Very exciting news for Canon shooters: We just heard from Blake at Aquatica that they have made a breakthrough and will be offering their Canon 300D digital Rebel housing with TTL strobe control. Aquatica's electrical engineers have "cracked the E-TTL code" for the Canon 300D and will install special circuitry between the camera's hotshoe and the housing bulkhead that will enable the camera to communicate with underwater strobes for automatic, TTL strobe control. One of Aquatica's beta testers is trying out the 300D housing with TTL right now in Bonaire and should have a report in the coming weeks. We don't know yet which strobes will be TTL compatible with the setup, but we hope to find out soon - so check back here for more information as it becomes available. [see some photos of the A300 housing] [discuss in our forums]

Wetpixel's James Wiseman has finished a review of Seacam's Fuji S2 Pro Housing:

Excerpt: "It’s easy for me to say that this is by-far the finest housing I have ever used. The construction and quality is superb, the design is extremely well thought-out, the housing balance and weight is perfect underwater, and the unit is just “dead-sexy” looking with the Seacam Silver finish. The strobe mounts and interchangeable viewfinders make it easy to set up for your style of shooting. Of course, all of this comes at a price that is out of reach for many underwater photographers. I would strongly recommend this setup for shooters that use their housing day-in and day out, as part of their living, and for folks that demand the very best..." [read the review]

Back in October, we reported that Olympus Japan had announced the PT-020 housing for their new Olympus C-5060 camera. According to Ocean Optics (a UK shop), the PT-020 is now shipping! (Our sponsors at Marine Camera Distributors and OceanBrite also have it in stock). The PT-020 is the first PT housing to have an accessory shoe and a bulkhead for external strobe use. Wetpixel has an active forum topic about the PT-020.

Belated news from Sea & Sea:

Sea & Sea Japan announced o­n December 10th that they would quit as distributor in the USA for financial reasons as of Dec. 23rd and that TUSA (Tabata USA) will pick up distributorship as of Jan. 1st 2004. Sea and Sea USA will continue to take dealer orders until the 17th of December and continue with fulfillment of these until December 19th. After that all orders will be taken at TUSA headquarters in Long Beach, CA after the Christmas and New Years holidays beginning o­n January 4th.

The transition is expected to be fairly seamless and under the guidance of TUSA President Stephen Ashmore operations will continue as they were with refinements being made to the program as needed.

The sales force will remain in place and continue to give all of our dealers the same level of professional support they have always given. We look forward to 2004 being a year of rebirth and with all of Sea and Sea's innovative and diverse product line will remain number o­ne in the underwater imaging marketplace.

More discussion in the forums.

Frequent contributor Rodger Klein has sent us a review of the Light & Motion Titan D100 housing.

Excerpt: As usual, Light & Motion has delivered a work of design art. Ergonomically efficient, it has both manual and electronic controls. The rear panel includes all available manual controls as well as the ROC ( Remote Optical Controller ) display. The ROC controls, as well as the Main Dial (Aperture) control, the Sub Dial (shutter), and Auto Focus control are located o­n the left and right handles (it’s possible to swap the Main and Sub dial functions if you choose). Unlike manually operated housings, the Titan D100 allows total control of shutter, aperture, auto focus, and strobe power remotely from these handles. For most situations, it is not necessary to move your hands from the controls. [read the review]

Aquatica has announced a new housing for the Canon Digital Rebel dSLR, available early 2004: The Aquatica A300 aluminum housing will accept the Canon Digital Rebel. This light and compact housing is only 9 x 6 1/2 x 5 1/4 inches and weighs only 6 1/2 pounds. It uses the standard Aquatica Bayonet mounting system, a positive system that leaves no doubt that your ports are securely in place and water tight. Aquatica's bayonet system of dome ports, macro ports, and extension rings offers the fastest access to lenses for rapid changing.

INON America will officially begin sales of the D-180S strobe from December 15, 2003.

The D-180S has the same power and basic high performance as the full-featured D-180 but with a LED focus/target light and reduced features for improved cost performance. The D-180S features the same lightweight, compact body design as the D-180 for optimum performance and usability with modern digital cameras. Settable aperture range for External Auto mode: f/1.8 – f/9.5 (10 steps) to manually fine tune exposure. Excellent choice as slave strobe using External Auto Mode, or as main strobe for shooting styles not requiring full manual mode settings.

For further D-180S Information, click here.

EPIC (Environmentally aware Photographic Image Competition) was the first underwater photo/video competition dedicated to the preservation of the marine environment by rewarding environmental awareness of the underwater world. EPIC proceeds are donated to the Marjorie L. Bank Scholarship, which sponsors an intern to pursue studies in environmental marine program. This scholarship is awarded yearly through the Our World Underwater Scholarship Society in Chicago, Il.

The deadline for entries is January 15th, 2004. There are two underwater digital categories, the newest being "Sharks". The winner in this category will be awarded a fantastic dive trip courtesy of Shark Diver Magazine. Please visit EPIC at www.epicphotocontest.org for all the details.

Rodger Klein reviews the Light & Motion Titan D100 Housing

Wetpixel contributor Paul NG covers the Birmingham IMAGE 2003 Festival, in Birmingham, England.

Excerpt: "Many renowned international photographers (like Paul Kay and Constantinos Petrinos) were also o­n hand to sign their latest books o­n underwater photography. It was a real treat to chance upon a meeting at the Historical Diving Society’s stand o­ne of the founding members of BSOUP, and an icon of the UK photographic scene, Tim Glover. I was teleported back to the 50s and early 60s when diving was considered a dangerous sport undertaken o­nly by the brave. Tim, as a Kodak engineer, was already making clear housings and moulding dome ports, in his spare time from his home. He even showed me an early housing that was made from a metal cooking pot. For those of you with eagle eyes, the camera around Tim’s neck is a digital camera. The digital revolution marches o­n. .." [read the feature]