Davis & Sanford, a division of The Tiffen Company, has introduced the TRAVERSE tripod, whose legs have the ability to fold up over the head saving several inches of space as the tripod is readied for storage. The TRAVERSE opens up to a full size 57 inches and folds down to a mere 16”. The independent legs have 2 stops to shoot down to 16” or up to 57 inches. The TRVERSE tripod is suitable for use with compacts as well as SLRs. The TRAVERSE with BHQ8 ball head (load capacity: 7lbs) has a street price of $119, while the TRAVERSE with BH11 head (load capacity: 11lbs) has a street price of $169.

Kodak has announced that it has completed the previously announced sale of its OLED business to an entity set up by a group of LG companies. “As we said earlier this year, OLED is one of the businesses we wanted to reposition to maximize Kodak’s competitive advantage at the intersection of materials and imaging science,” said Laura G. Quatela, Kodak’s Chief Intellectual Property Officer and manager of the company’s OLED business. “This action is consistent with that strategy. Our OLED intellectual property portfolio is fundamental; however, realising the full value of this business would have required significant investment.”

Samyang has announced two lenses for Four Thirds. The Korean manufacturer said that as of March 2010, its 85mm f/1.4 and 8mm fish-eye lenses will be available in five different mounts, including Canon, Four Thirds, Nikon, Pentax and Sony/Minolta. Both are manual-focus lenses, and at present there is no information on whether focus confirmation will be available when used on a Four Thirds body. With a maximum aperture of f/1.4 and a 35mm equivalent focal length of 170mm, the Samyang 85mm lens will be the fastest telephoto prime in the whole Four Thirds system. Prices are to be confirmed.

Website: Samyang

Panasonic is going to (finally!) offer the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1 camera as a body-only option in the UK, starting January 2010. Able to shoot 1080/25p or 720/50p HD videos in AVCHD format, the GH1 is arguably the best implementation of the interchangeable-lens hybrid digital stills/video camera concept to date; with a large and high-resolution body-integral EVF, articulated LCD screen, fast continuous AF and full manual control when recording movies or stills. Up to now, the Panasonic GH1 has only been offered in a kit with the 14-140mm HD lens, which has made it a fairly expensive proposition.

Via Four Thirds User

Bibble Labs have officially released the all-new Bibble 5 Pro Photographic Workflow application for Windows, Mac and Linux. Bibble 5 Pro includes a totally new, completely multi-threaded image processing engine, allowing it to process images faster than anything else, Bibble Labs claim. Efficient enough to be perfectly usable on netbooks and older computers, yet powerful enough to take full advantage of 4, 8, 16 or even more CPU’s, Bibble 5 Pro is allegedly designed to fully utilise all the computing power available to it. “With dual core processors now being replaced with four-core processors, and with 6- an 8- and higher core count processors on the horizon,” says Eric Hyman, founder and owner of Bibble Labs, “it’s clear that utilizing the full power of those additional CPU’s is the key to true workflow performance.” Also, Bibble 5 Pro’s Selective Editing framework allows its image editing tools to operate on the complete image or a limited portion of an image, fully integrated into a totally non-destructive workflow. Bibble 5 Pro is available immediately for Windows, Mac, and Linux computers for $199.95 from Bibble Labs. Customers who purchased Bibble 4 since September, 2006 are eligible for a free upgrade to Bibble 5 Pro. Earlier Bibble 4 Pro customers may upgrade to Bibble 5 Pro for $99.

Website: Bibble Labs

Teorex has just released Inpaint, a smart tool which allows users to seamlessly remove objects from a background. This applies to scratches, noise and all kinds of objects that do not belong to the photo or spoil the composition. Just select the object to remove, define the area to be used for generating the texture and click the Inpaint — Run command. Besides photo restoration, Inpaint can also be used for texture synthesizing for different objects. For details, visit the website below.

Website: Impaint Video Tutorials

Tonchidot Corporation has announced the global availability of the iPhone application “Sekai Camera,” a social, Augmented Reality service for browsing and sharing user-generated text, photo, voice, and other location-linked information. Launched September 2009 in Japan, Sekai Camera was recently named the Best App in 2009 by Apple Japan. Sekai Camera is now available for free outside Japan at iPhone’s AppStore worldwide. While most mobile Augmented Reality applications today are allegedly navigation oriented, Sekai Camera is social by design, giving users the ability to communicate and have fun through interaction with digital tags that float in the real world. Sekai Camera has created a completely new interface for connecting the real world to the Web, Tonchidot Corporation says.

