Sony has announced the availability of the Sony SAL30M28 DT 30mm f2.8 Macro SAM, a new macro lens intended for use on Sony’s cropped-sensor DSLRs. With an imaging circle designed to cover sensors of 16x24mm or smaller, this lens is not meant to be used on the Sony A850 or A900 full-frame cameras (or any of Minolta’s film SLRs), but is a perfect match for all other Sony DSLRs. The Sony DT 30mm f2.8 Macro lens offers 1:1 magnification at a subject-to-sensor distance of 13cm, and has a Smooth Autofocus Motor on board (hence the SAM abbreviation in the name). According to Sony, the lens will become available in October for about $200.

Update: We’ve just added 4 product shots taken at today’s UK press launch.

Animoto users will now have the ability to easily incorporate video clips alongside their photos to create “stunning productions rivaling TV and film”. More than 3 million people currently use Animoto to automatically create dynamic, personalised videos from their own photos, music and text, and then download them or share them online through email, blogs, YouTube, Twitter, social networks, and mobile devices. Now, video clips taken straight from cameras and phones ranging from the Flip camera and iPhone 3GS to the Canon 5D Mark II and Nikon D700 can be woven together to make a unique, personalised movie. Incorporating video clips into Animoto videos is as easy as uploading a video clip (up to 200MB) and choosing sections to spotlight. Paying users can use 10-second spotlights while free users are limited to half that. There is no limit to the number of video clips that can be used in an Animoto video.

Photogra and myPhotopipe have announced a multi-year partnership for the provision of certain new online digital imaging services via an ordering platform developed by Photogra.com. Per the terms of the agreement, myPhotopipe.com has the exclusive use of certain new online toolsets developed by Photogra.com. “It makes it less confusing, more accurate, and easier to order the photos, prints or other products customers want,” stated Darren Schiff, Chief Operating Officer of myPhotopipe.com, Inc.

Website: myPhotopipe

Kodak’s booth at Print 09 will be streaming with exhibits, presentations and activities unlike any previously seen at a trade show, the company says. The Pipeline of Innovation serves as the centerpiece of Kodak’s booth. This 24-foot-long digital display will feature a continuous stream of visual images representing innovative technology and solutions from Kodak. Visitors can interact with the display to learn more about what interests them. Another highlight at Kodak’s booth will be the K-Zone, a live talk show set where dynamic discussions with industry experts, print service providers, and marketing professionals will take place daily throughout the show. The K-Zone kicks off on Friday, Sept. 11, at 11:00 a.m. CST with a panel discussion, “What’s Print Got to Do with It,” featuring Antonio M. Perez, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Eastman Kodak Company.

Gigatribe’s new and encrypted ‘Back to School’ features provide secure access to schools for sharing educational videos, photos & documents. In addition, GigaTribe recently announced its new DivX video streaming feature, which students can use to instantly stream DivX videos online. With the new DivX video feature, there’s no waiting, so users can view videos while they are still being transferred, even if they are not completely downloaded yet. Entire personal video libraries can be remotely accessed through the GigaTribe secure “Private Area” without delay and watched when traveling or away from their home, dorm, or school, with only the need of a web browser.

Kubota Image Tools announced today a new creative photography workshop – Studio Success, from K to V – taking place at the Sugarbush Resort in Warren, Vermont, October 26 – 27, 2009. Attendees will join professional photographers Kevin Kubota and Vicki and Jed Taufer for this intense 2-day workshop designed to help professional photographers fine-tune their creative and business skills to find success during tough economic times. Cost to those registering before September 15, 2009 is $399, while attendees registering after that date should expect to pay $449.

The Leaf AFi looks set to be one of the first victims of the latest turmoil in the medium format camera industry - unless a new initiative can persuade Phase One to keep it alive. A recent petition, which you can read in its entirety at SaveTheLeafAFi.com, states, “We the undersigned would like to encourage Phase One to consider taking steps towards keeping the Leaf Afi-II camera alive and a viable option to professional photographers everywhere.” The Leaf AFi-II is indeed a remarkable system camera, offering flash synchronisation right up to 1/1000 of a second, an ingenious adjustable control grip, an option to switch between landscape and portrait orientation simply by turning the camera back etc. But will this be enough for Phase One to keep it alive?

Website: Save The Leaf AFi

Via photoscala

Datacolor has introduced its new Spyder3Studio SR calibration system, a complete colour calibration solution that works at the capture, process and print stages of the photographic proces. Designed with a strong understanding of the needs of creatives and photographers, Datacolor’s Spyder3Studio SR offers an uncompromised calibration solution for each stage of the photographic process (capturing, processing and printing) to help create, view, and share photographs as they were envisioned. The Spyder3Studio SR workflow solution includes the new SpyderCube RAW calibration device that eliminates any need for traditional 18% gray cards; the Spyder3Elite monitor calibration tool and the new Spyder3Print SR (Strip Reader) which offers significant advances in creating ICC printer profiles. Datacolor’s new Spyder3Studio SR is currently available at retail outlets and photo specialty dealers across the US, with a suggested list price of $599.00.

RCP-Technik GmbH has announced three new Rollei branded photo / slide scanners. The first photo scanner from Rollei, the P-S 100 (pictured), has been designed to digitise photographic prints of popular sizes like 9x13cm, 10x15cm (4x6”) and 13x18cm (5x7”). The Rollei DF-S 110 and DF-S 100 models are slide scanners, whose claim to fame is that they can digitise mounted 35mm slides very quickly. All of these scanners appear to have a 5-megapixel CMOS type area-array sensor inside, which is responsible for the fast scan speeds. The P-S 100 and the DF-S 110 can also output interpolated 5184x3360-pixel scans. These two models cost €149.95, while the Rollei DF-S 100 will be available for €129.95 RRP.

