June 2013 news and reviews

We've just posted the second in our series of rugged/underwater camera reviews. This time around, we're taking a look at the Olympus Tough TG-2 iHS, whose main claim to fame is its 25-100mm lens, which has a maximum aperture of F2 at wide-angle. The TG-2 also boasts a fully-featured GPS, limited manual controls, wireless flash control, and a unique 'tap control' feature. For all the details - and our conclusions - follow the link.

We round up the best photo-centric app news of the week.

A new Tumblr blog, SunTimes/DarkTimes is documenting the effects of the recent layoffs at the photo department of the Chicago Sun-Times. The blog is posting comparisons highlighting the difference between photo coverage in the Sun-Times to that of the Chicago Tribune. The results certainly seem to reinforce the views of many commentators who warned that the Sun-Times' photo coverage would suffer as a result of the cost-cutting. Click through for some images and a link to the SunTimes/DarkTimes Tumblr.

We've all been there - your friend Carl is over by the fridge, getting some ice, and there you are with an expensive new Carl Zeiss lens, and you're describing it to someone, and Carl keeps saying 'What? What did you say? Do you want ice?' It's confusing. No wonder then that German lens manufacturer Carl Zeiss has decided to officially drop the 'Carl' and will henceforth be known simply as ZEISS. According to the manufacturer's blog, the decision was taken to 'create consistency' across its brand communications. Click through for more details (and no more terrible Carl puns, we promise).

Italian iPhone photographer Gianpiero Riva literally wrote the book on smartphone photography. 

This new gadget captures and displays 3D photos and videos using an iPhone.

Now you can activate your DSLR's flash from your phone.

Developers find signs of blink and smile detection in the iOS 7 code.

Just posted: Sony Cyber-shot DSCRX1R hands-on preview. We've had a few days to try out Sony's new Cyber-shot DSC-RX1R, the sister camera to the RX1. The only difference between these two full-frame enthusiast cameras is that the RX1R's 24MP sensor lacks an anti-aliasing filter. We've created a hands-on preview of the RX1R, including a gallery of real-world samples and some preliminary studio tests, to give you an idea of how the new camera performs. Click through for our preview.

Just posted: Our hands-on preview of the new Sony Cyber-shot RX100 II. The RX100 II offers a host of improvements over its predecessor, including a new BSI-CMOS sensor, hot shoe, and articulating LCD. We've had a working sample of Sony's new 20MP 1"-type sensor compact for a few days, and we've prepared a hands-on preview, including a gallery of real-world shots, showing off its improved image quality. Click through for a link to the preview.

Sony has announced the HVL-F43M, a high-end flash unit that's based on the HVL-F43AM but uses Sony's Multi Interface Shoe, which can be found on the latest SLT, NEX, and R-series cameras. The HVL-F43M also features a LED video lamp for brightening up subjects for still and video recording. It retains the 'Quick Shift Bounce' feature of its predecessor, which allows you to rotate the flash head 90 degrees for portrait shooting. It will be available in July for $400.

Panasonic has announced the Lumix G 20mm F1.7 II ASPH, a revised version of its classic fast pancake lens for Micro Four Thirds. The H-HS020A, as Panasonic likes to call it, features a metallic exterior and slightly reduced weight, and will come in a choice of silver or black finishes. The optical design appears to be unchanged, with 7 elements in 5 groups including 2 aspheric elements; not a bad thing as its predecessor is one of our favourite lenses. The 20mm F1.7 II will be available in late July at a price of $399/£349.

Sony has introduced the new Cyber-shot RX1R full-frame premium compact camera. In terms of operation and functionality the RX1R is exactly the same as the RX1 that's been on sale since last Fall, the only difference being that it has no anti-aliasing (AA) filter. In theory, this means that you'll get even better resolution than the original RX1, with the trade-off of increased moiré. Everything else remains the same as before, which means that the RX1R sports an F2, 35mm lens, 24MP CMOS sensor, 1080/60p movie recording, and much more. Click through for more details. 

The other big announcement from Sony today is a 'Mark II' version of its popular Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 compact camera. The RX100 II features a new 1-inch, 20.2 megapixel back-illuminated Exmor R CMOS sensor, which Sony claims is 40% more sensitive in low light than its predecessor. Other improvements including a tilting rear LCD, Multi Interface hotshoe, and Wi-Fi and NFC capability. Click through for more details. 

