Inon Japan announces development of the UFL-165AD Underwater Fisheye Conversion Lens, the latest addition of the AD Mount Lens series, which includes the UWL-105AD Wide Conversion Lens and the UCL-165AD Close-up Lens. The UFL-165AD is a trim, compact underwater fisheye conversion lens with 165 degree maximum field of view. Focus range from the very front edge of the dome to get as close to the subject as physically possible. Close focus ability and extreme depth of field enable stunning wide angle and “wide macro” (close focus wide angle) imaging, not previously possible with housed digicams.

Ocean Brite Systems and Jonah Housings are announcing the immediate availability of the Jonah Canon 10D Housing -- ready to ship, immediately. The Jonah Canon 10D Housing is available for the reasonable price of $1799.

Olympus Japan has announced the PT-023 housing for their flagship C-8080 Digicam, and the PT-022 housing for the C-760/770 Ultra Zoom. Like other housings in the PT series, the PT-023 features double o-rings and an optional PPO-05 port for the WCON-08D wide-angle adapter.

Also new is the Olympus "Warehouse Emon marine 3" software package, which merges EXIF data and dive computer logs.

Canon has announced the WP-DC20 housing for the PowerShot S1 IS digicam, the WP-DC 900 housing for the PowerShot A80, the WP-DC 800 housing for PowerShot S400, S410, and S500 digicams, and the WP-DC 700 housing for PowerShot A60 and A70. All housings are rated to a maximum depth of 40m and feature an integrated diffuser for the internal strobe.

Thanks to our partner Digideep for the housing news!

The prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2004 will accept digital images on CD for the first time this year. Closing date Friday 2nd April 2004.

New Seascape Initiative stretches from Costa Rica to Ecuador, safeguarding threatened marine habitats

Please welcome award-winning photographer and marine biologist Dr. Alex Mustard, who has joined Wetpixel as a moderator. All of us are looking forward to having Alex on board; we will certainly learn a lot from his experimental photography and wisdom in the way of fish and coral behavioUr.

Bio: Alex Mustard has been taking underwater pictures since he was 9, and got his first digital SLR housing in 2002. Since then he has been actively pushing digital forward in the UK, running and speaking at the British Society of Underwater Photographers (BSOUP) first digital evening and being the main digital speaker at the UK's Visions in the Sea conference 2003. Alex's images have won many awards, most notably four from the prestigious Antibes Festival in 2002. Dr Mustard's day job is as a marine biologist.

Alex founded the internet based Young Underwater Photographers' Group and is a committee member of BSOUP.

Visit BENEATH THE SEA 2004's web site and get a firsthand look at the winners of the Worldwide Underwater PHOTOGRAPHY/VIDEO COMPETITION. Log on and take a look!


Best in Show: DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY
"Goby and Wire Coral" | Mark Snyder, Astoria, New York
Next, with only their imagination as a guide, see how the children create their impressions of this year's OCEAN PALS NATIONAL POSTER CONTEST theme. So log on for a peek at this year's winning posters, truly creative inspirational work!

We have just moved our photo contest from the forums into a new gallery module. The currently running forum contest, "Eye Contact," will be the last to be hosted in the forums. Special thanks to Cybergolfish for his dedication in running the contest for the last year!

We're also arranging to have sponsor-donated prizes awarded to contest winners. Let the games begin (continue)!

Note that the first contest using the new format is LIVE, so head on over to the related link below and submit a photo!

Peter Schulz demonstrates the corrective power of Panorama Tools, a free Windows utility. Excerpt:

When shooting underwater, the effects of wide angle distortion are often not noticeable because, unlike buildings, there are few straight lines. After all, who knows how round a French Angelfish really is. But with wrecks and panoramic reef shots distortion becomes very noticeable.

Fortunately there is a software fix for this problem. It's called PanoTools. PanoTools plugins are available for Adobe PS, Adobe Elements, and Paint Shop Pro that run on Windows, Mac, and Linux platforms. And the plugins are free!

As the RAW format becomes widely available, many digital shooters wonder if this format is “better” than shooting JPEG - of course, “better” often depends on the circumstances. This short column will describe the difference between the two formats and pros and cons of shooting one versus the other.