To celebrate Sony’s sponsorship of the World Photography awards, Sony UK will be hosting a free photography seminar on 18th April. Taking place from 7.30pm – 9.30pm at The Wellcome Collection, 183 Euston Road, London, NW1 2BE, the seminar features a panel of experts who will share their insights into the intricacies of the art of photography. The panel will include Fiona Shields, Guardian Picture Editor, Elizabeth Roberts, Editor of Black and White Photography and Celia Henderson, a Sony advocate photographer who uses her photographs of the natural world to create contemporary wall art on print, canvas, metal and acrylic.Sony is also giving one lucky photographer the chance to have their photograph displayed at the Sony World Photography Awards 2012 winner’s exhibition at Somerset House. All you have to do is take a picture themed around your interpretation of ‘Now’ and send it to Sony UK via email. Places will be allocated on a first come, first serve basis, so be quick!  Lucky attendees will be notified on Wednesday, 11th April.

The winners of the March 2012 Photography Blog Competition have been announced. The theme for March was “Enemies” - you can view all of the entries in this gallery. Here are the 5 winners:

1st Place
My Own Worse Enemy by phototoad

Prize: X-Rite ColourChecker Passport
Kindly donated by X-Rite
http://www.xritephoto.com/

The winner of a fantastic HP Pavilion G6 laptop featuring AMD Vision Technology is Sudipto Das.

AMD offered you the chance to win a laptop based on its Vision technology which gives PCs more power to speed up applications like photo and video editing.

To enter the competition we asked readers to submit their best photo on the theme of Technology.

We then sent an AMD Vision chip to a shortlist of five readers to use as the subject for a photo for the final stage of the competition.

The Photography Blog editorial team has judged the finalists’ entries and the winner will receive a HP Pavilion G6 laptop featuring AMD Vision Technology.

Samsung is giving 10 lucky Photography Blog readers the chance to win an 8Gb SDHC memory card.

All of the cards in Samsung’s latest memory line-up provide incredible read speeds of 24MB/s and have been designed to meet the growing need for faster data transfer from a mobile device, such as smart phone or digital camera, to a PC.

The premium ‘Plus’ range of SDHC/SD and micro SDHC/SD memory cards have the highest available class 10 speed rating - for advanced data transfer speed and flawless transmission of full HD video – and also boast a class-leading write speed of up to 21MB/s. With data storage capacity of 8GB or 16GB, the cards are perfect for today’s memory-devouring devices and come with a 10 year limited warranty.

To enter the contest, just answer this question

To celebrate it’s sponsorship of the 2012 World Photography Awards Sony is giving 10 lucky Photography Blog readers the chance to win tickets to the winners exhibition that will take place at Somerset House from 27th April - 29th April 2012.

Marking the 5th Anniversary of the Sony World Photography Awards, the beautifully curated winners’ exhibitions will be on show inside the Embankment Galleries at Somerset House on The Strand in London.

In this vast photographic exhibition, visitors will find some of the best contemporary images taken by photographers from across the globe. Mixed media installations will include traditional print, video, moving image and 3D, with subjects spanning all genres, including fine art, fashion, portraiture, sport and photojournalism.

To enter the contest, just answer this question

Alongside the exhibition in Somerset House, World Photo London is returning for its annual weekend of exciting events from 27th – 29th April 2012.

The programme incorporates events for anyone who enjoys photography, whether a culture buff or a practicing enthusiast, including; City Project Workshops, Business of Photography Seminar, Blurb Drop-In Workshops, Critique Sessions and Winners Tours.

For further information about the seminars and workshops available during World Photo London please visit: http://www.worldphoto.org/festivals-and-events/programmes/world-photo-london/events/

Want to see exactly what the new Panasonic LUMIX GF5 compact system camera looks like in the flesh?

The Panasonic LUMIX GF5 is a Micro Four Thirds camera sporting a brand new 12 megapixel image sensor with an ISO range of 160-12800 and full 1080p HD video.

Check out our extensive hands-on gallery of photos of the Panasonic LUMIX GF5 camera, including a side-by-side comparison with the GF3 model that it replaces.

The Panasonic LUMIX GF5 is a new compact system camera that produces DSLR image quality and HD video from an ultra-compact body. The Panasonic GF5 has a brand new high-sensitivity 12.1 megapixel Live MOS image sensor, Venus Engine VII HD2 processor, top ISO speed of 12,800, 0.09 second Auto Focus, 1080p Full HD video and with stereo sound, and an LCD touchscreen interface. The Panasonic LUMIX GF5 will be available in black and white from June for £579 with the 14-42mm X lens and £449 with the standard 14-42mm lens.

BeProNow has released two versions of its PhotoGuide app for Android and iPhone. For each platform, there is a a free and a full (paid) version available. Photo Guide gives users expert advice with quick and easy instructions on finding the most attractive composition for landscapes, action shots and portraits, choosing the correct f-stop, working with different lighting situations, and more. For more details, visit the website below.

