Tuesday, October 23rd, 2012

Nikonos RS lens project finalized

Owner Andrej Belic provides a summary of his project to allow the use of Nikonos RS lenses with current housed SLRs. He has developed a conversion process that allows the lenses to operate with modern electronics, and also adaptors that then allow them to be used with Nauticam, Seacam and Subal housings. All three housing brands can be used with the 13mm fisheye and 28mm wide-angle RS lenses, with the 50mm macro also potentially possible on Nauticam housings only.

Andrej feels that the RS lenses give optically superior results over conventional lens and dome port configurations, as well as advantages in weight and size.

Friday, October 19th, 2012

Dolphins maintain awareness for 15 days

The Public Library of Science ONE (PLOS ONE) journal has published a paper that documents how long dolphins can remain aware. In experiments carried out by the National Marine Mammal Foundation, they were able to maintain vigilance, as measured by their ability to respond to acoustic targets, for 15 days continuously. Dolphins are known for their ability to “rest” one hemisphere of their brain while the other maintains awareness, and the paper suspects that this may allow them to do so in order to remain vigilant and watch out for predators. Previously, this ability was ascribed solely to their need to breathe.

Thursday, October 18th, 2012

Canon updates firmware for EOS 1D X

Canon USA has announced the release of a firmware update for the EOS-1D X SLR. The update adds additional autofocus performance including intermittent red illumination of the AF points in the camera’s viewfinder when in AI Servo AF and an increase in cross-type AF sensitivity to allow accurate focusing with the center AF point with a maximum aperture of f/8.

Firmware version 1.1.1 for the EOS-1D X is available free of charge from the Canon website.

Thursday, October 18th, 2012

What would you say

Wetpixel member Simon Spear has posted a short film entitled “What would you say?” on the Wetpixel forum. Filmed almost entirely with a Canon 7D and Canon EF-S 10-22mm lens in a combination of Hugyfot and Ikelite housings, the film has a conservation theme, is about our oceans and highlights a few of the many challenges that lie ahead.

Thursday, October 18th, 2012

Results: Wildife Photographer of the Year

The results of the 2012 Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year have been announced by the National History Museum. Paul Nicklen took first place overall and won the Underwater Worlds category with his stunning image of Emperor Penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri) exiting the water in a cloud of bubbles. He also took runner-up in the underwater category. Commended photographers in the category include, Claudio Gazzaroli, Thomas P Peschak, David Hall and Jordi Chias. In other categories, Jean Tresfon was awarded a Commended in the birds category, Lucio Candisani won the Cold-Blooded animal behavior, and Steve Kovacs achieved a Commended.

Many congratulations to all those who achieved a placing.

Wednesday, October 17th, 2012

GoPro unveils the HERO3

GoPro has just released details of their latest POV cam, the HERO3. The Hero3 is 30 percent smaller and 25 percent lighter than the HERO2 and is available in three models, Black, Silver and White. The Black edition is capable of capturing video at up to 4K resolution, at 15fps, but also offers 2.7K at 30fps, 1080p at 60fps, 1440p at 48fps, 960p at 100 fps and 720p at 120fps, as well as 11MP stills. This is achieved via a processor that is two times faster. The Silver Edition has 11MP stills and 1080p30 video, while the White Edition has 5MP stills. Both Silver and Black versions have manual White Balance control and the standard housing now features a “Dive Lens”.

The Black Edition is $399, Silver is $299 and White $199. Pre-orders are scheduled to start at 12:01AM PT today. A video of sample footage has also been released on YouTube.

Wednesday, October 17th, 2012

Backscatter appointed as Olympus distributor

Monterey based retailer, Backscatter Underwater Photo and Video, has been appointed as the distributor for Olympus Underwater products for North America and the Caribbean. They will assume responsibility for selling Olympus products to dive and watersports outlets. Backscatter CEO, Jim Decker said:

“In the past few years Olympus has shown a renewed commitment to the dive market with their PEN and tough series lines. We look forward to working with Olympus, dive shops, and dealers. Weʼll also be distributing third party accessories so our dealers will be able to offer to their customers a complete ready to dive underwater camera system.”

Wednesday, October 17th, 2012

Discounted RED Scarlet cameras available

In perhaps direct comparison to this morning’s GoPro announcement, RED are offering a “truckload” of used RED Scarlet cameras at a significant discount. The cameras have been used once on a specific project, and have less than a minute of recording time each, but are being offered at a $4,800 discount. They are being supplied with an SSD module, Canon mount and full warranty with an option to exchange the MX sensor to RED’s upcoming Dragon model.

Full details of the deal are available on the RED user forum.

Tuesday, October 16th, 2012

Review: Snake River Prototyping Dome for GoPro

Fabrice Charleux, owner and editor of Plongeur.com, provides a review of the Snake River Prototyping (SRP) Dome filter for the GoPro HERO2 POV cam. The GoPro benefits from color correction underwater, and the Dome, produced by SRP in conjunction with URPRO sets out to restore the lack of red light, and to enhance contrast. Fabrice was able to test a prototype version in Tahiti, and found that it provided very good results at reasonable depths.

Sunday, October 14th, 2012

Group witnesses illegal fishing in Komodo

A group diving on castle rock in the Komodo National Park has witnessed a liveaboard crew hand-line fishing within the no-take zone of the park. The crew ceased fishing when asked to by the divers, but their actions called into question the viability of asking local people to observe conservation oriented fishing practices when the “tourist” boats do not practice them. The groups raised these issues with the boat’s owners upon their return and received a very positive response to their complaints.

Whilst the issues around fishing within the National Park remain, this story shows how people can positively effect a change by simply they have observed.

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