Get twice as close to your subjects with the new Olloclip 2x telephoto lens. 

From rugged protection to impressive battery life, these new smartphones have a lot to offer.

Nikon has released a firmware update for its Nikon D7100 digital SLR. Firmware version C 1.01 corrects errors in how certain kinds of shooting data is displayed, and aims to resolve other issues relating to live view shooting of stills and video. Click through for more details and a link to download the latest D7100 firmware.

Dropbox for iOS will now let you share multiple photos at once. 

Free Android app gives you the tools to create interesting and fun montages from your images.

645 Pro update brings easier user interface and more customizable options. 

Just posted: Our quick review of the Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Extender 1.4x: the world's first SLR zoom with a built-in switchable teleconverter. It's been two years in the making, but when Canon offered to show us a production version of its professional super-telezoom, we couldn't help but be intrigued. In this review we've teamed up with DxOMark to bring you full optical test data of this unique lens, backed up by some quick real-world examples. So how does it perform? Click through to find out. 

New waterproof device is a whopping 6.4 inches with an 8MP camera.

Just posted: Our detailed Fujifilm X-M1 hands-on preview. Fujifilm's latest miniaturised mirrorless model represents something of a design departure from its previous X-system cameras, eschewing the traditional control dials seen on the X-E1 and X-Pro1 for a more contemporary control layout. It also forgoes an eye-level viewfinder, making do with a tilting rear screen instead. Is this a betrayal of everything Fujifilm owners have grown to love about their cameras, or is there more to the little X-M1 than meets the eye? Read our preview to find out.

Fujifilm has announced the X-M1, a compact-bodied mirrorless camera that features a rather different design to its previous models. Instead of 'traditional' shutter speed and exposure compensation dials, the X-M1 uses twin electronic control dials to change exposure parameters. It has a tilting 920k dot 3" LCD screen but no eye-level viewfinder, and uses the same 16MP APS-C X-Trans CMOS sensor as the X-Pro1 and X-E1. It comes with a new kit zoom, the XC 16-50mm F3.6-5.6 OIS that offers a 24-75mm equivalent range and optical stabilisation, but has no aperture ring. The X-M1 16-50mm kit will have an RRP of $799/£679.99.

Fujifilm has introduced the XF 27mm F2.8, a compact 'pancake' lens for its X-system cameras. It's just 23mm thick and weighs only 78g, making it by far the smallest X-mount lens. This means there's no space for an aperture ring, so X-Pro1 and X-E1 owners will need to update their firmware to allow aperture setting from the camera's rear control dial. It'll be available in either black or silver, at an MSRP of $449.95.

Forums update: We've just added a new 'create a poll' option for forum threads. Head over to the forums to try it out for yourself. We've also created a test poll here where you can see how it works and give us feedback at the same time!

Vine for Android gets update while Instagram videos views are off the charts.

Posting your images online for critique is a common practice in DPReview forums as well as on Flickr and other sites. But you usually have to go to a photo festival, or travel to have your portfolio reviewed by a professional curator. One of those curators created Eyeist.com, a service to connect photographers with creative professionals who can help them focus their selection for projects of many types, from books to websites to presentations. Click through for our review of Eyeist.

If they’re young enough, your kids may have only ever known a world in which smartphones are the most-popular devices for taking photos. That’s too bad. In this article we've rounded up a selection of cameras that will suit aspiring young photographers of all ages from under-10s to teenagers. Click through for a link. 

We've been fans of Aaron Johnson's comic strip 'What the Duck' for years. 'WTD' is one of the best satirical comic strips in the world, and it's published here every week, as well as being included in our weekly newsletter. Barbed, topical and always amusing, we hope you enjoy WTD as much as we do. Click through for this week's strip.

Phase One has released 7.1.3 of its Capture One Pro software, which includes extended raw support for a number of new cameras, including the Canon EOS-1D C and mirrorless models from Nikon, Panasonic and Sony. It also includes a beta version of a new catalog importer. Click through for a full list of newly supported cameras.

Today, Instagram joins the shot form video scrimmage. 

