Akvis has released versaion 5.0 for Windows and MacOS. of its NatureArt image manipulation software. Described by its developers as “an excellent tool for imitating the magnificence of natural phenomena”, Akvis NatureArt lets photographers choose from up to nine nature effects. The new version adds the new Rainbow effect, new presets to the Rain and Water effects, an all-new History Brush tool (Deluxe and Business editions only) plus the also-new Hand and Zoom tools, and compatibility with MacOS X 10.8 and Windows 8. Additionally, the Lightning effect has been considerably improved, and the option to create a new image with a transparent background has been unlocked in the standalone version. The update also incorporates a number of bug fixes. Akvis NatureArt sells for $72 for the Home edition (either Plugin or Standalone, 7 effects), $129 for Home Deluxe (Plugin and Standalone, 9 effects and History Brush), $189 for Business (Plugin and Standalone, 9 effects and History Brush, for commercial use).

Action Cameras has teamed up with Tiffen in a competition to find the best film-making talent in action sports. There will be two rounds of judging – for Round One, a committee of experienced film makers will select five finalists from all the entries and they will receive a GoPro HERO3 Black Edition action camera and a Steadicam Smoothee, a prize worth £528. The finalists will then be judged against each other in Round Two to find the overall winner who will win a prize worth over £3000, comprising a digital SLR camera with kit lens,a Lowel Blender LED light, a Tiffen ND filter kit, a Domke 416 Roller Case and a copy of the Tiffen Dfx 3.0 video plug-in.

Two months after issuing a development notice, Olympus today officially announced the M.Zuiko Digital 17mm f/1.8 lens. Designed for street photographers, this new, fast moderate wide-angle lens for the Micro Four Thirds system features a maximum aperture of f/1.8 plus depth-of-field and distance indicators. These come into play when the lens is set to MF mode, enabling users to utilise the time-honoured technique of zone focusing, which is great news for street photographers. More than a full stop faster than the existing Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 17mm f/2.8 (read review), the new M.Zuiko Digital ED 17mm f/1.8 features the faster MSC (Movie & Stills Compatible) auto focus mechanism. The new M.Zuiko Digital 17mm f/1.8 lens will be available in December, at a price of £449.99/$499.99.

Hands-on photos: Have a look at our gallery of 22 hands-on photos taken at the Photokina show in September.

WebRotate 360 today launched its new online 360° photography equipment store, featuring photography hardware, software and accessories for product photography studios. “At WebRotate 360 we helped hundreds of our clients to succeed by delivering a unique mix of services ranging from 360-degree product photography to interactive digital media and e-commerce software,” said Dimitri Bir, Founder of WebRotate 360. “Today we are ready to share our first-hand experience, our know-how, and professional equipment and software with everybody.” To find out more visit the website below.

‘Travels with Michael Palin’ (3 December - 25 January 2013) is a new, free exhibition at the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) from December 2012. Providing an intimate look at the work of Basil Pao, who has expertly captured thousands of still photographs of Michael’s travels around the globe, the exhibition reflects the global diversity and range of people and places encountered by Michael Palin on his travels. Dr Rita Gardner, Society Director, said: “We are delighted that Basil has chosen to exhibit his work at the Society - not only is this a very fitting way to celebrate Michael’s contribution to the Society as President over the past three years, but also a natural fit with our own rich photographic collections which span the history of travel and exploration since the invention of photography.”

Fotodiox has launched an iPad version of its CamHoodie lens hood adapter, which is claimed to “greatly reduce"s the lens flare or “purple haze” effect.The CamHoodie lens hood is made of a high-grade rubber-like material that is highly durable and works to reduce lens flare on photos by blocking stray light rays from entering the lens elements from the edges of the frame. The rubber piece cocoons the lens and helps reduce reflections inside the lens from bright lights. The CamHoodie for iPad mini is now available for pre-order through the Fotodiox website for $29.95.

