Phase One today announced immediate availability of the Phase One P 40+ - the company’s second Sensor+ enabled digital camera back/camera system, which features a 40-megapixel sensor. Like the P 65+ introduced last year, this new system offers two separate image-capture modes. In normal mode, the P 40+ delivers full 40 megapixel captures for high-quality image details. And when shooting conditions demand, a photographer can push a button and instantly switch from 40 megapixels to 10 megapixels, gaining a four-fold increase in light sensitivity, and a capture rate of up to 1.8 frames per second - alledgedly the fastest capture rate of any high-end medium format camera system on the market today. The Phase One P 40+ digital back is compatible with the Phase One 645 AF, Mamiya 645AFDII/ AFDIII, Hasselblad H1 and H2, Hasselblad 555ELD, 553ELX, 503CW and 501CM and Contax 645 bodies as well as the Mamiya RZ67 PRO IID via an adapter. For pricing and more information please contact a local Phase One dealer. The launch of the Phase One P 40+ is official as of April 30th at 10am EST, and all website links will be live at that time.

A collection of very early colour photographs, some of which are more than 100 years old, will be on display at Exbury Gardens for five months, opening this Friday. Louis Lumiére invented and patented the first commercially viable colour photography process - the autochrome - in 1903, and mass production of the autochrome plates began in 1907. The fabulously rich banker Lionel de Rothschild, who was also an enthusiastic and expert amateur photographer, probably received some plates before commercialisation, and started to experiment with them. The above photo of a tiger at London Zoo is believed to have been taken as early as 1906. It is part of a huge collection of autochromes, which will be exhibited at Exbury Gardens. The photos show the Edwardian world, which we tend to think of as a “black-and-white age”, in full colour. The exhibition opens this Friday, and admission is free to all who buy a ticket into the Gardens.

Alexx Henry Photography has just finished shooting a living movie poster with the RED One hybrid video/stills camera. “What begins as a still image suddenly comes alive when the characters move, perform an action, and then resolve back to the poster frame. We are really excited about the all the possibilities with the convergence of photography and motion and are thrilled to be a part of the revolution,” says Andrew Gant, studio manager at Alexx Henry Photography. The final living movie poster is not yet released, but you can view a teaser at the Alexx Henry Photography blog.

Website: Teaser

Aaduki Multimedia Insurance has announced a new Amateur Scheme, targeted at amateur photographers who wish to insure their equipment on a bespoke policy basis. This product is to be underwritten by Amlin, one of the leading insurers based at Lloyds of London. The amateur policy will automatically include for travel abroad and cover will be provided for theft from unattended vehicles subject to the policy terms. The product is available from Aaduki offices and to purchase online 24 hours a day at www.aaduki.com.

DivePhotoGuide.com and Wetpixel.com have announced the winners of the 2009 DEEP Indonesia international underwater photography competition. DEEP Indonesia is part of a unique international series of international underwater imagery competitions founded by professional underwater photographers Jason Heller & Eric Cheng and hosted by popular websites DivePhotoGuide.com and Wetpixel.com, collaboratively with DEEP Indonesia, Indonesia’s first and only watersports expo. Photographers from around the globe competed in seven themed categories (Divers, Animal Portraits, Animal Behavior, Reefscapes, Environment & Conservation, Compact Camera, and Indonesian Residents) to win over $30,000 in prizes. The category winners are Edvin Eng, Marina Kochetova (twice), Gabriele Donati, Marchione Giacomo, John Trone and Maria Rivarola.

Animals Up Close, a new book by Igor Siwanowicz, is a 96-page collection of close-up photographs of small creatures. From the beautiful to the bizarre, every page draws us into a tiny world which we would never be able to appreciate with the naked eye. Animals Up Close is available for $16.99.

Samsng has announced two new, compact digital camcorders, the Samsung SMX-C10 and SMX-C14. Both offer an f/1.8-2.4 10x zoom lens paired with Hyper Image Stabilisation to help reduce blurry footage. They also feature a 230,000-dot, swiveling 2.7-inch wide LCD screen. The new SMX-C14 has 16GB of internal Samsung flash memory and is expandable via an SD/SDHC memory card slot. Thanks to H.264 compression, which drastically enhances recording times when used with standard definition video, users can record over six hours of footage directly to the SMX-C14’s 16GB of built-in memory. The SMX-C10 does not feature any internal storage and requires the use of SD/SDHC media. The SMX-C10 and SMX-C14 will be available in July 2009.

NEC Display Solutions is expanding its NEC SpectraView series with a widescreen 24” model offering hardware calibration and two wide-gamut reference LCD monitors. The displays in question are the NEC SpectraView 2490, the NEC SpectraView Reference 2690 and the NEC SpectraView Reference 3090 (pictured). The IPS panel for the 2490 satisfies the requirements of top quality professional image processing, as do the H-IPS (horizontal in-plane switching) panels of the 2690 and 3090 models, as IPS is claimed to be the best panel technology for colour-critical applications. The monitors offer up to 107 percent AdobeRGB colour space coverage, a contrast ratio of 1000:1 and a viewing angle of 178 degrees. The new NEC SpectraView displays are available now. MSRPs range from £1,255 for the NEC SpectraView 2490 to £2,369 for the NEC SpectraView Reference 3090.