Website: Sekai Camera

Fujifilm Professional has announced that Fujifilm Japan is to cease its manufacture of Quickload films in April 2010. In the background of the decision is a dramatic drop in demand, Fujifilm says. “Unfortunately the volume of Quickload sales has dropped off to such an extent that they are simply not viable products,” explains Russ Gunn, Fujifilm’s Senior Product Manager for Professional Film. Fujifilm has stocks of Quickload Pro 160S, Provia 100F, Velvia 100 and Velvia 50 in storage and, depending on demand, there should be sufficient quantities to last for another 12 months. Sheet film production will, however, continue. From early Summer 2010 Fujifilm’s ranges of 5"x4” and 10"x8” films will be packed as 20 sheet boxes instead of the current 10 sheet packs.

BeFunky.com, a technology company specialising in consumer-level digital media tools, has announced an enhanced service for users looking to do more with their digital artwork. The new service, called BeFunky Plus, gives members expanded rights usage, higher resolution capabilities for all digital artwork and access to a larger collection of digital photo effects. “BeFunky is an easy-to-use web application that allows anyone to create amazingly rich, professional-quality artwork from digital photos with a single click and without the need for expensive and hard-to-use graphic design software,” said Tekin Tatar, CEO & Co-Founder of BeFunky. “Our new BeFunky Plus service makes it easy for individuals and businesses to benefit from high-end, professional looking photo creativity with minimal impact on their bottom line. Anyone can create great-looking artwork from photos simply by uploading images, selecting a desired photo effect and letting BeFunky Plus take care of the rest.” BeFunky Plus costs $49.99 per year.

Website: BeFunky

NASA has just placed an order for eleven Nikon D3S digital SLR cameras and seven AF-S Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8G ED lenses. The D3S DSLRs and AF-S NIKKOR 14-24mm f/2.8G ED lenses ordered by NASA will be carried on the Space Shuttle and used to photograph activities at the International Space Station in the future. No special modifications will be made to these products. They will be the same products available to end-users, Nikon claims. The new equipment will be used along with the Nikon D2XS digital SLR cameras, Nikkor lenses, and Nikon Speedlights already in use at the International Space Station. Nikon has been supplying NASA with cameras and lenses since 1971.

Kaiser Fototechnik has just introduced the Vivicap, a small accessory that helps make custom white balance quick and easy. The Vivicap white balance filters concentrate and filter incident light resulting in a neutral grey area with uniform light distribution facing the lens. This effect is achieved by a special surface structure with microprisms. The basic operation is quite easy: mount the Vivicap in front of the lens, direct it at the light source, take a custom white balance reading and store the value. Then remove the Vivicap and shoot using the stored value as a reference.  The Vivicap, which can also serve as a lens cap, has two handle bars that make it easy to attach it even when a lens hood is mounted. Available in seven sizes ranging from 52mm to 77mm, the Vivicap is priced at €24.90 to €29.90.

Website: Kaiser Fototechnik

ZINK, inventors of the unique Zero Ink Printing Technology and manufacturers of ZINK Paper, have announced the advent of the next generation of ZINK technology. ZINK Technology encompasses both the ZINK Paper, the heart of the technology, and the intelligence embedded in every ZINK?enabled device. ZINK Imaging’s development teams have made several chemistry, physics, and manufacturing process enhancements, resulting in the improved performance of the ZINK Paper. Additionally, ZINK Imaging and its partners collaborated on new hardware and image science technologies that enhance the print quality, performance, and reduce the product size of next generation ZINK printing devices. The next generation of ZINK Paper will first be available in new 3x4?inch and 4x6?inch sizes.

Website: ZINK

Nikon recently announced the results of its 2009 “Picture Yourself” survey that reveals consumer attitudes about self-image. Nikon’s survey revealed that if people could turn back time, they would choose to retake a family portrait (25 percent), a high school graduation photo (21 percent), a driver’s license photo (21 percent), a wedding photo (15 percent) and a birthday party photo (7 percent). Data also showed that whether you like having your picture taken or not, it’s practically unavoidable. Nearly every American adult (92 percent) had at least one picture taken of them so far this year. Among all American adults, 79 percent believe they looked better in person than in pictures. This data was consistent in responses from both men and women; 79 percent of women preferring the real deal to a photograph, along with 78 percent of men.

