The Suffering of Light is the title of an upcoming exhibition of key photographic works from the career of American photographer Alex Webb. Presented by the Magnum Print Room, the exhibition opens on 17 June, runs until 29 July 2011 and showcases twelve of Webb’s best known images. The Magnum Print Room is located at Magnum Studios, 63 Gee St, London, EC1V 3RS. Additionally a 204-page book entitled, The Suffering of Light: 30 Years of Photographs by Alex Webb is available from Thames & Hudson for £45.

At WestLicht’s latest auction, an 88-year-old Leica camera from the 0-Series was sold for a record €1,320,000 (approx. $1,900,000), making it the world’s most expensive camera by a very wide margin. In 1923, Leitz made a small batch of less than three dozen prototypes (various sources put the exact number of units produced between 25 and 31) to test the waters, and this batch is known as the Leica 0-Series. The camera that went under the hammer on Saturday is in fully working condition, and is the only camera known with ‘Germany’ engraved on the top plate, WestLicht Auction says. The starting price was €200,000, and the auctioneer expected the item to sell for up to €450,000; so the hammer price was a massive surprise to everyone, including the experts.

Source: WestLicht

Viewbook Portfolio is a free portfolio app for the Apple iPad. The program integrates seamlessly with Viewbook’s online portfolio service and has an intuitive interface which is clean, simple and refined. Note that while the app itself is free, you do need a Viewbook account to be able to use it (this can be a free trial account). Viewbook Portfolio for iPad is available now on iTunes.

The Rollei Movieline SD40 and the Rollei Movieline SD55 are two new Full HD camcorders that also take five-megapixel stills. The Movieline SD40 (€119.90, pictured) has a fixed 5.23mm f/3.2 lens and offers 4x digital zoom, while the Movieline SD55 (€149.90)boasts a 5-25mm f/3.5-3.7 Rolei Apogon zoom lens. Both camcorders feature dual microSD and SD(HC) card slots and 3-inch touch-sensitive screens. Both Movieline models will be available in shops from the end of July 2011.

Canon has released a firmware update for the Canon EOS 5D Mark II digital SLR camera. Version 2.0.9 improves read/write speeds when using UDMA 7 compliant CF cards, fixes a phenomenon where the IS function will not work when custom function C.Fn III-2 is set to [5: IS start] and the lens attached does not have an AF stop button, and corrects misspellings in the menu screens displayed in Arabic, Portuguese, Spanish, and Thai.

Website: Canon EOS 5D Mark II Firmware Version 2.0.9 for Windows

Via Photography Bay

PicStop has launched a photography competition with the theme, “People”. Open to residents of the United Kingdom & Ireland only, the competition allows you to submit up to three photographs. The first prize is a 4-day portrait & wedding photography workshop valued at £1020. The location for this course is the beautiful Chatsworth House & Gardens in Derbyshire. The second prize is a Black Rapid RS-7 Fast Camera Strap & Tamrac 5515 Adventure Zoom 5 SLR camera case, while the third prize is a Samsonite Trekking Premium DFV 90 camera / gadget bag.The submission deadline is 30th June. As always, we suggest that you read the terms and conditions before entering your work.

Website: PicStop Photography Competition - “People”

Ludwig Museum is going to host a large-scale exhibition of the works of László Moholy-Nagy, a key figure of Modernist art. Raised in Mohol and Szeged, Moholy-Nagy taught at the Staatliches Bauhaus in Weimar and Dessau, lived and worked in Berlin, Amsterdam and London before settling in Chicago where he became the first director of the New Bauhaus school. In 1939, he opened the School of Design, which went on to become the Institute of Design in 1944. Widely regarded as one of the fathers of modern light art, he became famous for his photograms, or photographs made without a camera. The present exhibition, opening on 9th June and running until 25th September, includes 130 of his paintings, black-and-white & colour photographs and sketches. Ludwig Museum is located at Komor Marcell utca 1, District IX, Budapest, Hungary.

DxO Labs have unveiled their findings and DxOMark Sensor Scores for the Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3 Micro Four Thirds camera. The overall score is 56, which is lower than that of the GH2 and significantly lower than that of the GH1, but higher than the score achieved by the G1 and G2. In their analysis, DxO Labs note that the low-light ISO score is 1/3 stop better than that of the G1/G2, while dynamic range is up to 2 stops better at high sensitivity settings (particularly ISO 6400).

Website: DxOMark

Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 7 and Xara Designer Pro 7 both offer a single application for every type of creative or artistic document creation, including photo editing, graphics creation, illustration and page design. “Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 7 is ideal for any graphics enthusiast, small company or academic user that requires a single general purpose photo and graphics design tool,” the developers say. “Xara Designer Pro 7 includes all the same features, but adds a range of advanced Website design features, plus support for tools that might typically be required by professional designers.” Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 7 costs £69/$89/€69, while Xara Designer Pro 7 is available for £249/$299/€279.

