Bogen Imaging has announced a new Service Centre dedicated to all Manfrotto and Gitzo products. The new Service Centre that comes into effect on July 1st 2009 will undertake all warranty and non warranty service / repair issues and also supply spare parts. All repairs must be sent directly to the service centre and where a claim under warranty is being made a copy of the sales receipt should be included. The address of the new Manfrotto / Gitzo service centre is Unit 23 Hewitts Industrial Estate, Cranleigh, Surrey, GU6 8LW.

Phase One A/S, in conjunction with senior management employees of Leaf, today announced that they have created a new entity, Leaf Imaging Ltd., to purchase certain assets of the Leaf camera business. The assets include the “Leaf” brand product names, engineering design and production tools. In collaboration with Phase One, high end Leaf digital camera equipment will continue to be developed in Israel and marketed under the “Leaf” brand through a global network of specialised and dedicated value added resellers. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

To celebrate the Cecil Beaton: Portraits exhibition, the Walker Art Gallery has launched a competition to find a modern day icon. If you’re the spirit of Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, Sir Winston Churchill or Fred Astaire whose photographs can be seen in the exhibition, collect a registration form from the information desk or download from www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk. 

Entries are welcomed from 26 June – 20 July 2009 for your chance to be styled as one of these fabulous icons and be photographed by Zoe Photography. The winning iconic portrait be displayed throughout August and be awarded to the winner in September. The exhibition opens at 10am tomorrow, 26 June, at Walker Art Gallery William Brown Street, Liverpool. Admission is free.

Kubota Image Tools have announced Webinar Wednesdays – free online educational opportunities created with today’s busy digital photographer in mind. Webinar Wednesdays will cover topics such as Kubota DASHBOARD Basics, Kubota AutoAlbum V.3, and Kubota DASHBOARD image enhancing techniques such as: Black-and-White and Sepia Tone Lovin’, Creative Effects – Cracking the Creative Code, and Color Effects – The Perfect Punch. For more information about the complete Kubota Image Tools 2009 Webinar schedule and to register, please visit: http://www.kubotaimagetools.com/webinar_schedule.html . Once registered, attendees need only log-in from their computer at the scheduled date and time.

Fujifilm is joining forces with Fujifilm Sericol, Epson and Xerox to hold a free open day at its showroom in Bedford on Thursday July 9. This event is intended for those interested in what’s new in the world of inkjets, inks, dry labs, digital printers and learn about business opportunities and how the market is changing, Fujifilm says. The day will feature a series of presentations and an introduction to the new generation of inks and eco-friendly solutions as well as demonstrations of the latest kit, including the Fujifilm Acuity UV Inkjet, the Epson Inkjet, Xerox iGen Digital Press, Epson Disk Producer and Fujifilm’s award winning Drylab. The event is free to attend but advance registration is required. To register, send an e-mail to [email protected] or call 01234 572144.

SanDisk has just unveiled the world’s fastest 32GB SDHC memory card, which boasts read and write speeds of up to 30 megabytes per second. The 32GB SanDisk Extreme SDHC card adheres to the SD Association’s new Class 10 specification, which exceeds requirement for today’s high definition (AVCHD) video recording. The card is claimed to offer a sustained write speed fast enough to ensure high-definition video recording and capacity capable of storing 160 minutes of full HD 1920x1080 pixels at 24Mb/s data transfer rate. Like all SanDisk SDHC memory cards, the 32GB Extreme guarantees operation at extended temperatures ranging from minus 13 F (minus 25 C) to 185 F (85 C). The SanDisk Extreme SDHC 32GB cards will be shipping worldwide to major retailers in August.

The Pentax Optio W80 is Pentax’s most water-, shock-, dust- and cold-proof digital camera ever. The Pentax W80 can withstand depths of up to 16 feet (5 meters) for up to 2 hours, drops of up to 3.3 feet (1 meter), and sub-freezing temperatures of 14 degrees Fahrenheit (-10 degrees Celsius). The 12.1 megapixel W80 also features a 5x zoom lens, HD movies, a 2.5-inch LCD screen and triple anti-shake protection. Available in Cardinal Red, Azure Blue and Gunmetal Gray, the Pentax Optio W80 will be available in July 2009 for $299.95. Accessories include a custom designed clear protective skin ($16.95) and a comfortable floating wrist strap ($19.95).

General Imaging has begun shipping the GE E1250TW touch-screen digital compact camera. The latest release in the 2009 lineup of GE-branded cameras, the E1250TW boasts a 28-140mm equivalent lens, a 12.2-megapixel sensor and a 3” touch-sensitive screen featuring “next-generation” touch-panel controls allowing for swiping, rotation and zoom among the many new touch-controlled functions. The GE E1250TW also has a panorama assist function called Pan-Capture Panorama and comes loaded with now-standard features like Face, Blink, Smile and Auto Scene Detection. The camera lists for $199 and is available through Amazon.com and other retailers.

