Sigma is launching a non-stabilized version of its 17-50mm F2.8 EX DG HSM for Sony and Pentax. The lens replaces the existing OS versions for these two mounts, for which most cameras have built-in stabilization. The latest version will be available from December 9th. The Japanese recommended selling price remains the same as for the OS version.

Nikon has re-started limited production of DSLRs, following the flooding of its Thai factory, but does not expect to reach full production volumes again until March 2012. 'Alternative and limited production at our partner factories in Thailand has started earlier than expected,' a company statement says: 'we have started shipment of certain digital SLR camera and interchangeable lenses since November 30th.' The company also says the industrial park in which its main factory is based has now been pumped-out, allowing its preparation for resuming production. Nikon still estimates its lost sales at ¥65bn (around $840m).

Olympus' former CEO Michael Woodford has resigned his position as director of the company and called for a shareholder meeting to dismiss the rest of the board. The company's share price had started to recover some of the 88% value it had lost in the weeks since Woodford was removed as CEO for highlighting unusual payments by the company (he remained a director). Since then the company has admitted using these payments to cover up losses on earlier investments. An independent committee established by the company has reported it has found no evidence of the rumored involvement of organized crime syndicates in the deals. However, three board members, including the President and Vice-President have resigned over the issue. (via Reuters)

Joanne Carter of theappwhisperer.com examines eight leading portfolio apps currently available for Apple's iOS. Smartphones and tablets can be useful for photographers in all sort of ways, but its easy to overlook one of the things that they're best at: showing off your images. So which app should you use to show your best shots in their best light?

Nikon has announced the SB-910, the flagship flashgun in its Speedlight range. Replacing the SB-900, the 910 gains the simpler graphic user interface (GUI) of the less powerful SB-700. Its more advanced thermal protection system slows the flash recycle time, rather than it simply shutting down to prevent overheating. It comes with hard filters for matching fluorescent and tungsten lighting and automatically switches the camera's white balance to match the filter. Similarly it adjusts the available zoom steps to suit the body (FX or DX) that it's attached to. The SB910 will be available from mid-December, priced around $549.95.

Leica has launched a website to showcase the work of users of its S2 medium-format DSLR. The S-League website allows users to show-off their work to an International audience and see what other users are doing with their equipment. Leica S users can also use the site to apply for a free loan of Leica S equipment. Meanwhile, the company has also announced it has created a 2012 calendar made up of images shot by photographers from the Magnum co-operative, using the M-9 rangefinder. The 16.5 x 28.3" calendar will feature six mono and six color images and will cost €45.

Sony has released the long-rumored firmware v1.04 update for its A77 and A65 SLT models. The updates add two more lenses to the list that the cameras can correct for and also promise to improve image quality, response time and 'usability.' The updates are currently available in Asia and Europe but haven't been formally announced in the US. Following our reviews of the A77 and A65 we will install the latest firmware and update the reviews as necessary. Update: Firmware v1.04 now also available from Sony US.

Nature photographer Erez Marom explains the role that magnification plays in successful macro photography. In this latest installment of his instructional series, he examines the relationship between a subject's actual size and the size at which it is projected onto the imaging sensor. He also details an accurate method for determining the magnification capabilities of your lens.

Ricoh has added a 24-85mm equivalent zoom camera unit, based around an APS-C sized CMOS sensor, to its product roadmap. The roadmap on the company's Japanese site shows the module, scheduled for an 'Early 2012' launch, will be built around a 16MP APS-C CMOS sensor. Given the company's use of 12MP Sony sensors in its A12 modules, it seems likely this zoom module will be built around a version of Sony's impressive 16MP chip that underpins several recent Sony, Nikon and Pentax models. No details are given on price or aperture range. (via DC Watch)

Roger Cicala of LensRentals has written an article about why 'soft' lenses occur and how you'll know if you have one. The article summarises his experience and testing of the phenomenon and explains how the pursuit of a 'perfect' lens is a fool's errand.

Samyang has updated its 8mm F3.5 fisheye lens in Nikon mount, adding a CPU to allow better-integrated operation in auto exposure modes. The Samyang AE 8mm 1:3.5 Aspherical IF MC Fish-eye CS allows for full control over exposure from the camera, enables i-TTL flash exposure control, and records lens-related data into image EXIF data. Like its predecessor, the optical design includes 10 elements in 7 groups, with one hybrid aspheric element. The lens is manual focus only, and is designed for use on DX format SLRs. It will be priced at €325 (approx $430 / £280).

Fujifilm has announced the X-S1, a premium-grade superzoom compact. The X-S1 is part of the company's high-end 'X Series' and is built around the same 12MP 2/3" CMOS sensor as the X10 compact. Despite the comparatively large sensor, it manages to include a 26X 24-624mm equivalent F2.8-5.6 zoom lens. It also features Raw shooting, a 1.44M dot electronic viewfinder and 460,000 dot rear LCD along with a rubberized coating and metal dials to emphasize its premium 'Made in Japan' status.

