PhotographyBLOG Editor, Mark Goldstein, was stopped and searched in central London yesterday for “taking photos of iconic landmarks”. Under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act, the Metropolitan Police are now conducting patrols along the South Bank of the River Thames, specifically targeting “individuals with cameras who are photographing famous buildings”. After informing the officer that I ran a photography website and giving her my business card, I was issued with Form 5090(X), with no actual search taking place. The whole process was somewhat undermined by two other officers posing for photos with tourists whilst their colleague completed the paperwork! I can only conclude that it was the bright pink Casio camera that I was testing at the time which attracted the police officer’s attention…

Have you been stopped by the authorities, legally or otherwise? Let us know by leaving a comment…

Western Digital has introduced its new 4 terabyte capacity My Book Studio Edition II dual-drive storage systems, which are designed to seamlessly work with Mac® computers. Compatible with Apple® Time Machine automatic backup feature and formatted for Mac computers, the new 4 TB My Book Studio Edition II external storage system’s dual-drive RAID 0 configuration and high-speed interfaces are said to deliver high performance for creative professionals, workgroups, small offices and anyone looking for fast data transfer. My Book Studio Edition II dual-drive storage systems are available now at select retailers and WD’s online store (www.shopwd.com). MSRP for My Book Studio Edition II with 4 TB is $649.99 USD.

Wedding and Lifestyle photographer Sofie Louca has been announced as the Annabel Williams Photographer of the Year 2009. The competition attracted almost 1000 entries, from as far afield as Australia and India, and boasted a total prize fund of more than £10,000. Sofie won the Teenagers/Adults category of the awards and was also runner up in the Wedding Album category, before going on to be awarded the overall Photographer of the Year award with her shot of a young couple on a beach.  On top of her category prizes, Sofie also scoops a Canon EOS 5D MkII camera and lens worth more than £2,500.

Fantasea Line has annouced the release of the new Remora Slave Flash, which has been especially designed for compact digital housings, and is depth rated to 55m. The flash features a guide number of 20, and therefore is compatible for both macro and wide angle shots. The power output can be manually adjusted to provide the most accurate amount of light in all conditions and a short recycle time ensures quick responsiveness, even when using the maximum power output, the company says. The Fantasea Remora Flash features 4 different pre-flash settings, to cover the needs of all compact digital cameras in the market, including Nikon, Canon, Sony, Olympus, Fuji, Kodak, Panasonic and more. The price is to be confirmed.

Website: Fantasea Remora Flash User Manual

Apple has announced the Apple iPhone 3G S, billed as “the fastest, most powerful iPhone yet”, with features like video recording and hands free voice control. Other highlights include a new operating system, improved battery life, support for 7.2 Mbps HSDPA, built-in GPS, and a 3-megapixel digital camera with an auto-focus lens. With the new “tap to focus” feature, you simply touch the display to select an object or area of interest and the camera automatically re-adjusts focus and exposure. Also, you can send photos and video by email or MMS and post them to MobileMe or YouTube with just one tap. The iPhone 3G S will be available in the UK on June 19th with pricing available at launch. The US price is $199 for the 16GB version, and $299 for the 32GB variant.

Olympus is getting ready to launch its first Micro Four Thirds camera, and you can register online to hear first about opportunities to get your hands on one. Micro Four Thirds system cameras are similar to interchangeable-lens rangefinders in that they lack a mirror chamber, which frees engineers from the burden of having to employ complicated retrofocus designs to wide-angle lenses, and allows them to design smaller cameras and lenses without having to use smaller sensors. Recent technologies like live view make it possible to offer through-the-lens framing, whereas massive improvements in contrast-detect auto-focus promise SLR-grade focusing speeds. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1 already caused quite a stir but came in for some criticism for not being much smaller than the smallest DSLRs out there. However, if the Olympus mock-up shown at last year’s photokina (pictured) is any indication, this time we can expect a truly compact system camera. If you would like to be among the first to learn more about it, register at the website below.

Website: Olympus Micro Four Thirds Registration Form

Lensbaby has announced the PL mount version of the Lensbaby Muse selective-focus lens. The new Muse PL features the Lensbaby Optic Swap System and is specially designed for use with PL mount motion image capture cameras. The Muse PL allows for highly creative focusing effects on any 16mm or 35mm PL mount movie camera, as well as several PL to video camera adapters such as the P+S Technik, Redrockmicro M2, Brevis35, Letus35, and SGpro.  The Muse PL creates a sweet spot of focus by using optics that feature a curved field of focus, giving cinematographers a unique way to control depth of field that is different from what is possible with existing tilt-shift lenses. The Lensbaby Muse PL is available for $300 from lensbaby.com.

Website: Lensbaby Muse PL Sample Clips

Photobucket today announced the availability of a native photo upload solution for the new Palm® Pre™ phone. As a pre-installed photo upload partner, Photobucket lets Palm Pre users easily send photos taken on their mobile device to a Photobucket album without having to download an application. To set up a Photobucket account on Pre, select “Photos” from the launcher, tap “Preferences and Accounts” from the application menu and select “Add An Account.”

