DxO Labs has released DxO Film Pack 3.1, the latest version of its film simulation software. Compatible with Mac and Windows, DxO FilmPack 3.1 comes in 2 editions — Essential and Expert —, which differ in terms of number of film renditions and features. The two editions of DxO FilmPack 3.1 are available as standalone applications and as plugins for DxO Optics Pro, Photoshop, Lightroom and Aperture. Both the Essential and Expert editions are now available for purchase in the DxO Labs online store and at photo resellers at a special €30 discount from now through 24th December.

Richmond-based photographer Cameron Texter has invented a new selective-focus lens for Canon and Nikon SLR cameras, called the Lynny. “The way it works is you push and pull the lens to and from the camera, and tilt the lens around to control where the blur is in the photo,” Texter says. “The Lynny is made from just an extension tube, macro filters, and gaffers tape, or electrical tape, and also 2 pipe clamps for having something to grip when pushing and pulling the lens to and from the camera.” The inventor has set up an IndieGoGo page to raise funds for the commercialisation of the Lynny. Interested readers are encouraged to check out the project’s website via the link below.

Website: Lynny on IndieGogo

Olympus has announced a new, silver version of the Olympus XZ-1 premium compact camera, Apart from the new body colour, the silver XZ-1 is identical to its matt black and white lacquered siblings. The silver-coloured Olympus XZ-1 is available for £399.99 from mid-December 2011. In addition, the company has also announced a new lens cap that features a sleek design, with a front cover that opens and closes automatically. Available from January, the black LC-63A lens cap costs £24.99.

X-Rite has announced a number of free webinars for the month of November. The first online seminar, starting tomorrow at 2pm EST and hosted by Winifred Whitfield, is entitled “Take your images to WOW!”. In this webinar, Winifred will demonstrate how precise colour management and Nik Software give her the competitive edge to produce her stylized images. Other topics for November include “Stop Guessing - Start Knowing! Accurate Monitor Colour with X-Rite”, “Beyond Monitor Calibration - Get Prints That Match Your Display!” and “Improve your Colour Management Skills”. Click through / read on for the exact webinar dates and times.

Connie Smyth, aged 15 years, has been announced as the overall winner of the London Legacy 2020 Photo Awards. She impressed the judges with her picture ‘rust’, an “eerily beautiful” shot of a lamppost beneath railway arches in London Fields.As a reward for her efforts, she won £1,000 worth of camera equipment including a digital SLR, as well as the opportunity to carry out a photo-shoot with the English National Ballet, courtesy of City law firm CMS Cameron McKenna.

Tamron USA’s Mom-to-Mom Project is a series of photo exhibitions that feature technical tips and artistic inspiration from image-making moms. The exhibits, which focus on a new theme each month, are designed to encourage other moms to experiment with their cameras, lenses, and accessories to hone their own photographic skills. Visitors are encouraged to contribute their own photography comments and concepts. “We designed the Mom-to-Mom exhibits to serve as a fun, interactive venue where moms brainstorm with and glean ideas from other mom photographers to boost their confidence when creating their own family memories,” says Tamron Chief Marketing Officer Stacie Errera. The inaugural exhibition for November 2011 features the photographers’ favorite way to get their kids to smile. Upcoming themes scheduled through the end of 2012 include holiday card photos, youth sports, multigenerational portraits, and special event photography such as birthdays and back-to-school imagery.

The Ricoh CX6 is a 10-megapixel compact superzoom camera with a 28-300mm equivalent lens and an improved hybrid AF system that promises focus acquisition speeds as as fast as 0.1 second. This is about twice the (nominal) speed of the Ricoh CX5, which was announced at the beginning of the year. The CX6 also adds aperture- and shutter-priority modes, and a 3fps burst mode with auto-focus (the fastest continuous shooting speed at full resolution is 5fps, as in the previous model, but the new.3fps mode allows the camera to adjust focus separately for each frame in the sequence which should, in theory, result in a higher number of in-focus shots of moving subjects). Also new for the Ricoh CX series is a separate movie record button, located on the rear panel of the camera. The Ricoh CX6 comes with a 3” LCD monitor offering a resolution of 1.23 million dots and 1.7x the brightness of the CX5’s display. Available from December in black, pink and silver, the Ricoh CX6 has an RRP of €299.00/£259.99 (US availability and pricing to be confirmed).

FLIR Systems have introduced two PS-series handheld thermal imaging cameras to their Scout range. “Unrivalled in its marketplace, the device sees clearly in total darkness,” the manufacturer says. “It makes images from heat, not light, a feat impossible for the human eye or even image-intensified night vision devices.” In the UK, the FLIR Scout PS-series is exclusively available from J J Vickers & Sons Ltd, the official FLIR distributor for the UK and Ireland.

