Los Angeles based manufacturer CineBags has announced the release of their CB27 Lens Smuggler bag. It is designed specifically to be viewed by the airlines as a “personal carry-on”, yet it can hold multiple SLR bodies as well as lenses and a laptop. It may present a new option for us underwater photographers trying to cope with ever more draconian baggage limits.
The Lens Smuggler CB27 is available now, prices are still to be announced.
John Chapple is a professional photographer based in Los Angeles specializing in celebrity and editorial images. The iconic Nirvana baby image album cover turned 20 this year, and John shot a retrospective image with Spencer Eldon, who was the Nirvana baby, twenty years on. The shot took place in the same pool as that originally used, although, as the interview shows, the original shoot did some things the easier way! Wetpixel caught up with John and asked him about his work and capturing the anniversary image.
Amidst all the hype and controversy of the Discovery Channel’s Shark Week, car manufacturer Volkswagen USA produced what is arguably the coolest shark cage around, and have posted the resulting footage on YouTube. Used in adverts during the week, a team produced a self-propelled shark cage modeled on the shape of the iconic Beetle car. The resulting footage was shot in Florida and the Bahamas over a month and used a series of RED cameras.
The Pew Environment Group reports on the largest ever restitution order made by a US court under the Lacey Act. The “U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ordered three defendants to pay $54.9 million in restitution to the South African government for illegally taking lobsters from the country’s waters over a five year period.”
The Lacey Act provides for civil and criminal penalties for violations, and prohibits trade in wildlife, fish, and plants that have been illegally taken, transported, or sold.
The British Journal of Photography has reported that The Carlyle Group and Getty Images management have formed a partnership to acquire the world’s largest image and video stock agency from Hellman & Friedman for $3.3bn. The latter bought the agency four years ago for $2.4bn, and the selling price is less than the $4bn that they were seeking. Perhaps significantly, in an interview with the BJP, new CEO Jonathan Klein responded when asked about how the change will affect contributors with:
“No. Nothing will change for them, just like the Hellman deal didn’t change anything for them.”
The Nikon D4 has been approved (all links are to pdfs of the tests) by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) for use as a broadcast camera. The EBU testing has superseded the BBC test. It is the first SLR camera to do so. Contrary to a report in the Nikon Pro magazine, Wetpixel has received confirmation from Nikon that the D800 did not actually pass the test.
The D4 is said to give 13 stops exposure range as opposed to 12 on the D800. Both cameras performed best at 1080p recording and were deemed “not good” at 720p. The tests concluded that both can be used on a ISO value up to 6,400, rolling shutter is at a minimum and they have cameras good color performance. It is interesting to note that Canon also submitted a pre-production version of the 5D to the test, but it failed due to problems with its anti-aliasing filter.
Crissy Huffard, a cephalopod biologist and marine conservation consultant based in California, has written a short article about the hazards of touching or handling cephalopods. The toxicity of cephalopod species is, to a large extent, unknown and divers or photographers may unwittingly be lining themselves up as test subjects. She also notes that many cephalopods are generalist hunters, and whilst them reaching out to grab a finger or hand may appear to be a cute behavior, what may be really going on is:
“If you get the impression that an octopus is “playing” with your hand, it might just be trying to reposition you into a good biting angle.”
Zacuto has released the third and final part of their 2012 Shootout. The first two parts have consisted of blind trials of the cameras, whereas the third, entitled “Revenge of the Great Camera Shootout 2012 : Pixel Peepers,” features direct comparisons of the nine cameras on test:
“We put each of the nine cameras through three different shots with the same rigorous lighting designed by Bruce Logan, ASC. We’ll give you glimpses of the RAW ungraded footage side-by-side with the graded, to show you what each camera is natively capable of. You’ll also see two brand new shots that better illustrate the differences between each camera. We’ll also give you a comparison between the original lighting and how each DP changed their shot for their creative version.”
Sony has expended their line of NEXCAM camcorders with the NEX-EA50EH. The new camera featured a large format APS-C Exmoor sensor, the Sony E-mount lens system and a new form factor that incorporates both shoulder and held positions. Sony claims that the sensor “produces high quality, creative movie images with low noise and high sensitivity in low light conditions. It also enables 1080 progressive and interlace recording with 60/50Hz selection (50p/25p/50i or 60p/30p/24p/60i)”
The NEX-EA50EH will be available from October and will retail at around $4,500.
Jason Bradley writes a full report of the 2012 Wetpixel Bahamas Sharks and Dolphins expedition. The trip spent 5 days aboard the Shearwater diving and photographing sharks and dolphins before being forced back into port by tropical storm Debby. He describes an encounter with Emma:
“In fact, one time, she opened her huge jaw and started mouthing my housing. As per the boat crew’s instruction, I gave her my housing. The camera almost immediately fell to the sand, as she wasn’t too interested beyond an initial feel. But, she continued to swim forward and over me. I was almost lying on the sandy bottom as I watched the 15-foot tiger shark swim right over me with my heart aflutter.”