Our sixth award is for Compact System Camera of the Year 2012, which goes to the Olympus OM-D E-M5.

“The OM-D E-M5 is the best Olympus compact system camera to date, and also a strong contender for best compact system camera full stop. It delivers a compelling mix of classic looks, excellent image quality, an extensive feature set and immediate responsiveness, with the camera so well designed that it rarely gets in the way of the creative process. The E-M5 may hark back to a bygone era, but it’s definitely bang-up-to-date in all the places that count.”

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Congratulations to Olympus and the OM-D E-M5!

Mounting between a mirrorless camera and an SLR lens, the Speed Booster adapter from Metabones and Caldwell Photographic increases maximum aperture by a full stop (hence its name) and has a focal length multiplier of 0.71x. This essentially means that full-frame SLR lenses can be used on a compact system camera with an APS-C sized sensor with (almost) the same angle-of-view coverage as originally designed. For example, a 28mm lens becomes a 19.9mm with the Speed Booster - if you then mount it on a camera with a 1.5x “crop factor” you’ll end up with a 29.8mm equivalent solution. The first Speed Booster enables users to mount Canon EF lenses to Sony NEX bodies, with auto-aperture, image stablisation, EXIF and (slow) autofocus support for post-2006 Canon-brand lenses. It will be available in later this month from Metabones’ website and its worldwide dealer network for $599 plus shipping and applicable taxes and duties.

Photo Restoration and Retouching Using Corel PaintShop Pro X5, by Robert Correll is a new title from Course Technology PTR.  This completely new edition is a comprehensive guide to using the latest version of Paintshop Pro to improve your photographs. The 384-page paperbackincludes tips on solving color problems, removing specks and dust, retouching people, and more. Available from Amazon, the book retails for $44.99.

Sigma has announced a new promotion enabling anyone who purchases the Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM telephoto zoom lens to claim £50 cashback. This is a short-term offer running until 28th February and valid on lenses imported by Sigma Imaging UK only. You can download the application form from the Sigma website.

X-Rite’s redesigned i1Pro 2 spectrophotometer has received the 2013 iF Product Design Award. This device can be found in X-Rite’s i1Basic Pro 2, i1Photo Pro 2, and i1Publish Pro 2 products. “X-Rite is honored to be selected for this coveted iF product design award for our thoughtfully redesigned i1Pro 2 spectrophotometer,” said Frank Maeder, X-Rite Product Manager, i1 Solutions. “Recognized for its high quality design, the i1Pro 2 device helps deliver to color professionals around the world the workflow tools they need that incorporate ever important emerging color standards. Our highly talented product designers Guido Franzke and Detlef Fischer from formmodul have truly proven that they delivered world class industrial design with the i1Pro 2.”

The Lomography Smartphone Film Scanner offers a convenient option to digitise your 35mm film shots using your smartphone. Small and portable, the Lomography Smartphone Film Scanner comprises a light source, a simple manual film advance mechanism, a rectangular tube and an adjustable smartphone holder. Users can digitise their transparencies or negatives simply by turning on the back-light, positioning the film and taking a photo with their phone. Though obviously limited by the capabilities of the camera module built into your phone, the Lomograph Smartphone Film Scanner provides an easy and efficient way to “scan” and share your analogue pictures. The Lomoscanner app, available for Android and iOS, will allow users to convert negative scans into positives, stitch together scans into seamless panoramas and animate 35mm analogue movies shot using the Lomography LomoKino camera. The device is currently exclusively available on Kickstarter with expected delivery in March.

Phase One has released Capture One Pro 7.0.2 Available now, this update adds preliminary support for raw files generated by the Fujifilm X-Pro1, Fujifilm XE-1, Fujifilm XF1, Canon EOS 6D, Canon EOS M, Sony SLT-A57, Sony NEX-5R, Olympus XZ-2 iHS, Canon 1D X and 5D mark III (sRAW and mRAW); and incorporates a number of bug fixes and minor improvements.

Our fifth award is for Compact Camera of the Year 2012, which goes to the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100.

