ExpoImaging has released three new Rogue Lighting Kits for “strobists,” or small flash enthusiasts. The Rogue Starter Lighting Kit ($99.95, pictured) is an entry-level bundle consisting of light modifiers designed to improve the quality and variety of lighting choices available to photographers using speedlights on- or off-camera. The Rogue Portrait Lighting Kit ($149.95) is a larger collection of light modifiers providing greater light control for portrait and event photographers shooting with multiple speedlights. Finally, the Rogue Master Lighting Kit ($199.95) is for the most advanced speedlight photographers looking to create multiple lighting set-ups using combinations of the kit’s soft box, bounce flash reflectors, flags, honeycomb grids and coloured gel kits

Focal Press has released a new title, “Photographing Waterdrops: Exploring Macro Worlds with Harold Davis.” Written by award-winning photographer Harold Davis, this photography book is intended to offer a fresh, creative perspective into the dynamic possibilities of natural waterdrop photography. “The photographic opportunities offered by waterdrops are as unique as they are fleeting,” said Davis. “Encapsulated inside each waterdrop is a movement of light, focus and shadow offering a fisheye view of the world that is both recognizable and recognizably abstract.” The 208-page book, “Photographing Waterdrops: Exploring Macro Worlds with Harold Davis” is available for $29.95.

Ricoh has posted a firmware update for the Ricoh GXR system. Affecting all camera-lens modules, Version 1.51 improves the quality of images taken using a combination of negative exposure compensation and Multi-P AUTO white balance. For the Ricoh GXR M module, it additionally fixes bugs related to the colour of the display and the recording of manually entered focal length and f-number values in the DNG file headers. The A16 module (pictured) now correctly records the colours at the top of colour images recorded using color bracketing. You can download the firmware update from the website below.

Website: Ricoh

Polaroid has unveiled the Z2300 instant digital camera, featuring a 10-megapixel imager, a 3-inch LCD screen and an integrated printer with ZINK (Zero Ink) technology. The camera uses Polaroid’s patented, 2"x3” ZINK Paper, an advanced composite material with cyan, yellow, and magenta dye crystals embedded inside. Additionally, your images can be automatically saved to an SD card, just like a regular digital camera. The Z2300’s on-board editing suite allows you to review and crop your pictures right on the camera without transferring them to your PC. And you can choose to automatically print every picture or wait for the perfect shot to avoid wasted prints. The Polaroid Z2300 instant digital camera has a suggested retail price of $159.99. 50-sheet packs of 2x3” Premium ZINK Paper retail for $24.99 and 30-sheet packs sell for $14.99.  Both are available for pre-order via the website below.

The British Journal of Photography’s International Photography Award 2012 is now open for entries. The IPA has been running since 2005, and previous winners include Edmund Clark, whose series Guantanamo: If the lights go out went on to be published by Dewi Lewis; and Peter di Campo, who won the series prize in 2010 with a project on Life Without Lights in Ghana. Facundo Arrizabalaga won the single image prize last year with a shot from the student protests of November 2010, and Walter Astrada picked up the single image award in 2008 with an image depicting a victim of matricide in Guatemala. This year there are two categories to choose from: one awarding the best series of images, and the other the best single image. The closing date is 15 September 2012. For more information, and to enter online, visit the website below.

British TV presenter, radio DJ and photographer Reggie Yates has joined Pentax’s ‘Meet Britain’ campaign and released a video full of tips on how to take the perfect photograph. The competition is asking members of the public to submit images of the things they feel make Britain great. Entrants can submit images across five different categories, including Great British Outdoors, Great British Culture, Friends and Family, Summer Holidays and Celebrations. One winner from each category will take home a Pentax K-30 camera and one overall winner will be awarded £1,000.

Click through / scroll down to watch the Reggie Yates video.

Adobe today announced that its Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4 software is now available as part of Adobe Creative Cloud membership. “The addition of Lightroom to Creative Cloud delivers on our promise to bring the best in Adobe innovation to Creative Cloud members,” said Winston Hendrickson, vice president products, Creative Media Solutions, Adobe. “Over the next few months we’ll continue to add new products and services, keeping Creative Cloud members up to date with the latest advancements in Adobe software and services.”  Pricing for Creative Cloud membership for individuals is £38.11 (ex VAT) per month based on annual membership and £57.17 (ex VAT) per month for month-to-month membership. A special introductory offer of £22.23 (ex VAT) per month for CS3, CS4, CS5 and CS5.5 individual customers is also available.

Jura single malt whisky, in partnership with Olympus, has launched an online photography competition to find images from across the world that best embody the theme of ‘community spirit’. These images could include photos of groups or individuals that evoke the spirit of the neighborhood in which they live, or even photos of festivals and events that conjure the character of a particular place. Each one of the three winners and their partners will enjoy a week’s all-expenses stay in the exclusive Jura Lodge and a VIP tour of the Jura distillery and island. The winners will also receive an Olympus PEN E-PL3 camera to create a lasting memento of their visit to Jura, and a photography workshop on the island from award-winning photographer David Nightingale. The competition runs until 3 August 2012.

