Canon U.S.A: has announced an enhancement to the Canon Professional Services (CPS) programme with a new qualification system for membership acceptance. Under the new points system, professional videographers and photographers can now qualify with ownership of a broader range of professional products including DSLR camera bodies, professional camcorders, lenses and accessories (speedlites and wireless transmitters, etc). For details and additional information on the new CPS points system and to see a comprehensive list of all eligible pro DSLR and video equipment, visit the CPS website.

Canon today launched its new flagship PIXMA Pro series model, the Pixma PRO-1, which is the world’s first A3+ printer to feature 12 separate inks. This new technology is claimed to “significantly expand” colour gamut “in most areas”. Five monochrome inks produce professional quality black-and-white prints with smooth tonal gradation and suppressed graininess. Front-opening panels enable easy access to the tanks either side of the main printer body, and for efficiency the rear tray takes up to 20 sheets of photo paper, while the manual feed slot accepts photo paper up to 356mm (14”) wide and heavier fine art papers. The Canon Pixma PRO-1 will be available from November 2011, priced at £799/€899/$999.99.

Nik Software has released Snapseed 1.3 for iOS. This version adds support for a number of languages including English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese; and includes new filters for detail sharpening and miniature effects, Snapseed 1.3 also supports direct image sharing on Twitter and adds compatibility with iOS 5. Priced at €3.99 / $4.99, Snapseed is available now on iTunes.

Getty Images has announced that its Flickr Collection has grown to 250,000 images, “The Flickr collection has proved a massive success for us in our aim to bring a different and a varied range of imagery to the marketplace,” explained Andrew Saunders, Getty Images SVP of Creative.  “For us, the 250,000 image milestone emphasizes how dynamic and engaged our Flickr community of contributors truly is and we continue to be thrilled by the imagery being creating for this real life collection.”

Experience Seminars have launched their 2011 Christmas DVD catalogue containing the full range of our popular training DVDs. As well as training DVDs on all the popular cameras within Canon’s EOS range, there’s an increasing number of technique DVDs applicable to all DSLR users.The Christmas catalogue contains special offers on all the DVDs with free postage and handling up to Christmas. The catalogue can be downloaded from the website below.

Messages From Tahrir is a new book of photographs collected by Karima Khalil, a doctor living in Egypt who witnessed first hand the uprisings in Tahrir Square in Egypt. In a collection of her own photogtraphy as well as the images of 36 other photographers who were found via Twitter, Facebook and Flickr; the book gives a unique, intimate and powerful account of the uprising which led to the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak. Karima Khalil will be in conversation with writer and broadcaster Anthony Sattin on Tuesday 22 November at the Nour Festival at Leighton House.

Blackstone, one of the world’s leading investment and advisory firms, indirectly through a holding company, a 44% minority stake in Leica, to support the latter’s international growth plans. Dr. Andreas Kaufmann, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Leica commented on the transaction: “With Blackstone we have gained an experienced and internationally established strategic partner, which also understands and appreciates the established brand philosophy and business model of Leica. Following the successful turnaround of the business and record sales last year, we are now focused on the continued development of the brand, its products and our growth plans into new markets such as Asia, South America and the Middle East.”

Intro 2020, the UK distributor and importer of Phottix photo accessories, has announced the availability of a range of new products. The new line-up includes a handheld reflector/diffuser, a radio trigger set and a remote release that features a full-colour LCD screen for displaying the live view feed coming from the camera. The Phottix 5-in-1 collapsible reflector disc includes the five most popular reflectors used in photography: silver, gold, white, black and translucent; the last of which can also be used as a diffuser. The Phottix Strato II Multi Wireless Trigger Kit for Canon and Nikon cameras comprises a 2.4 GHz transmitter and receiver offering ranges of more than 150 metres and sync speeds of up to 1/250 second (extra receivers are available separately), Finally, the Phottix Hero Live View Remote Set (pictured) provides remote live view on its 2.4” screen and doubles as a regular wireless remote release. Interestingly, the set also works with SLRs that do not feature live view functionality as it includes a small camera that attaches to your SLR’s viewfinder eyepiece.

THK Photo Products has announced the US availability of the new Hoya PRO1 Digital ND32 and ND64 neutral density filters. These filters allow you to use long exposures in strong daylight. The ND32 is a 5-stop neutral density filter, while the ND64 is an even darker filter that allows you to set exposure times that are 6 times longer than would otherwise be possible in the given lighting conditions, at the lowest ISO speed of your camera and your choice of f-stop. THK Photo Products is the US distributor for Tokina lenses, Hoya filters, Kenko photo accessories and SLIK camera support systems.

