Carl Zeiss today announced the pricing and availability of its Distagon T* 3.5/18 ZE ultra-wide lens for Canon EOS SLRs. The lens’s extremely wide 99°-angle view is suitable especially for full-frame sensor cameras, delivering an array of new creative possibilities. The Distagon T* 3,5/18 ZE has a relatively compact design, especially when compared to zoom lenses. Internal focusing also helps to reduce its size while delivering extremely precise and smooth focus control, according to claims made by Carl Zeiss. Following the Planar T* 1,4/50 ZE and 1,4/85 ZE, the Distagon T* 3,5/18 ZE is the first wide-angle lens with EF bayonet mount on the market. The Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 3,5/18 ZE will be available in autumn 2009 at a suggested retail price of €1,049+VAT.

For the ninth consecutive year, Santa Fe Photographic Workshops hosts 12 week-long workshops in San Miguel de Allende, a charming colonial town set in the northern highlands of central Mexico. Veteran photographers such Sam Abell, Joyce Tenneson, Greg Gorman, Ralph Lee Hopkins, and Eddie Soloway, inspire all levels of photographers in pursuit of personal vision, portraiture, documentary storytelling, and travel photography. Participants explore the soul of San Miguel amid the vibrant culture, rich heritage, private gardens, and Day of the Dead festivities. The three-week programme, occurring October 25 through November 15, is hosted on a private campus within walking distance of the main plaza of this UNESCO World Heritage Site. San Miguel remains a safe refuge for participants to grow creatively while capturing fireworks illuminating the gothic spires of the Parroquia, listening to strolling musicians in El Jardin, and making personal connections with local families. For more information on workshops in San Miguel de Allende, or other workshops offered by Santa Fe Photographic Workshops, visit the website below.

Website: Santa Fe Photographic Workshops

The Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust has announced an in-depth interior and exterior tour of Wright’s Robie House, a photogenic building in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighbourhood. The tour, which will take place at 9 a.m. on Sunday, 18 October, presents wonderful opportunities for professional and amateur photographers to explore one of the most famous architectural landmarks in the United States. Wright’s Robie House is located at 5757 S. Woodlawn Avenue, Chicago. Tickets are $80 for Preservation Trust members and $90 for non-members. Advance ticket purchases are required, and possible via the website below.

Website: Go Wright

Dazzboard will officially announce a partnership with the social cloud storage provider MySites, allowing anyone to upload an unlimited amount of photographs, videos or music files for free. Dazzboard is a free service, to remotely store, and share data online or on the phone.  In exchange for endless cloud space, MySites users will get access to Dazzboard’s ability to move cloud-stored files to and from portable devices, to organise files on a computer or across the social web (e.g. Facebook) with a simple drag-and-drop. The service features the ability to use Facebook Connect, to publish comments on users’ files to their Facebook stream and to post content from the phone, directly to a profile. Dazzboard currently supports Windows XP, Vista and 7, Internet Explorer version 6 (XP only), 7 and 8, as well as Firefox 3.X. In the near future, Dazzboard will be compatible with Google Chrome and Mac OS, the company says.

Website: Dazzboard

Photoscala has posted an interesting Gain & Loss analysis of the worldwide DSLR market, for the period 2006-2008. According to their findings Canon, who were the undisputed worldwide leaders in 2006, have lost 9 percentage points and barely managed to keep their number one position against Nikon, who have gained 4 percentage points in the meantime. The biggest winner is Sony, who managed to more than double their market share, and took the third position from Olympus with ease. The rest of the market is devoid of any major changes, although Panasonic has managed to double its share, partially owing to its introduction of the DMC-G1 (which is, technically speaking, not a DSLR, but is nevertheless included in the figures). Nota bene: Photoscala warns that these numbers, which were derived from multiple sources, are to be taken with a grain of salt, but allegedly “the tendencies have been captured quite accurately”.

Source: Photoscala

JVC Visual Systems Division has introduced its new DLA-RS4000 Reference Series projector, which is capable of delivering a 10 megapixel image with a native resolution of 4,096x2,400 pixels. This is nearly five times more than the so-called Full HD resolution of 1,920x1080 pixels, and approximates the pixel count of most current digital still cameras. So in theory, you can now enjoy huge projections of your digital photographs at - or close to - their native resolution. In practice, it will depend very much on your budget - at $175,000 the JVC DLA-RS4000 projector (which, to be fair, is targeted at well-heeled home cinema owners rather than photographers) makes the Leica S2 camera look cheap in comparison.

