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PRO EDU Acquires Resource Magazine, Will ‘Banish’ Banner Ads

In a surprise announcement on the PRO EDU Community Facebook Page yesterday, the photo/video education company's CEO Gary Martin announced that PRO EDU has acquired Resource Magazine and will be taking ownership of the publication starting June 1st. The photo/video/lifestyle magazine was founded in 2007.

When to Upgrade Your Camera Gear: 5 Questions to Ask Yourself

I have major gear envy syndrome. Every new release seems to bring with it a feature that makes me jealous enough to attempt to justify a ridiculously expensive purchase. But even for those of you happily using your 5-year-old DSLR (I secretly envy you), there is always the question of when to upgrade your camera gear.

NASA Just Ordered 53 Nikon D5 DSLRs

NASA just placed a hefty order for 53 unmodified Nikon D5 DSLRs. The cameras currently cost about $6,500 each, so if NASA paid full retail price for each camera, they just spent at least $344,500 on this purchase.

8 Pieces of Photo Gear I Wish I Hadn’t Purchased

Since my first DSLR purchase in 2001, I’ve exhibited symptoms of Gear Acquisition Syndrome that have left a sizable dent in my wallet. Here is a list of my most regrettable acquisitions. What are yours?

A Beginner’s Guide to Buying Camera Gear on eBay

Camera gear can be expensive, but one way to work around this issue is to purchase equipment used from online auction websites such as eBay. But it can be tough trying to determine the exact condition of an item without getting your hands on it. We will be going over tips to help you purchase both digital and analog film cameras without throwing your money down the drain. Here are some practical pointers to staying smart and safe on eBay when buying your next bit of kit.

Reports Indicate Shutterfly is Looking for a Potential Buyer

Yesterday, Bloomberg reported that Redwood City-based photo publishing service Shutterfly is looking to sell itself off. Currently in talks with the investment bank Qatalyst Partners to find a buyer, the report explains that these are only preliminary talks and are no guarantee any transaction will go through.

Video: Useful Tips for Buying Second-Hand Lenses

When it comes to buying glass, deciding what you want and how much you're willing to spend can be difficult even in the best of conditions. So, naturally, when buying second-hand glass, an added layer of caution is needed to make sure you're getting what you're looking and paying for.

C&A Marketing Buys Out Calumet Brand, Bringing Back a Few Entities

It came as quite a surprise to everyone – including their own employees – when Calumet camera stores went out of business quite literally overnight. As is to be expected in such a downfall, much of their capital has been sold off in hopes to gain back as much as possible. But, as much as anything else, the fall of Calumet has left people wondering what will happen to the brand that many photographers came to know and trust.

Greentoe Lets You Save Some Dough on Camera Gear by Naming Your Own Price

If you're a frugal photographer who's constantly searching for ways to save some dough when buying gear, you might want to look into the new Los Angeles-based startup company Greentoe. It's a shopping site that's trying to turn the e-commerce world on its head by taking pricing power from merchants and putting it into the hands of consumers.

Basically, it's a site that lets you buy camera gear at prices you want to pay.

Deal: Snag the Complete Nat Geo Digital Collection and 200K Photos for $25

If you're constantly on the prowl for new sources of photographic inspiration, there's a pretty sweet deal going on over at National Geographic. The magazine has long been praised for its focus on delivering high quality photography showing all kinds of subjects in all kinds of locations around the world, and now it's offering its complete collection of issues between 1888 and 2011 for just $25. The set of 7 DVDs normally costs $80, so it's a savings of almost 70%.

Dropbox Acquires Snapjoy, Gearing Up for Cloud Photo Sharing War

In the world of cloud data storage, Dropbox is one of the 800lb gorillas fighting for your files. In recent days, it has been making big moves to become more of a player in photo storage and sharing. After all, everyone needs a safe place to keep their digital images, right?

The company's latest play came today in the form of an acquisition: Dropbox has acquired fellow cloud-storage company Snapjoy -- a business based around aggregating photos from around the web and from your various devices.

Shutterfly Gobbles Up Another Camera Company Photo Sharing Site

Shutterfly is making a habit of gobbling up photo sharing services that camera companies no longer want to run. Less than half a year after acquiring Kodak Gallery from Kodak for a meager $23.8 million, Shutterfly has now taken another photo site off the hands of a company very similar to Kodak: Fujifilm. The Japanese imaging company has agreed to dump its photo sharing and printing business SeeHere into Shutterfly's lap, shutting down the service on November 8, 2012.

Lytro Going Global, to be Available at a Number of Retailers Starting in Oct.

It has been nearly a year since Lytro announced the world's first consumer light-field camera that lets users focus photographs after they're shot. Throughout this time, the camera has only been available direct from the company when ordered through the website. That'll soon change, as the company announced today that it will be partnering with major retailers around the world to have the camera appear on a store shelf (and website) near you.

Google-Owned Nik Software will Continue Offering High-End Photo Tools

When news of Google's acquisition of Nik Software emerged a week ago, most of the tech press (and this blog) focused on one particular offering: Snapseed. It's a highly-acclaimed mobile photo editing app that has been growing like a weed as of late, so it made sense that Google would want it to participate in the ongoing mobile photo sharing war, right? Well, maybe not.

Time To Buy That Camera: Amazon to Start Collecting CA Sales Tax in a Week

If you live in California and have been eyeing some camera gear on Amazon, you might want to bust out your wallet and make the purchase this week. On September 15th, 2012, Amazon will start collecting sales tax for purchases made from California. The tax rate ranges from 7.25% to 9.75% depending on where you live, so the cost difference could be quite significant depending on what you buy. For a $1,500 camera or lens, the tax could be as heavy as $150.

Facebook’s Buyout of Instagram Finally Receives Government Green Light

Facebook agreed to buy Instagram for $1 billion back in April, but the deal has been in limbo over the past four months while the Federal Trade Commission gave the deal a long look-over. Both online companies got goods news today when the FTC announced that the investigation has been completed, and that the deal may "proceed as proposed."

The "as proposed" part is something that Instagram would probably love to change if it could. As we wrote a couple days ago, the fact that so much of the price was offered as shares of stock, coupled with Facebook's plummeting ticker symbol, means that the $1 billion deal is now only worth around $750 million.

Nikon D7000 Kits Being Sold by Best Buy Ahead of Launch

Itching to get your hands on the Nikon D7000? You might want to try Best Buy. Apparently some Best Buy stores are breaking the rules and selling Nikon D7000 kits before the camera is officially available on Sunday. Here are some unboxing videos created by the lucky few who were able to purchase the D7000 early.

Dell Buys Entire Magnum Press Archive

Billionaire Michael Dell's investment firm MSD Capital, L.P has purchased the entire New York print archive of renowned photo agency Magnum Photos, totaling nearly 200,000 images. The collection includes some of the most iconic images throughout history, including photos of world leaders, celebrities, and major events such as World War II. Though the price was not disclosed, the collection was previously insured for over $100 million.