“Sony have not only blurred the lines between compact and compact system in terms of the RX100’s features, performance and image quality, but somewhat inevitably perhaps also in terms of its price. $650/£550 is more than many mirrorless cameras and even some DSLRs too, but on the other hand this is no humble compact. The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 is the first truly pocketable camera to offer a DSLR experience, and in that regard it could almost be seen as something of a bargain - it’s certainly deserving of our highest Essential! accolade.”

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Congratulations to Sony and the Cyber-shot DSC-RX100!

The Samsung WB2100 is a 16.3-megapixel bridge camera with 35x optical zoom. Featuring an optically stabilised 25-875mm equivalent superzoom lens with a maximum aperture of f/3.0 at the wide end and f/6.0 at full telephoto, the Samsung WB2100 is capable of recording moving pictures in full 1920 x 1080 / 60i resolution, in addition to capturing sixteen-megapixel stills. Other highlights include a sweep panorama mode, a 3-inch tilting screen and automatic scene recognition. Pricing to be confirmed.

Talenthouse has announced a new Creative Challenge for photographers. City Academy, a London-based performing and creative arts academy, is inviting aspiring photographers to submit their best images portraying the creative arts. One winner will be selected by the team at City Academy and will receive £500 along with a year’s worth of courses. They will also gain exposure on the academy’s website, blog and Facebook page. The deadline for entries is 5 February 2013.

Website: Talenthouse

Internationally renowned photographer Steve Bloom is set to visit seven regional venues across England and Wales between January and March as part of the Royal Geographical Society (with The Institute of British Geographers)’s regional theatres programme. In his talk, ‘Living Africa’, Steve will set out the challenges faced by Africa’s people and environment in the 21st century and in the bi-centenary year of explorer David Livingstone’s birth. The tour will call at theatres and art venues in Brecon, Darlington, Keswick, King’s Lynn, Southampton, Stamford and Taunton. Click through / scroll down for the detailed programme schedule.

BrainDistrict has released version 1.5 of its photo editor, PaintSupreme. The program features the seamless integration of filters and effects created in BrainDistrict’s IFX-Supreme product.  With v1.5, users can load new filters and effects created in IFX-Supreme directly into PaintSupreme and immediately drag-and-drop them onto their photos. Additionally, the editor has become significantly faster. Much of the increased speed comes from improvements in the way transformations such as rotation and scaling are done. Users will see faster performance when operating on an entire layer or on a selected area. PaintSupreme v1.5 is available from the Mac App Store at the special introductory price of $9.99 (regular price $19.99). Current registered users of PaintSupreme can download the new version for free at BrainDistrict.com.

The Rollei Powerflex 240 HD is a compact superzoom camera with a 16-megapixel sensor and 24x optical zoom. Featuring a 25-600mm equivalent f/3.0-6.9 lens with optical image stabilisation, the Rolle Powerflex 240 HD comes equipped with a 1/2.3” CCD made by Sony. In addition to capturing high-resolution stills, the camera can also record high-definition video clips at a resolution of 1280x720 pixels and 30fps. The Rollei Powerflex 240 HD will go on sale in mid-January at a recommended retail price of $149.95.

Giotto’s has launched a brand new range of tripods featuring a totally unique, patented design. The Giotto’s Silk Road YTL Series replaces the entire range of Giotto’s MTL tripods and comes with a new Y-shaped centre column (see cross-section above) allowing legs to be stowed in a much more compact fashion. The new Y-Tube column allows a 30% space saving versus the MTL range – while maintaining full strength, stability and weight capacity, the company claims. The Silk Road Series includes a range of tripods, which support up to 5kg, 8kg and 10kg of camera equipment. The new range also features graduated leg markings and new, patented Quick Easy Leg Lock adjustments for fast, accurate adjustment without taking your eye off the subject. On the models with 2 way centre column, there’s also a bubble spirit level built in and all models feature a swappable tripod thread. The aluminium models start at £100, while the carbon fibre versions are available from £220.

