Sunday, September 14th, 2014

Western Australian shark cull halted

The BBC reports that the shark cull that was being carried out in Western Australia has been vetoed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The Western Australian state government had instituted seven drum line baited traps in an effort, it said, to prevent shark attacks on the state’s beaches. This caused a worldwide protest, and the policy has now been overturned by the EPA, citing the fact that there was “a high degree of scientific uncertainty” about its efficacy. (Image from Shutterstock).

Sunday, September 14th, 2014

Nikon releases fast 20mm prime

Nikon has released a super fast 20mm prime wide-angle lens for FX cameras. The lens’s maximum aperture of f1.8 and minimum focus distance of 20cm make make this interesting for underwater use. Until tested, it remains to be seen how it will perform behind a dome port however.

Sunday, September 14th, 2014

CITES shark and manta protection comes into force

As agreed at the Bangkok Conference in March 2013, international trade in products from 5 species of shark and all species of manta ray will need to be accompanied by documents showing that they were sustainably and legally harvested from 14 September. CITES and the Food and Agriculture Organization on the UK (FAO) have been provided with funding by the EU and other bodies to implement and enforce the new regulations.

Wednesday, September 10th, 2014

Seth Casteel releases underwater puppies book

Seth Casteel, made famous for his underwater images of dogs, has released a new book that focuses on underwater puppies. The title of the new book is Underwater Puppies and will be in stores September 16th.

Tuesday, September 9th, 2014

Wetpixel Nikon D810 review

Wetpixel Editor Adam Hanlon presents a review of the underwater performance of the Nikon D810 SLR camera. The camera was released on 17 July, and Adam was fortunate enough to get hold of one to use on the Wetpixel Whale Sharks expedition later that month. The review is neither conclusive nor concluded, so please check back regularly for updates as he carries out further testing.

Monday, September 8th, 2014

UnderWater Camera Stuff ships new 5” Precision dome

Underwater Camera Stuff has announced the release of their fourth acrylic half-sphere 5” Precision dome. It is designed to match the lens nodal points of Sigma 15mm f2.8 EX DG and Nikkor 16mm f2.8 AF lenses when used with Ikelite housings and hence do not vignette. The other advantage of providing a specific port/lens/housing combination is that the manufacturers claim that the images are “in focus edge to edge”.

Sunday, September 7th, 2014

Congratulations Alex Mustard and Eleonora Manca

Great news! Wetpixel Associate Editor Alex Mustard and Eleonora Manca got married yesterday in Sardinia. I’m sure the whole community will join us in sending them the very best of wishes as well as a long lifetime of much happiness together. Congratulations to you both!

Saturday, September 6th, 2014

WD releases wifi drive with card reader

Western Digital has released a wireless drive that integrates storage capacity with a wifi network and an SD card reader. Powered by a six hour battery 20 hours standby), the My Passport Wireless is available in 500GB, 1TB and 2TB versions and users can offload memory cards and then send the images via wifi. It is also equipped with USB3.

Thursday, September 4th, 2014

Video: Tonga whales above and below by Simon Buxton

Simon Buxton of UWUHD and NAD Lembeh has posted a short film combining underwater 4K footage shot with a RED Epic, some clips from Panasonic GH4 with aerials shot with a DJI Phantom 2 with GoPro Hero 3+. The footage was all shot in Tonga and features the humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) which migrate each year from their feeding grounds in the Antarctic to the warm, sheltered waters of Vava’u to mate and calf.

Thursday, September 4th, 2014

BBC adopts Final Cut Pro X

After the initial desertion from Apples Final Cut Pro X (FCPX), it seems that pro editors are gradually making their way back to the NLE. Fcp.co has announced that the BBC has chosen FCPX for all its news editing and the article suggests that other departments within the organization will follow suit soon.

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