Underwater Photography and Videography, News, Forums, Trips, Photo Contests :: Wetpixel.com

Nikon has released a firmware upgrade for the D700 SLR camera. This address an issue that "in some very rare cases, caused images to be extremely under-exposed has been resolved". It updates both elements of the camera's firmware, namely D700 A to ver 1.03 and B firmware to ver.1.02.

The update is available via the Nikon support site.

Wetpixel Editor Adam Hanlon reviews Brian Skerry's recent book, Ocean Soul. Brian has also granted Wetpixel an exclusive interview about the book and his life as one of the world's pre-eminent underwater photo journalists, conducted during one of his assignments "from the middle of the North Atlantic, where the weather is terrible and I have a few days to catch-up on work". Adam finds that:

"Skerry's story-telling in both images and words gives Ocean Soul an integrity that is lacking from "simple" picture books. The next time you are feeling jaded and are seeking inspiration for an imaging project, this will be a great resource to reach for." (Image ©Mauricio Handler.)

Anna DeLoach writes that a new wrasse species Cirrhilabrus humanni has been described in the new reference work by Drs. Gerry Allen and Mark Erdmann and including in their new reference book, Reef Fishes of the East Indies. The fish is named after the underwater photographer, Paul Humann. Anna describes how she and Ned DeLoach found the new species whilst diving on a dive site near Alor, Indonesia, in a post on her blog.

dpreview.com reports that the mandatory 30 minute recording time on digital cameras may be changed is the scope of the World Trade Organization's Information Technology Agreement (ITA) is expanded. Currently, the cut-off is used to avoid digital cameras being re-classified as video cameras which have a higher rate of duty. The changes may well be "a slow and highly politicized process", but it would seem that the proposal to discuss changing the ITA's frames of reference has been broadly welcomed. With many cameras, the recording time limits imposed are actually due to the FAT 32 file size limit of 4Gb or to control camera overheating issues, rather than to avoid customs classification.

The BBC reports that the next meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), scheduled to be held in six weeks time in Panama, has the potential to be marred by politics. A new ruling means that countries must table their proposed motions at least 60 days prior to the meeting, and this gives a view into the meeting ahead. The South American group called for a whale sanctuary in the South Atlantic at the last meeting, which was postponed due to a walk-out by Japan. They have thus reserved their right to put this to a vote as the first order of business. Japan has countered with a motion to re-open coastal whaling. Monaco's Frederic Briand, with the support of many other anti-whaling countries, has also tabled a motion that would see whale conservation "sent upstairs" to the UN.

"We have a moratorium on commercial whaling that's been in place for at least 25 years, but we see it's business as usual for the whaling countries," he said. "Despite the moratorium, about 35,000 whales have keen killed by three countries. So there's a failure of the IWC to enforce its own resolutions."

The advent of LED lighting over the past 4 to 5 years, and the steep increase in both the LED’s performance and the battery technology required to drive them, has resulted in a wide range of video lighting in very compact units. Performance in terms of output power and longevity is possible now in units that are a fraction of the size that comparable units were even a few years ago. This has coincided with a growth in both the quality and performance of video that can be captured on SLR cameras.

This review cover two potential 4000 lumen output options for SLR video users: The Keldan LUNA 4V and the Mangrove VC-4L6.

Nauticam has announced the imminent release of its housing for the new Canon 5D MkIII SLR. The NA-5DMKIII features a double paddle lever for the right thumb that activates AF-On and Record. The housing uses "piano key" controls for the Set and Quick Control functions, and a multi controller pad for the camera's joystick. Lastly, ISO, Live View/Movie and Focus point selector controls are all available from the right hand handle. Initially, the housing will be supplied with a Nikonos sync port, although other bulkheads are available. Nauticam are hinting that they will be providing a fiber optic solution for the housing and camera in the future, and have added fiber optic ports for this.

The housing will be available from 1 June and will retail at $3600.

DAN has announced the winners of the 2012 Ocean Views competition on their Alert Diver online site. Deano Cook took first place with his split level image of a lemon shark in the Bahamas. He says of the image:

"As the sun was setting, I wanted to capture a quiet moment with one of the lemon sharks we had been photographing that afternoon. This particular shark was just as curious as I was, and what an amazing moment I was able to capture! His eye above the surface stares back at me, as if to show me he's watching, too. Below the surface his mouth was just slightly open, showing off his sharp teeth."

There is a full slide show of all the winning images, as well as a "bonus gallery" of other images from the contest. Hearty congratulations to all the photographers in the results, and especially to the many Wetpixel members featured.

GoPro has recently announced the release of an underwater housing with a flat lens for its HERO POV cams. One of the issues that has been identified with this is that it is unable to take filters for color correction. Backscatter has announced that they have a product due for imminent release that will address this. The Flip-Up Color Correction Filter can be user installed and does not vignette in any camera lens angle mode. In changeable light conditions, the filter can be raised to allow more ambient light, and lowered to get the color correction.

It is due to ship in late June and the price is still to be confirmed.

Paul Watson, founder of the environmental organization Sea Shepherd, was arrested at Frankfurt Airport, Germany on 12 May, pending extradition to Costa Rica. This was carried out due to a warrant that had been issued in Costa Rica relating to events in Guatemalan waters in 2002 when Watson's boat, the Farley Mowat, encountered an illegal shark-finning operation run by a Costa Rican ship, the Varadero. Crew on the Varadero accused Watson of attempting to ram their boat and Watson was charged by Costa Rican authorities with attempted murder. The events were captured on video, and subsequently formed a part of the film Sharkwater.

This video evidence led to the charges being dropped, however it would seem that they have been re-investigated by a newly appointed prosecutor, and this has led to the arrest. Support for the campaigner has flooding in, and an online petition has been set up to call for his release. UPDATE. It looks like Germany will extradite Paul Watson to Costa Rica. Sea Shepherd are calling for people to contact the German authorities and ask them not to do so.