Apple has posted a Camera RAW compatibility update, adding system-level support for raw files produced by a number of new digital cameras. The newly supported models include the Canon PowerShot S100, Nikon 1 J1, Nikon 1 V1, Nikon COOLPIX P7100 (pictured), Olympus PEN E-PL1s, Olympus PEN E-PL3. Olympus PEN E-PM1. Panasonic LUMIX DMC-FZ150, Sony Alpha NEX-5N, Sony Alpha SLT-A65 and Sony Alpha SLT-A77. To view the full list of currently supported digital cameras, visit the website below.

Website: Apple Mac OS X Lion: Supported digital camera RAW formats

Panasonic will soon be releasing firmware updates for the new Lumix G X Vario PZ 14-42mm and 45-175mm lenses. Both firmware updates improve AF performance and optimise operation when using Touch Zoom with the Lumix GX1 camera. The upgrade for the G X Vario PZ 45-175mm lens additionally improves the stability of the optical image stabiliser (OIS). The firmware updates will be available worldwide at 6:00 GMT on 17th November at the website below.

Website Panasonic Lumix Support

Beginning tomorrow, Olympus will be offering £50 (€50 in Ireland) cashback on purchases of all E-PL3 and E-PM1 kits. The offer is valid on purchases made between 15 November 2011 and 15 January 2012, and is applicable to the UK and Ireland only. Claims can be made via the website below, and must be received by midnight, 15 February 2012. As always, we suggest that you read the official Terms and Conditions before making a purchase and submitting a claim.

Website: Olympus PEN Promotions

SLR Magic has announced a new ultra-wideangle manual-focus lens for Micro Four Thirds. The HyperPrime 12mm f/1.6 has a diagonal angle of view equivalent to that of a 24mm lens on a 35mm camera, and features a traditional aperture ring, an iris diaphragm with 12 rounded blades and a close-focus point of 15cm. The optical formula comprises 12 elements (including 3 ‘Tantalum’ glass elements) in 10 groups. Weiging in at 330 grams the lens, which features a 58mm filter thread and a non-rotating front element, is expected to go on sale for $500 later this month.

Panasonic UK’s retail support team has partnered up with Jacobs Photo to demonstrate the new GX1 compact system camera. The Jacobs in-store previews provide consumers with their own opportunity for hands on with the camera, before it will go on general sale from mid December. Click through / read on for exact dates and locations.

Re-framing disability: portraits from the Royal College of Physicians is a new exhibition currently showing at the School of Museum Studies, University of Leicester. Featuring 28 historical portraits of disabled people held within the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) collections, set next to the images and voices of disabled people discussing the portraits and their identities today, the exhibition tackles largely unchartered territory in combining both historical and contemporary analyses of the historical portraits. The modern, photographic portraits were created by disabled photographer Lynn Weddle. Re-framing disability will be at the School of Museum Studies, University of Leicester until January 2012 and is presented in accessible formats including an audio description, audio points, and tactile images with Braille.

Leica has issued a firmware update for the Leica M9 digital rangefinder camera. Version 1.174 addresses a compatibility issue related to select types of new memory cards, which has caused some users to lose photos captured with the camera. Note that Leica still warns against using San Disk Extreme Pro SDHC I UHS-I and San Disk Extreme HD Video SDHC I memory cards in the M9, as “some misbehaviour occurred in the test phase” and “100% freedom from errors cannot yet be guaranteed with them”. The company stresses that other SanDisk cards have been found to work fine in cameras equipped with the latest firmware, which you can download from the website below.

As part of its Imagine More Factory Roadshow, Manfrotto will be setting up an interactive pop-up photo lab in Covent Garden, London. From 18-20 November, visitors to the Lab can put their artistic talent to the test by using Manfrotto photographic kit and being photographed on professional photography sets. The London event, opening at 11am on 18th November, follows in the creative footsteps of labs in Beijing, Berlin and Hong Kong. The pictures taken over the course of the three-day installation will be uploaded to the Manfrotto Imagine More Facebook page to allow all those who have participated to share and comment on their own photos.

MachPhun is about to release a new version of Color Splash Studio for OS X. Billed as the “most powerful, comprehensive & intuitive application to make outstanding pictures with selective colours”, Color Splash Studio 1.2 will be available in the Mac App Store soon. Click through / scroll down for a video showing off the capabilities of the app.

Nikon has released firmware updates for the Nikon D5100 and Nikon D7000 digital SLR cameras. Both updates address a number of issues and fix various bugs. Additionally, the Nikon D5100 firmware upgrade enables the camera to choose a value other than 2EV when shooting HDR exposures in Manual mode, with the exposure differential set to Auto. You can download the firmware updates from the websites below.

Website: Nikon D5100 Firmware Update
Website: Nikon D7000 Firmware Update