Samsung has announced the Galaxy NX: the world's first mirrorless interchangeable lens camera running the Android operating system. The Galaxy NX takes a 20.3 megapixel, SLR-style mirrorless camera and adds 3G, 4G LTE and Wi-Fi, connectivity and Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean). The camera sports a gigantic 4.8" HD LCD touchscreen - with which you'll control nearly all camera functions. The Galaxy NX will be available sometime this summer for an undisclosed price.

We take a first look at Samsung's Android powered Galaxy NX camera.

Kickstarter backers contributing $25 or more to the launch of a space telescope will get to have their photos taken in space. Planetary Resources, a company devoted to asteroid research, will thank its donors for their support by displaying their images in space and photographing them with the Earth in the background. Once launched, students and researchers will have access to the telescope so they can take their own pictures of the planet from space. Click through for more details.

Aviary has announced a significant update to its Android photo editing app. Version 3.0 of Photo Editor by Aviary introduces a sleeker interface, modifications to some existing editing tools and availability of new filters previously only on the iOS version of the app. Click through for more details. 

Samsung has released firmware version 1.2 for its NX300 interchangeable lens camera. The biggest claimed improvement is to autofocus, though Samsung has not disclosed what kind of improvement to expect. The update also adds new touchscreen features, a microphone sensitivity adjustment feature, auto image rotation, and a minimum shutter speed for Auto ISO. Several bugs are also fixed. For the complete list and a link to download the update, follow the link.

What are you doing to keep your photos from being stolen?

Just Posted: Our review of the Ricoh GR, compared with the Nikon Coolpix A. We've already reviewed the conceptually similar Nikon Coolpix A and concluded that in some respects it was it out-gunned by the Ricoh, so what does that mean for the GR? We've delved into the Ricoh's menus to get to grips with what it's capable of and explored a range of its interesting features. Read our comparative review to see how it performs.

Now you can create and share GIF-like animations with Blink 2.0.

Leica has announced a special edition of its D-lux 6 high-end compact camera, in collaboration with clothing manufacturer G-Star RAW. The special D-Lux 6 (itself arguably a 'special edition' Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7) will be available from Leica Stores and Boutiques worldwide, and is expected to cost around $1300. What do you get for your money? Well, 'a new dot structure on the leather body trim' and a leather case with 'exclusive carrying strap'. Excited? Click through for more details. 

Lytro has released a firmware update that enables the Wi-Fi chips inside its 8GB and 16GB light field cameras. The San Fransisco-based company has also announced a new iOS companion app called Lytro Mobile, which allows you to browse images from the camera on an iOS smartphone or iPod Touch. Replicating some of the functionality of Lytro's existing desktop app, the mobile app allows you to refocus and change the perspective of your images and share the 'living pictures' via social media. Click through for more details. 

ColorTime backs up its extensive color-adjustment tools with a unique gesture-based interface.

NeroKwik lets you access your images from a variety of sources, and is now for Nook too.

Huawei officially announced its flagship Ascend P6 with features mobile photographers will appreciate.

Olympus UK is offering a free M. Zuiko Digital 17mm 1:2.8 Pancake lens to anyone who buys a PEN E-PL5 or PEN E-PM2 from an authorised UK stockist. The lens can be claimed though the the company's website, and the promotion runs until 15th September 2013.

Vine has most of the mindshare in the mobile-video universe, but these Cinemagram users are worth watching.

DxOMark has just reviewed Nikon's latest budget full frame wideangle lens, the AF-S Nikkor 18-35mm f/3.5-4.5G ED. As part of our ongoing collaboration we've added the test results to our lens comparison widget, along with other Nikon-fit full frame wide zooms. You can compare it to its predecessor, the AF Nikkor 18-35mm f/3.5-4.5D IF ED, the AF-S Nikkor 16-35mm f/4G ED VR, the legendary AF-S Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8G ED, and the Tokina AT-X 16-28mm f/2.8 Pro FX. Click through to see the comparisons in our lens widget, and for the full data on DxOMark.

