Sunday, October 7th, 2012

Adobe updates its DNG format

Adobe has announced an update in its Digital Negative (DNG) format. The aim of the DNG format is to provide a single archival format that will be supported over time, rather than a specific manufacturer raw format that my cease to supported at some point in the future. It has extended the specifications of the DNG format, and created a more compact, Lossy DNG option, which gives a file size option between that of a full-size DNG and a JPEG. The format has also been extended to keep any in-camera cropping that has been applied to a RAW file, to allow for the inclusion of full HDR data and to retain any non-image areas around merged panoramas.

The full specification is available as a pdf download and there is also an updated free DNG converter available.

Sunday, October 7th, 2012

CITES to seek protection for mantas

Wetpixel Senior Moderator, Shawn Heinrichs, has penned an article entitled “Manta Rays Under Attack-Will CITES Save the Manta Ray”, about the ongoing killing of manta rays in order to satisfy the demand for their gills for use in an obscure psuedo-medicinal remedy call Peng Yu Sai. This is a soup consisting of boiled manta gills, seahorses and pipefish that is prescribed to treat fevers, chickenpox, and heat in the body. Heinrichs labels this as “endangered species soup”. He also surmises that the overexploitation of sharks for shark fin has driven the traders to seek alternative sources of revenue, in this case, manta rays.

Brazil, Ecuador, and Columbia have requested that manta rays be added to the CITES list under the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) at the next meeting, due to be held in March 2013 in Bangkok, Thailand. Although the CMS listing is a recognition of a species’ vulnerability, it is still not legally binding.

Saturday, October 6th, 2012

New study collates manta sightings

A paper published in the Public Library of Science (PLOS) ONE journal has collated the sightings of manta rays (Manta alfredi) at Lady Elliot Island in the southern Great Barrier Reef, Australia. The sightings were then compared to behavioural, weather and oceanographic data collected over a three-year period, in order to examine the link between the relative number of sightings of manta rays, the biophysical environment, and the habitat use of individuals. The results suggest that mantas visit specific sites for different purposes and that he overall number of manta rays at the island was higher in autumn and winter, around the new and full moon, and when wind speeds were lower. The sighting data was collected by volunteer divers and staff at local diver operators, highlighting the role of “citizen scientists” as an important tool for data collection.

Friday, October 5th, 2012

Photo essay: The BLUE Ocean Film Festival 2012

Jason Bradley of Bradley Photographic and Wetpixel Editor Eric Cheng present an exclusive photographic report of the 2012 BLUE Ocean Film Festival. This was held from 24 to 30 September in Monterey, California. Jason writes that BLUE isn’t just a film festival, as it also plays host to a conservation summit, industry seminars, panel discussions, lectures and, of course, film showings. This year, it even had submersibles on display from Nuytco and the Virgin Oceanic.

Jason and Eric have provided Wetpixel members with a unique pictorial record of the 2012 event. .

Thursday, October 4th, 2012

Nauticam receives Red Dot Awards

Nauticam International Managing Director and Wetpixel member Edward Lai, with Nauticam General Manager Jacqueline Lai received two Red Dot design awards at a ceremony held at Essen, Germany. Nauticam’s ND-D7000V housing and their White Balance Dome Port both received product design awards for 2012. Both products will now form part of an exhibition of product design at the world’s largest permanent exhibition of contemporary design. Nauticam are the first housing manufacturer to have been selected for a Red Dot award.

Thursday, October 4th, 2012

Nauticam announces housing for Panasonic LX-7

Nauticam has announced the release of their housing for the Panasonic DMC LX-7. The NA-LX7 is a very compact housing offering full access to all camera controls from the grip sculpted into the housing including the camera’s aperture ring and built-in neutral desity filter.

Additional features include removable fiber optic ports for strobe triggering and both M10 threaded and cold shoe attachment points on the housing body. The NA-LX-7 will be available from 20 October at a retail price of $950.

Thursday, October 4th, 2012

Sea Sanctuary Trust seeks volunteers

The Sea Sanctuary Trust is seeking individuals to volunteer to assist with its conservation operations in Raja Ampat, Indonesia. The organization is looking for a Project Leader, a marine biologist and qualified divers to conduct marine surveys, manta tows, commercial fish biomass assessments, habitat description and collation, cetacean surveys, teach snorkeling to local students and adults, teach English language programs and to assist with marine patrol system development.

If you are interested, further details can be found on the Sea Sanctuary Trust website.

Wednesday, October 3rd, 2012

Call for entries: Ocean in Focus 2012

The Ocean in Focus contest this year will focus on the human-ocean connection. The Marine Photobank is seeking entries depicting human impacts on the ocean, its inhabitants and its resources, both good and bad. The photo contest is open now and will accept photos until January 31, 2013. The Finalists will be selected based on their photo submissions and will then be eligible to compete in the second stage of the contest. they will be required to submit 3-4 images for a photo essay of 400-600 words. The judges will judge the photo essays and the winner will receive recognition as SeaWeb’s Photographer Of The Year.

Wednesday, October 3rd, 2012

Olympus updates OM-D E-M5 firmware

Olympus has released a firmware update for its OM-D E-M5 EVIL camera. Firmware 1.5 includes the changes promised for the suspended firmware v1.2 and also allows the use of the camera’s in-body stabilization while video recording when using non-native lenses. This requires that the lens’ focal length is specified. The update also reduces the humming noise generated by the camera’s stabilization system. The update can be downloaded and installed via the Olympus Camera Updater software.

the update is a free download available from the Olympus support site. (Link is to Olympus USA).

Wednesday, October 3rd, 2012

Adobe updates Lightroom and Camera Raw

Adobe has released full versions of Lightroom 4.2 and Camera Raw 7.2. These were both available as release candidates previously. Both updates add significant support for new cameras, including the Nikon D600, Canon EOS 650D (Rebel T4i), EOS M, Fujifilm X-E1, Panasonic DMC-G5, Sony NEX-5R, NEX-6 and RX100. A large number of bugs have also been patched in both programs.

Lightroom 4.2 for Windows and Mac is available on the Adobe site or via the in-built update process within Lightroom. Camera Raw updates via the mechanism in Photoshop CS6.

Articles