A new range of stylish summer camera and accessory bags is now available from Orkio. Aimed at “photography enthusiasts and those looking for a stylish bag without compromise on protection”, the Orkio branded bags are claimed to be all about fashion and function. The ranges are available from the high street and online in a choice of several colours and patterns starting at £9.99 for compact cameras and £42.99 for DSLRs.

Photodex Corporation has released the ProShow StylePack Volume 2, a new collection of pre-made slide enhancements for use in ProShow Producer slide shows. The ProShow StylePack Volume 2 features 25 new styles, including styles like Old Film Projector, Slot Machine, Merge Madness and Blow Out Cascade. The product is available now for $19.95 from www.photodex.com.

Zacuto have released three new DSLR Gunstock Shooter rigs and a new video, “Introducing DSLR Gorilla Kits”. The Rapid Fire, Quick Draw, and Tactical Shooter are innovative lightweight DSLR Gunstock Shooters which are part of the new line called Gorilla Kits. Designed for photojournalists, event and indie film shooters, the new rigs are lightweight, inexpensive and infinitely adjustable, the company says. The Rapid Fire kit has 2 points of contact by using the gunstock in your shoulder, hand on the camera and eye in the viewfinder, and costs $580. The Quick Draw kit has 2 points of contact by using the handgrip in one hand, your other hand on the camera lens and eye in the viewfinder ($715). The Tactical Shooter rig has 3 points of contact and a list price of $1176.

For the month of June, the Hasselblad H3DII-50 will be bundled with the new HCD 4.0-5.6/35-90 zoom lens at a price of $29,995 in the U.S.A. This special offer is said to represent savings of almost $3,000. The H3DII-50 is a 50-megapixel digital camera sporting a 36x48mm Kodak sensor. The Hasselblad HCD 4.0-5.6/35-90 zoom is a new, designed-for-digital lens that normally sells for $6,996 by itself. The bundle includes both the camera and the lens plus a viewfinder. The offer is available on orders placed for delivery from June 1-June 30, 2009, by citizens of the U.S.A. / Canada only

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) has announcedthe launch of this year’s RSPCA Young Photographer Awards. The aim of the RSPCA Young Photographer Awards (YPA) is to encourage young people’s interest in photography and show their appreciation and understanding of the animals around them. There are two age categories, a Pet personalities category plus the so-called Olympus portfolio category. There are a number of prizes up for grabs in YPA 09, including £1000 worth of Olympus vouchers, Olympus digital cameras, an exclusive RSPCA photoshoot and the chance to attend an invite-only awards ceremony where all shortlisted entries will be on display. The deadline for entries is midnight on 7 September for those submitted via www.rspca.org.uk/ypa or 5pm on 24 August for postal entries.

AKVIS Software has released AKVIS SmartMask v.2.5, an image selection and masking plugin for Windows and Mac platforms.  Version 2.5 makes the eyedropper tools more flexible; adds new interface languages (French and Portuguese) and improves compatibility with Photoshop CS3,CS4 on Macintosh. Upgrade for registered users is free. AKVIS SmartMask sells for $120.00 USD. Upgrade to version 2.5 is free for registered users of earlier versions.

Today LaCie announced LaCinema Classic Bridge, billed as an economic way to add media player functionality to existing storage devices. Simply connect the Classic Bridge to a desired TV, add a storage device, and play libraries of movies, music, and photos in flawless 1080p HD resolution. You have two options to do this: option one allows you to connect an external USB drive to the front of the device for easy access to their multimedia content. Option lets you simply insert an internal hard disk directly into the device. Users may also choose to implement both options for expanded capacity. LaCinema Classic Bridge is available now and retails for £69 including VAT.

Apple has released a Digital Camera Raw Compatibility Update along with updates to the iLife Support software and three iLife ‘09 applications. The Digital Camera Raw Compatibility Update adds support for the Canon EOS 500D, the Nikon D5000 and the Olympus E-30 (pictured). The iLife Support update (version 9.0.3) improves the stability of the Media Browser, addresses certain compatibility issues and contains some additional, minor fixes. iPhoto 8.0.3 embeds GPS co-ordinates in emailed photos and exported JPEGs, improves slideshow playback and fixes a few other issues. iMovie version 8.0.3 adds AVCHD Lite support, while iDVD version 7.0.4 addresses general compatibility issues.

Website: Apple Support Downloads

Canon has revived its plan to build a new camera factory in Nagasaki, with construction starting in July, according to Reuters. The plan was shelved a few months ago due to the crisis of the world economy. Canon now says that strong demand for its DSLRs makes the investment economically viable, although the construction of one of the originally planned three facilities might still be delayed. Reuters quotes a spokesperson as saying that the Nagasaki plant, which is to have an annual capacity of 4 million cameras inlcluding both SLRs and compacts, would start production in March/April 2010.

Via Reuters

Update: Canon has just issued a press release, which you can read below.