Shortage of Canon’s 70-200mm f/2.8 lens

Canon Japan has announced a shortage of its  EF 70-200 f/2.8 L IS II USM lens.

In a statement on Canon’s Japanese website the company said orders for the newly released lens had been far higher than expected.

Apologising for the shortage Canon added they are looking at increasing supply of the lens.

Record year for Focus on Imaging

This year’s Focus on Imaging exhibition at Birmingham’s NEC is reported to have attracted more visitors than ever before.

Amateur Photographer say 37,352 people attended Europe’s biggest annual imaging show – up 3,000 from 2009.

Panasonic, who were at the event for the first time to launch their new G2 and G10, won the Focus on Imaging organisers’ ‘Best Stand in Show’ award.

Mark Robinson from Panasonic said they were delighted to scoop the prize after ‘weeks of preparation’.

Philip Dunn from PhotoActive Photography Holidays also hailed Focus on Imaging 2010 a huge success.

“It was our second show and it was even better than last year,” Philip said.

“There was a great atmosphere and it’s always good to chat with photographers about how I can help them with their photography.

“Being at Focus on Imaging is very important for PhotoActive as it shows people that we’re not a big, faceless company – we’re friendly, family-run and passionate about our photography holidays,” Philip said.

PhotoActive offer photography holidays and courses in Menorca and South West Scotland.

2010 Hasselblad Masters Awards competition opens

Hasselblad have announced they are now accepting submissions for the 2010 Hasselblad Masters Awards competition.

Each year Hasselblad awards the title of Master Photographer in a range of specially defined categories – and for the first time ‘wildlife’ is to be added to this list.

Awards are granted in recognition of the photographer’s contribution to the art of photography and photographic ability in the areas of creativity, composition, conceptual strength, and technical skill.

Photographers are invited to submit up to five images in each of the following eleven categories: architecture, editorial, fashion/beauty, fine art, general photography, nature/landscape, portrait, product, up-and-coming, wedding/social and, wildlife.

One Master will be chosen for each of the eleven categories.

Christian Norgaard, from Hasselblad, said: “Last year, the quality of submissions was so exceptional that it was quite difficult to select only 10 winners from the applicants we received.

“We anticipate that this year’s entries will again exceed our expectations,” he added.

All images must be submitted digitally by December 31, 2010.

Follow the link for full details on how to submit you images to the 2010 Hasselblad Masters Awards competition

Got a photography-related news story? Email news@photoactive.co.uk

Focus On Imaging floorplan

Focus on Imaging, Europe’s biggest annual imaging show, has released the floorplan for this year’s 2010 event.

Over 200 exhibitors will be attending this year’s Focus 2010 in the Birmingham’s NEC – including PhotoActive.

Philip Dunn and his son Christian will be chatting about PhotoActive’s holidays and courses at stand L47 – just next to Sony.

“This will be our second Focus on Imaging show and we’re really looking forward to it,” said Philip.

“Especially as we’ve some great deals on our photography holidays and courses this year.”

“There’s a special ‘buzz’ at the Focus show, everyone there shares a similar interest and it creates a fantastic atmosphere,” Philip added.

The Focus on Imaging 2010 show takes place at the Birmingham NEC from 7 – 10 March, 10am until 5pm.

>> Follow the link to download your Focus on Imaging floorplan

Focus on Imaging 2010 | PhotoActive Holidays and Courses – Stand L47

PhotoActive’s online print gallery hits the headlines

PhotoActive’s new online print gallery has made the news after being reported in one of the leading publications for the media industry.

Philip Dunn launched the PhotoActive’s online art print gallery to showcase some of his photographs taken during a lifetime as one of the UK’s leading press photographers.

HoldTheFrontPage.co.uk reported on the new venture on their award winning website for journalists and the media industry – http://www.holdthefrontpage.co.uk/news/100210philipdunn.shtml

The publication explained that fans of Philip’s work will now be able to purchase copies of his photographs directly from an online print gallery at his website, here at PhotoActive.co.uk.

“I’ve held several exhibitions and I always end up selling all my pictures so I thought an online gallery – as part of my PhotoActive.co.uk website – would be a good way to reach a wider market,” Philip told a HoldTheFrontPage.co.uk reporter.

“At the moment I’ve uploaded a few hundred pictures and I’ve made sure there’s a selection of different types and styles of photographs to suit everybody – press, travel, humorous, scenic and even contemporary wall art.”

Philip added: “I want to keep the gallery simple, unpretentious and user-friendly, making as many images available as I can – at sensible and affordable prices.”

To see for yourself the selection of pictures available for you to own follow the link for the online art print gallery.

If you would like more information on this news item please email news@photoactive.co.uk

Wanderlust Travel Photo of the Year 2009 winners announced

An image of one of Britain’s most prized historical assets – Corfe Castle – has helped secure a Belgian web developer the top award in the Icon category of the prestigious annual Wanderlust Travel Photo of the Year competition.

The evocative photograph of the 1,000-year-old ruins enveloped in mist was taken by Bart Heirweg from Ghent, while he was on holiday in Dorset.

Bart said: “It was a sight I will never forget.”

The other winning images include a photograph of a woman in Athoor market, South India (People Category), Iceland’s Seljalandsfoss waterfall (Landscape Category) and a bear cub escaping an adult bear in Pirttivaara forest, Finland (Wildlife Category).

The winner of each of the four categories will be whisked away on a photographic commission to Quito in Ecuador courtesy of the Quito Tourism Board and will receive a Nikon camera.

