When the Canon 5DII was announced four years ago, way back in 2008, it was touted by many as the camera that would “redefine the future of photography”. But few could have predicted the wave of film and music video makers that were inspired by the accessibility and flexibility of a Canon camera geared towards film.

Although Nikon were the first to introduce a DSLR with a HD Movie mode, Canon sparked a mini-revolution with the 5D II and followed it up with the popular EOS 7D. At the end of last year, Canon announced “something big”, something that would once again promise to change the game, that something is the C300. This little beast promises to bridge the gap between the worlds of DSLR film-making and traditional digital cinematography.

Have a look at this hands-on review by the geniuses B&H Photo, in New York:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Go here for detailed specs and more: http://bhpho.to/yXR65K

The cloak has been lifted and the wonderphone that promises to be the world-beating iPhone 4’s successor has now been unveiled. Boasting “over 200″ new features, I admit, I’m seriously looking forward to getting my hands on one of these babies to see what they’re really capable of.

So what do we have to look forward to?

• A new dual-core processor, which Apple claims will make the iPhone 4S twice as fast
• An all new 8MP camera with a wider aperture (I will write more about this when I’ve had a chance to test it myself)
• Access to iCloud and iO5 (which everyone and their mother had predicted
• And “Siri”, something that is truly a glimpse of the future

According to Apple, Siri isn’t like any other voice command feature we’ve seen before, Siri can apparently understand what you mean and communicate with you to give you a whole new way of interacting with your phone (allegedly).

All sounds quite exciting this end. Check out the preview video from Apple here.

Addressing the criticisms of it’s predecessors, the E-P3 claims to have the “World’s Fastest AF”, powered by an impressive 35-point F.A.S.T. (Frequency Acceleration Sensor Technology) Autofocus Tracking System. The AF on this little beast offers 35 separate focus points covering most of the sensor, enabling the camera to pin-point focus accuracy on small subjects wherever they appear in the frame.

Another welcome edition in this third edition is in-built flash and a vastly improved OLED display screen, coupled with a beautifully crafted body, the E-P3 is without doubt one of the more attractive prospects out there in the compact market.

However, some criticism still remains, the camera relies on what feels like an unnecessarily complex menu system, relying on numerous screens to display various different types of shooting information. So for the casual user or anyone new to the PEN series may find the interface a bit arduous to get to grips with.

But probably the toughest criticism that can be levelled at the E-P3 is that it’s 12 mega-pixel sensor isn’t competitive enough, with many lower-range and more affordable models offering decent ISO performance on larger sensors. With the speed at which technology in this field is developing, you’d be forgiven for expecting a 16 mega-pixel sensor at least, but perhaps this was neglected to keep the cost down – a trade off between delivering blistering AF speed over mega-pixels perhaps?

Although, any serious camera-enthusiast knows that mega-pixels aren’t the be-all and end-all, so perhaps you can overlook the outdated 12MP elephant in the E-P3’s room. If you’re looking for a quality, versatile camera, with a host of attractive features – all packaged up in a classically crafted body – the Olympus E-P3 is a pleasure to shoot with. Expect to pay around the £699-799 mark for the privilege though, so if money is an option, make sure you check out a few alternatives.

Key features of the E-P3 include:

- 35-point F.A.S.T. AF (autofocus) system
- 12.3 megapixel High Speed Live MOS Sensor with 1080i full HD movie compatibility
- TruePic VI image processing engine
- 3D Shooting mode
- High-sensitivity shooting at ISO12800
- 3.0-inch OLED display with touch screen panel

If like me, you love all things Photography related, prepare to be spellbound for 4 minutes and 13 seconds, starting…

NOW:

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Wasn’t that glorious? (Rhetorical question) Of course it was! Now check out the making of for some creative inspiration:

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“If at first you don’t succeed, try another 98 times.”

Every now-and-then innovative technology comes along that eases the daily slog. As a professional photographer I’m always looking for ways to ease the burden of carrying around valuable equipment and improve work flow. The Capture Camera Clip System created by entrepreneur and inventor Peter Dering promises to do both. Check out this video:

Click here to view the embedded video.

I also love the way he’s gone about developing this product through Kickstarter with supporters and future customers donating to back the project. Not only will people be buying something awesome, they’ll be able to say their contribution helped to launch it.