Digieffects has announced that Camera Mapper, a plugin for Adobe After Effects, allows you to simulate a 3D scene from 2D stills or footage, is available for purchase. It allows you to isolate one or several objects in your footage, project these objects on a separate layer and pull that layer out of the background, creating the visual illusion of the object floating in front of the original footage. The Camera Mapper plugin, which is compatible with Adobe After Effects 7, CS3 and CS4, sells for $79. Camera Maker is also available in a $229 bundle with PlaneSpace, a program developed by Red Giant Software for arranging and animating 3D layers easily.

PhotoShelter have released Google Analytics for Photographers, a free, downloadable kit designed to help photographers succeed online. This kit contains comprehensive guidance - specifically for photographers - on how to implement and make sense of Google’s powerful tool for monitoring website traffic. The primary content is PhotoShelter’s a 43-page, comprehensive e-book that explains how to install Google Analytics, how to read and interpret the data, key metrics to follow, and how to set benchmarks and goals for evaluating website performance. PhotoShelter also includes a quickstart guide, and a chart that demonstrates how to use Google Analytics to address five key marketing questions. The kit can be downloaded at the website below.

Website: Google Analytics for Photographers

InvenSense has announced the new IDG-2000 dual-axis pitch and roll gyroscope, which provides the imaging market with a smaller and thinner gyroscope ideal for improving optical image stabilisation in digital still cameras and high-resolution, eight megapixel and above camera phones. “Optical image stabilisation is quickly becoming a standard key feature consumers look for in new cameras,” said Chris Chute, IDC Research Manager in the Worldwide Digital Imaging Practice. “Even with millions of digital cameras still being sold worldwide, competition for product differentiation, coupled with lower price points are forcing camera vendors to manage costs more closely than ever. New technologies like the IDG-2000 can help camera vendors remain competitive in the market.” The IDG-2000 family of digital dual-axis gyroscopes begins sampling in October 2009 to selected OEM partners.

Partnering with the NSPCC and their ChildLine service to support the Child’s Voice Appeal, PhotoBox has announced its 2009 Young Photographer of the Year competition. The contest launched on September 8th and aims to capture the world of young people through their own eyes. It will be judged by an expert panel including renowned photographers, Annabel Williams and Charlie Waite along with senior representatives from NSPCC and PhotoBox. Children are encouraged to enter via http://youngphotographer.photobox.com and their photographs will be grouped under four age categories - under 8 yrs, 9-12 yrs, 13-15 yrs or 16-18 yrs with different prizes for each.

Electrophysics, a Sofradir Group company, has introduced a high-performance night vision module for use with Nikon’s full-frame (FX) digital SLR cameras. These digital cameras deliver bright high resolution green images of night-time scenes having a full image format and edge-to-edge sharpness when used with the new AstroScope 9350NIK. Because the night vision module fits between the camera body and SLR lens, all the lens electrical connections are maintained and important lens features such as vibration reduction (VR) remain fully functional even in night vision mode. The introduction of the AstroScope 9350NIK follows hot on the heels of the announcement of the AstroScope 9350EOS-FF for Canon EOS digital SLR cameras.

WD has introduced its smaller, smarter and more secure My Passport Essential and My Passport for Mac ultra-portable external hard drives featuring WD’s new WD SmartWare software and equipped with hardware-based encryption. The new My Passport drives are more than 20 percent smaller than the previous generation My Passport. The new portable drives with WD SmartWare software visually present consumers’ data in a control center, providing them peace of mind that their precious photos, videos and files are securely protected. Available now at select retailers and the WD online store (shopwd.com), the new My Passport Essential and My Passport for Mac drives are offered in capacities ranging from 320 GB to 1 TB and come in a range of colours including Pacific Blue, Real Red, Cool Silver and Midnight Black.

Western Digital has announced its new, smaller, sleeker My Book Essential and My Book for Mac desktop external hard drives equipped with the new WD SmartWare software and hardware-based encryption. When the My Book Essential drive is plugged in for the first time, the simple and intuitive first backup process launches automatically. The real-time visual interface of WD SmartWare software gives users a reassuring view of their back up as it happens. After the first backup, users’ files are backed up automatically every time they change or add a file. WD SmartWare software works on Windows PCs and Mac computers. WD My Book Essential hard drives are designed for Windows-based PCs while WD My Book for Mac drives are preformatted for Mac computers and are compatible with Apple Time Machine, Apple’s integrated backup solution.Available now at select retailers and the WD online store (shopwd.com), the new My Book Essential and My Book for Mac drives are offered in capacities ranging from 500 GB to 2 TB.

