Photographer Annabel Williams and Contemporary Photographic Training have announced a new range of photography workshops for 2009. Held in the Lake District, UK, the workshops cater for every level of photographer, run throughout the year, and last between one and four days. ‘Photography does not need to be complicated, neither does the way we train people! No slogans, unrealistic business theories or jargon here - we implement tried and tested, sensible approaches to business - enabling development for all.’ said Catherine Connor, who runs CPT alongside Annabel Williams and Jane Breakell.

If you’re looking for a pocket camera that complements or even replaces your DSLR, then the new Canon PowerShot G10 and Nikon Coolpix P6000 should be high on your list. But which one is the best? Find out now by reading our in-depth head to head review.

Website: Canon G10 V Nikon P6000 Review

Ricoh have released a new firmware update, v1.51, for the Ricoh GX100 digital camera. Version 1.51 includes the following improvements:

1. Modified the following phenomenon.
After switching from the Auto mode to a My setting mode, and then you get back the Auto mode again, the zoom position of the lens will always become at wide end.

Website: Ricoh GX100 Firmware Update 1.51

WD has added a high-speed FireWire 800 interface to its popular My Passport Studio portable drive. With FireWire 800/400 and USB interfaces, the new My Passport Studio portable drives offer up to 500 GB of storage capacity, are formatted for Mac computers and weigh less than 7 ounces. “Photographers and videographers, be they creative pros or Mac computer enthusiasts, have a genuine need for large amounts of fast, portable storage for their high-definition files,” said Jim Welsh, senior vice president and general manager of WD’s Branded Products and Consumer Electronics Groups. “With a new FireWire 800 interface, My Passport Studio speeds up editing and transferring of big media files making it perfect for performance-minded Mac computer users on the go.” My Passport Studio with FireWire 800/400 interfaces and 500 GB capacity is $249.99, and for 400 GB capacity is $229.99.

According to a report by InfoTrends, the number of snapshot photographers has increased, while the number of hobbyists has decreased. Kodak is the leading brand among “family memory keepers”, maintaining its lead since 2004, while Canon leads the way in the hobbyist sector. According to InfoTrends’ Director Mette Eriksen, “This is important for Canon because it will have helped secure sales of entry-level digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) cameras to brand loyal hobbyists.”

The Pocket Album Deluxe OLED 2.8 is a new pocketable photo viewer from Digital Foci. Pocket Album Deluxe OLED 2.8 holds over 4,000 photos and features a 2.8-inch OLED screen with a contrast ratio of 10,000:1.  It allows photos to be viewed by scrolling manually or randomly with an automatic photo slideshow with adjustable intervals. Available in Red, Sky Blue and Charcoal, the Pocket Album Deluxe OLED 2.8 is priced at $99.

CameraBag allows iPhone and iPod Touch owners to quickly and easily improve their photos by flipping between pre-defined camera filters. CameraBag’s advanced filters that emulate several different camera and film styles, giving your photos an old-school, cinematic appeal. Version 1.3 offers 8 different filters, including the new fisheye lens filter. CameraBag costs £1.79 / $2.99 for a limited time.

Win a session with a professional family photographer, $50 Target Gift Cards, or a year’s supply of milk (!) in Gather.com’s Halloween photo contest. Simply share a favorite Halloween costume photo to enter, with the five most-viewed entries in each of 5 categories being announced as finalists. The winner of each category will receive a $50 Target Gift Card, and one Grand Prize Winner will receive a professional photo shoot with a local photographer for his or her family. From today through Thursday, November 6th, entrants can post their photo contest submissions.

The new Nikon Coolpix P6000 is a serious compact camera, with a wealth of features on offer to tempt the enthusiast. Built-in GPS support, LAN connectivity, RAW file format, and a 28mm wide-angle lens are the headline-grabbers, plus there are a number of more subtle touches including a DSLR-like handgrip, optical viewfinder, flash hotshoe, and not forgetting the 13.5 megapixel resolution. Does all of this add up to make the Nikon P6000 the ultimate prosumer digicam, and can it challenge the likes of the Canon PowerShot G10 and Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3? Mark Goldstein braved the icy London weather to find out…

Website: Nikon Coolpix P6000 Review

The Trek-Tech Optera is a flexible, hold-tight tripod that securely secures your DSLR camera. The Optera is designed for rugged outdoor use, with a water-resistant bottom and rubber feet for added grip, and it even wraps around your camera for protection whilst carrying. Available in two sizes, the Optera 230 has a 230mm leg length and the Optera 460 Pro 460mm. The Optera 230 will be available from the middle of November for £44.99, and the Optera 460 Pro for £54.99.

