Bogen Imaging has announced that Litepanels will be awarded a Technology & Engineering Emmy Award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for its proprietary lighting systems. Litepanels fixtures are used on a variety of network television productions including high profile programs such as Desperate Housewives, Fox’s 24, and Without a Trace. The Emmy award is the first in the Academy’s 61 year history to be awarded for television lighting technology, and will be presented on Saturday, 22 August, at the Renaissance Hotel in Los Angeles.

Eye-Fi Inc. today unveiled the Eye-Fi Geo card, a new wireless SD memory card exclusive to Apple that allows users to automatically upload photos from a digital camera to a computer and offers lifetime geotagging service. The Eye-Fi Geo wirelessly uploads photos straight to a folder on your computer or Apple’s iPhoto gallery where they arrive automatically geotagged with location information about where the image was captured. The 2GB Eye-Fi Geo card is available exclusively at Apple stores and Apple.com for $59.99.

Jessops have announced their latest line in camera accessories – the 2AM range of camera bags, sleeves and pouches by Acme Made. These include the Bowler, a feminine alternative to the standard DSLR camera bag, the Sexy Little Pouch (pictured), a sleek way to protect your digital compact camera, the Sexy Little Protective Sleeve, the slimmest form of protection for your DSLR and the Sleek Case featuring a molded clamshell design. The Acme Made range of accessories are available online at www.jessops.com and are available in selected Jessops stores.

Pentax have released a firmware update for their Pentax K-7 digital SLR. Version 1.01 improves the overall operational stability of the camera, and allows users to give priority to auto-focus selection by way of the four-way controller.

Website: Latest K-7 Firmware Update
Review: Read our in-depth review of the Pentax K-7

Kodak is launching a new Décor (D) series of digital photo frames. These digital frames have an interchangeable faceplate design, and can be customised with virtually any traditional frame, Kodak says. There are currently two frames in the D series, called the EasyShare D830 and the EasyShare D1030. The two frames differ from each other in their size; with the D830 being an 8” model, and the D1030 featuring a 10” display. Both will be available as of September, for £119.99 and £169.99, respectively.

Kodak has introduced the twelve-megapixel Kodak EasyShare M381 digital compact camera with a 35-175mm equivalent zoom lens and HD video capture. The Kodak M381 also features a 3” LCD screen, face detection, “blur reduction technology” - which appears not to mean optical image stabilisation -, and easy upload to Facebook, YouTube and the Kodak Gallery. The Kodak EasyShare M391 will become available from September for £129.99.

Kodak has unveiled the 12-megapixel Kodak EasyShare Z950 digital compact camera with a stabilised 10x zoom lens made by Schneider-Kreuznach. The Z950 also incorporates Kodak’s innovative Smart Capture feature, which automatically adjusts focus, flash, and exposure, much like the iAuto mode of other manufacturers’ recent cameras. Kodak also claims a full-autofocus shutter lag - “click-to-capture speed” - of less than 0.3 seconds. Available as of September 2009, the Kodak EasyShare Z950 will cost £199.99.

Kodak has just announced the compact Kodak Zi8 high-definition digital video camera. The Kodak Zi8 boasts full 1080p HD video capture in a compact body. It also features electronic image stabilisation, a 2.5” colour LCD screen and a swing-out USB arm for fast sharing and charging. In addition to recording HD video, it can also take 5-megapixel stills in widescreen format (16:9 aspect ratio). The Kodak Zi8 digital video camera will be available from September for £149.99.

The winner of the Bing Summer Travel Photo Contest has been announced. The winning photo of a lighning strike over Sydney, Australia, has been chosen from over 9,400 accepted entries. A total of 13,206 people rated the photos through the Bing Photo Sharing Facebook application. The winning photograph will be featured on the Bing homepage on 3 August for one day, exposing the talented photographer and winning photo to the millions of Bing.com daily visitors, Microsoft says.

Website: Bing Photo Contest on Facebook

Spürsinn, a German online retailer, is now offering an orthochromatic black-and-white sheet film in a historic 6.5x9cm format. It has a nominal sensitivity of 24 Scheiner°, which translates into roughly ISO 25/15°. This film contains 4 times as much silver as modern black-and-white emulsions, which is why it comes bundled with its own developer and fixer. The complete kit includes 50 sheets of film, 2 bottles of developer and one bottle of fixer; and costs €47.90.

Website: Spürsinn

ExpressDigital have announced an update to Darkroom Assembly Edition, their workflow software designed for school and team photographers. Darkroom Assembly Edition “features greenscreen, online storefronts and lab connection, and that interacts seamlessly with cameras, work stations, barcode scanners, and digital media burners all while automating business functions”, the company says. To commemorate this innovation, ExpressDigital further reveals an agreement with Desktop Darkroom to serve as a dedicated support and service arm available to provide free comprehensive online training and one-year phone support – as well as $1,300 in free software and templates through August. Updates of Assembly Edition to version 8.91 are free to anyone that currently owns version 8.9. Upgrades and purchases are available online via www.darkroomsoftware.com/assembly.html.