Click here for more information and videos.

Nikon has announces the launch of this year’s Nikon Photo Contest International, which is open to entries from photographers of all skill levels worldwide. Now in its 33rd year, the global competition is established as one of the world’s most important and inspiring contests.

You can enter between September 1st to November 30th and the winners announced in June 2011. The 33rd Nikon Photo Contest International provides an opportunity for photographers to showcase their work and to contribute to photographic culture.

Since it was first held in 1969, the contest has steadily gained popularity with more than 320,000 photographers who have collectively submitted over 1,310,000 photos. In 2008-2009 more than 18,000 photographers from 153 countries submitted over 51,000 photos. These numbers represent records for the largest number of entries by the most applicants from the most countries ever, establishing the Nikon Photo Contest International as a truly international competition.

For more information on the contest and to enter, click here.

Good luck to all entrants!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

For more information, check out http://iphonedslr.com

The H4D-40  features a 40 Megapixel medium format sensor and True Focus with APL (Absolute Position Lock), making auto-focus substantially easier and more accurate for photography professionals. Like the rest of the H system cameras, the H4D has been specially designed to meet the most exacting demands of high-end commercial photographers who require the ultimate in both image quality and performance.

Check out the release:

Renowned for his aerial photography, landscape photographer Hans Strand came within 600 meters
of the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull in a Cessna 172, recording the eruption that kept European air
traffic grounded for weeks at close range with his H4D-40. It took Hans Strand seven attempts to fly
to Iceland due to the vast ash cloud of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano. Yet his persistence paid off, as he
was one of the few photographers to capture images of the massive eruption.

Well aware of the extreme shooting conditions aboard the Cessna and the unique nature of his pictures,
Strand took a camera that he could depend on completely: his H4D-40. Not only its reliability during
the shoot, but also the quality of the results confirm that he made the right decision. His spectacular
shots captured individual particles of ash within the dark cloud as well as the veil-like rain of dust – not
to mention chunks of rock being ejected from the crater with tremendous force. While Strand felt safe
in the Cessna, he describes the spectacle as awe-inspiring: “The noise of the volcano was incredible.
There were continuous explosions and huge bursts of lava shooting into the sky.”

In the face of such difficult conditions, the 54-year-old professional photographer also chose to rely on his Hasselblad for this shoot because he wanted to make extreme enlargements of his photos. TheH4D-40’s outstanding image quality and high resolution guarantee that even the most minute detailsappear razor-sharp and with excellent definition. Working in the confines of the Cessna, the medium format camera proved as convenient as a 35mm DSLR: “I set the sensitivity to ISO 200 and the shutterspeed to 1/800, and that was it – I was just pointing and shooting,” he recalls.

Strand not only used the H4D-40 for hand-held shots while airborne. He also worked without a tripod
on the ground, framing the ash cloud as a dramatic background to the tranquil Icelandic landscape:
“The H4D-40 is naturally an outdoor camera, and it’s just as well-suited for this job as a conventional
DSLR. I also used it for hand-held shots of Icelandic ponies near the ash cloud.”

For his close-up pony portraits, Strand relied on his camera’s True Focus technology, the most important
advance of the H4D generation. Thanks to this innovation, he was able to correctly and accurately
focus on a pony on the left-hand edge of the frame, despite the close range. “True Focus worked
perfectly, just as I had expected,” he notes.

“I cleaned it carefully every time I left the car.”

Back at his computer, Strand used the latest update of Phocus, Hasselblad’s workflow software. “I
processed the images in Phocus 2.5, and I think it’s a fantastic application. The shots needed virtually
no further editing after the initial processing.” And while the colors of his images are extremely vivid,
Strand did not doctor them after the fact. “To pre-empt discussions about falsified colors, I make it a
point to only correct the color balance,” he explains. “The intense blue of the ash cloud background is
completely authentic. You really have to see the colors of Iceland to believe them.”

“The camera got pretty dirty while shooting the interior of the ash cloud from the ground,” reports
Strand, who had no problems keeping his gear operational under such extreme conditions in the field:

A few of his impeccable pictures (remember, no tripod or any other equipment was used; just man, and camera):

Thanks to Hasselblad Photography Magazine for the press release.