Canon has announced the final details of the Canon Pro Solutions Show, which will take place on 25th and 26th October 2011 at the Business Design Centre in Islington, London. The company will be demonstrating the new Canon EOS-1D X at the Show - this will be first opportunity to see this camera (pictured) in person. Also, the line-up of seminar speakers at the 2011 show is now complete, and visitors will be able to attend seminars from:  Adobe, Anton Nelson, Brent Stirton, Canon itself, Charlie Hamilton James, Charlie Waite, Clive Booth, Dan Chung, David Noton, Drew Gardner, Eddie Mulholland, Frits van Eldik, Jeff Ascough, Jonathan and Angela Scott, Lara Jade, Liz Hingley, Peter MacDiarmid, Peter Marlow and Andrew Senigar, Martin Parr, Neil Turner, Nik Software, Peter Dench, Phil Coates, Philip Bloom and Sennheiser.

The Lomographic Society has introduced four new La Sardina models in its new Pattern collection. “Domino [pictured] comes in a black and white op art pattern to please lovers of elegant extravaganza,” the company says. “Möbius will entrap you in his purple and yellow web like lines while Quadrat cherishes the prototype of classic patterns: dog’s-tooth check. Cubic is for the ones who love to switch between stripes and diamonds in white, black and red.” Like all La Sardina cameras, the new models take standard 35mm film, come equipped with a 22mm f/8 lens, and allow multiple exposures on a single frame using an indepentdent MX switch.

Wacom has announced an Intuos4 promotion called ‘Meet the Masters’. When purchasing an Intuos4 pen tablet, customers will receive a free DVD with more than 10 hours of professional tutorials from 13 international experts in digital imaging, design, illustration, 3D and motion design. ‘Meet the Masters’ is available in English, German and French versions, as well as with subtitles in Italian and Spanish.

Nikon has launched the my Picturetown Pad app for the Apple iPad. The free app allows users to enjoy using my Picturetown, Nikon’s online image sharing and storage service, with their iPads and iPhones. In addition to supporting playback of data recorded using the Motion Snapshot function, my Picturetown Pad also supports book view and a map view that utilises information recorded with cameras equipped with a GPS function. Nikon’s my Picturetown Pad application can be downloaded now from iTunes.

Ricoh has posted the fifth function-enhancing firmware update for the GR Digital III. In addtion to fixing bugs, version 2.50 of the camera firmware adds new options for ISO [Auto-Hi], a Contrast Bracketing feature, a new ADJ. Lever Setting option, a Vignetting filter for the High-contrast B&W scene mode, and a power button lock function for users of the optional GL-1 metal lens cap. You can download the firmware upgrade from the website below.

Website: Ricoh GR DIGITAL III Firmware Update

Adva-Soft has released version 3.0 of its TouchRetouch app for Android devices. ToucRetouch allows users to remove objects from freshly captured or saved photographs easily, without affecting any other elements of the picture. The new version features a new user interface, a high-performance retouching algorithm, support for full-resolution images, a clone stamp for advanced retouching, and more. TouchRetouch is available for purchase on the Android Market.

Lytro has officially announced its first consumer light field camera, which captures all the rays of light in a scene, opening up new possibilities such as the ability to focus a picture after it’s taken. The Lytro camera features a light field sensor and a light field engine that allows photographers to refocus pictures in-camera. Sporting an f/2 lens with 8x optical zoom, the pocket-sized Lytro camera weighs in at less than 8 ounces. Other highlights include instant start-up and zero shutter lag. The Lytro camera comes with either 8GB or 16GB of on-board memory, storing 350 and 750 “HD quality” pictures respectively. What the company means by “HD quality” isn’t clear but we expect that the resolution will be sufficient for on-screen viewing and probably insufficient for printing. The 8GB version can be yours for $399, while the 16GB model will set you back $499. The Lytro camera can be pre-ordered now via the website below - which also has a nice picture gallery demonstrating how post-capture focusing works -, but will only start shipping “in early 2012”, according to the company.

Ubyu is a new photo book publishing service that has been tailored specifically to meet the needs and demands of the creative industry. “Aimed at keen photographers and a creative audience, ubyu was an idea born out of asking about and listening to, the needs and demands of this specific target market and what they wanted to be able to do and achieve when they create their own books,” says Josie Price of Ubyu Books. Book content can be imported via the custom-made ‘uDesign’ software, available to download free from the Ubyu website. Alternatively, for those who want even more control over the self-publishing process, PDF files can be created from a variety of InDesign templates provided by Ubyu and uploaded straight to the website via the preflight server. Self publishing prices vary depending on individual customisation choices but prices start at £11.90 plus p&p for a single book with the minimum of 28 pages.

Warehouse Express is currently running a promotion on the new Nikon 1 system cameras. Those who pre-order either the Nikon 1 J1 or the Nikon 1 V1 today will receive a free accessory kit worth £150. The accessory kit includes a 4-gigabyte SDHC memory card, a lens cloth, a Nikon 1 training voucher, a Joby Gorillapod, an HDMI cable and a Nikon T-shirt. Don’t forget that in order to be eligible, you need to order the cameras before the end of the day, via the website below.