Kenro has announced the UK release of two new Marumi digital high grade filters, the Super Circular Polarising Filter, and the Super Lens Protection Filter. Both filters use a specially developed ultra-low reflection coating to minimize internal reflection off the cameras’ built-in CCD and CMOS sensors. Other anti-reflect features include a special slim frame with satin smooth finish and a black ink process on the glass edge to eliminate flare. Both new filters incorporate Hard Protection that guards the surface of the lens from scratches even with heavy duty use. They are also water and oil repellent, meaning water and oil spots simply wipe off. They also come with Anti-fouling, this keeps the lens surface clean from dust and dirt. Both filters are available in the following sizes: 49mm, 52mm, 55mm, 58mm, 62mm, 67mm, 72mm, 77mm and 82mm. Prices for the Super Circular Polarising Filters range from £83.15 to £186.82, while the Super Lens Protection Filters start at £33.06, rising to £72.79.

Website: Kenro

The Bookshop at The Photographers’ Gallery in London is celebrating one of the most iconic products of the twentieth century, the Polaroid, by displaying work by a number of renowned photographers who have taken Polaroid photographs, and also plans to sell a new Polaroid format film starting early 2010.The last instant film manufactured by Polaroid was produced in 2008, with an expiry date of October 2009. To mark its expiration, national newspaper The Observer gave eight leading contemporary photographers Polaroid film and cameras for a day - Harry Borden (USA, b.1965), Nan Goldin (USA, b.1953), Tom Hunter (UK, b.1965), Mary McCartney (UK, b.1969), Martin Parr (UK, b.1952), Rankin (UK, b.1966), Lord Snowdon (UK, b.1930) and Sam Taylor-Wood (UK, b.1967). The resulting images are on display at The Photographers’ Gallery in London, 16 – 18 Ramillies St, W1, until 31 January 2010. Some of these unique one-off prints are available to purchase from Print Sales at The Photographers’ Gallery..Also, the Photographers’ Gallery Bookshop promises to be one of the first places in the world to sell the new Polaroid format instant film developed within the framework of The Impossible Project, from early 2010.

Ricoh has announced the GR DIGITAL III x Stussy, a limited-edition collaboration model with US fashion brand manufacturer Stussy. Ricoh has never before collaborated with a brand to offer a customised camera in their GR Digital line of professional compacts. This co-branded GR Digital III, which is released as part of Stussy’s 30th anniversary special projects, features royal blue accents and body parts. Moreover, the labels of the buttons and other controls are in the Stussy font. The “XXX” logo marking the 30th anniversary is also displayed on the flash cover and the exit screen when the power is turned off. Limited quantities of the Ricoh GR Digital III x Stussy camera will be available for purchase through Stussy Chapter stores from February 2010.

Via DCVIEWS

Mamiya has announced an iPhone app that transforms an Apple iPhone or iPod Touch into a remote image viewer for users of the new Mamiya DM system. Now, while the photographer is shooting in a tethered mode, other people on set – the creative director, client, stylist, etc. – can watch via a standard Wi-Fi network, without hindering the movement of the photographer or crowding around one monitor. The images are hi-res and the software allows viewers to pan and zoom using their compatible Apple device. Note that this app is essentally the same Leaf Capfure Remote application that has recently been released by Leaf Imaging for users of Leaf digital backs and camera systems.

Likno Software has released a new Adobe Air version of its software, Photo Frame Show. Photo Frame Show is an intuitive program that allows people who wish to enhance their digital photos to do so by adding original and impressive frames to them in a fast an easy manner. The new version offers more advanced features, faster rendering, support for a wider range of operating systems, and a more user-friendly functionality, the company claims. The AIR application can be downloaded from the website below.

Website: Photo Frame Show

A new, 26-gigapixel panoramic image of Dresden, Germany, is now the world’s largest-resolution photograph. Taken from the rooftop of the “Haus der Presse” building, the giant panorama is made up of 1,665 individual shots captured with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II camera and a 400mm lens. This massive number of shots were taken with the help of a photo-robot, in the course of less than three hours, but the processing took 94 hours using a computer with 16 processors and a main memory cache of 48 Gigabytes.

Website: Gigapixel-Dresden.de

Almost exactly a month after the release of Lightroom 2.6 and Adobe Camera Raw 5.6 Release Candidates, Adobe posted the final versions. ACR 5.6 adds support for a range of new cameras, and replaces the original one that was installed with Adobe Photoshop CS4, Adobe Photoshop Elements 8, and Adobe Premiere Elements 8 software. Adobe Lightroom 2.6 also provides support for new cameras such as the Canon EOS 7D and the Nikon D3s, and includes corrections for issues introduced by previous Lightroom 2 releases.

Website: Adobe - Latest Product Updates