansel Adams to Andreas Gursky, Marc Adamus to Jem Southam, Eliot Porter to John Blakemore. January’s articles cover a wide variety of topics including the landscape of Morocco, variations in camera colour rendering, 3D photography, organising your images, an interview with Marc Adamus, and much more.

Photoshelter has just released The Photographer’s Outlook on 2013, a guide containing insights from more than 5000 members of the PhotoShelter community. Available as a PDF, The Photographer’s Outlook on 2013 reveals that photographers are optimistic about this year. Although many are still challenged to find new clients, they feel encouraged about their business prospects and plan to dedicate time and resources to marketing, solidifying their online presence, and improving their photography skills. To claim your free copy of The Photographer’s Outlook on 2013, visit the website below.

Website: PhotoShelter

After a successful Kickstarter campaign, Connected Data today launched Transporter, a private data sharing and storage solution that gives users ownership and complete control of their data and files. “What sets Transporter apart from all other solutions is the ability to communicate and share files with other Transporter devices located anywhere in the world,” the company says. “This ability eliminates all complexity associated with syncing files and delivers fast, local copies of data without having to move it into or out of the cloud. Compatible with any 2.5” SATA II/III hard drive, Transporter is available starting at a suggested retail price of $199 from a network of partners including Adorama, Amazon, B&H Photo, Datavision, J&R, Newegg, and PC Mall.

onOne has released Standard Editions of Perfect B&W, Perfect Effects 4, Perfect Portrait 2, and Perfect Mask 5.2. These Standard Editions work as standalone applications and allow for direct photo editing without the need for additional software such as Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, or Apple Aperture. “We all would like our pictures to look their best, whether we take them with our DSLRs or with our phones, but don’t always have a lot of time to work on them or even know where to start on how to make them better.” said Craig Keudell, president of onOne Software. “These new Standard Editions of our onOne Software products help every photographer make their pictures look better and inspire their creative process to create unique images they love.” Each of these Standard Editions may be purchased for $29.95 and delivered via download from ononesoftware.com.

Chrome has launched a new camera bag. Designed and built for day shooting and travel with a tough weatherproof denier nylon outer shell and military grade truck tarpaulin liner, the Niko camera pack has a fully customisable interior compartment for lenses and flashes, a padded laptop compartment and multiple pockets for cable and gear storage. The Chrome Niko Camera Pack has a suggested retail price of $180 and is available from select retailers or chromebagsstore.com.

Akvis has released MultiBrush 7.0, offering many improvements, more flexibility and new features. Billed as ” a real digital creative workshop,” Akvis MultiBrush runs on Windows XP/Vista/Win7/Win 8 and on Mac OS X 10.4-10.8, both 32 bit and 64 bit. The software can be used as a standalone program and as a plug-in to an image editor. Users who own old versions of the product can upgrade to MultiBrush v.7.0 free of charge.

Oloneo have updated their HDRengine and PhotoEngine applications to include support for 28 new camera raw formats. Newly supported cameras include the Canon EOS 6D, EOS 650D, EOS M, PowerShot G15, PowerShot S110 and PowerShot SX50 HS, the Fuji X-E1, XF1 and F800EXR, the Nikon D600, 1 J2, 1 V2 and Coolpix P7700m the Olympus E-PL5, E-PM2 and XZ-2, the Panasonic FZ200, G5, GH3 and LX7, the Pentax K-5 II, the Samsung EX2f and NX1000, as well as the Sony RX1, RX100, NEX-5R, NEX-6 and A99. Those who buy PhotoEngine today are entitled to a $30/€26 discount.

Corel Painter Master Jeremy Sutton will be hosting Painter Live! London; a free event aimed at digital artists. Held at the High Commission of Canada, Grosvenor Square, from 18:30 – 21:30 on 13th February; the event will involve live digital painting demonstrations as Jeremy uses Corel Painter 12 with a Wacom tablet to create artworks in a variety of styles and media. Jeremy will share his digital art experience of working from photographs as well as painting from life. Guests must register individually directly with Jeremy and spaces are strictly limited. Click through / scroll down for more information on the registration process.

Magix has released Magix Photostory Easy, a new easy-to-use program that allows users to transform their photos into movies including music and special effects. “The integrated Slideshow Maker makes the process simple by automatically combining the photos with transitions, music and dynamic camera movements,” the company says. “Users can also make use of the clearly designed interface to create their own customized slideshows and the one-click photo optimization feature, including red-eye removal, makes it possible to include photos in the slideshow that normally wouldn’t make the cut.” When the slideshow is finished, it can be exported with an animated menu to DVD or Blu-ray, mobile devices such as the iPhone, iPad or Android smartphones and tablet PCs. Users can also share their slideshows on social networks by exporting directly from the program to sites like Facebook and YouTube. Magix Photostory Easy is now available online and in stores for £39.99.

Available in 120 and 135 formats, Lomography’s new LomoChrome Purple 400 is a speciality film that transforms “every green element of your photo into radiant purples.” Although inspired by Kodak’s discontinued Aerochrome emulsion - an infrared-sensitive, false-colour reversal film -, the LomoChrome Purple 400 is actually a C-41 process negative film with a sensitivity rating of ISO400/27°, allowing it to be used in virtually any weather conditions with no need for filtration at the capture phase. The first film rolls will be available in July at a price of £8.90 (35mm) or £9.90 (medium format).

Want to see exactly what the new Olympus XZ-10 premium compact camera looks like in the flesh?

Check out our hands-on gallery of photos of the Olympus XZ-10 compact camera, including a side-by-side comparison with the previous XZ-1 model.

Although equipped with a much smaller sensor than the Olympus XZ-1 and Stylus XZ-2, the new Olympus XZ-10 may still be of interest to serious photographers owing to its bright lens, full set of manual controls, 120fps high-speed HD video recording capabilities and 40% smaller size.

Casio Japan has announced two new 16-megapixel models in its High-Speed Exilim line of digital compact cameras. The Casio Exilim EX-ZR700 comes equipped with a 25-450mm equivalent lens, a 3-inch, 920,000-dot LCD monitor. The Exilim EX-ZR400 has a 24-300mm equivalent zoom lens and a powerful battery rated for 515 exposures on a single charge. With the adoption of the latest EXILIM Engine HS Version 3, these two new models combine responsive operation and high-speed burst shooting. A new Triple Shot function allows the user to responsively capture three successive images with a single press of the shutter, while a new inset display enables the user to review shots shown in part of the LCD while taking photos. Both new models come with Premium Auto Pro, which automatically combines images taken with high-speed burst shooting according to the shooting conditions. International availability and pricing have yet to be confirmed.

The Fujifilm Finepix F850EXR is a new travelzoom camera with a 16-megapixel EXR-CMOS sensor and a 25-500mm equivalent lens. While the F850EXR lacks the 11fps burst mode and ultra-fast auto focus of the F900EXR, it’s still a highly responsive compact, with focus times as short as 0.21sec and a maximum continuous shooting speed of 9fps. Other highlights include full-manual controls, a sensor-shift image stabilisation system, Full HD video capture at a smooth 60fps with optical zoom, EXR-Auto, a 360° Motion Panorama mode, Film Simulation, Advanced Filters and Scene Recognition.