The Plugin Site has created the MetaRaw plugin for Photoshop and Photoshop Elements that allows the conversion of Raw files not supported by the associated version of Adobe Camera Raw. The MetaRaw plugin offers access to three Raw conversion methods - ACR, DNG Converter or its own, dcraw-based converter. It also allows Elements 10 and 11 users to access ACR's lens correction and chromatic aberration tools.

Winners take home iPads, gold and glory.

Is this the end of Twitter's 6-second video app?

SmugMug users now have a new Android app for uploading, browsing and sharing.

Our friends and collaborators over at DxOMark have been looking into how lenses score on specific cameras, and most recently they've been examining Canon's latest SLR, the EOS 700D / Rebel T5i. In an ongoing article they investigate how 130 lenses from Canon, Carl Zeiss, Samyang, Sigma, Tamron and Tokina measure up on the 700D's 18MP sensor. As this is essentially a variant of the sensor used in every Canon APS-C camera since the EOS 7D in 2009, the article could be of interest to a lot of Canon users. Click through for the links.    

Can't-miss stories for mobile photography enthusiasts.

DPReview just posted the first in an ongoing series of short videos aimed at the novice photographer. In this first segment hosts Jordan and Mark compare the results from a smartphone and an entry-level digital SLR in everyday shooting conditions such as low light, moving subjects and the challenge of capturing a flattering informal portrait. In future spots the video guides will be covering more practical shooting advice and diving into creative techniques in an effort to help beginners choose the right gear. 

We've been fans of Aaron Johnson's comic strip 'What the Duck' for years. 'WTD' is one of the best satirical comic strips in the world, and it's published here every week, as well as being included in our weekly newsletter. Barbed, topical and always amusing, we hope you enjoy WTD as much as we do. Click through for this week's strip.

The GigaPan EPIC Pro is an affordable motorized panorama head for DSLRs, built to create high-resolution images from multiple frames. In this article, Ireland-based landscape photographer Carsten Krieger takes the device out into the field to put it through its paces. Click through for a link to the full review. 

We've just posted the first in what we hope will be an ongoing series of short videos aimed at the novice photographer. In this first segment our hosts Jordan and Mark compare the results from a smartphone and an entry-level digital SLR in everyday shooting conditions such as low light, moving subjects and the challenge of capturing a flattering informal portrait. In future spots we'll be covering more practical shooting advice and diving into creative techniques in an effort to help beginners choose the right gear. Click on the thumbnail to watch the video.

App mimics the 1850s photographic process.

Top options to keep your photo files organized and easily accessible from anywhere.

Linea for iOS allows different people to upload photos onto the same 'Line.'

Lightt 2.0 brings major advances to this cool Vine-like app.

Canon, Nikon, Olympus and Sigma have released firmware updates, for the EOS 650D / Rebel T4i, 1 System cameras, Stylus XZ-2 and DP Merrill-series APS-C compacts repectively. The EOS 650D gains several bug fixes, mainly related to the use of STM lenses. Nikon's 1 System cameras have been updated to add support for the new 32mm F1.2 lens and continuous AF with the Nikon mount adapter FT1 and AF-S lenses, among other refinements. The Olympus Stylus XZ-2 has been updated for support with the new VF-4 electronic finder, and Sigma's DP Merrill-series benefit from several performance and stability improvements. Click through for details. 

Now that he has his own copies of the new Zeiss Touit lenses, Roger Cicala of Lensrentals decided to crack into the Planar 32mm F1.8 lens. His mission was to see if the renowned build quality of Zeiss optics was compromised to make the lenses more affordable. His teardown detailed the Touit's polymer construction and its use of a DC motor. Click through to see what he thought.

Rumors circulate that the latest Apple offering will be smaller, cheaper and come in a rainbow of options.

Who needs fetch when you can teach your felines to take self portraits? 

Nokia invites point to new zoom device, leaked specs look like bigger Sony, HTC One could get smaller.

PhotoForge, PhotoForge2 and KitCam are no longer available in the App Store but still active for current owners.