We've just published our review of the Olympus E-PM1: the PEN Mini. The Mini is the least expensive, and most compact-camera-user orientated, Micro Four Thirds model yet released. It's built around the long-serving 12MP sensor but includes the latest, impressively fast AF system from the most recent PENS. In keeping with its point-and-shoot ethos, the PEN Mini features few external controls, yet has extensive customization if you want a camera to grow into. Does this result in a model with broad appeal or a camera with an identity crisis? Read our review to find out.

We've successfully migrated dpreview.com to its new web servers. And, now that most of the teething problems have been ironed out, we're confident that the errors and degraded performance that some users have been experiencing over the last few weeks are well behind us. We've also got a couple of minor feature updates to tell you about - and the winners of the Tamron Prize challenge are revealed after the link.

Wildlife photographer and tour operator Dallas Dahms explains how to choose the most appropriate photo gear when embarking on an African safari. His article shares camera lens and accessory combinations best suited to particular modes of transport and specific types of photo opportunities. He also supplies a handy tip for safely carrying your gear aboard in-country flights.

DxO Labs has announced that Optics Pro 7, the latest version of its Raw processing and optical correction software, will be available from November 30th. The company says version 7 has been extensively re-written to make it faster - up to four times faster in the case of batch processing. Version 7 also includes support for popular enthusiast cameras, such as Fujifilm's X100 and Sony's A77, as well as more than 300 additional camera/lens Optics Modules. Refinements include an improved lens softness tool that attempts to correct for inherent lens softness without interfering with bokeh in out-of-focus regions. DxO Optics Pro 7 will be available with a 33% discount until December 24th (and free to users who bought version 6 after September 1st).

Photoshop trainer and author Scott Kelby has published an ‘open letter’ to Adobe requesting it re-thinks its product upgrade policy. The company, in a recent blog post about its ‘Creative Cloud’ online computing service, revealed that it will only allow owners of the most recent versions of Photoshop and Creative Suite to upgrade to the CS6 versions, when they become available. This moves away from its traditional position of allowing owners of the previous three versions a discounted upgrade. The company is offering a 20% discount for these owners to bring themselves up-to-date in time for the policy change.

Adam Koplan takes a closer look at Michael Freeman's 'The Photographer's Mind'. In this follow-up to his widely regarded book, 'The Photographer's Eye', documentary photographer Freeman has published a fascinating text that aims to help photographers to be more thoughtful in their picture-making.

US photographic trade body PMA and dpreview.com are conducting a survey looking for the views of dedicated amateur photographers. The ten minute survey asks about your photographic use, the features you'd like to see in cameras and your use and experience of photo sharing sites and printing services (as well as helping us make dpreview a better place). It aims to get a clearer understanding of what committed non-professional photographers want from their cameras and related services and may even result in those things getting a bit better. Responses will be discussed at the forthcoming 6Sight conference. As a reward one lucky respondent will be sent a shiny new Apple iPad 2. Update: the survey has now closed. We will announce the winner of the iPad soon.

Just posted: JPEG and raw studio samples from the Nikon Coolpix P7100. In preparation for a forthcoming review, we have shot our standard studio test scene with the Nikon Coolpix P7100. To allow easy comparison with its peers, we have now added these shots to our comparison database. As such the P7100 can now be selected from the pull-down list within both our standalone studio comparison tool and the comparison pages in any review.

Nikon has released firmware updates for its Nikkor 1 10-30mm f/3.5-5.6, 30-100mm f/3.8-5.6 and 10-100mm f/4.5-5.6 lenses. The 10-30mm and 30-100mm lenses are upgraded to firmware v1.02, which corrects a bug which causes an incorrect aperture value to be recorded. Meanwhile the 10-100mm power zoom firmware moves to v1.01 that, like the 1.01 upgrades for the other two lenses, addresses a problem by which images could 'be blurred when shot immediately after the camera was shaken or moved quickly'.

Digital Outback Photo has published 'The Art and Craft of HDR Photography' by Uwe and Bettina Steinmueller. The 100 page e-book, written and published by the authors of dpreview.com's 'The Art of HDR' series of guides, can be downloaded as a printable pdf. It is available for an introductory price of $15.95, rather than the usual $19.95.

Planned site maintenance will mean the site will be temporarily unavailable for a period today (Saturday November 19th). For around an hour from 20:00 GMT / 15:00 ET / 12:00 PT, it will not be possible to log into the site. This will mean commenting, forums and challenges will be read-only during this period. A banner across the top of the page will make clear when this work is in progress and we hope to bring an improved user experience as a result of the work. We appreciate your patience.

Update 15:44 PT: We've completed the necessary maintenance, and site functionality has been restored. However, due to the inherent latency in DNS (Domain Name System) propagation, a very small percentage of users may be unable to post to our forums for the next 24-48 hours. If these issues persist, or if you continue to experience performance or functionality problems with other areas of the site, please feel free to send feedback via the link at the bottom of this page.