FocalPoint Daily, a website offering a free new service for all those interested in photography and digital imaging launches this week. Posting the most important photography-related stories from across the web in the categories of News, Ideas, Reviews and Tools, Tips and Technology, FocalPoint Daily is run by photographers for photographers. Within the next two months an iPhone App will be launched that will allow photographers access to the latest, high quality news in their area ‘on the go’.

Website: FocalPoint Daily

Inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man, the new Giotto’s Vitruvian VGR tripods are designed to offer photographers not only a truly lightweight and compact tripod, but a fully functioning monopod and ball head too. The Vitruvian tripods have been designed with “reverse technology” legs so that when collapsed they fold through 180 degrees to “surround” the tripod centre column and head – folding down into a unit that measures only 40cm long. There are two VGR models available, both with a maximum operating height of 157cm and a load capacity of up to 4kg. The VGR9255 is manufactured using aluminium tubing and weighs 1.5kg while the VGR 8255 uses 6 layer carbon tubing and weighs just 1.28kg.

Website: Giottos

Topaz Labs have released a major upgrade of the Topaz Adjust Photoshop plug-in, which features new presets, a completely redesigned user interface, and upgraded image processing algorithms. “Topaz Adjust 4 uses unique technology that automatically adapts to different image conditions like light, detail, and color,” said Albert Yang, president of Topaz Labs and original designer of Topaz Adjust. “This has important implications. Other tools make the same standard adjustments to every single photo they’re applied to. In contrast, Topaz Adjust 4 tailors the adjustments specifically to the photo in question. This gives it the flexibility to ditch the cookie cutter enhancements and create some truly fantastic and unique photo effects.” Topaz Adjust 4, a free upgrade for existing customers, otherwise retails for $49.99.

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

1st Place
Stillness by vab

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

Fujifilm Professional has announced the winners of the latest Fujifilm Distinctions Awards. The overall winner is Ukraine based photojournalist, Ikuru Kuwajima who collects a cash prize of £1,000 for his image, ‘Cossack Children with a Foal’, captured on Fujicolor Superia 400 film. The Awards were judged by Camilla Brown from The Photographers’ Gallery, Aidan Sullivan from Getty Images, Photographer, Simon Roberts, and Jerry Deeney from Fujifilm Professional. Simon was impressed by the winner: “Ikuru’s entry has an awkward beauty about the pose, with the hand gestures of the children mirroring the foal’s head. It’s a really intriguing, atmospheric image that is reminiscent of a classic painting.”

WD has just introduced its new My Passport Studio portable drives featuring the super-fast FireWire 800 interface and a customizable e-label that’s always visible, even when the drive is unplugged. The new high-performance My Passport Studio drives are formatted for Mac computers, compatible with Apple TimeMachine software, and feature automatic and continuous backup with WD SmartWare software, and 256-bit hardware-based encryption. Available now at select retailers and shopwd.com, the new My Passport Studio drives are offered in capacities of 320 GB, 500 GB and 640 GB, priced from $149.99 to $199.99.

Arctic explorer and photographer, Martin Hartley, left the UK last week equipped with a specially-tested LEICA MP camera with LEICA ELMARIT-M 24mm f/2.8 ASPH. lens as part of his expedition equipment. Martin Hartley commented, “Despite 19 polar photographic assignments over the last 12 years, there are still ‘impossible’ images to capture.  At the start of every expedition on the Arctic Ocean in late February/March, it is difficult to survive let alone operate a camera due to the severe conditions.  Below minus 40 degrees Celsius, electronic circuits slow down and become unreliable. The mechanical LEICA MP will give me the best chance of capturing those elusive, extremely cold photographs this time, which may be our last opportunity to do so.” During his trip, Martin will regularly send back film for developing, and images from the expedition will be posted regularly on his website.

Website: Martin Hartley

Sixty-nine endangered North American animal and plant species are poignantly profiled in a new book from National Geographic, RARE: Portraits of America’s Endangered Species, photographed by Joel Sartore. His arresting photographs tell a sad tale of a harsh reality: For many species, it’s already too late. One of the featured animals, the Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit (see photo above), actually went extinct while the book was being made. An exhibition of 40 images from the book will be held March 18-Oct. 11 at the National Geographic Museum in Washington, D.C. At a National Geographic Live event at headquarters on April 20 at 7:30 p.m., Sartore will share stories about living things that may soon disappear from the world.

Canon has been voted as Europe’s top camera brand for the tenth consecutive year in the Reader’s Digest Most Trusted Brands Survey 2010. Reader’s Digest asked its readers in 14 languages across 16 European countries to nominate the brand they trusted most in a range of consumer categories, including cameras.  Respondents were drawn from the Reader’s Digest customer database of 4.5 million homes in Europe, and more than 32,000 responses were analysed. Canon came out on top in 14 of the 16 countries, including Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.

