Long-time Wetpixel member Ellen Muller (ellenm) is this month’s INON Feature Artist.  When I think of Inon products the first thing that comes to mind is reliability. My Inon UCL-165M67 close-up lens goes with me on every dive. I am using an Inon D180 strobe and am extremely pleased with the results. Living on the island of Bonaire, and diving almost daily, all of my photographic equipment gets a good workout and durability is a must. Inon delivers with top quality.

Congratulations, Ellen!

Wetpixel co-administrator Dr. Alex Mustard has been interviewed on Rob Galbraith DPI: “Born and raised in the United Kingdom, Mustard, now 30, began taking pictures underwater before he was in his teens, hoping to show his family, who were mostly indifferent to the sea, the amazingly cool stuff he was discovering in the water. He even tried to take a camera on his scuba certification dive, which he made when he was fourteen, but this plan was rejected as a bit presumptuous...”

Subtronic strobes have non user interchangeable built-in batteries so far. Now, Subtronic introduces a new battery design, allowing the user to disconnect the battery for travel and to exchange batteries between dives. The concept is different from common strobe designs as the battery will come in shape of a strobe arm segment. A new S4 type plug system connects battery and strobe head…

One of the biggest hurdles facing the aspiring digital photographer is knowing which of the plethora of cameras to choose and when to get it. Digideep.com, a website dedicated to providing an overview of the digital underwater photography market, lists 773 different digital cameras and 483 digital camera housings! It is a confusing and intimidating ocean of choice. The selection problem is compounded when the new photographer then discovers that the camera they have been tirelessly researching is about to be replaced. Suddenly they are faced with the conundrum of waiting for the new model or buying the current one. And whenever you decide to look, there is always the promise of a new model just round the corner…

The venerable Substrobe 200 now has the newest IC chips and IGBT circuitry allowing this ultra wide and ultra powerful strobe to be compatible with current digital cameras and any TTL circuitry included in our housings. State-of-the-art electronics provide a blazing 200 watt seconds of power recycling in an incredible 1.6 seconds…

Curious about High Definition Video?  Join Connor Kirsch of Light & Motion and Sy Harris of Backscatter on an unforgettable trip aboard the Nautilus Explorer.  In addition to housing demos and instructional seminars, HD Odyssey participants will receive a special discount on Light & Motion HD travel packages from Backscatter Underwater Video and Photo.  This is the perfect opportunity to experience the thrill of HD while diving in Guadalupe’s legendary, shark-filled waters.  Come join this fun and educational event.

Tim Rock, Chris Bangs, and Wetpixel moderator Mike Veitch are running two digital photography seminars in Yap and Bali in 2006.  The Yap seminar focuses on photographing manta rays (July 12-19), and the Bali seminar focuses on macro photography (October 8-14).

Konica Minolta has announced withdrawal plans for both its camera and photo businesses.  They will withdraw from the film and digital camera business by March 31, 2006, film and paper by March 31, 2007, and all photo businesses by September 30, 2007.  Konica Minolta’s will jointly develop digital SLRs with Sony “in order to continue to have [their] customers use Maxxum/Dynax lenses, and to maximize possibilities of the optical, mechanical and electronics technologies accumulated through development of SLR cameras in the years to come.” (thanks, Paul)

This is a call for entries for the 7th Annual San Diego UnderSea Film Exhibition, scheduled for Friday and Saturday evenings, October 20 & 21, 2006 at the San Diego Natural History Museum in Balboa Park.  Each evening will feature a different program consisting of 14 to 16 short underwater films from locations all over the world.  Here is your chance to see your work in a large-format, state-of-the art, digital theater, and to share your adventures with others. Submission deadline is August 15, 2006.

Zeiss today announced two new lenses designed to be fully compatible with Nikon F mount cameras.  The 50mm f1.4 and the 85mm f1.4 will be available starting Spring 2006.  Digital SLR’s with their extremely high resolution sensors have placed quite a demand upon lenses and lens design and manufacture, and apparently Zeiss plans to meet this demand.  The company also announced a universal mount lens variant which when used with an adapter will be compatible with Canon and other lens mounts, however these lenses will likely not support autofocus and camera-based aperture control.