Kenro has announced the UK release of a new range of wireless transmitter and receiver kits designed to trigger studio lighting flash heads. They feature either mains or battery powered units. Each system comes with a radio signal transmitter and receiver that offer effective triggering of flash heads up to distances of 30m. They are available in four channel or eight channel kits. The four channel battery version costs £63.50 and the mains system is available for £58.50. The eight channel battery version is £66.75, while the eight channel mains system costs £67.50.

ImageSpan and liveBooks today announced that they have formed a strategic alliance to “deliver a set of best-in-class services that empower photographers to dramatically extend their online reach and generate new revenues”. liveBooks, which is dedicated to helping grow and sustain the photo community by providing resources that empower photographers to succeed in business, will promote LicenseStream Creator to the 5,000 photographers and other imaging professionals using its services and offer discounts that make it easy for these customers to promote, protect, license, track, create new revenue streams and settle royalties for new and existing photos. ImageSpan will create a co-branded liveBooks LicenseStream store that will feature liveBooks’ member-generated content.

Canon has posted second-quarter results for 2009, which show that demand for DSLRs like the Canon EOS 5D Mark II (pictured) remains strong in an otherwise gloomy economic climate. The sales of pretty much everything else, including office equipment, laser and inkjet printers, optical equipment and compact cameras, declined versus the same period of last year. Within Canon’s product portfolio, business machines - including computer peripherals, office imaging and business information products - make up the lion’s share (61%), with cameras - including both compacts and SLRs - being a distant second (31%). As far as regions are concerned, Europe is the most important market, trailed by the Americas, Japan and other areas. Canon’s total operating profit is down 72% against the same period of last year, but the mere fact that the company is still making a profit in this era of world economic crisis is still positive news for investors.

Website: Canon’s Consolidated Results

Altek has unveiled the altek T8680, a twelve-megapixel camera phone with 3x optical zoom. Zoom lenses are still very much a rarity on camera phones, which is what makes this announcement interesting. Altek Corporation itself is a Taiwanese company which has been producing digital cameras and camera modules for cell phones, and the T8680 is apparently the first mobile handset being marketed under its own brand name. The most important highlight of the altek T8680 is of course its lens, which spans focal lengths ranging from 6.2mm to 18.6mm, equivalent to 35-105mm in 35mm terms. The maximum aperture is f3 at the wide end and f5.6 at maximum telephoto. The close-focus point is at 5cm. Other high points include a choice of centre-weighted, spot and matrix metering, a sensor and an imaging processor developed in-house, touch focus function and a VGA video mode. The altek press release, which you can read in its entirety after the break, talks about entering the “Mainland China market” with this product, and it is currently unclear whether the T8680 will be sold in other markets or not.

This year’s Retail Imaging Show (RIS) is getting closer and closer, and the organisers have put together a list of 10 reasons to check it out. The RIS 2009 is a trade show that is targeted at minilab, consumer electronics, computer/software and AV retailers. It is taking place on 25 September 2009, in the London Marriott on Grosvenor Square. Click through / read on to find out why it might be worth visiting.

Epson has announced the Epson Stylus Photo PX650 high-definition all-in-one photo printer, scanner and copier. A 1200 dpi photo scanner captures the fine detail of original prints, whilst the Hi-Definition, dye-based Epson Claria Photographic Ink creates glossy photos with smooth gradations and a subtlety of tone that lasts for over 200 years, Epson claims. The Epson Stylus Photo PX650 has a 6.3cm LCD panel for viewing and editing photos before printing them directly from the memory card. The PX650 can also print directly onto suitable CDs and DVDs. Availability is slated for 1 September 2009, and the recommended retail price is £129.99 including VAT. An Epson Photo Paper Pack is also included, so you can start printing high-quality photos on Epson Premium Glossy Photo Paper in 10x15cm, 13x18cm and A4 sizes straight away.

PhotographyBB announced today the release of the 18th edition of the PhotographyBB Magazine Online. “The name of the game for issue 18 is all about composition. This month we take an in depth look at symmetry; how it is everywhere in our lives and how we can use symmetry to create stunning photos. We also take a different look at the Rule of Thirds as it applies to both photography today, as well as historical works of art in the past. In keeping with the composition theme, this month’s Photoshop tutorial teaches our readers how to create a digital composite image by adding fireworks into any night photo scene,” Editor in Chief, Dave Seeram, comments. They’ve also got an interesting look at Photography and the Law in the USA.

Website: PhotographyBB Magazine Online Free Download