Reallusion has released CrazyTalk7, a new application that allows users to create animated talking characters from any digital photograph. Featuring voice-driven animation tools, CrazyTalk7 offers advanced auto animation and key editing functions that enable users to generate more natural, elaborate and life-like animations. “In the past 10 years, we have devoted efforts to providing the most user-friendly and time-saving animation software available, with an affordable price for users ranging from beginners to pro level.  CrazyTalk7 has been carefully refined by automating animation principles that aim to boost production for media professionals and working artists, while at the same time reducing the learning curve for beginners, students and educators.  With the new auto motion technology, we create unlimited possibilities in CrazyTalk7”, said Charles Chen, CEO of Reallusion. “This is an important step in generating facial animations in a minimum amount of time.” CrazyTalk7 is available for Windows PC and Mac, in Standard version at £29.99 and PRO version at. £109.99.

Positive View Foundation has unveiled details of its next major exhibition to be held at London’s Somerset House, entitled “Landmark: the Fields of Photography.” A sweeping overview of the rich genre of 21st century landscape photography, the novel exhibition is the first of its kind anywhere to show both the harsh, even brutal realities of the changing environment, as well as its enduring and stunning beauty. Focusing on our rapidly changing planet, ‘Landmark: the Fields of Photography’ features more than 170 original works of art taken by enterprising photographers employing technology ranging from 19th Century plate-camera techniques to the use of planes, drones, robots and even satellites to capture vivid images of earth’s varied terrain – and even distant planets. Sponsored by Barclays, the “Landmark” exhibition will take place from 14 March - 28 April 2013.

Sony has unveiled its newest range of Handycam branded Full HD digital camcorders. This year’s models include the Handycam PJ780VE, PJ650VE (pictured), PJ420VE, PJ320E, CX410VE, CX280E and CX220E. Key features include Balanced Optical SteadyShot, enhanced wide-angle performance, new ‘Multi Terminal’ interface and upgraded audio with an expanded dynamic range. Three models - including the range-topping PJ780VE as well as the PJ650VE and PJ320E - incorporate built-in projectors with boosted light output and upgraded resolution. New camcorders above the HDR-PJ/CX400 series feature the ‘Multi Interface Shoe’, which accommodates accessories . including external microphones - that draw power from the camera. The new range of Sony Handycam HD camcorders will be available in the UK from February 2013.

Canon has added two new full-frame, 4K-ready prime lenses to its EF Cinema Lens line-up. Designed to work with Canon’s EF mount, the new CN-E 14mm T3.1 L F and the CN-E 135mm T2.2 L F lenses incorporate anomalous dispersion glass and large diameter aspherical lenses to deliver high-resolution images, as well as Canon’s latest broadcast lens coatings to reduce ghosting and flare. Both the CN-E 14mm T3.1 L F and the CN-E 135mm T2.2 L F feature markings on angled surfaces on either side of the lens barrel, making focus and aperture settings easy to read from behind or either side of the camera. A focus rotation angle of approximately 300 degrees facilitates precise focusing adjustments during shooting, while the focus markings can be switched from metric to imperial labelling as required. Each lens has an 11-bladed iris diaphragm for pleasing bokeh. The CN-E 14mm T3.1 L F will be available from May 2013 with a SRP of £ 3,966.00 + VAT. The CN-E 135mm T2.2 L F will go on sale in June 2013 with an SRP of £ 3,793.00 + VAT.

Our fourth award is for Lens of the Year 2012, which goes to the Panasonic LUMIX G X VARIO 12-35mm F2.8 ASPH.

“The LUMIX G VARIO 12-35mm F2.8 ASPH standard zoom offers a versatile focal range and a fast maximum aperture in a relatively small package, backed-up by excellent image quality throughout the focal range, the best build quality of any Panasonic Micro Four Thirds lens yet released, a tactile manual focusing system and impressively fast and quiet autofocusing.”

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Congratulations to Panasonic and the LUMIX G X VARIO 12-35mm F2.8 ASPH!