Category runners-up will win a Nikon digital SLR camera worth £800.

Launched in association with The Independent, the competition this year attracted more than 5,000 entries – making it the UK’s biggest travel photography competition.

Professional photographer judges Steve Davey, Paul Goldstein and Paul Harris said they were ‘amazed’ at the exceptional quality of this year’s entries.

Wanderlust’s Editor-in-Chief, Lyn Hughes, commented on the increasingly high standard: “You would think most of them are professionals. There was particularly tough competition in the People category this year.”

To view the online image gallery, showcasing all category winners and finalists in this year’s competition, visit www.wanderlust.co.uk/photocomp.

All shortlisted photographs will be exhibited at Destinations Holiday & Travel Show 2010 at the Birmingham NEC (www.destinationsshow.com; 5-7 March).

Full competition results and shortlisted images can be found in the March issue of Wanderlust, on sale 18 February.

The 2010 competition will be launched online and in our August/September issue, on sale 22 July.

If you want to take prize winning travel photographs why not come on one of Philip Dunn’s Travel Photography Holidays.
As the Sunday Times’ travel photographer for 15 years Philip will be able to show you all the tricks of the trade.

National Trust opens doors to photographers

Canon beats Nikon, Olympus and Sony in Google searches

Canon has been the most searched for camera manufacturer this week on Google.

Figures released today show that over the past seven days Canon was the fourth most searched for term in Google for photography-related searches.

The only phrases to beat Canon in the week’s top search terms were camera, photography and photo.

Nikon came seventh followed by Sony at eighth.

Canon also featured at the top of the week’s rising searches, with a 70 percent increase in people searching for Canon lenses – beating the next highest rising searches, Olympus pen and Nikon D3000, by 10 percent.

The only phrase to beat Canon in the week’s rising searches was the war photographer Don McCullin, following a series of high profile interviews.

Hassleblad reveal H4D-40

Hassleblad have revealed their new professional medium format DSLR camera, the H4D-40.

Hassleblad say the camera, the most recent addition to the company’s new H4D camera line, is aimed ‘towards high-end 35mm professionals’.

The H4D-40 features a 33×44 mm CCD sensor with 40 million pixels and promises to provide almost twice the capture area of the largest 35mm DSLR sensors.

The camera also boasts Hassleblad’s ‘true focus’ function which helps produce accurate focusing throughout the image field when working with a shallow depth of field.

Hasselblad CEO Larry Hansen told PhotoActive: “Most high-end photographers understand the advantages that a medium format system has over smaller formats, but many younger photographers have never been exposed to larger format photography.”

“With the H4D-40, photographers get a camera that is as easy to use – or even easier – than a high-end 35mm DSLR, but that comes with the famed Hasselblad image quality – larger lenses and sensors, more advanced optics, increased resolution and clarity, and all the other benefits of Hasselblad’s medium format DSLRs,” Mr Hansen added.

Hasselblad is launching the H4D-40 worldwide and starts at £12,995 for the camera body, viewfinder, and 80mm lens.

Nikon launches the ‘world’s slimmest’ 10x zoom camera

Nikon UK has launched what they say is the world’s slimmest wide angle 10x zoom camera, the S8000.

One of Nikon’s new range of COOLPIX cameras will go on this spring. The camera, with HD video, measures just 27.3mm thin.

Nikon say the COOLPIX S8000 is suited for photographers wanting a camera that delivers quality photographs without having to carry bulky equipment or spend time adjusting settings.

The S8000 comes with a range of automatic settings, including four advanced anti-blur functions, provides 14.2 megapixels and its fast start-up time and DSLR class AF system makes sure its quickly ready for action.

Mark Pekelharing, from Nikon told PhotoActive: “All the features in this camera, from the wide angle 10x zoom NIKKOR ED glass lens to the four anti-blur reduction functions, have been brought together to give the best experience while taking pictures.

“It’s for those who don’t want to spend time getting to know the ins and outs of a camera but do want to get it out in all situations and take the best pictures.”

“The portability of the slim body is essential to this, as well as its incredibly quick response time, so when you see that perfect shot on the LCD monitor, that’s what you’ll get as the final picture,” Mr Pekelharing added.

Nikon COOLPIX S8000 features

• The wide angle 10x optical zoom NIKKOR lens with extra-low dispersion (ED) glass lens promises crisp results whether you’re taking still images or shooting high-definition (HD) movie clips.
• Get as close as one centimetre from your subject in Macro Mode.
• An advanced flash control system delivers more natural-looking results when you shoot in low-light.
• Clear 7.5 cm (3-inch) high resolution (921K dot) LCD monitor enhances both shooting and playback with minimal reflections, even in bright sunlight.
• The COOLPIX S8000 is equipped with the Creative Slider, a new way to adjust images without the use of a PC.
• Four anti-blur functions help make it easy to get sharp images, even with moving subjects or when handheld shooting for evening and night scenes.
• ISO 3200 light sensitivity reduces the risk of blurred images with fast moving-subjects or in low-light and is accompanied by the lens-shift VR (Vibration Reduction).
• The Best Shot Selector (BSS) function will take a maximum of 10 sequential shots and save the sharpest one.
• The image-processing system is optimised based on Nikon’s original image-processing concept, EXPEED.
• The camera can be charged from a PC or laptop with the USB charger adapter.
• The COOLPIX S8000 comes in an aluminium finish with rubber coating for enhanced grip, available in three colours: black, brown and champagne silver.

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