Canon is showcasing a range of digital cameras and printers at PhotoPlus Expo 2012. Opening today and running until Saturday, this year’s PhotoPlus Expo is taking place at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City. Canon products on display include the Canon EOS 6D digital SLR camera, various Powershot models — the G15, S110, and SX50 HS —, three new imagePROGRAF large-format printers and the PIXMA PRO-10 and PIXMA PRO-100 inkjet printers. The booth (#119) includes a hands-on shooting set where visitors can try Canon’s latest DSLR cameras and Cinema EOS equipment.

DxO Labs have announced the upcoming release of DxO Optics Pro. The program, which will be available for Mac and Windows on 29th October, introduces DxO Smart Lighting, a new feature that intelligently adapts to image content and allows users to easily adjust image contrast using a single slider. DxO Smart Lighting automatically recovers details both in highlights and shadows under even the most extreme shooting conditions, the company claims. For more advanced users, DxO Optics Pro 8 offers a new Selective tone tool that allows them to apply precise corrections separately to highlights, midtones, and dark zones. The Standard and Elite editions of DxO Optics Pro 8 for Mac and Windows will be available at a special introductory discount valid until 15th November - click through / read on for the details.

Want to see exactly what the new Nikon 1 V2 compact system camera looks like in the flesh?

Check out our extensive hands-on gallery of the innovative Nikon V2, including both the black and white versions.

The Nikon 1 V2 is a new compact system camera. Offering new levels of speed and more accurate performance, as well as clever next-generation features, full creative control, and wireless methods of image transfer, the Nikon V2 has an advanced hybrid AF system, 15 fps burst mode with continuous autofocus and 60 fps with fixed-point AF, 14.2-megapixel resolution and 160 to 6400 ISO light sensitivity. The Nikon V2 will cost £799.99 / €999.00 / $899.95 in the 10-30mm Kit, and £969.99 / €1199.00 in the 10-30mm and 30-110mm kit.

Launching alongside the Nikon 1 V2 is Nikon’s new Speedlight SB-N7 flash unit. This powerful i-TTL compatible Speedlight boasts a guide number of 18/59 (at ISO 100 m/ft), the flash head tilts up to 120°, and an external wide panel is included. The SB-N7 will cost £149.99 / €179.00 / $159.95.

Nikon today announced the development of three new 1 NIKKOR lenses. The new lenses being developed are a 32mm medium-telephoto fixed focal length lens with a fast maximum aperture of f/1.2, a vibration-reduction (VR) equipped 6.7-13mm f/3.5-5.6 ultra-wide-angle zoom lens, and a compact and lightweight 10x zoom lens covering the 10-100mm range of focal lengths with maximum apertures of f/4-5.6. An on-sale date, suggested retail price and further specifications will be announced by Nikon Corporation at a later date.

The Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/4G ED VR is a new FX-format zoom lens with versatile 70-200mm focal range and constant f/4 aperture. The Nikon 70-200mm f/4 is the first NIKKOR to be equipped with Nikon’s next-generation Vibration Reduction system that allows for up to 5-stop compensation. The Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/4G ED VR costs £1,172.99 / €1,430.00 / $1399.95 and will be available from 29th November, 2012.

BosStrap has announced a new Ultra Light Hand Band (ULHB). “It attaches to the right camera strap lug, without the cumbersome bulk of a typical had strap,” the company explains. “Like all BosStrap product, the ULHB does not use the tripod socket as an attachment point, so does not need to be removed to when connecting a camera to a tripod.  The unobtrusive ULHB can be used with or without the BosStrap Sliding Sling Strap System, since the ULHB attaches to the right camera strap lug only.” The BosStrap Ultra Light Hand Band is available for $11.95.

The Fujifilm Student Awards 2013 is now open for entries. Run in conjunction with ChooseFilm.com and Metroprint, the theme for this year’s Award is ‘The Colour Of….’ with students being briefed to capture an image that that illustrates how colour lights up their world. In a new twist to this year’s awards, entries are open to all students in the UK, not just those undertaking courses involving photography. This decision was taken following several requests from students who are keen photographers but not actually studying photography. For further details and examples of previous winners, visit the website below.

Cokin has announced a new Snap! Kit for Compact System Cameras (CSCs). Including an adaptor ring, a filter holder, a full Neutral Density filter (ND4) and a graduated Sunset filter, the kit is available in five different sizes: Ø37, Ø40.5, Ø43, Ø49 and Ø52. The Cokin Snap! Kit will be available in stores early November 2012.

Cokin’s new Pure Harmonie filters are billed as the smallest and lightest photo filters in the world. With a thickness of 3.3mm for the Multi-Coated Anti-UV (UV MC), 4.5mm for the Circular Polarizer (C PL) and 9.5mm for the Variable Density Neutral Gray (ND X), Cokin Pure Harmonie filters are super-lightweight and cause no vignetting. The new line-up will be available in stores by the end of the year, in a variety of sizes.