Samyang has announced two manual focus lenses for cameras with APS-C or Four Thirds type sensors, a 16mm f/2.0 wideangle for SLRs and mirrorless, and a 300mm f/6.3 for mirrorless. The 16mm f/2.0 ED AS UMC CS offers a 24mm-equivalent angle of view with an unusually bright maximum aperture, and comes in a wide range of mounts to fit almost every brand of camera. Its RRP is £419.99 / €395, or £459.99 / €435 for the Nikon mount 'AE' version. Meanwhile the Reflex 300mm f/6.3 ED UMC CS is a compact catadioptric or 'mirror' lens to fit Micro Four Thirds, Canon, Sony and Fujifilm models, and comes in a choice of silver or black for £289.99 / €259. Both will be available in July.

Fresh from the Pentax Ricoh launch event in New York, we've put together a real-world samples gallery from the Pentax K-50. The 16MP mid-range DSLR builds on the very likeable K-30 and promises improved image processing. We take a closer look at the K-50 and its similar sibling, the K-500, to see just what they bring to the table, as well as presenting a selection of full-resolution sample images.

Pentax has refreshed its entry level DSLR lineup with the announcement of the K-50 and K-500. The K50 is an update of the K-30, featuring less controversial styling and slightly tweaked processing, helping it offer a maximum ISO of 51,200. The K-500, meanwhile, gets most of the K-50's features - the main loss being weather sealing - in a less expensive package. While not radically different from the K-30, both cameras bring twin dial controls and 100% glass prism viewfinders to price points ($799 and $599 respectively), where both those features are rare. Alongside the cameras, Pentax is launching revised, DA-L versions of its 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 WR and 55-200mm F4-5.6 WR lenses.

Pentax Ricoh has announced the Q7 - its latest Q-mount camera and the first to feature a larger, 1/1.7" type sensor. The 7.44 x 5.58mm, 12MP BSI CMOS sensor is the same size as the one used in many enthusiast compacts, with the company claiming a 60% improvement in S/N ratio over the existing Q10. This improvement also allows the camera to focus faster in low light. The Q7 will cost around $500 with the '02' 5-15mm zoom lens and can be custom-ordered in any of 120 color combinations. The company has also introduced a body-cap 'Mount Shield' lens for the Q system - the 11.5mm F9 lens will cost around $80.

We put Sony's newest 13-megapixel flagship phone through our real-life and studio testing.

Apple updated its Raw engine to include more cameras. The new update applies to Aperture 3 and iPhoto '11. Cameras now supported include the Canon EOS-1D C, Canon EOS Rebel SL1 / 100D / Kiss X7, Canon EOS Rebel T5i / 700D / Kiss X7i, Hasselblad Lunar, Nikon Coolpix A, Nikon D7100, Nikon 1 J3, Nikon 1 S1, and Sony Alpha NEX-3N.

Microsoft has announced a Raw compatibility update for Windows Vista, 7 and 8, adding support for 22 cameras. This includes the previous generation of Canon Rebel cameras, along with the Pentax K-01, Sony RX100 and the Fujifilm X10. It also adds support for the Canon EOS 6D and Nikon D600, along with 'richer' support for images shot in AdobeRGB.

Look for it this summer.

Samsung has officially unveiled the Galazy S4 Zoom - the nearest thing yet to a true camera / phone hybrid.  The 'camera side' features a 24-240mm equivalent F3.1-6.3 lens with a zoom ring around the barrel, in front of a 16MP 1/2.3" CMOS sensor. It includes optical image stabilisation, a built-in xenon flash, ISO 100-3200, 4 fps continuous shooting, and 1080p30 HD video; images are stored to internal memory or microSD. On the 'phone side' you get a 4.3" Super AMOLED display, Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, and all the other features you'd expect of a modern smartphone. The S4 zoom will go on sale this summer.

Dynamic photographs help photographers draw audience attention.

Just posted: Our review of the Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM lens. In the latest of our lens reviews brought to you in partnership with DxOMark, we take a look at Canon's slimline 'pancake' prime for its APS-C and full frame SLRs. It's one of the smallest and cheapest lenses currently on the market, and includes a stepper motor for silent focusing during movie recording. But does its small size and low price result in compromised optics? Read our review to find out. 

The Lomography Smartphone Film Scanner sends analog negatives to most smartphones.

New gadgets for better smartphone photography.

