Mick Rock - Rock: Music is a retrospective of the legendary photographer’s work documenting the most outrageous moments, people and legends in music history. Celebrated as ‘The Man Who Shot the 70s’, Mick Rock launched his career in 1972 with his portrait of an unknown David Bowie and spent the next four decades capturing the most fascinating and exciting characters in rock music. His retrospective at the Idea Generation Gallery, 11 Chance Street, London E2 7JB, will open on 11 November and run until 16 January 2011.

Eyewitness Decade is a new book that tells the story of the first ten years of the new millennium in a series of “stunning and awe-inspiring” images. Some record the unfolding of major world events: 9/11, the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, the financial crisis of 2008, President Obama’s inauguration. Others tell more local and personal stories: a man sleeping rough in Cambridge, chess-players in Budapest, patients receiving treatment in Havana. Some explore the world of nature and natural disasters, while a handful look at the quirkier side of life. Published by Guardian Books, Eyewitness Decade is available at a price of £25.

X-Rite has just announced the Seasons of Colour Photo Contest. Each week for the next 12 weeks, photographers are invited to submit their images that they feel best represent the week’s featured Pantone Plus series colour. The top 10 winners each week, determined by popular vote, will receive an X-Rite ColorChecker Passport (pictured). Photographers can enter the contest by visiting the website below.

Website: Seasons of Colour

The Lomography X-Pro Chrome 100 is a new colour reversal film. Although it is possible to develop the Lomography X-Pro Chrome as a “normal” transparency film, using the industry-standard E-6 process, lomographers will probably love it for the strong contrasts and saturation it produces when cross-processed. In the United Kingdom, the Lomography X-Pro Chrome 100 is available in 35mm format, priced at £16.90 for a 3-pack.

iWorkCase is an on-location workstation for photographers and digital operators working on an Apple Macbook Pro. With changeable inlays you can use the iWorkCase with different Macbook Pro versions. In addition, the iWorkCase supports the Arca Swiss type quick release system for quick and easy tripod mounting. “A couple of years ago I was working as an digital operator,” says inventor Immanuel Meier. “We never had an easy-to-set-up working place for outdoor people, lifestyle and fashion shoots. I started to develop my own case for this purpose.” A result of this development, the iWorkCase is now available for €499.

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Photography in the Raw is David Noton’s second photography DVD. The sequel to David’s highly successful Chasing the Light DVD, Photography in the Raw is a 90 minute photographic tutorial, shot in full HD, from many locations around the UK and abroad. David said:  ‘Photography in the Raw is as close an experience as possible to being on the road with me, shooting dawn and dusk in a wide variety of locations from a hill top in Snowdonia to the ancient stone circle at Avebury to a pottery in France.” The the DVD is priced £18 + VAT and will be available from early November.

AgfaPhoto has introduced six new digital photo frames ranging from 7 to 10 inches in size. The AgfaPhoto AF5108PS, AF5088PS and AF5078PS are for photos only, whereas the AgfaPhoto AF5108MS, AF5088MS and AF5078MS are multimedia frames that can also play back videos and music. All of these frames feature a 4:3 aspect ratio and SVGA resolution (i.e. 800x600 pixels). All photo frames also have LED backlight LCD screens and use “Crystal Image HD” technology, which applies automatic adjustments to brightness, contrast, hue, colour balance and so on. The recommended retail prices range from €49.99 to €139.99, depending on model.

Pentax has posted a few sample images taken with the Pentax K-5 digital SLR camera. There are three photos, all of which were taken at a sensitivity setting of ISO 100/21°. To take these K-5 samples, the photographer used three different lenses, including a 16-50mm zoom, plus a 200mm and a 135mm prime. The aperture settings vary between f/5.6 and f/11. There is another gallery on the site, containing ten photos, but those are all downsampled to Web size, whereas these three are full resolution images.

Website: Official K-5 Samples

Panasonic has unveiled the MSRP and availability of the Panasonic AG-AF100 interchangeable-lens digital video camera. Accepting all Micro Four Thirds lenses, the Panasonic AG-AF100 offers superior video handling, native 1080/24p recording, variable frame rates, professional audio capabilities, dual card slots and compatibility with SDHC and SDXC media. The camera incorporates a large Four Thirds type,16:9 MOS imager that minimizes skew with fast imager scanning, and incorporates low pass filters for elimination of aliasing and moiré. High-end features include color-on peaking and a focus bar; two sets of adjustable zebras; a waveform monitor and vectorscope for more accurate monitoring of broadcast safe levels. The Panasonic AG-AF100 digital video camera will start shipping on 27th December at a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $4,995.

