Articles
Filming Under the Sea 3D on Vimeo
Howard Hall has posted a video showing some of the filming of of his IMAX film Under the Sea 3D to Vimeo. The film illustrates some of the complexities of underwater filming using an IMAX camera which weighs 1200lbs and runs for three minutes before needing a film change. The footage was shot whilst filming Great Whites in Southern Australia, and the full IMAX film was released to theaters in February 2009.
Field Review: Nikon D7000 and Nauticam NA-D7000
Wetpixel Associate Editor, Alex Mustard has posted his field review of the new Nikon D7000 and Nauticam NA-D7000 housing, testing this brand new system in a variety of conditions, including tropical and cold, fresh and salt, day and night, stills and video, and wide angle and macro.
Underwater camera reviews usually lag long behind topside reviews, and we are astounded to already be bringing you an underwater review as topside reviews are still being published. Nauticam deserve serious kudos for getting a housing ready so soon after the release of the camera, shown for the first time at DEMA and sent straight to Wetpixel for testing!
December/January issue of African Diver Magazine available
The 14th issue of African Diver Magazine is now available for download. In this issue, the Moving Sushi team wrap up their two year expedition and the Shiver documentary team introduces Carlos Macuacua, Mozambique’s first dive instructor and anti-shark finning crusader. There is a feature on some of the more interesting Red Sea wrecks and DAN South Africa summarise their activities for the year.
African Diver Magazine is available as a free download in pdf format.
Aquatica releases full details of AD7000 housing
Further to the renderings released earlier, Aquatica has released final details of it’s AD7000 housing for the Nikon D7000. Standard features include dual optical strobe ports (with the option of electrically connected ones), moulded grips, single lens release/port lock lever and a multi control pad, which replicates the cameras own controls. The housing is compact and light and has oversized controls for those shooting with big gloves.
Aquatica expect to start shipping in early 2011. Wetpixel plans to have a comparative review of available D7000 housings early in the New Year.
Two day diving ban for Sharm el Sheikh
The Egyptian Chamber of Diving and Water Sports (CDWS) has announced a ban on all diving and water sports activities for the Red Sea resort of Sharm el Sheikh for today and tomorrow (1/2 December). This is due to three reported shark attacks in the last 24 hours. The shark, an Oceanic White Tip, will be captured, and then released away from any tourist resorts.
The ban does not effect the National Park at Ras Mohammed, and the CDWS are working together with officials and shark experts to find the causes behind such unusual behavior, including possible indications of illegal fishing or feeding in the area.
Industry standards for high-speed memory cards
According to The InquirerSandisk, Sony and Nikon have co-operated on a new standard for the next generation of high-speed cards. The proposed new specifications achieve data transfer rates of up to 500 megabytes per second using the highly versatile PCI Express4 interface. The increased speeds will enable imaging and video applications that could not be accomplished using the current CompactFlash specification’s Parallel ATA interface. The current standard is CF6.0, released in November 2010, which offers maximum performance of up to 167MB/sec.
The proposed new format has the potential to extend theoretical maximum capacities beyond two terabytes.
Japanese whaling fleet yet to leave dock
The Japanese whaling fleet should be underway by now if it is to reach it’s hunting grounds in the Southern Oceans. However, Sea Shepherd reports that it is still in dock. The fleet normally leaves before November 19 which was more than 10 days ago and this means they will certainly not be able to begin whaling around December 20th as normal. It would seem that part of the reason is the lack of a fleet re-supply vessel.
Applied Logic release dual control for Sony and Canon camcorders
Applied Logic has released a circuit that allows for two camcorders to be controlled via one input. This is similar to the developments at BS Kinetics, reported about in our 2010 DEMA coverage. The ability to do this is especially useful in 3D set ups when two cameras are employed to give a stereoscopic 3D view, and hence must be synchronized.