XDepth 48 is a new technology that allows JPEG images to reach a maximum of 16 bit for each RGB component. XDepth 48 employs the same image reconstruction algorithm offered with XDepth Raw, thus avoiding common JPEG and JPEG2000 artifacts. It also offers improved compression of files, with XDepth asserting that a 48bit TIFF of 6088x4550 pixels would be 166MBs in size, with the equivalent XDepth 48 JPEG only being 17MBs. Further details are scarce, but there is a full-sized sample available for download.

Website: XDepth 48

Sigma’s range of EO-ETTL II flashguns do not work with the Canon EOS 50D DSLR camera. The Autozoom function does not work properly, and exposure is not set correctly. Sigma are supplying a free-upgrade service to their customers to solve the problem. All new products shipped after today already include the updated firmware.

Buy a LaCie external storage device and get unlimited online backup for one year after installation, worth $49.95. The online backup service is powered by well-known provider Carbonite. “LaCie Online Backup provides one year of free unlimited online storage to showcase the importance of backup strategies that keep data safe, and our dedication to helping users get there.” said Philippe Spruch, LaCie Chief Executive Officer. Unlimited LaCie Online Backup will be available at no extra charge for one full year beginning November 2008 on LaCie consumer hard drives.

Popular photo hosting website Digital Railroad has shut down with immediate effect. Attempts to find additional financing have been unsuccessful, forcing Digital Railroad to close all operations. Digital Railroad’s main aim was to provide an archiving and marketing services for the professional photographer. It also recently branched out into stock photography. Rival service PhotoShelter is offering Digital Railroad customers three free months if they sign up for a Standard or Pro annual subscription by November 4th.

Olympus has released a new firmware update for five compact digital cameras. The models are: SP-565UZ (pictured), mju 1060, mju 1050SW, mju 1040 and FE-370. Version 1.1 resolves communication errors that occurred when using the direct print function with some printers.

Website: Download Files: CAMEDIA Utilities, Drivers, Patches

Olympus has released a new firmware update for five of its Zuiko Digital lenses. The models are: 25mm F2.8 (pictured), 35mm F3.5 Macro, 14-42mm F3.5-5.6, 35-100mm F2.0, and 40-150mm F4.0-5.6. Version 1.2/1.3 ensures compatibility when used with the new Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1 camera.

Website: Download Files: CAMEDIA Utilities, Drivers, Patches

Nikon have released a new firmware update for the D300 DSLR camera. Version 1.10 includes a large number of improvements, including greater focus accuracy in dynamic-area AF and contrast-detect AF modes, and better Auto white balance performance. Click the Continue link below for the full list.

Website: Nikon D300 Firmware Update 1.10 (Windows)
Website: Nikon D300 Firmware Update 1.10 (Mac)

Apple have released an updated version of iPhoto, which allows you to share your photos by email, create web pages, cards and calendars, and automatically organize your photo library. iPhoto 7.1.5 improves the printing quality of books, cards and calendars ordered via the iPhoto printing service.

Website: Apple iPhoto 7.1.5

Canon have released a new firmware update for the EOS 50D digital SLR camera. This firmware update (version 1.0.3) incorporates the following fixes:

  1. Corrects a phenomenon in which an image becomes overexposed when C.Fn.II-3 Highlight tone priority is set to “1” together with other camera settings. (This correction has already been incorporated in the Version 1.0.2 and later firmware.
  2. Corrects a rare phenomenon in which “busy” blinks on the camera’s display panel and the shutter cannot be released due to the timing of battery installation.
  3. Corrects a rare phenomenon in which “Err 99” appears on the camera’s display panel and LCD monitor and the shutter cannot be released due to the timing of pressing the shutter button.

Website: Canon EOS 50D Firmware Update 1.0.3

The brand new PowerShot G10 is the most expensive and most feature-rich model in Canon’s extensive range of compact cameras. The G-series has long been the preserve of the keen enthusiast looking for a serious photographic tool that can still be easily slipped into a coat pocket. The new Canon G10 continues that tradition, adding even more advanced features into the mix, including a bigger 14.7 megapixel sensor, higher resolution 3 inch LCD screen, 5x wide-angle zoom lens, and dedicated Exposure Compensation dial. It also retains all of the key photographer-friendly features from the G9 - RAW format, PASM shooting modes, optical viewfinder, flash hotshoe and image stabilisation are all present and correct. With a recommended price-tag of £449 / $499, does the Canon PowerShot G10 offer enough to justify the expense? Mark Goldstein found out…

Website: Canon PowerShot G10 Review