Equinox is a manufacturer of inexpensive underwater housings that can be customized for all standard HD camcorders. In the past, they’ve displayed the HD8 and HD10 underwater housings for a range of larger Sony, Canon, and Panasonic video cameras.
This year, Epoque has introduced the smaller HD6 housing for all compact Sony, Canon, Panasonic, Hitachi, Samsung, and JVC HD camcorders, and offers an upgrade program for one-third of the new market cost…
The Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF) is an active ocean conservation group that has become well-known for its Volunteer Survey Project for diver education and the identification and tracking of fish life on an underwater ecosystem.
REEF recently introduced a beginner’s course for Florida, Caribbean, and Bahamas reef fish identification, complete with DVD video, survey slate, and waterproof fish ID booklet…
The Manta Network and Ocean Presence Technologies have teamed up to begin placing OceanCams, fixed underwater video camera systems, at manta feeding stations around the world, and allowing classrooms to control the cameras over the internet for educational purposes.
Money from all camera sales, whether for ocean or aquarium application, is donated to support the Manta Network, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization…
There are probably dozens of people I only get to see at DEMA, and it is really great to bump into people all day, every day during the event. It’s the balance between productive work and having fun socializing that is the problem. Some people manage to combine the two, which seems to be the best case scenario, but I get distracted almost literally every 10 feet I walk.
Here are a bunch of random images from my camera on day 1. Each day has gotten progressively more and more crazy! We’ll add to this collection as images from Adam Lau, Matt Segal, and others come in!
Every year, Chip and Susan Scarlett plan a DEMA dinner for the underwater-photography friends they have made over the years. I was honored to be invited this year, and made my way to the Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill at the MGM Grand after running around the show floor all day. It was nice to get to relax with friends. Thank you, Chip and Susan!
The ocean protection and restoration environmental society Oceana has enjoyed success this year with the passing of the Shark Conservation Act of 2008 by the U.S. House of Representatives in June, requiring sharks to be landed with their fins still attached.
The organization has continued their push to educate country tourism boards and resource management groups of the revenue value to local economies in preserving the underwater reef communities…
Steve Philbrook showed me a prototype Watershot housing, a new brand he is developing that will be distributed through Blueline Products. The Watershot Canon Rebel XSi housing is made out of machined aluminum, and will come with a port, kit zoom gear (rubber), and strap for $1,995 retail (a great price for a machined housing bundle).
The Watershot housing has port adapters for INON ports (support for other ports is planned), 2 optical bulkheads (electrical bulkheads optional), an optional handle, and support for INON viewfinders…
Aerospace Lubricants, Inc is a manufacturer of the Tribolube product line - chemically inert, O2 safe lubricants compatible with open and close circuit diving systems.
The company has recently begun to offer 5g ‘easy-tear’ packs of Tribolube for convenient application to underwater camera housing o-rings, and is working to increase distribution to the underwater photography community…
Mark Rupert, Steve and Jolene Philbrook of INON America and Takura Torii, and Yoshiro Ichikawa of INON Japan were at the INON booth showing off their line of strobes, accessories, and a prototype fisheye endoscope (the “insect eye”).
The new INON S-2000 strobe is really small and features improved optical sensor sensitivity. It features a single flash tube that covers roughly 95° x 90° (rectangular coverage) and has a guide number of 20 (meters, air)...
At the Ikelite booth, Mike Rabideau took me though some of Ikelite’s recent products. Next week, Ikelite will be shipping its underwater housing for the Nikon D700 ($1,600 retail). Also shipping next week are underwater housings for the Nikon D90 and Canon 50D.
The DS-160 Substrobes were on display—the first time I had seen one in person. They look nearly identical to the venerable DS-125 strobe, but have 10 manual power settings and a LED modeling light…