The Canon PowerShot SX500 IS and the PowerShot SX160 IS are two new superzoom compact cameras. The PowerShot SX500 IS is the world’s smallest 30x optical zoom camera, while the PowerShot SX160 IS features an impressive 16x optical zoom in a compact body. The Canon SX500 IS is available from August, priced at £279/€349/$329.99, and the Canon SX160 IS is available from September, priced at £159/€199/$229.99.

Tim Hunt, a 23 year-old photography student at University College Falmouth, has been named as the recipient of this year’s IPC/Sophie Smoliar Scholarship award. The awards ceremony will take place at Photokina, Professionals Stage, Hall 4.1. Booth I-50 on Thursday, 20th September at 3.30pm.

At the Flash Memory Summit and Exhibition held in Santa Clara, California, SanDisk issued a statement in celebration of the 25-year anniversary of flash memory. “Companies such as SanDisk have increased the capacity of flash memory by 30,000 times while decreasing its cost by 50,000 times over the past two decades,” the company says. “SanDisk’s first product, a 20 megabyte solid state drive (SSD), sold for £635 in 1991 but would cost only one pence today.” SanDisk expects users to create 2.7 zettabytes (ZB) of digital content such as photos, movies, music and other data in 2012.

Kenro has announced a number of new additions to its line of gift and photo frames The Harmony Elegant Crystal Series Photo Frame features a fine lattice design decorated with clear crystals complete with a matt silver finish and black velour lined back. Available in two sizes to fit 6"x4” or 7"x"5 photographs, the Harmony Elegant Crystal Series Photo Frame is priced at £23.34 and £27.60, respectively. The Harmony Elegant Lace Series Photo Frames (pictured) boast a fine ornate lace design finely decorated with clear crystals and a matt silver finish. Available in sizes to fit 6"x4” or 7"x"5 photographs, this design is priced at £ 26.82 and £32.40. Other additions include two Eden Modern Series Frames (£13.92 and £16.68), various Melllow Gift Frames (£13.98 each) and Rotating Silver Photo Frames (priced £24.96 to £33.72).

CEWE Photobook has launched its “Europe is Beautiful 2012” photo competition. Billed as the largest photo competition in Europe, the contest has four categories including ‘people’, ‘sports’, ‘city and nature’ and ‘culture and nature.’ You can submit up to 5 of your pictures in any of the four categories for a chance to win one of “many spectacular prizes.” The competiton is now live at the website below. The submission period lasts until the end of of they year. As always we suggest that you read the rules before entering your work.

The Casio Exilim EX-JE10 is a new sixteen-megapixel compact camera that ships with a dedicated ever-ready case. Outfitted with a 1/2.33-type CCD, scratch-resistant 2.7” rear screen and a 26-130mm equivalent f/3.2-6.5 lens, the Casio EX-JE10 is the newest member of the Exilim family. Powered by a proprietary lithium-ion battery, the camera takes microSD(HC/XD) memory cards and comes in three colours including white with golden accents, black and pink, with matching cases (the white version ships with a brown jacket). In Japan, the Casio Exilim EX-JE10 will hit the shelves on 14th September. Pricing and international availability to be confirmed.

Source: Casio Japan
Official Sample Image (ISO 64)

Adore Noir Magazine has announced the winners of its black-and-white photography portfolio contest. The top six finalists who will be featured in Issue 10 of the magazine are Allan Gill, Alexei Krasnikov, Eric Kellerman, Russell Monk, Stan Raucher and Tommy Ingberg. The photograph that will grace the cover of the magazine will be revealed on October 1, 2012.

Twenty-five years after the first Electro Focus (EF) lens launched, Canon announced that it had reached a milestone by producing the 80 millionth lens in the series. The manufacture of Canon’s EF lenses first began in March 1987 alongside the introduction of Canon’s first EOS SLR camera system at the company’s Utsunomiya plant. The range now comprises over 76 different models including two EF lens extenders and models available outside of Japan. In addition to a range of EF and EF-S lenses designed for DSLRs, the line-up now includes an expanding selection of 4K-resolution EF Cinema Lenses. In July 2012, Canon also announced a new line of EF-M lenses developed specifically for the company’s EOS M compact system camera.