We’ve teamed up with Photospecialist to give away a Domke F2 bag and a Davis & Sanford Magnum XG tripod to one lucky winner, worth £209!

The lucky winner is Peter Boyle. Congratulations!

Foto Konijnenberg has been a major player in the Dutch and Belgian photo markets with retail shops in both countries since 1974. In 1999 they were the first retail store with a webshop and very soon their customers appreciated that the knowledge and service that was offered in the stores could also be found on the website. In the UK, Germany and France they are now trading as “PHOTOSPECIALIST”. In the near future Photospecialist will open online and physical shops in more countries in Europe – the logistics, sales and marketing will remain centralised in The Netherlands. In The Netherlands and Belgium the name Foto Konijnenberg will be maintained for the time being. Photospecialist will stay focused on both professional photographers and hobbyists, emphasising the high quality products from many of their partner brands, great customer service and providing a rapid courier service. One of the many unique selling points of Photospecialist is that they offer a Two Year Guarantee on all products sold – with the option of a low-cost two year extension (The 2+2 Year Guarantee Plan).

Jim Domke invented the F2 bag when he was working as a photojournalist on the Philadelphia Enquirer. He had the first one custom made for his own use in 1976, and the F2 is still one of the most popular Domke Bags today. Designed so that the photographer could get at equipment instantly, without having to take the bag from their shoulder, it includes an adjustable non-slip Gripper™ Strap with durable cotton webbing, removable bottom stiffener, removable hand carrying strap, YKK zippers, and steel snap hooks.

Davis & Sanford’s Magnum XG Tripod offers solid support for your DSLR, compact camera, camcorder, or scope - it can be operated from 20.32 cm to 182 cm off the ground. The 3-section aluminium legs and 2-section centre post provide rapid and secure adjustment, and the rubber feet add stability. The Magnum XG can support up to 6.8 kg, and weighs just 3.03 kg. A bottom centre post hook allows you to hang equipment or other weight for increased stability, and a tripod bag is included.

The winners of this year’s Black+White Photographer of the Year competition have just been announced. The overall winner is Clayton Bastiani, a fine art photographer specialising in providing imagery for the book cover industry. His prize is a Leica M Monochrom complete with a Leica Summicron-M 35mm f/2 lens. Antal Bánhegyesy from Transylvania and Tori Khambhaita from London have scooped the title of Young Photographer of the Year. Category winners include Adrian Bowd (The Human Spirit), Rinzing Kelsang (This is Life) and Gary Groucutt (The Living World). The winners will be announced formally at an exclusive event at the Leica studio in Mayfair, London on 15th November.

PNY Technologies today unveiled the PNY SDHC Pro-Elite Plus memory card ramge in Paris. Offering read speeds of 95 MB/s and write speeds of 90 MB/s, the cards are designed for professional photographers that need to take full advantage of their camera’s burst mode. PNY’s SDHC Pro-Elite Plus cards are available now in 16GB and 32GB capacities, with a 64GB version coming in January.

Manchester digital artist Andrew Brooks has created a stunning composite image showing the Pakistani Locomotive, a collection item at MOSI (Museum of Science & Industry, Manchester), running on the former train line on the Monsal Trail - now a popular walking and cycling spot. The artist will hold a workshop at MOSI on 20th November for photographers who would like to develop their skills. Participants will learn about the techniques of digital composite imaging using Photoshop, and get a chance to try out their own photography in the surroundings of the Museum’s atmospheric railway warehouse at night. The current MOSI exhibition, The Wasted Works by Gina Czarnecki, and the Connecting Manchester gallery will be open for private view and photography during the event. The workshop begins at 6.30pm and the cost of attendance is £35. To book, call 0161 606 0177 or email [email protected] Note that you will have to take your own camera to the workshop. Tripods are recommended.

