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

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]

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.