The Griffin Museum of Photography in Winchester, Mass., has named the recipients of its annual Focus Awards. One of this year's winners is Albuquerque-based David Bram, founder of Fraction magazine.

Bram received the Rising Star award, which is given each year to emerging contributors in the photography community. His online publication focuses on alternatives to physical galleries and predominantly features the work of new artists.

Olympus has refashioned its PEN line with a new kit featuring a retro black metal E-P2 body, a black 17mm M.Zuiko lens, and a black FL-14 flash.
The E-P2 is compatible with an array of micro four-thirds lenses, including the newly announced M.Zuiko Digital ED 75-300mm f/4.8-6.7 and M.Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm f/4-5.6, which both feature a high-speed, silent autofocus during still and HD movie capture...

John Keatley's website was recently selected as one of the top photography websites in the Photo District News American Photography Competition for the second year in a row.

In addition, Keatley's portrait of Annie Leibovitz was published as the opener for the current "PDN Faces" issue. His images of Steve Sarich, one of the leaders in the medical marijuana movement, were recently featured in the Seattle Weekly newspaper.

Leica has added the V-LUX 2 to its compact camera line. The V-LUX’s attributes include a high-performance, super zoom lens, a 3-inch rotating LCD display and 14.1-megapixel resolution.

With a wide range of focal lengths, the V-LUX’s 4.5-108mm f/2.8/5.2 ASPH lens has shooting capabilities comparable to SLR systems in a lightweight body. The V-LUX has full 1080p HD video capabilities coupled with an electronic wind-noise filter and a full-zoom range that is available during video recording. High-speed burst shooting...

The Portland Art Museum (PAM) has hired Julia Dolan as its photography curator. Most recently, she was the Horace W. Goldsmith Curatorial Fellow in Photography at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

This will be Dolan's first position as a museum curator, but she has held a variety of positions at museums such as the Addison Gallery of American Art in Andover, Mass., and the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass.

Her photography background also extends into her studies at...

The International Color Awards Photography Masters Cup has awarded Seattle photographer Kristen Gill the 4th Annual Photography Masters Cup Nominee title in the portrait category.

Gill's winning piece, "Girl with Heart on Sleeve," and other finalists can be viewed at thecolorawards.com. This award show honors excellence in color photography.

For more of her work visit: kristengill.com

Pentax has introduced its new K-R line of 12.4-megapixel SLR cameras, available with white, red or black camera bodies.

The compact, lightweight Pentax K-R includes autopicture, scene and custom image processing modes to allow for more automated shooting. More advanced photographers can use the full range of manual and priority controls.

Additional improvements to Pentax’s SLR cameras in general include faster frame rates...

Nikon’s D3100, a 14.2-megapixel DSLR, has been unveiled with an enhanced user guide mode, 1080p HD video and full-time autofocus.

The enhanced guide mode provides users with a message on the LCD screen that gives users suggested camera setting adjustments. Other improvements include full HD shooting capabilities, scene- and face-detection technology, and a quiet shutter release mode. This is also the first of Nikon’s D-line to offer full-time autofocus in live view and...

The winners of the first Epson International Pano Awards were recently announced. The overall winner was Bill Leigh Brewer of Los Angeles, who also placed first in the "Built Environment" category for his image "Speed of Light," which depicted a moving train speeding through the desert.

San Diego-based Cynthia Hedgecock won the amateur contest for her image "Storm Wave at Sunset."...

Replacing the 50D, Canon’s EOS 60D SLR has hit the market with full HD video recording and advanced in-camera raw processing.

HD video now has more manual features, such as audio level override (although audio cannot be adjusted once filming has begun), in-camera processing and filters. Video is shot at 1,920 x 1,080-pixel resolution, with selectable frame rates of 24p, 25p or 30p. Movie crop mode allows the users to zoom up to 7x magnification and crop images directly without losing image quality as with traditional zoom controls.

Raw image processing can now be done in-camera and includes several enhanced features, such as...