Pic Scout is a new iOS app that aids landscape photographers in finding beautiful locations. The app uses Panoramio and Flickr to find popular images around the user’s current location or anywhere in the world. It can display results in a table or as scrollable full screen images, and all search results can be saved into Saved Locations. Apart from scouting out great photographic locations, Pic Scout for iOS can also be used to find interesting photographers to follow on Panoramio and Flickr, plan your next holiday’s sightseeing schedule, and explore the world through other people’s photographs. Pic Scout 1.0 is available on iTunes for $0.99.

Lastolite has released its new 6:1 and 7:1 TriFlip Kits. The 6:1 TriFlip Kit (pictured) includes one 75cm (30”) TriGrip Gold/White reflector and one double sided, reversible TriFlip cover (Sunlite/Sunfire, Silver/Softsilver), giving a total of six reflective surfaces to choose from. The 7:1 TriFlip Kit includes one 75cm (30”) TriGrip two Stop Diffuser, one 75cm (30”) TriGrip Gold/White reflector and one double sided, reversible TriFlip cover (Sunlite/Sunfire, Silver/Softsilver). This combination will allow you to use two reflectors at once, or a combination of a reflector and a diffuser. The new TriFlip 6:1 Kit and 7:1 Kit are available at RRP £85 and £145 including VAT, respectively.

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) has launched its fourth annual digital photo contest in partnership with Eye-Fi. Submission to the “Best Shots” contest will be accepted until 16 December 2012. Entrants can submit one photo in each of four categories: people, travel, pets and cellphone shots. A slate of expert judges will select finalists in each category. Winners will be chosen via an online vote that will run from 8-11 January 2013. The grand prize winner, to be announced 11 January 2013, at the 2013 International CES, will receive a Canon EOS Rebel T3i and an Eye-Fi wireless SD memory card. You can submit your photos through the website below. Note that this competition is open to US residents only. As always we suggest that you read the rules before entering your work.

Rocky Nook has released the second edition of The Photograph: Composition and Color Design. Written by Professor Harald Mante, the book explains the essential elements to achieving the highest level of visual design in photographs. Extensively revised and updated, the second edition includes 60 new images and illustrations. Also included are new chapters that cover analysing shapes and colours and a discussion of the square image format. In-depth lessons are beautifully illustrated with more than 750 images from Mante’s portfolio, plus over 160 diagrams. The 208-page volume is available for $49.95.

Custom SLR - the company known for its M-Plate and M-Plate Mini offerings - is returning to crowd-funding site Kickstarter to launch its latest product, the Custom SLR ProDot. A textured, press-on dot, the ProDot easily adheres to a range of surfaces to provide more finite control and vibration dampening. “While initially designed to be placed on top of a camera shutter button to offer photographers a more seamless shutter-release, free of residual vibrations, the ProDot is a remarkably-simple and convenient accessory for virtually any push-button experience,” the company says. Starting today, the Custom SLR ProDot will first be made available to project backers through a 30-day fund-raising cycle on Kickstarter. For more information, visit the website below.

Auryn today released AurynCam, a free photo enhancing and sharing app. The program offers 25 rendering effects to convert photos into works of art, 24 other effects including colour palettes and filters, 16 different options for frames, 7 pre-selected crop ratios and 29 ways to blend two pictures to combine them in fun ways. AurynCam is available today on iTunes, and coming soon to Android.

Sony has announced the creation of the world’s first real time digital photography exhibition, allowing visitors to appreciate the work of three photographers - Lee Strickland, William Daniels and Paul Sullivan - from the moment the shots are taken. Sony has partnered with three photographers, based in Berlin, London and Paris across Europe, who have been set the creative task of ‘capturing the light’ of their home cities.  They have each been armed with a Sony NEX-5R compact system camera, complete with built in Wi-Fi allowing them to send photos directly to the Sony ‘Real Time Gallery’ located in central London (91 Brick Lane). Open for one night only (15th November), the innovative exhibition promises to transport visitors to the three iconic European cities, where they can experience the atmospheres that make each city unique.