Rafal Milach, a professional photographer from Warsaw, Poland, was awarded the $25,000 Grand Prize, sponsored by Hewlett-Packard, in the second annual Photography.Book.Now competition for his photography book, “Black Sea of Concrete.” Mr. Milach created his body of work about contemporary Ukraine while shooting with 8 other photographers from the Sputnik Photos collective. Commissioned by the Belgian-based NGO Altemus, Mr. Milach focused on the Black Sea coastline during the bitter winter of 2008. Mr. Milach edited the work and worked with graphic and book designer Ania Nalecka, with whom he has collaborated on two other photography volumes. This year’s Photography.Book.Now competition featured more than 2,400 entries from 50 countries around the world. Out of 2,400 submissions, the top 85 books are acknowledged as top prize winners and Honourable Mentions. Click through / read on for a list of category winners, first and second runners-up and People’s Choice award winners.

In the UK, the blue version of the recently announced Fujifilm Finepix J30 will be sold exclusively by Jessops. Priced at £129, the Fuji Finepix J30 is a 12 megapixel digital compact camera with a 3x optical zoom and a 2.7” LCD screen. Onboard features include Auto Scene Recognition, Face Detection and a brand new Panoramic Shooting Mode that allows the user to seamlessly stitch together three consecutive shots for a final panoramic image. The Fujifilm Finepix J30 is the second Finepix model this year whose blue variant is exclusive to Jessops - previously, the retailer announced that the Fujifilm Finepix A170 in blue would also be available from Jessops only.

As part of the global partnership signed between PNY Technologies and National Geographic back in 2007, PNY announced today an exclusive offer on its high speed Optima Flash cards that will give access to bonus content from National Geographic’s African catalogue. This limited edition offer gives customers an opportunity to discover the remarkable images, music and maps that National Geographic captures. Customers that purchase a PNY Optima Flash card will now be able to download content via a dedicated website using a printed code that can be found inside the product’s packaging. The PNY Optima Flash cards included in this offer are available in a selection of capacities (ranging up to 32 GB) and boast a write speed of 10 MB per second for both the SD and Compact Flash models. The PNY Optima Flash cards concerned have a 5 year guarantee and will be available from September 2009 onwards through PNY’s usual distribution network.

Hamrick Software, the developer of VueScan, has released its latest version 8.5.26. The company has also announced that its customer base now stands at more than 200,000. VueScan 0.1 was first released in 1998 with support for a single scanner on Windows only. Within 5 years VueScan supported more than 400 scanners, and had acquired a good reputation through word of mouth. After a further 10 years of development, VueScan now supports over 1200 scanners on 3 operating systems, has been downloaded more than 5 million times, and is the scanning program of choice for more than 200,000 customers in over 150 different countries. Version 8.5.26 adds enhanced OCR support using Google’s Tesseract OCR code. Future plans include adding more advanced scanning features, such as scanning multiple photos placed randomly on a scanner (auto image segmentation). VueScan is available in two editions, Standard Edition ($39.95 USD) and Professional Edition ($79.95). The Professional Edition adds unlimited free upgrades, advanced IT8 color calibration and support for raw scan files.

Leica has joined many other premium brands and launched its own store in the UK. Selling the full Leica range of products including the newly announced Leica M9 digital rangefinder camera, the store is located in 34 Bruton Place, Mayfair situated between Old Bond Street and Berkeley Square, London W1. The Mayfair store is the latest development for the company following the opening of Leica stores in Tokyo, Berlin, Paris and Moscow. The Leica Store Mayfair facility is set to complement other Leica Dealers and grow the brand in the UK. Opening hours of the store will be 10.00 to 18.00 Monday to Friday, and 10.00 to 15.00 on Saturdays. If you can’t make it to the physical store, Leica have also just opened their virtual doors at www.leica-storemayfair.co.uk

FixerLabs has just released the Picturefxr iPhone App that automatically enhances and enlarges photos. The Picturefxr App sends photos from an iPhone to external servers, where they are enhanced and enlarged. The results are stored on each user’s private photo gallery and immediately returned by email. The results are claimed to be sharper, brighter, clearer, color accurate; and if requested, can have twice or four times the number of pixels than the original (in other words, Picturefxr can interpolate your photos for you if intending to print them big). The Picturefxr iPhone App is available now on the Apple iTunes Store.

Website: Picturefxr iPhone App