Western Digital today introduced its newly redesigned My Book® World Edition™ II dual-drive network storage system in capacities of up to 4 TB. With the double protection of two Mirrored (RAID 1) drives and continuous backup software, the My Book World Edition II network storage system provides an extra-safe place for users to back up and store the data and digital media from all the computers on their network in one central location. The new My Book World Edition II network storage systems are available now in 2 TB and 4 TB capacities at select retailers and WD’s online store (www.shopwd.com). MSRP for the My Book World Edition II dual-drive storage system with 4 TB is $699.99 USD and 2 TB is $399.99 USD.

Blurb, the creative publishing and marketing platform that enables anyone to design, publish, share and sell bookstore-quality books, today announced the release of PDF to Book, available immediately. The new PDF to Book workflow allows photographers to design books using the application of their choice, save the file as a PDF, and upload it directly to Blurb. You can design books entirely in CMYK, while utilising native file formats such as TIFF, EPS, and PNG in the book’s contents. PDF to Book workflow is available for all book sizes and cover types (Hardcover ImageWrap, Hardcover Dust Jacket, and Softcover). Blurb will be showcasing books created with the PDF to Book workflow at the HOW Design Conference in Austin, TX, June 24-27.

Kenro has announced the UK release of a new range of background systems. New background panels available in a wide range of colours – grey marl, red marl, rose grey marl, black and white. The dimensions of the panels are 62x76”/157.5x193cm. Each panel folds down to just 26”/66cm diameter and comes complete with a zipped carry bag for easy transport. The backgrounds are available now with an RRP of £66.75 (plus VAT). Stands to support the Backdrop Panels are separately available for just £34.95 (plus VAT).

Food2 has announced a food photography contest entitled The Great Food Shoot Out. Food2’s first Challenge is seeking the hottest, rising food photographers - but actually, if you like food and have a camera or phone, that will work too. The Shoot Out is simple - you take a food or cocktails related photograph, and submit it until 30 June to the website below. The voting phase lasts from 1 to 13 July. The competition is open to US residents aged 18 or older only. Make sure to read the rules before you enter.

Website: The Great Food Shoot Out

Táve (tave.com) has released a major update to their photography studio management web application with over 50 new features and improvements. Táve - originally named Táve Studio Manager - gives studio photographers’ clients the freedom to book them online. The update streamlines many common tasks and adds extensive new customisation capabilities throughout the application, contact forms, and client access booking engine. Some of the enhancements and additions include new client and job profiles and editors, a filter control to the Clients home page, a number of custom fields, Client Access Preview, job printouts and calendar improvements. Táve offers a free 30-day trial, after which the service costs $24.95 per month + $5 for each additional employee.

Adobe today released the final Photoshop Lightroom 2.4 and Camera Raw 5.4 updates. Both updates bring additional raw file support to 31camera and camera back models including the Canon EOS 500D, Nikon D5000. In addition, Adobe released an update to its Digital Negative specification. DNG 1.3 now includes opcodes, a defined list of operations and their parameters for performing complex activities in the raw file conversion process. By utilising opcodes, photographers can maintain the advantages of raw mosaic data, giving them increased opportunity to improve their photographs with the maximum amount of image data preserved. The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.4 update is available as a free download for existing Lightroom 2 customers and Camera Raw 5.4 is available as a free download for existing customers of Photoshop CS4, Photoshop Elements 7, Premiere Elements 7 and Photoshop Elements 6 for Mac. Click through / read on for the full list of newly supported cameras and backs.

Website: Lightroom 2.4 & ACR 5.4 Updates
Website: DNG Specification

Kenro has announced a new range of Easy Grip Reflectors that have big, easy-to-hold grips. They also come with spring loaded frames which make for easy folding. The panels measure 24” x 36” and they come complete with a compact storage bag. The Easy Grip Reflectors are available now with an RRP of £37.95 for sunlight or silver or £34.75 for the translucent finish.

If you’ve ever dreamt of having a favourite photograph featured on the cover of National Geographic magazine, now’s your chance to fulfil it. This month, National Geographic is publishing a special collector’s edition, National Geographic Your Shot, featuring 101 of the best readers’ photographs submitted to National Geographic magazine over the past three years. The fun twist is that they have a custom cover option, where you can order a special version of the magazine with your favourite photo on the cover! This option is available to order, online only, for $19.99 plus shipping. The issue goes on newsstands with a standard cover on Tuesday, June 30, for $10.99.

Website: Order the special edition with the custom cover option

Canon has announced a cashback offer on the Canon Powershot SX200 IS digital compact camera. The £40 / €45 offer will be launched on Thursday, 25 June and runs through Monday. 31 August. The Canon Powershot SX200 IS is a 12-megapixel camera with a 12x zoom lens and HD movie recording, available in black, blue and red colours at a recommended retail price of £359.00 / €429.

Review: Read our in-depth review of the Canon Powershot SX200 IS

Hewlett-Packard has announced the HP Photosmart Premium with TouchSmart Web, billed as the world’s first web-connected home printer. The new device has a 4.33” touchscreen that lets you browse Web pages and print maps, coupons, movie tickets, recipes, news etc. without the need for a PC. Moreover, the printer will connect directly to a user’s Snapfish account to view, print and upload photos. The HP Photosmart Premium with TouchSmart Web is expected to be available this fall at a price of $399 in the U.S.A.