Wetpixel contributor Jason Grimes has returned from an exhaustive field-test of the Jonah 10D housing in Indonesia.

Excerpt: "Overall, the Jonah Housing performed remarkably well. I logged around 100 hours underwater using this housing and had very few problems, which is especially impressive considering it was o­nly the second housing ever made by Jonah for the Canon 10D.

"The owner of the company has rapidly responded to some of the issues related to the housing, such as replacing the button springs and the rubber nipples and I am extremely happy with its performance." [read the review]

We have posted a short review of the HydroOptix MEGA -4.5d panoramic mask, which gives wearers a wide-angle view of the underwater world.

Excerpt: "Barely twenty feet away was a 8'-9' hammerhead doing figure 8s, after having just chased a stingray under a coral head. I immediately signaled Laz and took off towards the shark, trying to adjust my zoom lens for a shot. Even though the shark was turning away, I'm convinced I never would have noticed it without the increased vision of the MEGA -4.5d mask." [read the review]

Ikelite has revamped their Nikon D100 housing (see previous Wetpixel review), placing it in the same, smaller polycarbonate mold used for their Canon Digital Rebel Housing. It is rumored that the Canon D30/D60/10D will use that mold as well, but they have not officially announced any details yet.

Jason Grimes reviews the Jonah housing for the Canon 10D, after a thorough field test in Indonesia.

Congratulations to Wetpixel moderators Craig Jones and Herb Ko for being selected as the first two INON Artists of the Month! You can see testimonials and a small gallery of their images at INON America's website.

Wetpixel contributor Paul NG attends the Birmingham Image 2003 Festival at the National Exhibition Center (NEC) in Birmingham, England..

Thanks to our friends at Aquatica for sending in an image of the new Nikon 10.5DX fisheye lens. This is the first diagonal fisheye lens for use with digital SLR cameras.

Those of you who are interested in educational activities associated with the underwater world and who are between 21 and 24 years of age (inclusive) should check out the Rolex Our World-Underwater Scholarship Society (OW-USS). The Rolex Scholarship offers a North American Rolex Scholarship ($20,000), a European Rolex Scholarship 15,000 Pound Sterling), and support for multiple internships during the 2004 calendar year.

Although the deadline o­n the promotional material says November 30, 2003, representatives at the Antibes Festival told us that the deadline has been extended. Get in touch with them soon!

Qualifications and more information can be found at: http://owuscholarship.org/

Wetpixel.com has won one of the most prestigious awards in the underwater photograpy and videography community: the underwater web site of the year award at the Antibes Juan-Les-Pins 30th Festival Mondial de L’Image Sous-Marine (30th World Festival of Underwater Images).  The awards ceremony last night here in the South of France was not unlike a small version of the Academy Awards, and the two-hour ceremony honored winners for underwater web sites, books, images, and films.

On behalf of Wetpixel.com, I’d like to share the Antibes 2003 award with all of you who make our site successful.  This includes the small volunteer staff force who administer and moderate the site, the array of individual content contributors, the 1300+ active participants in the forum, and those of you who are just here to browse anonymously.  Thank you!

- Eric Cheng, Editor and Administrator

Congratulations to Wetpixel member Jim Chambers, who recently won a photography prize from Popular Photography for his photo of a Nassau grouper eating a blue tang! There is an active thread in the forums about his photo.