Sony are extending their Exmor branding to cameraphones with the launch of three new sensors. Two different 8 megapixel and one 13 megapixel stacked CMOS image sensors are due to be launched in October, along with new f/2.2 lenses, autofocusing system, wider dynamic range and HDR.

Website - Sony Japan (Translated)

Olympus have issued a vague press release that hints at a successor for the E-5 pro DSLR camera. The head of Olympus’ SLR planning team has said that the company is working on a new body for use with its best “Top Pro” lenses, like the 90-250mm f2.8 zoom. Akira Watanabe “emphasise(s) that Olympus is actively developing a solution and will announce more details in due course” - on the back of that statement, we’d expect to see at least an early mockup of the Olympus E-5 successor at the bi-annual Photokina show next month…

The Guardian’s Eyewitness photography app for iPad has re-launched with more visual content than ever before. As downloads of the app approach one million, users will be offered dozens of extra images each month through a new ‘Eyewitness Premium’ in-app subscription service, which costs £1.49 a month (or local currency equivalent). The Guardian Eyewitness photography app for iPad is available to download for free from the App Store.

Photoshop CS6 Unlocked is the must-have handbook for web designers wanting to learn Photoshop CS6. It takes readers through everything they need to get started and then master Photoshop CS6 for their web projects.

The London Look is an exhibition of the finalists of The London Look photography challenge. The challenge, a collaboration between the Horniman Museum and Gardens and lifestyle and culture website Londonist, attracted over 350 entries. The images offer a diverse view of contemporary London seen through the eyes of both professional and amateur photographers. Participants were asked if there was a definitive ‘London Look’, to consider the varied style of Londoners, and capture the essence of the city through street photography, either spontaneous or posed. The London Look exhibition runs from Saturday 1st until Sunday 30th September.

Tamron has launched a new video series which profiles pro photographers as they shoot on location and present tips for viewers to capture better images. The videos are approximately 6 minutes in length and follow the photographers as they explain their approach to capturing images in their signature style.

The Empire State Building (ESB) has launched the “My Empire State Building” photo contest. Photographers of all levels are invited to submit photos of the global icon through their creative eyes and lenses. The winning photographer will receive a Grand Prize of $5,000.

The London School of Photography 2012 Exhibition is holding an exhibition showcasing the work of students from its first part-time professional photography course. The exhibition will be held from September 5 to 10, 2012 at the Blackall Studios, Shoreditch.

The 2012 Arcaid Images Architectural Photography Awards will be held on 3-5th October in Singapore. The Awards are being held in conjunction with THE ARCHITECTURAL REVIEW and the WORLD ARCHITECTURE FESTIVAL. Entries close on 7th September 2012.

Travel Photography Live! is a highly interactive, informative and hugely entertaining weekend at London’s Royal Geographical Society. Nick Danziger, Steve Bloom, Eamonn McCabe, Jason Hawkes, Timothy Allen, Tom Mackie and Chris Weston are just a few of the photographic ‘giants’ who’ll be sharing the secrets behind their iconic images. Tickets cost £25 for the keynote lecture evening, with Saturday or Sunday tickets costing £65 each and a Festival Pass (covering all three days) £130.

Packaging manufacturer GWP has launched a new e-commerce website, Cases UK. It offers top of the range, military grade, waterproof, dustproof and drop-proof protective cases suitable for photographic equipment.

The ‘Beauty Portraits Un-Touched’ exhibition combines female beauty with an exploration of the models’ real emotions and thoughts. ‘Beauty Portraits Un-Touched’ is the first solo exhibition by Rachell Smith and forms part of an on-going project, with the aim to publish a book in the near future. The exhibition will run from Thursday 23rd August until Thursday 13th September, at theprintspace gallery on 74 Kingsland Road, London, E2 8DL.