Manfrotto Distribution and Datacolor are offering a free webinar titled “Color Management in the Professional Photographer’s Workflow with Stacy and Datacolor”. Taking place on Wednesday, 8th December from 2pm to 3pm EDT, the webinar will feature Datacolor Education Manager Joshua Fischer and Manfrotto Distribution Product Manager Will Holowka, who will talk with accomplished photographer Stacy Pearsall. Webinar participants will have access to a number of exclusive advantages, including one?on?one interaction with the guest speakers, and automatic entry in a raffle to win one of the three exclusive prize giveaways. The prizes include a Datacolor Spyder3 Elite (pictured) valued at $249 and two Spyder Cubes valued at $59 each. To register for the webinar, visit the website below.

The iFlash is a self-powered flash module that plugs directly into your Apple iPhone to provide some extra illumination for your subject. This LED flash emits light with a colour temperature of 5,000K and uses the docking port on the bottom of the iPhone. When not in use, the iFlash can be attached to the phone through a plastic 3.5mm jack and left dangling from the iPhone “like a phone charm”, the manufacturer says. Available now for $39.95 from Gadgets and Gear, the iFlash comes in a choice of black or white.

Cameras Underwater has announced that it will now be distributing the Subal range online and in store. Manufactured to exacting standards using state of the art technology, Subal products are used by some of the world’s best known and well respected underwater photographers including Alex Mustard and Howard Hall. The full Subal range is available now at the website below.

Topaz InFocus is a new Photoshop plug-in used for image sharpening and blur reduction. Auto-blur estimation and advanced deconvolution technology that helps reverse the effects of image blur completely changes the way detail refinement is done, by recovering true details, restoring image clarity and offering natural sharp-looking enhancements. InFocus works with a variety of host programs including Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, Aperture, iPhoto and Lightroom, and is compatible with Windows and Intel-based Macs. Topaz InFocus retails for $69.99, but is being offered at a one-time introductory price of $29.99 until December 3, 2010.

Capture One 6 is a new version of Phase One’s professional raw conversion and image editing software. Supporting more than 170 different digital camera models, Capture One Pro 6 now allows you to edit selected areas of images non-destructively, precisely adjust color channels to create split toning effects when converting to grayscale, and reduce or eliminate perspective distortion while maintaining dimension integrity. The basic version of Capture One is now called Capture One Express. Capture One 6 for Mac and for Windows is commercially available in two versions: Capture One Express 6, priced at 129 USD and 99 EUR, and Capture One Pro 6, costing 399 USD and 299 EUR.

In addition Phase One have revealed details about an upcoming iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch application called Capture Pilot that will allow you to wirelessly view, zoom in on, and pan high resolution RAW, JPEG and TIFF images from leading DSLR and medium format camera systems.

Sony have released a major firmware upgrade for the A900 and A850 DSLR cameras. The upgrade includes quicker and more responsive autofocus, an increase in exposure compensation to to ±5EV and exposure bracketing to 6.0EV, and a new menu option that allows the shutter release to be enabled even when the camera body doesn’t detect an attached lens. The latest firmware upgrade for the A900 and A850 is available free of charge.

Try a Pentax camera before you buy around the UK this December. Five demo days are taking place throughout this month in Dursley, Barnstable, Carmarthen, Norwich and Exeter, giving you the opportunity to try out the new K-series DSLRs, lenses, accessories and RS1000 or RZ10 compacts.

A locking mode dial modification for the Canon EOS 5D MarkII and EOS 7D DSLR cameras is now available in the USA. This modification is available for $100 per body to owners of these cameras who would prefer a Mode Dial which locks in place and can’t be accidentally moved during normal camera operation.

DxO Optics Pro v6.5.1 adds support for the Nikon D7000 and Sony A390 and 120 new DxO Optics modules. All customers who purchased DxO Optics Pro since June 1st, 2009 are entitled to a free upgrade to version 6.5. DxO Optics Pro v6.5.1 for Windows and Mac, Standard and Elite editions, is now available at a significant 30 percent holiday season discount until December 25, 2010.

Panasonic has released a new firmware update for the FZ100, FX700 and FX75 compact cameras. Image quality of Motion Deblur in iA Mode has been improved for all three models, while the performance of autofocus in taking pictures while recording Motion Pictures has been improved on the FX700 and FZ100.

