Sinar have issued a positive statement following the news that Franke & Heidecke, which manufactures the body for the Hy6 camera system, is insolvent. “We hereby firmly declare that we continue to stand by our renowned Service for all the products of our company. We are convinced to fulfill all our commitments.” states the press release. Apart from the Hy6, the demise of Franke & Heidecke has absolutely no effect on the core business of Sinar.

The Vivitar VC8027 is a new retro styled 8 megapixel digital camera. Based on the VC8025, the new VC8027 model features a silver and red leatherette finish, 3x zoom lens (36-108mm), 2.4 inch LCD screen, anti-shake, red-eye reduction, 640x480 movies and 32Mb of internal memory. No word yet on the Vivitar VC8027’s price or availability.

Website: Vivitar VC8027

QOOP is a new website that gives artists, authors, photographers, designers, and publishers a free and simple way to monetize their digital content. “We provide simple tools to directly upload images to QOOP or import images from flickr with associated titles, tags, descriptions, and EXIF data so you don’t have to repeat all the effort already put into properly describing your images. It just takes a few steps from there. You choose the products you want to sell, set your royalties, and you’re all set. Your stores live on QOOP, and your listings are easily discovered by searches on Google, Yahoo, and Live.com. It’s a great way to get started making some money on your images,” said Tin Hoang, QOOP’s Art Director.

American Society of Media Photographers members can now use The Copyright Registry for free. ASMP members can use The Copyright Registry to display their contact information, to link each image to its official registration at the U.S. Copyright Office, and to connect potential licensors to the e-commerce or licensing process of the photographer or their agent for each image. The registry also locates online uses of duplicates of each photographer’s images.

PhotoFreebies 2 is a free collection of 12 Photoshop-compatible plugins for performing simple but useful photo adjustments and effects. PhotoFreebies 2 includes a new Color Blind plugin for simulating red/green color blindness, and is now available in a 64bit version. Available to download for free now, PhotoFreebies 2 is compatible with Windows only.

The Nikon Coolpix eXtreme is a new all-weather compact camera that’s…sadly only a design concept. Born from the imagination of designer Camillo Vanacore, we’re hoping that the radical styling of the eXtreme will have some influence on the next range of Nikon Coolpixs. The Yanko Design website has more pics and a quick YouTube video.

Website: Yanko Design

Fujichrome CDU II and Fujichrome T64 Professional films are to be discontinued. The specialist duplicating film, Fujichrome CDU II, will be discontinued from April, followed by the tungsten film Fujichrome T64 Professional in July. One other change to Fujifilm’s range of professional films is the end of 24 exposure rolls of Neopan 400 135.

DxO Optics Pro 5.3.3 adds support for the Nikon D3x and Sony Alpha A900 DSLR cameras. 43 new DxO Optics Correction Modules for a variety of cameras have also been added. DxO Optics Pro 5.3.3 includes multiple improvements, including automatic reading of the focusing distance for Canon 5D Mark II images. DxO Optics Pro v5.3.3 and upgrades are available immediately for Mac and Windows. All customers who purchased DxO Optics Pro since August 1, 2007 are entitled to a free upgrade to version 5.3.3.

The new Lastolite 2408 camera bracket allows the camera to be flipped between vertical and horizontal while retaining the flash position. The handle is extendable and has the option of hotshoe or spigot fixing. The 2408 is the ideal partner for the Ezybox Hotshoe and the new range of Off Camera Cords. The Lastolite 2408 camera bracket is available at £59.99 inc VAT.

Ray Charles - Yes Indeed! is a new book that features hundreds of previously unseen photographs by his close friend and manager, Joe Adams. To commemorate the 60th anniversary of the release of Ray Charles’ first single this limited edition book from Genesis Publications features 125 recently discovered and previously unpublished photographs of Ray Charles. Joe Adams on the book; “When people look at this book, I want them to take away from it that the pictures were taken by a guy who was very fortunate of having the privilege to be associated with another guy who liked and, most importantly respected, the other guy. We had a mutual respect for each other and we worked very well together.”

Cooliris is a free browser plug-in that allows you to view photos in an expansive 3D wall. Users can now submit their photos to Cooliris via a Flickr group, with approved photos appearing in the “Photos of the Day” channel. Cooliris is available for Firefox (Windows and Mac), Internet Explorer, and Safari.

Website: Cooliris Flickr Group

Website: Cooliris

“The Language of One Light: Roundtable with Will Crockett” is a free instructional webinar. Held from 2:00p.m. to 3:00p.m. EDT, on Friday, March 13th, Will Crockett will provide innovative ideas on how to create great lighting to help enhance your images and creativity. US residents will also be automatically entered in a chance to win one of three Metz 58 AF-1 Flashes.

Getty Images and Flickr have launched the Flickr Collection, a creative imagery collection now available for commercial licensing. “We are impressed with the talent from the Flickr community, and are proud to once again lead our industry in this exciting new direction. We are eager to hear what our customers think, and look forward to their input in shaping this ever-expanding collection.” said Jonathan Klein, co-founder and chief executive officer of Getty Images. Photographs for the Flickr Collection were selected by Getty Images’ editors, with images available in both royalty-free and rights-managed licensing models.

Olympus have released a firmware update for the ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 9-18mm 1:4.0-5.6 lens. Version 1.1 improves the auto-focus operation under certain conditions.

Website: Olympus 9-18mm Lens Firmware Update

dxomark.com has published RAW measurement results for the Sony A700, A300, and A200 DSLR cameras. There’s also a newly-published review of the A700 which includes findings about the camera’s internal RAW processing implementation. www.dxomark.com is a free online resource that delivers key objective sensor performance metrics measured directly on the RAW image for a variety of cameras.

Ever wondered what to do with your old memory cards? Photochaining could be the answer. The PhotoChaining blog is a continuous project where people practice the art of leaving memory cards in public places to be picked up and used by others, who then do likewise. Still in its infancy, 19 memory cards have been found and displayed on the site so far.

Website: Photochaining

Flash Renamer is a batch renaming tool that’s currently being given away free. Normally Flash Renamer costs $20 to register, but to celebrate its 10th birthday, developer RL Vision are giving it away for free until the end of this week. This is the latest version (v6.2) - the only limitation is that it cannot be upgraded in the future.

Website: Flash Renamer Offer

Shapeways Photoshaper allows anyone to turn digital photographs into 3D printed objects. Based on the contrast of the picture the Shapeways Photoshaper automatically creates a depth-layered 3D object that can be printed. The Shapeways Photoshaper 3D photo is produced and delivered globally within 10 days, and costs between $40-50 (USD), including shipping.

David Brunetti is the overall winner of the 2008 Fujifilm Distinctions Awards. David’s winning image, ‘Mother’, is part of a series of portraits of the Rroma community in Romania. Like the other 3,000 submissions to Distinctions 2008, David’s image was taken on Fujifilm professional film. Entries to the 2009 Distinctions Awards can be submitted from 1 April 2009.