Samsung has announced a 10mm F3.5 Fisheye lens for its NX mirrorless cameras, which it says is the smallest and slimmest of its type. It offers a 180 degree diagonal angle of view, and includes Samsung's unique 'i-Function' button that allows the manual focus ring to re-purposed to operate other camera controls. It's just over 26mm / 1" thick, and is a featherweight 71g (2.5 oz). It'll be available at the beginning of July, in black or white.  

Make your own smartphone case that stands up on its own, has a tripod mount and accepts other lenses -- for the bargain price of $7.38.

Turntable gadgets promise smoother stitching.

iOS 7 offers design overhaul, photo filters.

Swedish camera manufacturer Hasselblad is finally shipping the 'Lunar'. This 24 megapixel camera - essentially a rebadged Sony Alpha NEX-7 - was announced at Photokina last year and comes with your choice of grips: black or brown leather, carbon fiber, and wood: mahogany or olive, to be precise. The Lunar includes an 18-55mm lens and is priced at $6995/£5280. 

We've just published our first impressions of shooting with the Sigma 18-35mm F1.8 DC HSM | Art lens. We've tried to express just why we're so excited about this lens, which offers APS-C DSLR users access to some of the depth-of-field and low-light capabilities that full-frame shooters get from their F2.8 zooms. We're hoping to hear about pricing and availability soon so, in the meantime and in the light of our first impressions, what would you expect to pay for this lens? Click through for a link to the article and for your chance to comment. 

Adobe has released Camera Raw 8.1 and DNG Converter 8.1, as final versions of updates that were originally posted as 'release candidates'. ACR 8.1 is designed to work with Photoshop CC but, as promised, is also compatible with Photoshop CS6. It brings support for 7 additional cameras, including the Olympus PEN E-P5 and E-PL5, Ricoh GR and Panasonic Lumix DMC-G6, along with profiles for 16 more lens, including Sigma and Zeiss's latest models. Click through for more details and how to download.

Photographers and star-gazers in the upper United States were treated to a rare display of Aurora Borealis when the 'Earth passed through a region of south-pointing magnetism in the solar wind,' according to spaceweather.com. More aurorae are expected in the late hours of June 8 or early June 9, with NOAA forecasters estimating a 65% chance of geomagnetic storms. Click through for images and more details.

In this article, photographer Erez Marom explains how he created his image 'Dark Matter', which was captured at glacier beach in Iceland earlier this year. Marom sheds light on everything from from composition and gear choice to post-processing, and finally, what to call the final, dramatic picture. Click through for a link to the full article.

Enthusiasts eager for even better PureView experience on speculated smartphone.

We're on the lookout for freelance writers to contribute news and short feature content for our homepage. If you're an experienced writer with great editorial instincts who loves ferreting out interesting and unusual photo-related content, we want to hear from you. Also, DPReview is hiring! We have two open full-time positions available: we're looking for an Editor to join our team of writers and reviewers, and a Software Manager. Click through for more details.

Following the widely-reported layoffs at the Chicago Sun-Times a former Visual Editor at the paper, Robb Montgomery, has written a thoughtful piece for CNN.com about what the decision to move to a freelance work force means for the paper, and the industry as a whole. The same article also includes a video interview with Pulitzer price-winning photographer John H. White, who was among those laid off at the Sun-Times last week. Click through for extracts and a link to the full article at CNN.com.

Sony flagship phone looks likely to follow in HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4 footsteps.

Pad and battery cover are Qi-certified.

Josh Orter of the blog Stupid Calculations helps us visualize iPhone consumption.

Project Glass updates camera software to allow for captions and HDR.

Capturing the perfect panorama shot with a smartphone can be tricky. A new gadget currently gaining ground on Kickstarter could help you achieve a perfect panning motion, and even aid in motion time lapse photography. Spinpod works with both iOS and Android devices, as well as cameras. See it in action on connect.dpreview.com.

In advance of Apple's World Wide Developer's Conference next week, we're sharing our photographer's wishlist of the announcements we're hoping to see from the annual event. Compare our thoughts with yours on an expected new iOS 7 mobile operating system, whether or not we'll see a new iPhone and more at connect.dpreview.com.

