RCP-Technik GmbH & Co. KG has announced a new entry-level compact camera marketed under the Rollei brand. If you’ve always wanted to own a Rollei but never been able to justify the cost, the Rollei Compactline 90 may be just the camera you’ve been waiting for. Of course, a point-and-shoot model with a 3x zoom lens, a nine-megapixel 1/2.5” sensor, face and smile detection and 21 scene modes is not quite the same thing as a classic Rolleiflex TLR - but at an RRP of €79.95, the Compactline 90 must be one of the most affordable Rolleis ever.

Website: RCP-Technik Press Release (in German)

Photo Iconic has announced a series of landscape photography holidays in the Tatra Mountains National Park. The High and the Low Tatras, located in Central Europe, offer some of the continent’s most stunning scenery. The week-long photographic holidays take place in the Slovakian part of the mountains. Photo Iconic has teamed up with wildlife photographer Chris Weston and specialist holiday company Mountain Paradise to offer a package comprising an airline ticket from the UK, full-board chalet accommodation for a week, the services of a private guide and photographic tuition from two award-winning photographers. The price is £945 per person, of which £100 go to the Tatra Foundation. Course dates are May 30th - June 5th and June 6th - June 12th.

School of Visual Arts (SVA) presents “Mentors,” an exhibition of work by BFA Photography Department students. The images are inspired by their year-long mentorship with key figures in the New York arts community. The exhibition will be on view April 10 - 25 at the Visual Arts Gallery, 601 West 26 Street, 15th Floor, New York City.

Image: Sean Gutowski, Burning Ship, 2009, C-print

1-click actions have announced the availability of the latest update to the Photoshop Actions DVD. It offers over 1.4 GB of actions, borders and textures. The latest version is available now at a cost of $249.95. Discounted upgrades are available for existing owners of 1-click actions products.

Accessory Power has announced a new universal charger that will charge not only AA and AAA rechargables but a large number of proprietary Li-ion batteries too. ChargeALL is compatible with over 100 different digital camera batteries, according to the company’s claims. Moreover, the charger has an LCD panel that lets you monitor progress and reports if a battery has gone bad. No word on pricing yet.

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) offers a legal helpline for photojournalists covering protests against the G20 summit held in London. The NUJ is “concerned that the police could hamper journalists”, therefore those “who need help while attending the summit or protests in a professional capacity” may contact the NUJ Legal Department on 020 7843 3721 tomorrow between 9:30am and 5:30pm. Do note that the helpline is offered to NUJ members only.

Unique Photo Inc. claim to have received the last shipment of Polaroid film ever made. The Fairfield, N.J.-based wholesale distributor of photographic supplies has had a relationship with Polaroid since 1947, and took delivery of the last shipment of instant film this Monday. Unique Photo says it has “several months’ worth” of Polaroid 600 and Polaroid Spectra films to sell.

Via PMA Newsline International

Website: Unique Photo

The new QUICKFLASH batteries from tecxus Ltd. promise the fastest flash recycle times ever. The Hongkong-based company claims that their new ready-to-use AA rechargeables have been developed specifically for use in flash units, and that their new technology allows faster recycling than “ordinary” batteries. The new QUICKFLASH rechargeables come in a capacity of 2100mAh and will become available in May.

Website: tecxus Ltd.

Photodex are releasing a new product line called ProShow StylePack. This is an all-new collection of high-quality, instant slide enhancements that expand the initial Slide Style offerings in the new versions of ProShow Gold and Producer 4.0. In addition, the Volume 1 StylePack includes a total of 25 pre-made animations, borders, title slides and image effects. The price of the ProShow StylePack Volume 1 is just $19.95, but note that it requires version 4.0 or higher of ProShow.

The Sanyo Xacti VPC-CA9 waterproof digicam / camcorder, announced back in January, is to become available this month. The Xacti VPC-CA9 is a hybrid camera that takes 9-megapixel still images and records 720p HD video, and is equipped with a 5x zoom lens and a 2.5” LCD. In addition, the new Xacti is waterproof to a depth of 1.5m. The recommened retail price is €449.