The Sigma 85mm F1.4 EX DG HSM lens is now available for purchase in the US. This fast medium telephoto lens is optimised for 35mm full-frame digital and film SLR cameras, although it can of course also be used on cropped-sensor digital camera bodies as well. The Sigma 85mm F1.4 EX DG HSM contains one Special Low Dispersion (SLD) glass element and a glass mold element, and comes with a Hyper Sonic Motor (HSM) for quiet focussing.  The lens has a round, nine-blade diaphragm for attractive bokeh, and comes bundled with a petal-type hood. The manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) is $1,400.

CB Richard Ellis today launched its third annual Urban Photographer of the Year competition across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The competition is now open to entries online and entrants have until 31 January 2011 to submit their snapshots of urban life. The full list of winners, including the overall Urban Photographer of the Year 2010, will be announced in March 2011. The first prize for the 2010 CBRE Urban Photographer of the Year Award is a photography safari for two to Turkey, and will give the winner the opportunity to photograph some of the world’s finest locations of ancient and modern history.  Past winners have drawn inspiration from a vast spectrum of city sights, from London commuters, to gondoliers enjoying a well-earned break in Venice, an urban desert storm in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to a city fireworks display in Budapest, Hungary.

The new firmware update for the Sony NEX-3 and Sony NEX-5 compact system cameras, which was announced in September, is now available for download.  Autofocus is now supported when using the NEX-5 and NEX-3 with 14 A-mount SAM and SSM lenses by Sony and Carl Zeiss (so by far not all A-mount optics). Aperture settings can be maintained during HD movie recording, and system menu operation has been streamlined alongside other usability improvements. You can download the firmware update from the website below.

Website: Sony Europe Support

The Great British Enthusiast is an exhibition of street photographs by Matt Stuart. Stuart’s observational photography captures enthusiasts in the throws of diverse obsessions. His amusing and astounding series of photographs goes on display at Derby QUAD (Market Place, Cathedral Quarter, Derby) on 13th November, and the exhibition runs until 16th January 2011.

Canon has released a firmware update for the Canon EOS 1000D / Rebel XS digital SLR camera. Version 1.0.7 fixes bug that sometimes causes a “Cannot create folder” message to be displayed on the LCD screen, after which shooting is no longer possible with the SD card in the camera. You can download the firmware update from the website below.

Website: Canon EOS 1000D / Rebel XS Firmware Update

The QuickSpot honeycomb grid from Harbor Digital Design (HDD) offers photographers an easy and inexpensive way to produce dramatic lighting effects, like a snoot. Available with Lee gel filter packs, and in both a 1/4 and 1/8 inch grid, the QuickSpot is a versatile tool for the strobist, and thanks to HDD’s custom fit adapters, requires no Velcro or straps. The QuickSpot is compatible with the entire line of Harbor Digital Design accessories, including the Ultimate LightBox and Small Dome Diffuser. The list price of the QuickSpot is $44.95 but the manufacturer’s online shop is currently offering it for $34.95.

Peartree has announced that it will be the first camera dealer in the world to demonstrate the 80-megapixel Leaf Aptus-II 12 digital back. You can join them on 19th October at their London showroom for a test drive. The PC-Tilt Shift Apo-Digitar 5.6/120 HM Aspheric Schneider Kreuznach lens, which we checked out at Photokina, will also be with Peartree. The showroom is located at Cremer Business Centre, 37 Cremer Street, London, E2 8HD.

AKVIS has released a new program entitled AKVIS NatureArt. Described by its developers as “an excellent tool for imitating the magnificence of natural phenomena”, AKVIS NatureArt lets photographers choose from six nature effects including rain, water, lightning, clouds, fire and Sun. Available as a standalone program or as a plug-in to an image editor, AKVIS NatureArt costs €55 / $72 is also available as part of the Alchemy bundle.

Canon has unveiled new concepts for the future of imaging at Canon EXPO 2010 Paris. The highlights of the new imaging innovations include their compact multi-purpose camera that supports both video and still image capture with ultra-high definition 4K resolution at 60fps (first showcased at Canon EXPO 2010 New York), a Mixed Reality concept system featuring a head-mounted display with built-in cameras and a computer which processes video to blend real and virtual realities, a range of new medical imaging innovations, and more. The multi-purpose camera features a newly developed 2/3”, 8-megapixel sensor and a compact 24-480mm equivalent 20x optical zoom lens with maximum apertures ranging from f/1.8 at the wide end to f/3.8 at full telephoto.