Website: Download the FZ100, FX700 and FX75 Firmware Updates

Ricoh have released a new firmware update for the CX4 compact digital camera. Version 1.5 fixes the following issue:

- In the Night Landscape Multi-shot, when pressing the shutter release button half way, the camera shake warning symbol camera shake warning will not be displayed in the screen.

Website: Download the Ricoh CX4 Firmware Update 1.05

Fujifilm have released a new firmware update for the FinePix HS10 / HS11 compact camera. Version 1.04 incorporates the following items:

- Custom white balance can be set correctly when an external flash is mounted.
- On slide show mode, sound of movie recording data can be performed on the HDTV which is connected with the camera via HDMI interface.

Website: Download the Fujifilm FinePix HS10 / HS11 Firmware Update 1.04

Photography Blog received over 1 million visitors* in November 2010, cementing its position as one of the most popular camera review websites worldwide.

Founder and editor Mark Goldstein commented, “Our clear focus on providing detailed, real-life reviews of the newest cameras, complete with full-size sample photos and videos, has resulted in significant year-on-year growth, in spite of the current global economic climate”.

There were a total of 6,057,177 page views from 222 countries, with over half of visitors coming from the USA and UK.

Due to consistent top 10 rankings, 65% of visitors find Photography Blog via a search engine. 75% of all visitors were actively searching for advice about a specific camera, reading in-depth reviews of the latest models. The most popular review has been read more than 1.7 million times.

Photography Blog also reports all the latest photography news from around the world, and has nearly 14,000 registered members in its popular photo gallery and forums.

The winners of the November 2010 Photography Blog Competition have been announced. The theme for November was “Friendship” - you can view all of the entries in this gallery. Here are the 5 winners:

1st Place
The Conversation by Audah

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

On 2nd December, award-winning 29-year-old photojournalist Anastasia Taylor-Lind will be in conversation with writer and gallerist Laura Noble, where she will discussing her experiences on becoming a photojournalist and best practice within the field. Rapidly becoming one of Britain’s most promising talents, Anastasia is now based in the Middle East, where she works for clients such as GEO, Marie Claire, and The Sunday Times magazine. The lecture/conversation is organised by PhotoVoice, and will take place from 7.30pm at the Conway Hall, South Place Ethical Society, 25 Red Lion Square, London. Tickets are £10 in advance, £12 on the door. Group discounts are available for parties of over ten people - contact Claire Watts on 0207 033 3878.

Manfrotto School of Xcellence has announced a webinar titled, “Shooting the Forests Series”. Held from 2pm to 3pm EDT on Monday, 6th December, the webinar will be hosted by Drew Gardner, a renowned London-based photographer, who will take participants behind the scenes of his acclaimed series, “The Forest”. Topics for discussion include dealing with difficult terrain, managing without power, working with smoke machines, and more. To register for the webinar, visit the website below.

Those UK and RoI residents who buy the new Nikon D3100, body or lens kit, are now able to claim £40/€50 in a new Christmas cashback promotion from Nikon. Simon Iddon, Product Manager for Enthusiast products, says: “The D3100 is the ideal gift for people wanting to capture festive memories this Christmas and learn how to improve their photography skills. I am delighted that we’re able to introduce this cashback offer on our award-winning model and hope that it will make it even more accessible this season.” The D3100 cashback offer will run from today through 31st January 2011, and claims must be received by 28th February 2011.

PhotographyBB has released the 34th edition of the free PhotographyBB Online Magazine. In this issue, PhotographyBB Magazine examines sell sites, techniques involving high speed flash photography and the process of creating a web gallery. Their “Around the World” feature looks at the interesting history and true elegance of the Moscow Metro subway system, including a very interesting story on how the design of the system was believed to have come about. The usual Photoshop tutorial is also there, this time aimed at readers who will be making their own Christmas cards this holiday season. PhotographyBB Online Magazine is available as a free download at the website below (after registration).

The Kuwait Times, whose online edition broke the news that the emirate had put a ban on using digital SLR cameras in public, has retracted the story, saying it “regrets failing to verify the information”. The newspaper had originally stated that the “Ministry of Information, Ministry of Social Affairs and Ministry of Finance recently came to the conclusion that photography should be used for journalism purposes only. This has resulted in the ban of Digital Single Lens Reflex Cameras (DSLRs) in public, on the streets and in malls”.

Website: The Kuwait Times