Website: Sanyo Xacti VPC-CA9

The Olympus E-450 is a new 10 megapixel DSLR featuring in-camera Art Filters. The E450 is based on the Four Thirds standard and offers 3 filters including Pop Art and Soft Focus, a brighter 2.7 inch LCD screen, Supersonic Wave Filter for dust protection, and 28 shooting modes. Continuous shooting of 3.5fps with up to eight RAW images, wireless flash control, ISO 100 to 1600 and 49-segment digital ESP metering complete the E450’s headline specs. The Olympus E-450 will be available from May 2009 for around £450 for the standard lens kit. There will also be a single lens kit with the 14-42mm 1:3.5-5.6, and a double zoom kit with the 14-42mm 1:3.5-5.6 and 40-150mm 1:4.0-5.6 lenses.

Consumers now have access to the largest professional photography collection online. Beginning today, LIFE.com will provide users with access to more than seven million photos from the LIFE and Getty Images archives, with approximately 3,000 new photos from Getty Images added daily. LIFE’s archive includes photos from as early as the 1850s, the vast majority of which were never published in the pages of the magazine. Users can search for photos by topic, time period, interest and by photographer and purchase framed prints

Photo: Keystone/Getty Images, 1956

Fashionable Wedding Photography: Roundtable with Claudio Basso is a free webinar taking place on 17 April. The speakers of the roundtable are David Fisher and Claudio Basso. The webinar begins at 2pm EDT and lasts an hour. Advance registration is required. US residents also get a chance to win one of three prize giveaways of the Metz 45 Cl-4 Digital Handle Mount Flash, a value of $474.

Website: Registration to Webinar

‘Searching for Sonny’ is a new indie film, planned to be shot exclusively on a DSLR. As such, this is going to be the first of its kind. Perhaps even more interesting is the fact that while the DSLR in question is a Canon EOS 5D Mark II, the filmmakers are using Nikon lenses on it (obviously with an F-to-EF adapter). There is currently a teaser available on the film’s website. A longer “full” trailer is promised for release on 15 April, whereas the movie itself remains to be shot.

Website: Watch the teaser

DxOMark.com has just published new data for the Olympus E-410 and SP-570UZ cameras. DxOMark.com is a “controversial” website that attempts to “measure” image quality, or a few aspects thereof, using raw data from the sensor. Use of the site is free.

Website: DxOMark

Engadget’s readers have picked the Canon EOS 5D Mark II as the ‘Digital Camera of the Year.’ The readers’ opinion did not coincide with that of Engadget’s editors, who cast their vote in favour of the Nikon D90 instead.

Website: 2008 Engadget Awards: Readers’ Choice & Editors’ Picks
Review: Read our in-depth review of the Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Review: Read our in-depth review of the Nikon D90

AKVIS Software Inc. has just announced the release of AKVIS Sketch v.8.6 for Windows and Macintosh. AKVIS Sketch, available as a stand-alone application as well as a plugin to a photo editor, is a program that converts photos to pencil drawings and watercolour paintings. Version 8.6 improves the way a photo is converted into a watercolour painting and fixes the compatibility bug that caused the Sketch plugin to crash on Macintosh computers + Photoshop CS3/CS4. A home licence of AKVIS Sketch can be purchased for $72/€55, with a ten-day trial version available for free. The upgrade to version 8.6 is also available free of charge to registered users of earlier versions.

Tom Mackie Images will organise a landscape photography workshop on 5th-6th September 2009. Taking place in Norfolk, the event is designed to support all photographers to take their landscape photography to another level. “This exclusive two day workshop starts just before sunrise and then we go straight into an intensive but extremely enjoyable couple of days of shooting.  I will be showing the group my favourite shooting locations such as Norfolk’s expansive stunning coastline, the Broads, eye-catching windmills and much more,” award-winning landscape & architectural photographer Tom Mackie comments.