Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010

7th annual San Francisco Ocean Film Festival

Take a dive into the seven seas – without getting wet – at the 7th annual San Francisco Ocean Film Festival, February 3-7 at Theatre 39 on PIER 39. With more than 50 films divided into 12 programs, including new surf and shark film programs, this year’s Festival is set to be the most action-drenched yet.

Local and international filmmakers will be on-hand to lead discussions during film screenings, and festival goers also have the opportunity to meet filmmakers – and the San Francisco Bay Sharks – at the Friday night reception located in the Aquarium of the Bay. Visit the SFOFF website for tickets and the full festival lineup.

Saturday, January 30th, 2010

Amphibico’s pre-production, 95-degree EVO port review

Wetpixel’s Paul Wags was sent a pre-production 95 degree port from Amphibico to try out. The port is designed to go on Amphibico EVO housing, or any others that have the same bayonet type connection.

Wags flew over to Tulamben in Bali, taking along an EVO Housing, Discovery G3 HID light and 16.9 HD external monitor to try them all out in the field together.
Head over to his review for a read along plus an underwater video of what he shot.

Saturday, January 30th, 2010

Underwater escape artist seeks photographer

Reminiscent of Harry Houdini, underwater escape artist Alexanderia the Great is looking for an underwater photographer to film her escape.

Alex has a performance coming up this next month at Northeastern University and is looking for someone to film her underwater. This would be a very thrilling (nail biting) opportunity for an underwater photographer in the Massachusetts or Rhode Island area looking to get his/her name on an event. Please contact Alex through her website to arrange!

Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

Socorro Island, Mexico, closed to dive boats until mid March

According to a Wetpixel reader who just returned from a trip to the Revillagigedos Islands in Mexico, the Mexican military has temporarily closed Socorro Island to dive boats. The island will be closed for diving due to “naval exercises” until mid March. There was no advanced warning of the closure, which caught liveaboard dive vessels Nautilus Explorer and Solmar V off guard.

Note that San Benedicto and Roca Partida remain open, and are fantastic places to dive. Socorro Island is not generally considered to be the main attraction of the Revillagigedos Islands, and divers in our forum discussion do not seem to think that it is a big deal to skip out on it. If you are currently booked on a “Socorro” trip, we recommend that you go anyway—spending more time at sites like Roca Partida and the Boiler (at San Benedicto) probably makes for a better trip, anyway!

Monday, January 25th, 2010

2nd issue of Underx magazine now online

The second issue of the free Brazilian underwater photography magazine, Underxmag, is now available for download in PDF format.

This issue highlights Raja Ampat, Brothers Islands in the Red Sea, Bonito, Brasil as well as the portfolio of our very own publisher and editor, Eric Cheng! Head over to the Underx magazine website to check it out.

Monday, January 25th, 2010

Lembeh Strait diving entrance fee starts on January 15, 2010

Effective as of January 15, 2010, the Bitung government has instituted a new entrance fee of 50,000 Rupiah (approximately $5 US) for all divers entering Lembeh Strait. The fee is good for the duration of stay, and may be re-assessed if divers leave the area.

Have questions? Head over to the conversation started in the forums.

Monday, January 25th, 2010

Sea Shepherd heads to the Mediterranean for the bluefin tuna campaign

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has announced plans to send two boats to the Mediterranean to combat bluefin tuna poaching.

Bluefin tuna came briefly to international attention two weeks ago when a single fish fetched close to $180,000 at a Japanese auction. The IUCN lists the fish as critically endangered. Although simplified, bluefin tuna is commonly known at sushi restaurants as toro or maguro.

Sea Shepherd, widely known for the Animal Planet TV series Whale Wars, hopes to bring the plight of bluefin tuna to international attention. A discussion is already underway in the forums.

Monday, January 25th, 2010

Nauticam finishes first Canon 7D underwater housing prototype

Nauticam’s has just finished the first prototype of its new underwater housing for the Canon 7D. Previously, the press release we posted only showed CAD renderings of the housing; even so, the specifications were greeted with excitement in our forums.

Ryan Canon of Nauticam USA has just sent us images of the new 7D housing, and it looks great.

UPDATED: Posted larger images on January 25, 2010.

Sunday, January 24th, 2010

Underwater photos taken with the Canon 1D Mark IV

Stephen Frink has posted a few underwater images taken with the Canon 1D Mark IV, as well as his first impressions:

Holy crap ... AF is so nice. Very fast and accurate, even in low contrast subjects like black wetsuits. Focus acquisition is brilliant. Having shot my 5DII in similar conditions the 2 previous days, the improvement is striking.

Check it out, if you’re thinking of taking your 1D Mark IV underwater.

Sunday, January 24th, 2010

Ikelite ships flashlights to Wetpixel POTW winners

Starting this week, Ikelite is shipping underwater flashlights to the winners of 2009 Wetpixel POTW winners. Congratulations to all prior year winners! In 2010 prizes will be sent to winners in monthly intervals. Please make sure to keep your profile complete with shipping address, country, postal code and phone number to be eligible for your prize.

Special thanks to Ikelite for sponsoring our POTW competition! In case you haven’t already heard, Ikelite is proud to once again usher in a new generation of underwater strobes with their new, versatile DS161 Movie Substrobe. Pocket-sized video cameras are also tremendously popular and supported with complete systems for JVC, flip and Kodak models.

Remember to vote for the Wetpixel Picture of the Year 2009. We look forward to seeing this year’s entries!

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