Transcend today launched its “Ultimate” series 1000x CompactFlash cards. Fully compliant with CompactFlash revision 6.0, these memory cards operate in Ultra DMA (UDMA) transfer mode 7 and implement the Video Performance Guarantee (VPG-20), which enables professional-quality video capture at sustained write speeds of at least 20MB/s without dropping frames. Available in up to 128GB capacity, these cards are also capable of delivering read speeds of up to 160MB/s. Transcend’s 1000x CompactFlash cards are now available in 16GB (US$109.99), 32GB (US$229.99), 64GB (US$459.99) and 128GB (US$749.99) capacities.

Swedish company Memoto has introduced a micro-camera that captures every moment of your life in “photo keyframes.” “Imagine if you could capture and re-live every memorable moment of your life” said Martin Källström, CEO of Memoto. “With Memoto, you can effortlessly travel back in time to that moment when you met the love of your life, the day your daughter took her first step, or that night you laughed the night away with friends.” Capturing a 5-megapixel photo every 30 seconds, the Memoto camera is about the size of a large postage stamp and features geotagging, a built-in rechargeable battery with a LED indicator, and a micro-USB port for charging and downloading pictures to a computer. Estimated availability for the Memoto camera is early 2013. The unit will be offered in Graphite grey, Arctic white and Memoto orange colors for $279. Starting today, anyone can support Memoto in getting the camera into production through Kickstarter - those offering $199 or more will be rewarded with a camera and a one-year Web Service subscription.

The Apple iPad Mini is a new 7.9-inch tablet. 23 percent thinner and 53 percent lighter than the third generation iPad, the iPad Mini has Multi-Touch display, FaceTime HD and iSight cameras, ultrafast wireless performance and 10 hours of battery life. iPad mini comes in a new aluminium and glass design that is just 7.2 mm thin and weighs only 0.68 pounds.

The iPad 4 features a 9.7-inch Retina display, new Apple-designed A6X chip that delivers up to twice the CPU performance and up to twice the graphics performance of the A5X chip, 10 hours of battery life, FaceTime HD camera and ultrafast wireless performance.

Both iPad mini and fourth generation iPad come with iOS 6, the world’s most advanced mobile operating system with over 200 new features.

The Apple 13-inch MacBook Pro features a stunning Retina display and all flash storage in a new compact design. At a mere 0.75 inches and 3.57 pounds, the portable 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display is 20 percent thinner and almost a pound lighter than the current 13-inch MacBook Pro. Prices start at £1,449 inc VAT for a 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display with a 2.5 GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.1 GHz, 8GB of memory and 128GB of flash storage.

Canon have announced that a new firmware update for the Canon EOS 5D Mark III will be available in April 2013. The firmware update enables the use of uncompressed HDMI Output support, making possible more efficient video editing and monitoring procedures.Additionally, the upgrade supports the advanced needs of photographers through improved AF performance when capturing still images.

Professional landscape photographer, author and PhotographyBLOG reader Nick Taylor has recently sent us an email with a surprising piece of news. “I was in the market for a new camera,” Nick says. “I was undecided with the D800E… or a DMF [Digital Medium Format].” Nick finally went for the D800E, and called Nikon USA asking where he could find it in stock. Their reply was shocking: “The D800e [is] no longer supported by Nikon,” meaning “they are not going to stock or make anymore.” After finishing the conversation Nick checked Nikon USA’s product page for current DSLR cameras, and found that the D800E was indeed no longer listed (the D800, without the “E” designation, continues to be on offer).

Upon receiving Nick’s email we contacted both Nikon UK and Nikon USA. The former company has confirmed this morning that “the D800e is still a current product in the UK.”

A Nikon Europe spokesperson has now confirmed that this is a false alarm, and the D800e is very much supported both in the US and globally:
“I’m happy to confirm that the D800E is a current Nikon product globally – we’re looking into where the misunderstanding might have come from.

With regards to the link not showing the D800E… because it is a variation on the D800, the D800E is not listed as a separate product. However, there’s plenty of information about it when you click through to the D800 product page:
http://www.nikonusa.com/en/Nikon-Products/Product/Digital-SLR-Cameras/25480/D800.html”

Jong Afrikaner: A Self-Portrait is a new book featuring portraits by South African photographer Roelof Petrus van Wyk. Tracing the ongoing transformation and change of the “white tribe of Africa,” the book contains head-and-shoulders portraits of young white Afrikaners – including the strangely beautiful Yo-Landi Vi$$er from the rap group Die Antwoord. “Both a provocation and a statement of artistic intent, the body of work challenges preconceived ideas and beliefs about Afrikaners,” the publisher says. “These individuals… are connected to each other through share values, preferences and tastes and express themselves in diverse cultural and creative activity, rather than any supposed national identity.” Published by Fourthwall Books, Jong Afrikaner: A Self-Portrait will be available for purchase through the website below.