Website: Jura Whisky

Blue Crane Digital has announced its newest training DVD, “Introduction to the Nikon D3200 – Basic Controls”. Topics covered include Scene Modes, Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority, Depth of Field, Focusing on Moving Subjects, Live View Shooting, Focus Options for Live View, Video Recording Basics and more. The DVD is scheduled for world-wide release mid-July, with a street price of $24.99.

Nokia has announced that the 41-megapixel Nokia 808 PureView is now available for pre-order through Amazon UK, The news comes hot on the heels of a similar announcement by Nokia USA. In the UK, the Nokia 808 PureView will be released on 30th June, for £499.98 (unlocked).

Fujifilm has released a new roadmap for its Fujinon lenses for the Fujifilm X-Pro1. This autumn the company will introduce the Fujinon XF 14mm (21mm equivalent) f/2.8 ultra-wideangle prime and the XF 18mm-55mm (27-84mm eq.) f/2.8-4 zoom. In early 2013, these lenses will be joined by three primes that include the XF 56mm (84mm eq.) f/1.4, the pancake XF 27mm (41mm eq.) f/2.8 and the XF 23mm (35mm eq.) f/1.4. Then in mid-2013, Fujifilm will launch a telephoto zoom called the XF 55mm-200mm (83-300mm eq.) f/3.5-F4.8 and the super-wide XF 10mm-24mm (15-36mm eq.) f/4 zoom lens, both with optical image stabilisation.

Hasselblad has launched its new Phocus Calibration Guide for the Hasselblad digital camera system. This fine art reproduction configuration guide provides all of the steps necessary for calibrating the Hasselblad digital camera system to meet the Metamorfoze and FADGI (Federal Agencies Digitisation Guidelines Initiative) imaging guidelines. The ‘How To’ guide includes specific instruction on creating custom ICC input profiles using third-party charts and profiling software. Additionally the guide offers Phocus configuration suggestions for capturing two-dimensional originals as well as three-dimensional objects. For more information and to download the new Phocus Calibration Guide for free, visit the website below.

Black+White Photography Magazine has launched the Black + White Photographer of the Year 2012 competition. Now in its seventh year, the contest offers five categories across the genres with the chance to win cash prizes plus copies of the book, Magnum Contact Sheets Special Edition worth £325. The overall winner will receive a Leica M Monochrom (pictured) complete with a Leica Summicron-M 35mm f/2 lens. The closing date for entries is 23rd September. The winning entries will be exhibited at Leica Mayfair, London, following an awards night in November. For more information visit the website below.

To celebrate the launch of the new Pentax K-30 DSLR camera, Pentax Ricoh Imaging UK todaylaunched Meet Britain, a nationwide competition asking members of the public to submit images of the things they feel make Britain great. Entrants can submit images across five different categories, including Great British Outdoors, Great British Culture, Friends and Family, Summer Holidays and Celebrations. The best images will then be shortlisted and will feature in an exhibition which will be open to the public in September. One winner from each category will take home a Pentax K-30 camera and one overall winner will be awarded £1,000. For more information, visit Pentax UK’s Facebook fan page.

Via its official blog, Nokia has announced that it is launching the Nokia 808 PureView smartphone in the US. Featuring a 41-megapixel sensor, high-performance f/2.4 Carl Zeiss optics, plus new PureView Imaging and pixel oversampling technologies, the Nokia 808 PureView also incorporates full HD 1080p video recording and a 4” AMOLED capacitive touchscreen. The smartphone will be available unlocked and unsubsidised through Amazon, starting 8th July.

Canon has posted a firmware update for the Canon EOS C300 and EOS C300 PL interchangeable-lens digital video cameras. Version 1,0,6,1.00 incorporates the following features:

1. Genlock synchronisation can now be used to synchronize the camera’s 24.00P, 24.00PsF, 23.98P, and 23.98PsF input signals.
2. Adds the Korean language to the camera’s menu.
3. Minor corrections to simplified Chinese language menus.

Website: Canon

Sony has announced that it plans to invest approximately 80 billion yen in Sony Semiconductor Corporation’s Nagasaki Technology Center to increase the production capacity for stacked CMOS image sensors. These imagers “layer the pixel section containing back-illuminated structure pixels onto chips containing the circuit for signal processing, in contrast to the supporting substrates used in conventional back-illuminated CMOS image sensors,” the company says. “These products enable Sony to mount large-scale circuits while decreasing the chip size of image sensors, thereby enhancing image quality and functionality and allowing for a more compact size for digital cameras and mobile devices.” These stacked CMOS sensors are going to be used primarily in camera phones and tablets.