DEMA is the diving world’s largest trade show. Underwater imaging product suppliers and manufacturers gather to unveil their new products and the a large proportion of the underwater imaging community is also present. As always, Abi and Adam will be on hand over the next 4 days to gather together the people, products and events at the show and report them back to those of you that cannot make it! Keep checking back for live reports….

For those that are here, please come and say hi to us and don’t forget to come to the Wetpixel/DivePhotoGuide imaging party tomorrow night.

DEMA Show 2015 Day 1

The first day of the 2015 DEMA show saw team Wetpixel out and about on the show floor visiting booths and chatting.

ULCS

Our first appointment was with Terry Schuller and Dave Reid of Ultralite Control systems. They showed us their new clamp, that has a finer thread pitch to allow for more accurate adjustment of the tension in the clamp.

The AC-CSF28 has a 1/4 28 thread as opposed to the 1/4 20 of the standard version and also has a refined shape and recessed carrier bolt. It retails at $31.95.

They also showed us a new cold shoe YS mount. The AD-HS-YS retails at $24.95.

Another new mount on display is the AD-HS-GP that allows the user to attach a GoPro to the cold shoe mount. It retails at $24.95 too.

ULCS has a range of cage mounts for Go Pro cameras, although they have not had an option for the “new” standard housing that shipped with HERO3, 3+ and 4 cameras.

Dave showed us a prototype new latch that will allow the use of the housing with the existing cages,including cameras that are equipped with LCD backpacks. It will be available as a retrofit if required.

Terry and Dave have exhibited at around 23 DEMA shows!

XIT 404

Jody and Mike Elliot, along with Joe Platko showed us the refinements that XIT404 have made to their tripod.

The new legs are around 20% lighter, whilst retaing all the functionality of the original version.

They also had the monitor hoods for the Dive and Sea 5” and 7” monitors.

Jody and Mike also own a dive resort in Dumaguete, Philippines. Selaya Beach houses offer a luxurious and beautiful venue to explore and dive the macro and wide-angle opportunities of the area.

Aquatica

Aquatica were showing their new housing for the Sony α7R II.

It has a wheel which has been geared to allow for precise control that gives access to the camera’s command dial, as well as an extension levers for the “set” button. It also has access to the programmable buttons on the camera.

The α7R II housing will be available with an electro-optical converter and fiber optic bulkheads, two Nikonos bulkheads or two Ikelite bulkheads, with each version at the same price. The electro-optical converter uses LEDs to provide an optical output and is powered by two “coin” batteries giving around 2,000 flashes.

Aquatica’s housing for the Canon EOS 5DS, 5DSr and Mark III cameras features the option of integrated TTL and manual control for Ikelite strobes. The housing also features a lever for control of ISO.

In addition the company is offering a retro fitting kit to allow the use of Ikelite strobes with older housings.

This mounts externally, attaching via housing ports. A pin assembly prevents the TTL controller from rotating. For specific compatibility, please consult Aquatica.

Aquatica were also showing a new macro port with narrowed lens end and tapered barrel. The port has an M77 thread that can be used with either M77 diopters or M67 with a step down ring. The company are offering a new bayonet mounted flip filter holder and the extra diameter means that the lenses can be positioned closer to the port’s glass.

Moving forward, Aquatica’s ports in their housings will have a spacer that allows them to be used with either M16 or 1/2” bulkheads as required.

Lastly, Blake Stoughton and Jean Bruneau showed us a new handle spacer accessory kit that provides two spacers and an extended bolt. Each handle can have two spacers fitted if required.

I-torch

Next, we met with Kelvin Lee of I-torch. He showed us the Symbiosis SS-2 which is a video and strobe light on top of one another. Flash output has a guide number of 36 and it is supplied with a 1000 lumen light as standard.

The light can be fitted with 2500 or 4000 lumen versions if required. The SS-2 will be available from mid March 2016 at a retail price of $699.

It is supplied with a diffuser and a YS mount.

The beam angle is 90°, has a color temperature of 5600K and a recycle time of 2 seconds. The pre-flash control is a learning mode that works for all kinds of pre-flash.

The Sybiosis SS-1 has a guide number of 24 with a beam angle of 90 and is rated to 60 meters and is slightly negatively buoyant. Triggering is via fiber optic.

Both are powered via a 3400mAh battery, that can be exchanged or replaced if required and provides around 700 flashes.

Kelvin also showed us the Venom 25 2500 lumen 120° video light, and the the 3 LED Video 2000, 2000 lumen light.

Both of these offer red light is required. They are competitively priced at $434 and $325 respectively.

For those on a budget, i-Torch also have the V10 video light, which offers 1000 lumens at a retail price of $150.

We also checked out the Fish-Lite Green Star 1.5 and 2.5. Each light has a 110 degree angle of light and is powered by two 18650 Li-ion batteries. The two different modes are spot and flood which are around 1500 lumens for video and 800 lumens for spot.

All the above lights have burn times of around one hour.

Also, the Action Buddy is a modular system with reticulating arms that can reach 5,000 lumens.

GoPro

We met with Katie Kilbride who showed us the new HERO4 Session camera.

It is a neat small design primarily for use in situations where weight and size are critical. It has a single button controlling all it’s functions and offers 1440p at 30fps, as well as 1080p at 60fps. It is waterproof, but only to a maximum depth of 33 feet (10m)

Also being modelled is a new wrist strap mount for the company’s cameras.

The centerpiece of the GoPro booth is a futuristic looking submersible.