MAGIX has released the newest version of its slideshow software, MAGIX Xtreme PhotoStory on CD & DVD. This program lets you organise, share and show your pictures on your HDTV. Some of the features and additions include Picture-to-Music matching, over 30 new 3D animations and slide transitions and more than 50 templates. Version 8 is available now for $29.99 plus shipping.

Website: Xtreme PhotoStory

HP has announced that a customised version of its HP Indigo WS6000 Commercial Digital Press will be available to professional photo labs in July. This customised photo specialty solution comes configured for HP SmartStream print server solutions for high-volume commercial print production. The HP Indigo WS6000 Commercial Digital Press connects with HP Indigo commercial unified workflow and provides the same HP Indigo print quality across the different applications and platforms. The digital printing replicates the media structure and coating, removes wet processes and offers superior gloss uniformity while the thin layer requires less colorant.

VholdR has released the ContourHD, a new HD camcorder that can be attached to a biker’s, skier’s or snowboarder’s helmet to shoot action-packed videos. The ContourHD can shoot high-definition movies at a resolution of 1280x720 pixels and a frame rate of 30 frames per second, or standard-definition videos at 60fps, and record them as MOV files using the H.264 codec. The device is equipped with a fixed-focal-length lens, has a water-resistant body and is compatible with microSD cards. The ContourHD can be preordered form a number of online retailers, including Adorama, Amazon and others. Prices start at $279.99.

Website: ContourHD

Nikon has announced that it had revised its profit forecast for the year ended 31 March 2009, to ¥28,000. This represents a change of +4,000 yen, or +16.7%, over the previous forecast. On the other hand, it is still a 63% decline versus last year, blamed on the global economic slowdown triggered by the global financial crisis, as well as the appreciation of the yen and a decline of the stock market.

Source: Nikon’s Revision of the Forecasts of Financial Results

SnapMyLife has announced the launch of two free camera-oriented applications for BlackBerry smartphones. Both the SnapMyLife and Snap2Twitter applications are now available on BlackBerry App World. The SnapMyLife application is seamlessly integrated with a BlackBerry smartphone’s camera, and users can post new pictures with a single click. The Snap2Twitter application is designed specifically for consumers who want to use their BlackBerry smartphone to post pictures to their Twitter accounts. It links directly to the camera interface, and immediately updates the user’s Twitter feed with the tweet and a link to the photo.

The Nikon UK team will be visiting Jessops’ New Oxford Street store on 1st - 2nd May 2009 to demonstrate the capabilities and benefits of the Nikon D5000 DSLR, which goes on sale on Friday. A programme of free Nikon-led seminars will also be running throughout the two-day event. These include a tutorial on getting the best out of the D5000’s HD movie mode and a demonstration of Nikon’s Creative Lighting System. In addition, for every purchase of the D5000 made at the store, customers will receive a free canvas print (32” x 24”) and a free Sandisk 8GB Ultra II SDHC card, Centon outfit bag and Jessops TP323 tripod.

Website: Nikon D5000 Hands-On

Ricoh have launched a website devoted to the promotion of the Ricoh CX1 digital compact camera. The CX1 website includes full information on the CX1 camera and explanations of key features such as the Dynamic Range, Double Shot mode, Multi Target Auto Focus and Multi Pattern Auto White Focus. Press feedback is included with links to the very latest online reviews of the camera plus details of awards and opinions from some of the leading photographic media. Full technical specifications, an enquiry form for further information and information on the accessories available for the CX1 are also provided. You may even win a new Ricoh CX1.

Website: Ricoh CX1
Review: Read our in-depth review of the Ricoh CX1

AKVIS has released AKVIS MultiBrush v.4.0, a photo retouching and portrait enhancement program, for Windows and Macintosh. AKVIS MultiBrush v.4.0 is available as a standalone application as well as a plugin to a number of popular photo editors. AKVIS MultiBrush sells for $49.00 USD, but registered users of AKVIS Stamp can activate MultiBrush for free.

Other World Computing (OWC) announced today the new OWC USB 2.0 Display Adapter, an easy way to add an additional display to Macs and PCs via any standard USB 2.0 port. Functioning like a bus powered “external video card,” the OWC USB 2.0 Display Adapter adds an additional monitor to desktop and laptop computers that offer only one built-in display/video-out port.  In addition, the adapter also eliminates the cost and hassle of installing a video card into a computer. The OWC USB 2.0 Display Adapter connects to HDMI, DVI, and VGA equipped displays in full 32-bit colour at resolutions of up to 1600x1200 pixels. Up to 6 adapters can be configured to either clone a user’s primary screen or extend the desktop, allowing visibility of more applications at the same time on up to 6 individual displays.

DxO Labs have posted detailed RAW-based image quality data on the Olympus E-30 and the Pentax K-m DSLRs. DxOMark is a free online resource that delivers key objective sensor performance metrics measured directly on the RAW image for a variety of cameras.

Website: DxOMark
Review: Read our in-depth review of the Olympus E-30
Review: Read our in-depth review of the Pentax K-m