Light and Motion has announced release of the SOLA 2000 video light. It features a 2000 lumen output and a burn time of 60 minutes at full power. The output is stepped through three levels (2000/1000/500) and the torch is available with either a 1” ball or 1/2” Lochline attachment. Lastly, it weighs only 238 grams.
The SOLA 2000 is available now at a retail price of $899
X-Ray Magazine has released issue number 47. The March 2012 edition has the Red Sea as a focus with articles including the Brothers Islands with Christopher Bartlett, a journey from Cairo to El Quseir with Barb Roy, and Elphinstone with JP Bresser. Other features include an interview with Archim Schlöffel, Peter Symes and David Hall on hooded nudibranchs and the giant manta rays of Ecuador with Mark Harding. Andy Murch presents an article on how to photograph sharks and Lawson Wood talks about muck diving photography.
X-Ray Magazine is available as a free download in pdf or iPad formats.
The results of the second part of the “super bowl” of underwater photography, DEEP Indonesia 2012, have been announced. The contest had over 1200 entries competing in 7 categories for over $40,000 worth of prizes. Best of Show went to Dale Sanders for his wide-angle scenic shot of anemones under the sea ice at Baffin Island, in Arctic Canada, as did the diver category. Other category winners were Alex Tattersall in the animal behavior category, Stefano Proakis in the animal portrait, Marcus Commodore for the compact category, Carlos Villoch in the environment and conservation and Maria Rivarola won the category for Indonesian residents.
Full contest results are available on the UnderwaterCompetition.com website. Many thanks to the contest sponsors, and congratulations at all the winners.
Apple has released a version on iPhoto for iOS devices. Tucked into the announcement of the iPad 3 today, the new app supports up to 19-megapixel photos and you allows image editing with multi-touch gestures. It includes a color balancing functionality by simply touching someone’s skin, underexposed photos can be corrected through a touch-and-drag motion and brushes allow for selective edits. Edited photos can also be compared side-by-side with their unedited counterparts and both cropping and straightening images is possible.
The new app is available to download now via the iTunes store for $4.99
APhotoEditor.com has published an article about professional photographer Michael Muller’s set up for a recent shark shoot in the Beqa Lagoon, Fiji. In the article, he described the testing process for his “studio” lighting to have been done during a shoot in the Galapagos and, most critically, his attitude towards capturing light and photography:
“That is what I love about “light” and photography, I have been doing it for 27 years almost daily and could do it until the day I die and still know just a fraction of what there is to know about light and the use of it, and how to control it. The minute you think you have got this thing called photography “down” is the day you should maybe put the camera down because your being very ignorant, light is something the greatest minds that have ever lived find mysterious and fascinating.”
Adobe has made a release candidate (RC) of Camera RAW 6.7 available on Adobe Labs. This comes hard on the heels of yesterday’s release of Lightroom 4 and sounds like an early adopter heaven, with support for: Nikon D4, D800 and D800E, Fujifilm FinePix F505 EXR, FinePix F605 EXR, FinePix HS30 EXR, FinePix HS33 EXR and Canon EOS-1D X, PowerShot G1 X, PowerShot S100 and EOS 5D Mark III.
Release Candidate status denotes that the software is nearly ready for public launch, but will benefit from more user testing. Camera RAW 6.7 RC is available as a free download for Windows and Mac.
French company Dyron has released an adaptor that allows the use of an M77 threaded wet diopter on an Aquatica macro port. It can also take an M67 threaded port with an M77 to M67 step down ring. The company has also announced that it will be producing M67 adaptors for the WP-DC44/46 housings which are for the Canon G1X and Powershot SX240/260HS and a red filter for the G1X housing too.
Prices and availability of the new items are still to be confirmed.
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There is one space left for the Wetpixel Bahamas Sharks and Dolphins expedition. Jason Bradley will be leading the trip, on board Jim Abernethy’s boat, the Shearwater. Jim has a world-renowned reputation for “coming up with the goods” when it comes to providing awesome underwater photographic experiences. The trip will be visiting Bahamian reefs in order to view and photograph tiger sharks, reef sharks, lemon sharks, and Atlantic spotted dolphins. This trip has been run several times, and the tales that it has generated are legendary.
The trip dates are 21-27 June 2012 and the last place is likely to go very quickly, so please contact Jason soon.
Adobe has announced the release and availability of the latest version of its photo editing software, Lightroom 4. The beta version has been around since the end of January, and it would seem that the release version is very similar. Included in the new version is native video support, with the ability to trim and extract frames from footage. Perhaps more critically, the develop module has been substantially revised, with new processing technology, superior shadow and highlight processing and integrated soft proofing for printing.
Lightroom 4 is available for Mac and Windows now at $149 for the full version or $79 for an upgrade.
I have made a short video from some of the footage that we shot whilst reviewing gear for Wetpixel last Friday. Specific items being tested (you may well recognize some) include a pair of Keldan LUNA 4 video lights, a Nauticam NA-D7000V housing, a Zen 230mm dome port and a 10 Bar housing for the Sony NEX-5n. None of the testing or reviews are complete for these items yet, but you should expect them to start filtering through on to the front page over the next few weeks. Many thanks to the suppliers and manufacturers for their support, and my fellow testers for their help and enthusiasm.
Water temperature was a cool 4°C although the sunny weather made us feel warmer!