GoPro hosts regular give away draws during DEMA that draw a large crowd!

New World Publications

Eric Riesch showed us New World’s two new books: Nudibranch and Sea Slug Identification - Indo-Pacific which Wetpixel reviewed in October and the second edition of Reef Fish ID-Tropical Pacific. Eric also told us that 5 books, including the new Reef Fish ID-Tropical Pacific, are now available to purchase and download as DRM protected pdf files from New World Publication’s website.

Subal

This housing fits the Sony Alpha 7r II and the Alpha 7s II. Subal system size 3 ports are also compatible and the company is also planning to offer conversion rings to allow fro the use of other diameter Subal ports too.

Marko Rusov, mechanical engineer for Subal, was also present to help show us the newly designed FS-7 housing for the Sony FS7.

The housing features a built-in depth gauge, built-in monitor, and Subal size 4 ports. The Subal FS-7 Underwater Housing has full manual control, as well as electronic LANC control via the handles.

The housing can be stood on its “back” to ease opening it.

There is a choice of a viewfinder or sunshade, four open bulkheads, and a double O-Ring.

He also showed us their housing for the Canon 5DS/R/III, which features an extended lever control for the “set” button.

Nauticam

We met with Chris Parsons who was at pains to point out both the huge range of cameras supported by Nauticam, and the speed with which the company releases housings for new camera models.

He the took us through the company’s new products. First up was the Wet Wide Lens WWL-1.

This is a designed as and underwater lens which takes into account water contact to minimize errors seen in all underwater lenses. Optically, Chris feels that this is a breakthrough lens.

For use with compact cameras, it offers super sharp wide angle coverage providing ~130º FOV on compact lenses of 28mm equivalent. It also support full zoom through, meaning you do not have to take the lens off to go from reef scenic to fish portrait down to a large-ish “macro” subject (like a frogfish).

With Olympus and Panasonic m43 systems it also offers full zoom through when mounted on Panasonic or Olympus 14-42mm power zoom lenses, somewhere between a fisheye and super wide rectilinear lens, as well lots of other coverage angles when zoomed in.    

When used with the Sony α7R it provides a semi-fisheye on the front of Sony 28mm, and Chris thinks that it offers the best close focus wide-angle solution available. It will also works with the Sony NEX cropped sensor cameras.

Chris then showed us the new Nauticam bayonet system, that is used with the WWL, SMC and CMC. It has large holes for venting air out of the area between the port and the lens, and is attached with a supplied special tool to the M67 threads on the port.

There is a bayonet lens caddy available, with a double caddy on its way.

Nauticam’s CMC is a super macro conversion lens for compact and mirrorless cameras. As an example, with the Olympus/Panasonic m4/3 systems, the minimum focus is 10mm It is smaller and lighter than the SMC, and ideal for use with large sensor compact cameras.

It is also compatible with the new bayonet system.

Chris then showed us Nauticam’s new housing for the Sony A7II , A7RII and A7SII. This is shipping now.

Another new housing that is shipping now is for the Panasonic GX8.

Other new housings include: Olympus EM5II.

Canon 5DS/5DSR.

Nikon D7200

Canon 7D Mark II

Sony RX100IV

Canon G7X

All the above housings are shipping now. Chris also showed us a prototype of Nauticam’s new housing for the Olympus E-M10II.

Nauticam’s housing for the Atomos Shogun was on display.

It records 4K in ProRes for cameras like the Sony α7S and doubles as a high resolution monitor.

The housing will also support thenew Atomos Assassin recorder.

In terms of monitor options, Nauticam also offers a housing for the SmallHD 501/502. The monitor is a significant improvements and a beautiful display. It supports both HDMI and the more reliable HD-SDI in and out so can be used to provide a directors surface feed via HD-SDI for up to 45m, with possibility of more connections.

The RED Epic LT is a smallest and lightest and portable housing for RED. There are 3 iterations:

1. Standard back for RED Touch 5
2. Longer back for 2 Pag batteries and RED Touch 5
3. New back with intergrated SmallHD 502

Chris and Ryan Canon showed us a new housing for the RED Weapon which will also support RED Raven.

Lastly, we looked at the new housing for the Arri Alexa Mini.

Primarily designed for ease of use and set up in the rental market, a unique gear system allows for use of the Arri cForce Mini motors for surface control. Batteries, lenses and media can be changed quickly via either the port or rear door, whether using motor or knobs to control focus/zoom/iris. In the rental version (Hollywood) control is remote accessible to topside, including an ethernet connection to allow controlling the camera from a mobile device. Even power can be sent remotely.

Chris then took a little time to explain the port nomenclature that Nauticam uses:

• N85 - mirrorless (m4/3 and Sony Axxx/NEX series, Fuji, EOS-M, Nikon Series 1)
• N100 - Sony A7 and A7II series
• N120 - SLR’s and Cinema, LT
• N200 - Cinema large lens (i.e. PL mount)

Day 1: Booth visits - ULCS, XIT404, Aquatica, i-Torch, GoPro, New World Publications, Subal and Nauticam.
Day 1: Wetpixel/DivePhotoGuide Imaging party.
Day 2: Booth visits - Fisheye, Ikelite, Sea&Sea, Backscatter, Olympus and Keldan.
Day 3: Booth visits - Orcalight, Seacam, Acquapazza, Light and Motion, Inon, Fantasea.
Day 4: Booth visits - BS Kinetics, H20 Photo Tools, Saga, Gates, 10 Bar.