Just posted: Our review of the Nikon Coolpix A. With a 28mm-equivalent wideangle lens, and the same 16MP DX format sensor as used by the D7000 SLR, the Coolpix A is designed as a serious compact camera capable of professional-quality results. But it's up against stiff competition, in the shape of the similarly-specified but cheaper Ricoh GR that was announced a month later. In our 16-page comparative review, we take a detailed at how the Coolpix A measures up to the challenge posed by its close rival.

Kickstarter gadget holds panorama promise.

Just posted: Our hands-on preview of the Canon EF-M 11-22mm f/4-5.6 IS STM. Canon's third lens for its EOS M mirrorless camera is its first image-stabilized wideangle zoom, and first with a collapsible barrel design. With an 18-35mm equivalent angle of view and silent STM focusing, it could be an interesting option for photographers wanting the wider view but looking to travel light. Click through for our first look.

Visual Supply Company warns users to download the final VSCO Cam app update.

Tough smartphone is water- and dust-resistant.

For nearly forty years, photographer D. James Dee has documented artwork and installations for seminal artists like Jean-Michel Basquiat, Julian Schnabel and prominent New York City galleries. He's now closing up shop and faces the prospect of finding a home for roughly 250,000 color slides and negatives that chronicle the explosive growth of the Soho art scene of the 70s, 80s and 90s. So far he's found no takers. Is this trove of recent art history headed for the dumpster? Click through to read more. (via The New York Times)

Which app store is the largest? What apps are most popular?

DxO Labs has announced availability of FilmPack 4, the fourth version of its film-simulation software. FilmPack 4 adds 65 'even more aesthetically-pleasing renderings'. Available in two editions, Essential and Expert, a single DxO FilmPack 4 license can be used as a plugin for Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Photoshop Elements, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, Apple Aperture, and DxO Optics Pro, and as a standalone application for Mac and Windows. Click through for the press release.

Our World Wide Developer's Conference preview: What can Apple do to make iPhone photography better?

Scientists at Bell Labs have built a prototype camera that uses no lens and a single-pixel sensor. This idea is based around a grid of small apertures that each direct light rays from different parts of the scene to the sensor, and can be opened and closed independently. The sensor makes a series of measurements with different combinations of open apertures, and uses this data to reconstruct the scene in front of the camera. No lens to focus the resultant image means infinite depth of field and low cost. Click through for more details and a link to the original research. 

We've been lucky enough to get our hands on an early pre-production sample of one of the most anticipated lenses of the year, the Sigma 18-35mm F1.8 DC HSM, and bring you a gallery of full-resolution sample images shot with it. This lens is the fastest zoom ever made for SLRs and, in principle, should provide the depth-of-field control and low-light image quality on an APS-C DSLR that you'd get using an F2.8 zoom on 35mm full-frame. We've shot a samples gallery including a variety of subjects, using a range of apertures, focal lengths and subject distances, to try to give an initial flavor of how the lens performs.

Rob Hart says he "was replaced with a reporter with an iPhone, so he is documenting his new life with an iPhone."

The 4" Xperia M offers a 5-megapixel camera and  854 x 480 display.

How do you Instagram? A short film explores what Instagram means to those who use it.

We just posted a review of the Pentax K-5 II, which also covers its near-twin the K-5 IIS, a version of the camera that lacks an AA filter for higher resolution (in theory). Offering 16MP CMOS sensors, a unique shake reduction system, and a rugged weatherproof body, the Pentax K-5 II and K-5 IIS are compelling little cameras and in this review we'll explore their various standout features, as well as look at the difference in image quality between the two models. Click through for a link to the full review.

iOS, Android and Kindle users can download photos from their digital camera to their mobile devices wirelessly with Eye-Fi's new SD card.

The Asus MeMO Pad HD 7 will be available in July at $129 for 8GB and $149 for 16GB.

10.1- and 8-inch tablets join the previously announced 7-inch Galaxy Tab 3.

Android users can now upload and view six-second videos on Twitter's Vine app.

Hot on the heels of its cashback offer for its 1 System cameras, Nikon UK has announced similar promotions on its D600 and D5200 SLRs. Buyers will be able to claim back £50 / €60 on the D5200, and £150 / €180 on the D600, when purchased either body only or with a new Nikkor lens. Meanwhile buyers of various Coolpix compacts will have the chance to win one of over 1200 'exhilarating prizes', including an indoor sky diving experience.