UPDATED: I had a good Christmas and thought – what the heck – I’ll sweeten this pot just a little. It’s conceivable that someone winning this contest may not have a camera so – I’ll throw in an entry-level Nikon D3000 or Canon T3 along WITH the 70-200. You pick the camera AND the lens you want! Happy Holidays!

If you already tweeted this contest no need to tweet the change – your old entry qualifies! 

I’ve given away lots of cameras, but I don’t think I’ve ever tried giving away JUST a lens. So here goes nothing.

I’d like to introduce a new contest. This one starts today and ends on March 1, 2012. The winner gets their choice of a brand new:

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM AutoFocus Telephoto Zoom Lens – USA Warranty

- OR -

Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G AF-S VR II Zoom-Nikkor ED-IF Lens – U.S.A. Warranty

I’ll throw in some “goodies” with either lens – i.e., a little un-named bonus – but the main prize is the lens.

These lenses are the main-stay of most professional photographers. Almost every working pro I know owns and more importantly, regularly uses, a stabilized, fast 70-200. These are the latest, USA versions of these respective lenses. They are ultra fast and ultra sharp. They are professional lenses in every respect. I have used both extensively and love them. Now you get a chance to own your pick of the two, depending on what system you shoot with. Interested?

Here’s how to enter.

- Follow ScottBourne on Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/scottbourne)
- Follow ViewBug  on Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/viewbug )

(If you are already following no need to unfollow and refollow – doing so repeatedly will get you blocked and banned from the contest — we have recently blocked or banned several hundred followers who engaged in this practice after the last contest – if you are amongst those people – sorry – no need to enter because you are not eligible.)

- Tweet the message you see highlighted below once! (There is no advantage to tweeting more than once. There is also no penalty for tweeting more than once but you won’t have any better chance of winning and you may anger your own Twitter followers if you decide to tweet more than once. Please keep track of your own entry. We can’t (and won’t) respond to requests asking about entry status.)

Twitter has changed its policy to no longer allow disabling of link shortening – so if you need to use a different link to get to the same exact contest page that’s fine. As long as people end up on this page – that’s all that matters. The rest of the Tweet must be identical to the one below.

“Enter to win your choice: a Nikon or Canon 70-200 lens & camera from @viewbug and Scott Bourne. Please RT. Info at: http://goo.gl/lUJzY“

Official Rules: All general Bourne Media Group/Photofocus contest rules apply. In addition:

No purchase necessary to enter or win.

1. You must be 18 years or older to enter
2. You must be following Scott Bourne (http://www.twitter.com/scottbourne) and ViewBug on Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/viewbug)
3. You must send out the above tweet EXACTLY as it appears. A failure to do so will disqualify you.
4. The prize will be awarded on March 1, 2012 by Scott Bourne via Twitter and on Photofocus.com.
5. If you live outside the US you are responsible for any taxes, custom duties and shipping in the event you win. We will only ship the prize to a US address. Foreign winners must be able to retrieve the prize from a US address to be eligible to win.
6. If users make lots of Twitter accounts in order to enter a contest more than once, they’re liable to get all of their accounts suspended. Anyone found to use multiple Twitter accounts to enter will be ineligible.

Scott Bourne will keep a record of each tweet in a database and then a random number generator picks the winner. Due to the volume of requests we receive, we cannot and will not answer ANY questions about the contest on Twitter or via e-mail. The information you need is all right here.

Photofocus is excited to be working with ViewBug. ViewBug is home to lots of fun photo contests, galleries and photography training – all under one roof. If you’ve never tried ViewBug, give them a look. They are in BETA but I’ve seen the site, it’s already cool and lots of fun.

As always, if you are not a fan of these contests, please don’t participate. For the tens of thousands of you who do enjoy the contests, we’ll continue to try to find new contests and new prizes that will make it fun and interesting to be a part of the Photofocus family. Thanks for your support.