For the third year the Guild is proud to be one of sponsors of its photography competition.

They are on the hunt for stunning images of products, components and processes that are made in Britain, in order to challenge outdated perceptions that 'Britain doesn't make anything anymore' and reflect today's modern UK manufacturing sector.

Your image could be of anything from turbines to ceramic pots, steel rods to silicon chips, whether in abstract form or in their full glory  - the theme is open to your interpretation. All you need to do is add captions to your photographs explaining how your image depicts the theme 'Made by Britain.'

There is £5000 of Canon equipment to be won plus more and there are 3 categories to enter – Professional, Amateur and 14-19 years.

It is free to enter with a closing date of 28 September 2012.

For more details of the competition visit the EEF.

From Nikon: Notice to users of the EN-EL15 Rechargeable Li-ion Battery

This is an important announcement regarding the EN-EL15 battery which is used in the Nikon D7000, D800, D800E and Nikon 1 V1 cameras.
While Nikon takes great measures to assure high quality products, it has come to our attention that a certain number of EN-EL15 batteries manufactured by one of our suppliers did not meet Nikon’s internal quality standards. In extremely rare cases, this may cause the battery to overheat and the exterior casing to become deformed. Batteries exhibiting this problem have only been confirmed in the Nikon manufacturing process. We have received no reports of this problem from the market. Therefore, in order to ensure the safety of our customers and their equipment, we have initiated a voluntary replacement scheme for applicable products.
Customers using an applicable EN-EL15 battery may request a replacement battery. If the 9th digit of the EN-EL15 battery lot number is E or F then the battery needs to be replaced as it may be affected by this issue.

More information can be found on Nikon's website.

Grays of Westminster have sold a rare Nikon fisheye lens to an annoymous collector for £100,000.

The 220º Nikkor fisheye lens weighs a huge 5.2kg, measures 171mm in length and has a diameter of 236mm and is said to be able to ‘see behind itself’.

Nikon stunned the photographic world at Photokina in 1970 by introducing this lens with an astonishing speed of f/2.8, and it's production began in March 1972. Not surprisingly, it was only made available to special order.

Grays of Westminster spent six months tracking this rare lens down from overseas, and were fortunate to be able to find it in such pristine condition.

The lens was photographed by photographer Tony Hurst.  Visit Grays Of Westminster for more information on the story or to view their huge range of Nikon stock from years gone by to the present day.

Nikon have announced that customers who purchase a Nikon D4, D800 or D800E body will receive up to £180 cashback on purchases of selected FX lenses purchased with it.

The lenses in the offer and the amount of cashback buyers will get are listed below -

The Cashback can be redeemed for up to two lenses per body and the offer runs until 30 September 2012, with all claims having to be made by 31 October 2012 in order to qualify.

For more information about the promotion, and how to submit your claim, please visit Nikon's website.

He started photography after leaving college aged 18 and quickly built a name for himself in the Club and Event scene photographing events at some of the most presigious nightclubs in London, Essex and Kent.

He then moved onto portrait and wedding photography, where his true passion was and since then he has never looked back, having photographed a large number of weddings accross the country and is now firmly established the at a high street studio in Essex.

On hearing he had passed Gary was, to say the least, extremly pleased. It had become clear to him that things like being fully insured and a member with photo association is an important selling point to add to his wedding photography packages, and being qualified adds further to that.  He said 'With the first submission free, you would be daft not to give it a go!'

You can see some of his work below and more at his website.

Pentax are running a cashback promotion on one of its most popular DSLR cameras – the K-5.

Photographers will get £50 cashback if they purchase a K-5 body only OR £80 cashback if they purchase a K-5 with any Pentax lens.

This cash back offer will runs until the 15th July 2012.

Should you want more information simply visit the Pentax K-5 Cashback website.

Dorr, stockists of a range of photographic accessories including lenses, a massive range of studio equipment, batteries, bags, photo albums, frames and tripods have knocked 15% off all their prices to celebrate the launch of their new website.

The 15% discount will be taken off automatically at the checkout.

To find out more visit Dorr for more information.

The Guild has the pleasure of letting its members be the first in the world to know of a new website which has the potential to be the next big thing on the web - photofable.com.

It was created from a dream of a few friends from the United States-Australia to share and celebrate the world, its beauty, its people, cultures and traditions.

They created a website was created to share photographs and stories from where they lived and had traveled to, but the extent of interest took them by surprise - Even Olympic athletes and Astronauts wanted to post on it!

The founders contacted the Guild to assist with its development and we have spent a few months helping them create the new site, as we believe it has great ethics and is very exciting as well as very different to anything on the web!

It has …

• Search capabilities,
• A batch photo uploader.
• A photo rating system.
• A "bucket list" for each user, so you can keep track of your favorite locations and destinations.
• The ability to share photos across your social networks.
• A feed on the "home" page to keep you upated on new photos and comments.

It is also hoped to offer the option of contributors photographs being sold in the forseeable future!!

It is very easy to use. After logging in (or signing up) simply click "Share Photos" on the left side bar, upload your photos, visit "Manage Photos" to assign a destination, add your description/tags, and publish for everyone else to see.

You have the opportunity of being one of the Founder members before it is announced elsewhere.

It's a great opportunity to showcase your work and share the world as you see it so please take a moment to sign up, contribute to and explore the world on photofable.com.

Nikon has announced the release of the Nikon D3200, a DX-format digital SLR camera equipped with a new CMOS image sensor with an effective pixel count of 24.2-million pixels, the same EXPEED 3 image-processing engine as built into Nikon's high-end models, and a Guide mode, all of which enable capture of beautiful, high-quality images with simple operation.

The extremely portable, compact and lightweight body of the entry-level D3200 is loaded with the latest digital SLR camera functions, allowing for full-scale, flexible photography. Users will enjoy its simple operation with the capture of beautiful images exhibiting superior image quality that they will be eager to share with others.

In order to maximize the potential of the image sensor's 24.2-million pixels, the camera is equipped with the EXPEED 3 image-processing engine, and it effectively suppresses noise with advanced noise-reduction processing for still images captured at high sensitivities under dim lighting, all while preserving the definition and sharpness of the image sensor's 24.2-million pixels. Its also offers ensitivities of ISO 100–6400 and a Hi 1 setting equivalent to ISO 12800.

Also, special noise-reduction processing designed especially for movies maintains crisp, clear outlines in movies recorded in low-light situations. It also offers Face-priority AF and Subject-tracking AF AF-area modes with movie recording.

All this for around £559.99 body only or £649.99 with the 18-55mm kit lens. Visit Nikon for more information.

Is this the ultimate entry-level DSLR??

The Guild has heard reports that Apple has been sending out emails to MobileMe users who have yet to upgrade to the three-year-old OS X update.

The reason for this offer is fairly clear as Apple's MobileMe service will end on June 30, 2012, and Mac users will need the latest version of Mac OS X (Lion) to take advantage of Apple's new iCloud.

The upgrade to Lion will still cost users $29, but they can now get the formerly-$29 upgrade to Snow Leopard for free.