Tuesday, June 7th, 2005

Zigview Angled Viewfinder

DPreview.com reports that a UK based company called Intro2020 is distributing the Zigview angled LCD viewfinder for SLR cameras. The unit is basically a tiny CCD video camera and LCD monitor merged with a case that mounts over your camera’s viewfinder, much like a right-angle finder. This unit may be of interest for underwater photographers as it looks like it could be enclosed in a small box and mounted on an underwater camera housing. The 1.9 inch diagonal LCD display, while probably not fine enough for determining focus, would be very helpful for macro composition.

Tuesday, June 7th, 2005

LAUPS: 2005 43rd Annual International Competition

The Los Angeles Underwater Photo Society is pleased to announce that the 43rd annual International Competition is open for entries. Photographers will compete for outstanding prizes, including liveaboard and land-based dive vacations, diving equipment, and photo gear. This year, for the first time, the competition will be accepting digital files in addition to prints, slides, and video. Entry categories include macro, wide angle, west coast cold water, marine related, creative freestyle, raw (unedited) video and open video.

Last year’s competition drew entries from 17 countries and 23 states. The deadline for entries is September 23, 2005.

Sunday, June 5th, 2005

Fantasea Nikon Coolpix S1 Housing Preview

Fantasea has sent us photos of their first (successful) testing of a new underwater housing for the Coolpix S1, an extremely-compact, 5-megapixel camera from Nikon. (continue reading for larger photo)

Fantasea strives to present affordable underwater housings for digital cameras. For example, their FD-70 housing for the Nikon D70 costs $999 and includes a standard flat port and flood insurance for one year.

Saturday, June 4th, 2005

Digital Sunbursts Discussion

Current digital cameras are hugely capable and most DSLR shooters are now happy that their cameras can match or out resolve slide film. The one area that film still seems to rule is in capturing sunbursts - and this is important as underwater sunbursts are such a characteristic element of our images.
That said, digital can do a much better job at capturing sunbursts than many people think. But requires a different approach to film. Join in with the current discussion on the Best Of Wetpixel forum where members are sharing their tips, experiments and opinions on this topic.

Thursday, June 2nd, 2005

Lexar Announces Firmware Fix and Recall for 80X Cards

Lexar has announced that on June 3, 2005, it will release a firware update for Lexar Professional 80x CompactFlash cards for customers who have experienced problems with the following Canon cameras: Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II, EOS-1D Mark II, EOS 20D, and EOS Digital Rebel XT / EOS 350D Digital / EOS Kiss Digital N.

The fix requires that you send your card back in to be replaced with a version with updated firmware.

Wednesday, June 1st, 2005

San Diego Undersea Film Exhibition

The 6th Annual San Diego UnderSea Film Exhibition is scheduled for October 14th and 15th, 2005, at the state-of-the-art, large-format digital theater at the San Diego Natural History Museum in Balboa Park.

Entries for the festival are due on July 15th, 2005 (The call for entries says July 1st, but a forum posting specifies July 15th as the deadline).

Unfortunately, entries are only accepted in NTSC form, so those of you who are shooting PAL will have to convert your mastered films. Continue reading for entire text of call for entries.

Wednesday, June 1st, 2005

Nikon D2x Review Posted at DPreview and Steve’s

Phil Askey has posted an in-depth review of the Nikon D2x digital SLR camera. This model has recently raised quite a lot of interest in the underwater photography community and Phil’s review is a “must-read” for photographers considering purchasing this camera.

Steve Sanders has also posted an in-depth review at Steve’s Digicams.

Tuesday, May 31st, 2005

Canon Posts Firmware Updates for 350D, 1DmkII, and 1DsmkII

Canon today announced three firmware updates which address recently acknowledged camera problems. One of these fixes a camera hang issue which could lead to a loss of buffered images. Read the full article and click the links to download the firmware from the Canon website.

Tuesday, May 31st, 2005

Seaspace 2005 This Weekend - Photo Events

Seaspace 2005 is coming up this weekend and this year’s show is packed with events of interest to the digital underwater photographer. Eric Cheng and I will be there, along with many of the Sponsors that help support Wetpixel. If you run into us, please say “Hi.” Here is a short list. Click below for the complete lineup:

Film Festival Featuring Norbert Wu, James Watt, and Guy Harvey: Saturday 7pm
James Watt Digital Workshop: Sunday 10am
Barry Guimbellot Photoshop Workshop: Saturday 2pm
Tim Blanton Digital Underwater Video Workshop: Sunday 1pm

Tuesday, May 31st, 2005

EPIC Announces 2005 Winners

Last week, EPIC, the The Environmentally-aware Photographic Image Competition, announced the winners of its 2005 competition. Please join me in congratulating all of the winners!

~~In future EPIC competitions, I hope that they do not lump all digital entries into one category. It is rather dated to be doing something like that.~~

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