The 2012 Scuba Diving Photo Competition is now calling for entries. It has four categories, namely: Macro, Wide-Angle, Behavior and Divers. It is offering prizes including dive vacations and equipment and the winners will be featured in the August 2012 issue of the magazine.
Full entry details and the contest rules are on the Scuba Diving magazine website, and the deadline for entries is 30 April.
Canon has issued an advisory about its new 5D Mark III SLR: “In extremely dark environments, if the top LCD panel illuminates, the displayed exposure value may change as a result of the AE sensor’s detection of light from the LCD panel.” Users have reported that shining a light or torch onto the LCD panel affects the camera’s exposure settings too. Canon do not, as yet, have a fix for the problem and the company “is now examining the countermeasures”.
The advisory requests that people register their cameras with their regional Canon office, as this will allow them to be notified by email when a fix becomes available.
The team at Nikon Hackers have released a firmware patch for the Nikon D5100, D3100 and D7000 that removes the 20 minute time limit for video recording. As reported on Simeon Pilgrim’s blog, this may pave the way for more complex hacks of Nikon’s camera firmware in the future. It should be borne in mind that these modifications are somewhat developmental so please use with care and be aware that using them may invalidate warranties.
Issue 24 of Underwater Journal features an article about how exclusive photography and detailed research has provided some potential answers about the discovery of a WWII-era Helldiver aircraft found off the coast of Jupiter, Florida. Also in the issue are updates on Grand Cayman’s Kittiwake one year after its sinking, and on Bonaire’s popular Salt Pier Dive. The editors report on one of South Florida’s most popular shallow wrecks, while correspondent Mike Bartick details the adventures that await in Raja Ampat.
Underwater Journal is available as a free download in pdf or iPad format.
In an email, Canadian manufacturer Aquatica has announced that is has closed down its project to release a housing for the Sony NEX 7 EVIL camera. This does not affect its current AN-5 and AN-5n housings for the NEX-5 and NEX-5n respectively. The reasons for the closure of the project are:
“Prime among the reason is the actual production delay of the Sony Corporation in delivering the NEX-7 camera to the mass market, this resulted, from the public point of view, in a certain loss of interest in this camera model. The direct consequence of this was a net reduction of inquiries regarding an underwater housing for it.
Lastly, and of strategic importance, is the recent arrival of some impressive new DSLR cameras on the market which, understandably, will require the designing and manufacturing of housings to be prioritized for theses highly sought after camera models.”
Wetpixel Associate Editor, Alex Mustard, has posted underwater images taken with Nikon’s new D4 SLR onto the forum. Alex is underway with completing a review of the D4’s underwater performance in the cold clear water of Iceland which, once completed, will be published here on the Wetpixel front page. In the meantime, he is posting a trip report, images and his thoughts about the new camera on the forum. He writes:
“Nikon promote the D4 as pushing limits and certainly the dark, narrow canyon of Silfra, under heavy clouds, is a perfect test for high ISO shooting (especially because the clear water necessitates stopping down to have enough depth of field to keep everything in focus and get good corner sharpness). I wouldn’t review a more mainstream camera in such extreme conditions - but the D4 should be tested in conditions that push limits and the next 10 days will be testing those of the camera and me!”
Al Mooney, on his adobe blog, has posted about the latest version of Adobe’s non-linear editing platform, Premiere Pro CS6. Some details are contained in a pdf on the Adobe NAB preview page, but highlights of CS6 include an enhanced 64-bit playback engine that can handle 5K and higher resolutions, new trimming options, compatibility with Mac touchpad gestures, a Warp Stabilizer that was previously confined to After Effects and expanded multicam editing allowing for more than four cameras. Premiere Pro CS6 is expected to release in the second quarter of 2012.
Further to the announcement of the EOS-1D C, Canon has also announced the release of the EOS C500 digital cinema camera. Available in 2 versions, for use with either PL or EF mount lenses, the camera capable of originating 4K (4096 x 2160-pixel) resolution digital motion imagery with a 10-bit uncompressed RAW output for external recording. 4K formats can be selected from 1fps to 60fps. In addition, the company has announced the release of 4 new Cinema zoom lenses. These are a wide-angle cinema zooms the CN-E15.5-47mm T2.8 L and a telephoto cinema zooms, the CN-E30-105mm T2.8 L. Both lenses are available in either PL or EF mount.
Canon is displaying prototypes of the EOS C500 and the new lenses at the NAB show in Las Vegas from 16 to 19 April. Pricing and availability are not yet confirmed.
Can has announced the EOS-1D C SLR camera that is specifically designed for high-end motion picture and television production. The camera will output video recording at 8-bit 4:2:2 Motion JPEG 4K (4096 x 2160-pixel) at 24 fps or Full HD (1920 x 1080-pixel) resolution at selectable frame rates from 24p to 60p. It can output video to its dual compact flash cards or output from the camera’s HDMI terminal to an external recorder using an uncompressed YCbCr 8-bit 4:2:2 signal (excludes 4K).
The camera has a 8.1-megapixel Canon CMOS with a native ISO range of 100-51200 and takes standard Canon EF mount lenses. It will be available later in 2012 at an anticipated retail price of $15,000.
Italian photographer Enzo Dal Verme has posted an animated video onto YouTube highlighting the issue that affects many creative professionals; those that expect to use imagery in return for “exposure”. From Enzo’s blog:
“.. .The booklet, she assured me, was totally nonprofit, published only for scientific purposes. As a formality, she also enclosed a release: two pages of perfect legalese clearly prepared by a lawyer. I was asked to sign away my unlimited and worldwide rights to my pictures. This trick reminded me of what happened with a very famous brand. The head of the marketing department wanted to publish my interview in their newsletter. After interviewing me, as a final insignificant formality, he asked me to sign a similar release. In order not to waste time, to all those “clients” I am now sending to them a link to this video.”