Kingmax has unveiled the world’s first 64GB microSDXC memory card. The company says it has implemented the 9 Stacked Die technology for this Class 6 card, which is compliant with the latest SD3.0 specification. With the help of an adapter, Kingmax’s microSDXC card can also be used in devices that take regular sized SDXC cards. Pricing to be confirmed.

Wedding & Portrait Photographers International (WPPI) has announced that WPPI NYC – the first-ever WPPI trade show to take place on the US East Coast - is co-locating with PhotoPlus Expo this fall in new exhibit space at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City. WPPI NYC will host a full day of educational programmes for professional photographers on Wednesday, 26 October 2011. A two-day tradeshow will follow on 27-28 October 2011 from 10:00am – 5:00pm each day.

The Polaroid Grey Label GL10 instant mobile printer is now available. “Featuring a truly portable size, easy-to-use features and ZINK Zero Ink Technology, the Polaroid GL10 acts as a portable photo booth, giving new life to images stored on cell phones, hard drives and digital cameras through the Polaroid instant experience,” the company says. The printer is capable of producing high-quality 3"x4” prints in about 45 seconds. Currently, the Polaroid Grey Label GL10 is available at Bloomingdale’s, with USA-wide availability slated for mid June. The suggested retail price of the printer is $169.99, while a pack of thirty sheets of ZINK GL10 photo paper is available for $19.99.

Samsung has developed a range of animation features for display on the front screen of its unique Dual View compact cameras to keep children captivated while their photo is being taken. The Samsung ST700 boasts eight fun and playful children’s animations, available as free downloads from the Samsung website. The Samsung PL170 and PL120 models also include 21 creative animations to keep the kids mesmerised. Nick White, Head of Digital Imaging, Samsung UK, said: “At Samsung we are always trying to come up with creative new ways to further enhance the consumer experience. This new range of animations for Samsung’s 2View compact cameras have been designed to be as engaging as possible to help families capture the perfect shot of their little ones by keeping their eyes fixed on the camera..

SeeFile Software has just unveiled the fifth generation of its easy-to-install, Web-based Digital Asset Management (DAM) solution. Known as one of the first entirely Web-based DAMs, the software provides easy access to your photos, videos and entire media bank from any standard Web browser. Version 5.0 makes full use of HTML5 capabilities and comes with a new user interface. It also offers features like smart filters based on dates, approval and comments to improve production, easy navigation in different folders and collections, quick annotations on images and multipage PDFs to improve collaboration and reviewing, and more. The SeeFile DAM webserver software is retail priced from US$699 to US$6,795, depending on number of users. For customers who don’t have a Mac available to act as the server, SeeFile and its distributors provide bundles with Mac Mini hardware. Cloud-based service is also available in North America at the website below.

The Canon imagePROGRAF iPF8300 has been awarded the accolade of ‘Best Photographic Printer of the Year 2011’ by the European Digital Press Association (EDP). The EDP commended the iPF8300 for its 12-colour inkset and improved colour gamut, as well as the printer’s “use as an all-round commercial printer that gives the user more options”. The Canon iPF8300 44-inch wide large-format printer was announced last year, and it “has been growing in popularity in the photographic, proofing and production markets since its launch,” according to Canon.

Mamarazzi: Every Mom’s Guide to Photographing Kids by Stacy Wasmuth is a new title from Wiley. This book reveals the techniques professionals use to not only capture childhood memories, but the singular nature of a child’s personality, the publisher says. Topics covered include techniques for capturing genuine expressions instead of staged smiles, photography basics including composition, lighting, exposure, focus, and white balance, creating effects with different lighting techniques, and more. The book is available now at £19.99 / €24.00.

The Leica V-LUX 30 is a 14-megapixel digital compact camera with 16x optical zoom, 1080i video capture and integrated GPS. Successor to last year’s Leica V-LUX 20, the new model shares its lens and much of its feature set - including the nifty 3D photo mode - with the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ20/ZS10 superzoom, which we reviewed three months ago, but comes in at a substantially higher MSRP of £550/$750. The higher price is partly due to the inclusion of Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 and Adobe Premiere Elements 9 in the bundle. In addition, a choice of two smart leather cases are available as optional accessories: a strong, tan leather case with shoulder strap, and a soft brown leather pouch that fits easily into a travel bag or pocket. The Leica V-LUX 30 digital compact camera will be available from June.

Jessops are giving away a Sony W360 camera on their Facebook page. You just need to upload a photo that captures “your perfect moment”. The final closing date for entries is Friday 30th June at 12.00 noon.

Save the Redwoods League has launched an online photo contest to raise awareness and protect redwood forests. The competition invites US residents to “capture every angle of the redwood forest, from the smallest critters inhabiting the forest floor to the magnificence of the tree canopy,” for a chance to win one of the following prizes: a one-day interpretive tour of Redwood National Park for four, a guided day hike for two, and four tickets to ride the Skunk Train through the redwoods. The submission deadline is 24 June 2011. For contest rules and information, visit the website below.