The Bushnell BackTrack D-TOUR is a user-friendly, personal GPS device that includes a host of new features. In addition to a self-calibrating digital compass, the device provides time, temperature, altitude, and current latitude/longitude coordinates. The D-TOUR also captures key stats including the length of the trip, average speed and elevation. This data can easily be saved for future use or uploaded and shared via email or social media. Available in red or green, the Bushnell BackTrack D-TOUR personal GPS device sells for £99.99 including a USB cable.

58 North and Bottle Rocket Apps have launched Pholium, a digital photo book design app for the Apple iPad. Pholium enables users to create digital books for free, fine-tune images and share the completed photo books with others, all on the iPad and all within the app. Book recipients who use Pholium receive instant Push Notifications the moment new books are available to them and may be downloaded directly to their iPad from Pholium’s cloud server. By tapping on any image within the book, users can view images up to 2x and also have the option of viewing the digital book in a slideshow format. The Pholium App is available for $9.99 from the iTunes App Store.

Epson has announced that its Ultimicron electronic viewfinder (EVF) technology comes equipped as standard in the Olympus OM-D Micro Four Thirds camera. “Based on a single Epson HTPS TFT colour LCD panel, Ultimicron achieves superb full colour images with supreme levels of detail and sharpness,” Epson said in a statement. “Using a colour filter, Ultimicron also helps photographers shoot fast moving images without the colour breakup experienced using other formats.” The Epson Ultimicron EVF used in the Olympus OM-D features a 0.47” panel with a resolution of 1.44 million dots. This panel was first announced back in October 2009.

Special thanks to Arturo Fukuda of FotoActualidad for drawing our attention to this piece of news.

Shiraz Software has revealed a complete overhaul of its Focus printing software for photographers. Now available as either Focus Solo for users with a single printer, or Focus Server for larger print environments, Version 4 boasts a redesigned user interface for streamlined workflow and simplified everyday tasks, powered by a faster, more efficient processing engine. The extended Gallery Wrap function now gives users the ability to split images over any number of columns and rows, for the creation of custom canvas wrap displays. Two further frame options, Sample and Stretch, offer the ability to specify mirror preferences for wraps. Shiraz Focus V4 is available from the website below.

CyberLink has released Version 6 of its multimedia software, MediaShow. Features include the ability to rapidly import, organise and playback photos and videos, automatically organise photos and videos in a calendar by the date they were taken, instantly apply a variety of basic edits to improve photos, quickly correct imperfections on both 2D and 3D media, create stylish slideshows, create polished movies by applying any of 15 different style templates to video footage, burn photos and movies to DVD, Blu-ray and AVCHD discs, and more. MediaShow is available today and can be downloaded from the CyberLink online store. A free trial download is also available from the CyberLink website.

The Samsung MV800 and the Samsung NX200 have received iF awards for “outstanding product innovation”. The judging panel praised the MV800 (read review) in particular for its slim compact design and the superior picture quality offered by the device’s unique 180 degree flip-out display. The NX200 (read review), meanwhile, was singled-out for its state of the art usability. Nick White, Head of Digital Imaging, Samsung Electronics UK and Ireland, said: “We are delighted to accept the iF Award for our innovation in the digital imaging space. Both the Samsung MV800 and Samsung NX200 are flagship products for us and it is great to see that they have been recognized by something as prestigious as the iF Awards”.

Hasselblad has launched a microsite dedicated to the Hasselblad H4D Ferrari Edition. “Visitors to the site can check out a beautiful selection of images of the H4D Ferrari Edition and its exclusively designed and engineered glass display box, appropriately enough produced by renowned product specialist Jonathan Beer,” the company says. Limited to just 499 copies worldwide, this special-edition camera is finished in a new Ferrari colour called rosso fuoco and sells for €21,499.

The Instagram app is now available for Android devices running Android 2.2 or higher. A huge hit with iPhone users, Instagram allows mobile photographers to take a shot, apply a filter of their choice, and then share it via an online platform. Additionally, you can share your images on a photo-by-photo basis on Facebook and Twitter. Note that there are a few features that are not included in the first version of the Android app, such as Tilt/Blur, Share from Feed, Live Preview and Share to Flickr. Instagram for Android is free and available on Google Play.

The Sony PMW-100 XDCAM HD422 is the smallest and lightest XDCAM hand-held camcorder to date. Equipped with a newly developed 1/2.9-inch “Exmor” CMOS sensor, the Sony PMW-100 XDCAM HD422 features a 5.4-54mm (40-400mm equivalent) zoom lens, and supports Full HD video at 1080i and 1080p, and 720p up to 50 Mbps MXF recording and playback based on the MPEG HD422 codec using the standard MPEG HD422 Long GOP compression technology. The Slow & Quick Motion function enables users to create artistic fast and slow-motion footage from 1fps to 60fps in 720p mode and from 1fps to 30fps in 1080p mode. The PMW-100 will start shipping in May (pricing to be confirmed).

The second, revised edition of Mike Hagen’s book, The Nikon Creative Lighting System, is now available in the UK. Updated to include information on the new Nikon SB-700 and SB-910 flash guns, this guide teaches all the steps required to achieve consistent and satisfying flash photos. Also included is a chapter showing system configuration so readers can duplicate the desired results on their own. The 312-page volume is available for £30.99.