Monday, August 13th, 2012

Call for entries: BSoUP/DIVER Print competition

The British Society of Underwater Photographers (BSoUP) is calling for entries for the 2012 BSoUP/DIVER Print competition. The winners will be announced at the Dive Show, which will be held in Birmingham, UK from 27 to 28 October. The categories for entries are: British and Irish (images taken in UK and Irish waters), Overseas (images taken anywhere else), Advanced British and Irish and Advanced Overseas. Advanced entrants are those that have won major contests, or are involved in professional underwater photography.

Full rules, entry details and guidelines are available on the contest’s website. The deadline for entries is 19 September.

Monday, August 13th, 2012

Underwater Kinetics releases the Aqualite 90 eLED video light

Sea & Sea UK has announced the release of the Underwater Kinetics Aqualite 90 eLED Video light. It has a 600 lumen output, adjustable in four steps with a color temperature of 5000°K. Burn time is 1.3 hours at full power, and the light is supplied with two Li-ion batteries. Its compact size will make it a possible choice for use with SLR video rigs.

The Aqualite 90 eLED is available now at a UK retail price of £220.95.

Sunday, August 12th, 2012

3Deep 3D housing for RED EPIC announced

DeepX housing inventor Pawel Achtel has announced the release of the 3Deep housing. This houses two RED EPIC cameras to give a stereoscopic 3D image. Like the DeepX housing, the 3Deep uses (in its case, two) Nikonos underwater lenses in place of lens ports which, its inventor claims, removes the chromatic aberration and distortion that comes from using two flat ports side-by-side.

Availability and pricing for the 3Deep are still to be announced.

Sunday, August 12th, 2012

Gates announces housing for Sony PMW-200

John Ellerbrock of Gates Underwater Products has provided some further information about the new Sony PMW-200. The new camera will replace the previous model, with the EX1R being discontinued. In addition, the PMW-200 now meets IBU standards for top tier HD image acquisition (1/2” sensors, 50Mbps, 4:2:2) and, from customer reports, this camera now exceeds HD image quality previously achieve only with the larger ENG-type housings (like the F900). Gates will be supporting the PMW 200, with a similar housing to their existing model for the EX1R (pictured). The camera’s optics are still the same Fujinon optics as those of the EX1R, so the Gates SWP44C Super Wide port will work with it.

Prices and availability are still to be announced.

Sunday, August 12th, 2012

Review: Seacam Prelude D7000 Version 2 housing

Mike Mesgleski, of the Jim Church School of Underwater Photography, provides a review and overview of the Seacam Prelude housing for the Nikon D7000. The Prelude series of housings were originally supplied with a limited selection of camera controls. This was largely due to them being positioned as “entry level” Seacam housings, and in order to be price conscious. The popularity of the D7000 has forced the re-examination of its place as an underwater camera, and Seacam has responded with a new version, that incorporates many of the controls “missing” in the original iteration.

The Seacam Prelude D7000V2 sells for $3,499.00 at current exchange rates.

Friday, August 10th, 2012

The Blue on Vimeo

Mark Peters has posted some amazing video from a GoPro, towed behind a boat in a “torpedo” of his own design, on Vimeo. The short film is about a fishing trip 20 miles west of Santa Cruz, that ended up being something completely different. Mark’s camera captured some of the best dolphin footage that I have seen for a long time. However, a warning is appropriate: This video starts off as being about fishing for Alabacore tuna, and there are scenes of these fish being gaffed. If you would rather not see such scenes, please skip to 1:23.

Thursday, August 9th, 2012

Freediving with whale sharks

Wetpixel publisher Eric Cheng has posted footage from a GoPro HERO showing him freediving under a whale shark on Vimeo. The film was shot during the Wetpixel Whale Shark aggregation expedition near Isla Mujeres, Mexico in 2011. The 2012 Wetpixel Whale Shark trip is coming to an end tomorrow, so I’m sure we can expect lots of similar footage being posted on the trip’s forum thread.

Thursday, August 9th, 2012

Nikon announces the Nikon 1 J2 EVIL camera

Nikon has announced the release of a new EVIL camera in its Nikon 1 J range. The J2 features a 10.1 megapixel CX-format CMOS sensor and the EXPEED 3 image processing engine, together with a new hybrid AF system, which combines both phase and contrast focus detection. Native ISO is from 100-3200, with a 10fps burst rate.

Nikon has also announced the release of a new 11-27mm f3.5 lens for the 1 series cameras and the WP-N1 housing for the J1 and J2. The new products will all be available from September, with the J2 camera with a 10-30mm lens at a retail price of $549.95, the 1 NIKKOR 11-27.5mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at $189.95 and the WP-N1 housing at $749.95.

Wednesday, August 8th, 2012

Retra revises its Light Shaping Devices

Retra has released a third generation Light Shaping Device (LSD) and announced that it is now available in three different models. The LSD contains three elements; a light collector that gathers the light onto a small circular matted area, a kind of aperture, not meant for determining brightness, but the shape of the projected light spot and a lens that projects the light spot at a distance.

The three new versions are basic, pro, exclusive, are available now and start at €499.00.

Wednesday, August 8th, 2012

National Geographic highlights threat to rays

Photographer and journalist Thomas P Peschak has an image and article featured in a double page spread in the August 2012 issue of National Geographic (NG) Magazine, which seeks to publicize the issue around mobula and ray fishing. The disturbing image shows rays for sale in a fish market in Sri Lanka. Thomas captured the image early in the morning using a long exposure which blurred the bustle of fishermen and traders but left the dead rays sharp and in focus. The NG article’s text is based on the excellent Shark Savers/Wild Aid “Manta Ray of Hope” report by Wetpixel moderator Shawn Heinrichs, Mary O’Malley, Hannah Medd and Paul J Hilton.

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