The Noktor HyperPrime 50mm f0.95 portrait lens for Micro Four Thirds, which we wrote about last week, has officially been announced and priced. Constructed of eight elements in seven groups, the Noktor HyperPrime 50mm f0.95 offers the same angle of view (23°) and depth of field as a theoretical 100mm f1.9 lens would when mounted to a 35mm film camera. Weighing in at 480 grams, the Noktor HyperPrime 50mm f0.95 takes 62mm filters and focuses down to 0.6m / 2ft. This manual-focus lens for Micro Four Thirds ships from 15 April priced at $750, and is available now for pre-order.

Website: Noktor

The German subsidiary of Sigma has unveiled the prices of the Sigma DP2s large-sensor compact and the Sigma SD15 digital SLR camera. The cameras, which share the same almost-APS-sized Foveon sensor, were on display at PMA in Anaheim but at that time, the prices were not revealed. According to the official German website of the company, the Sigma DP2 carries an RRP of €799, while the Sigma SD15 is expected to retail for €899.

Source: Sigma-Foto via 1001 Noisy Cameras

Sigma has just relaunched its website, complete with a fresh look and new features. Designed by Blue Collar Interactive, the new Sigma site has an extensive Lens Finder Tool, enhanced functionality for Sigma dealers, and social media sharing tools. One of the prominent new features is the Sigma Lounge, which includes a photo share gallery and blog. “We’re particularly excited about the opportunity to interact with users and provide a place for the Sigma community to share their images,” said Mark Amir-Hamzeh, general manager of Sigma Corporation of America. Customers will also find it much easier to navigate our product pages and make purchases through Authorized Sigma Dealers.”

Website: Sigma

Seitz has unveiled the Roundshot D2x 360° panorama camera and its faster brother the Roundshot D2xs. The Roundshot D2x has a 2,048 pixel vertical resolution and captures 2x full HD panoramas at a fast speed, ideal for nature photography and virtual tours, the company says. As with all Roundshot cameras, the D2x rotates around its own axis and takes Nikon F mount lenses. A panoramic image is created in seconds, and can then be transferred to the PC via Ethernet (100Mb on the D2x, 1Gb on the D2xs). One further difference between the Seitz D2x and the Seitz D2xs is the onboard RAM buffer, which is 256MB on the D2x, and 1GB on the D2xs. The Roundshot D2x costs CHF 14,500; while the Roundshot D3xs can be had for CHF 16,500.

Internationally renowned artist Tadanori Yokoo released a photography compilation based on his signature work “Y-Junction”, including a print that covers an entire wall without join lines. In order to produce this mural-sized print, he used a HP Designjet L65500 large format printer. Standing in front of his newly printed giant-size work, Yokoo expressed delight with its high quality and reproducibility. “I was surprised at the lack of join lines in the print and that it had been completely printed as a single work. Standing in front of it, it feels like I’ve entered the actual Y-junction depicted.”

Nikon has announced that the Nikon Coolpix S220 was Europe’s best-selling digital camera in 2009. According to research by German market research agency GfK, European consumers purchased more than 740,000 Nikon Coolpix S220 digital cameras in 2009. Commenting on the results, Mark Pekelharing, Product Manager for Consumer Products at Nikon, said: “When we launched the Coolpix S220, we wanted to offer simple yet functional digital camera that was small enough to take anywhere and suitable for everyone. These figures show we have achieved that exact goal. Overall, the good price point of this camera combined with great colours, design and performance has truly appealed to our audience and we look forward to introducing them to our new range of Coolpix cameras, including its successor model, the Coolpix S3000.”

The British government has launched a photo / essay contest as part of its Science: [So what? So everything] campaign. The Science: [So what? So everything] campaign is looking for real life images and stories to illustrate how medical science has touched your life by bringing you or a loved one a better quality of life. Your photo could show what improved health has allowed you to achieve, that would previously have been impossible, or how it has given you or a loved one a new start in life. The first prize is a Canon EOS 500D with 18-55 IS and EF-S55 250 IS lenses, worth £1,149.95, and a photography course.

Website: Science: [So what? So everything]

Corel has recently introduced CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X5. A brand new built-in application named Corel CONNECT synchronises with both CorelDRAW and Corel PHOTO-PAINT to provide quick access to content on a computer, network, or disc. In addition, industry-leading support for more than 100 commonly used file formats ensures users can easily collaborate and exchange files with clients and colleagues. Also, CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X5 represents a complete change in approach to colour management, assuring users accurate colour representation. The new Document (CorelDRAW) and Image (Corel PHOTO-PAINT) dockers allow users to save project-specific colours and to reuse colours from a previous project. In addition, eyedroppers have been added to colour dialog boxes, colour palettes, and colour pickers throughout the product, providing faster and more convenient colour sampling opportunities. CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X5 is available at a suggested retail price of £399 for the full version or £179 for the upgrade.