The Sanyo Xacti DMX-CG11 is a new, lightweight HD camcorder with 5x optical zoom. The Xacti CG11 can record videos at a resolution of 1280x720 pixels, and store them in MPEG4 format, with H.264 compression available. Owing to its high-resolution CMOS sensor, it can also capture 10-megapixel stills. The Sanyo Xacti CG11 boasts a 285° rotating 3.0-inch widescreen LCD for easy composition, a 1cm super macro feature and onboard editing functions. The new Xacti comes in a variety of colours, but seems to be targeted at the Japanese market only,

Website: Sanyo Xacti DMX-CG11 Product Sheet

Via Engadget

“Camera Raw 101: Better Photos with Photoshop, Elements, and Lightroom” is a new book by digital photography expert and PhotographyBLOG contributor Jon Canfield. In Camera RAW 101, Jon explains everything you need to know to make the most of RAW captures using the newest versions of Photoshop, Elements, and Lightroom. You’ll find out how to get the most detail from your RAW files – whether it’s correcting shadows and highlights, fixing white balance, or getting rid of noise. You’ll learn how to convert RAW images using both basic and advanced techniques, as well as how to download and organise the images, and put the finishing touches on them after conversion. Packed with beautiful images, solid instruction, and working examples – including screen grabs and before-and-after contrasts that show each step – this is a must-have for any serious amateur photographer who wants to take better, more creative photographs. The book has a list price of $24.99, but it is currently available from Amazon for $16.49.

Website: Camera Raw 101 on Amazon

Photodex announces the availability of Albums & Collages, the all-new ProShow MediaSource title for enhancing family, portrait and vacation slide shows. Designed to work with Photodex’s award winning ProShow Gold and ProShow Producer (pictured) slide show authoring tools, ProShow MediaSource allegedly provides everything needed to create a professional-looking slide show. Using the new Albums & Collages collection, ordinary slide shows are transformed into fun craft projects with everything from photo borders and show templates to embellishments and audio tracks. All content is royalty-free and comes in both 16:9 and 4:3 sizes for widescreen and normal size slide shows. Albums & Collages can be purchased for $24.95 on the Photodex website. All additional titles are $24.95 each.

Website: Jon Canfield’s Photodex ProShow: Visual QuickStart Guide on Amazon

Rocky Nook has just announced a new title, “Mastering Photographic Composition, Creativity, and Personal Style” by Alain Briot. Following his successful first book, Mastering Landscape Photography, Briot goes beyond the conventional rules of composition and takes on a fresh, new approach to teaching the art of photography. Based on his personal experiences as an artist, teacher, and photographer, he opens new doors to the reader—doors leading to new ways of seeing and composing images, the publisher says. Briot approaches fine art photography as being a combination of art and technique, and in this book he addresses both. On the artistic side, Briot introduces artistic concepts that have been rarely, if ever, associated with photography. On the technical side, he presents numerous tools that can help you learn to create better photographs and he provides technical solutions to common photographic problems. “Mastering Photographic Composition, Creativity, and Personal Style” is available from oreilly.com for $44.95 USD.

Rupert Nightingale’s Icelandic landscapes are featured in an upcoming exhibition, held from 8-28 October in London’s ‘theprintspace’ gallery. Whilst these images are stylistically a meditation on both texture and form, they also attempt to address the idea of the mythic and perceived permanence of the landscape. Rupert Nightingale believes the slower, more contemplative approach to shooting, combined with the detail and tonal richness of the large format negative, gives rise to a more satisfying and painterly final image. The gallery’s address is: theprintspace, 74 Kingsland Road, London E2 8DL.

Research released today shows that people are turning to online platforms and services to record and share their digital photographs and avoid them slipping into the digital abyss. The online survey, commissioned by Blurb and carried out by YouGov, found that 44 per cent of respondents share at least some of their digital photographs using social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. The emergence of social media has given rise to a generation of people who are sharing information about all aspects of their lives online, posting photographs of everything from the mundane through to nights out on the town, holidays, and significant life moments like weddings. This trend is particularly prominent amongst 18 to 24 year olds, where 83 per cent share their images on social media websites, while only 19 per cent of people aged over 55 do the same. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all online British adults (aged 18+).

iSyndica users can now access iSyndica through six popular platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Google, Yahoo, AOL and Flickr.  The new feature will let new and existing users register for iSyndica’s digital media distribution services specifying only a username. The company felt it was an easier approach for consumers looking to simply and quickly sell their photos, videos and illustrations online.

Sean Arbabi, a 20-year commercial photographer out of the San Francisco Bay Area, has announced a mix of workshops around the world. This Saturday, 29 August 2009, he’ll be at Book Passage in Corte Madera, California (just north of San Francisco) teaching a half day course on exposure, immediately followed by a book signing of his 225-page paperback The BetterPhoto Guide to Exposure. Sean workshops range from one-day classes through the Point Reyes Field Seminars (Pt Reyes, California), to four-day seminars at Art Wolfe’s Digital Photography Center (Seattle, Washington), week-long sessions at the Santa Fe Photographic Workshops (Santa Fe, New Mexico), to month-long online courses with BetterPhoto.com (worldwide). With a BA in commercial photography from Brooks Institute, Arbabi specializes in adventure, conceptual, lifestyle, and travel photography for advertising, corporate and editorial clients. You may recall his piece on PhotographyBLOG called How to Survive the Credit Crunch.

Website: Sean Arbabi