Saturday, September 3rd, 2011

X-Ray Magazine issue 44 available

Issue 44 of X-Ray Magazine is now available for download. The August/September issue focuses on Mozambique with mega fauna off East Africa with Don Silcock and Tofo and Zavora with Scott Bennett. Other articles include diving the islands of the Bahamas by Charles Stirling, diving diversity on Grand Bahama Island by Matthew Meier and tagging sharks on Palau with Georgina Wiersma and Peter Verhoog. The late Wes Skiles writes about deep diving motivation and Lawson Wood about natural light in underwater photography.

The magazine is available as a free download in pdf and iBook formats.

Saturday, September 3rd, 2011

Underwater Festival 2011 has started

The 2011 Underwater Festival is under way. Entries are now being accepted for the contest, and will be through until 11 September. Any underwater image or video taken during the period in an area defined as underwater Australasia is eligible for entry. All entrants cameras’ must be set to 2017 in order to enter for the event.

Full rules, conditions and procedures for the competition are available on the Underwater Festival website, and the organizers also have a blog to show what people have been doing.

Friday, September 2nd, 2011

Review: Light Shaping Device

Borut Furlan presents a comprehensive review of Oskar Marko Musić’s Light Shaping Device (LSD). This, used in conjunction with a strobe, allows for selective lighting of macro and wide-ange subjects, and provides for a wide variety of lighting effects. Amongst these are actual shapes, for example squares, rather than the conventional circular beam.

Borut and Oscar had been developing parallel similar projects, and hence Borut was asked to review the final product. The LSD is available to pre-order now for Seacam 250 and 150 strobes (with others in development) at 995 euros.

Friday, September 2nd, 2011

Eric Cheng receives Wyland ICON award

Wetpixel Publisher Eric Cheng has been awarded the 2011 Wyland Icon Award. The Wyland ICON Award, presented in conjunction with the Academy of Underwater Arts and Sciences, recognizes the achievements of those who have made a positive difference for the underwater world. Other awardees this year are Jill Heinerth, Tom Ingram and Phil Nuytten and the awards will be presented at the annual NOGI awards Gala on 3 November.

Friday, September 2nd, 2011

Zen update dome compatibility for Canon 8-15mm

Zen Underwater has released the results of their testing with the new Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L fisheye USM lens and new compatibility charts. In addition, Reef Photo and Video have done an interesting side-by-side comparison of the new lens vs. the Tokina 107 AT-X 107 AF DX. To summarise the findings:

“I think this lens makes a lot of sense for someone who is after the best fisheye image quality possible, or a Canon user with multiple sensor sizes in their arsenal. Tokina 10-17 is still a great value for someone getting started in underwater photography, or only using the EF-S sensor size.”

Thursday, September 1st, 2011

Nauticam announces housing for Canon EOS Rebel T3i (600D)

Nauticam has announced the release of the NA-600D housing for the Canon EOS Rebel T3i (600D). It features the standard Nauticam port locking system, locking latches, rubberized handles and access to all camera controls. New features incorporated include a multifunction thumb lever for video record on/off, a programmable AE lock button and specific control extensions moving all controls to within reach of the handles.

The Nauticam NA-600D is available now at a retail price of $2400

Wednesday, August 31st, 2011

Apple releases RAW Compatibility update 3.8

Apple has released Camera RAW Compatibility update 3.8. This adds support for RAW files from the following cameras: Konica Minolta DiMAGE A200, Olympus PEN E-P3, Panasonic LUMIX DMC-G3, Panasonic LUMIX DMC-GF3, Samsung NX11, Samsung NX100, Sony Alpha NEX-C3 and Sony Alpha SLT-A35.

Please see the Apple support site for a full list of supported cameras. The update is also available to download from the support site or via software update.

Wednesday, August 31st, 2011

Shark Hope on YouTube

A trailer for the forthcoming documentary “Shark Hope” has been posted on YouTube by Shark Defenders. Walker Films and Ratu Manoa Rasagitale teamed up with Coral Reef Alliance and Pew Environment Group to produce the film, which will be a 30 minute documentary on the plight of sharks in Fiji and efforts to create a Fiji National Shark Sanctuary.

Wednesday, August 31st, 2011

Panasonic announces the HDC-Z10000 3D camcorder

Panasonic has announced the release of the HDC-Z10000 3D camcorder. It offers 3D via integrated twin lenses and boasts a macro focus point of 17.8” (45cm). In addition, it utilises the new AVCHD 3D Progressive standard, uses 2 3MOS sensors with a Crystal Engine Pro II processing engine, its LCD screen can deliver 3D to the naked eye and it records to dual SD cards. Lastly, it is equipped with a f1.5 lens and has built-in optical stabilization.

Expected delivery dates and prices for the HDC-Z10000 are still to be announced.

Wednesday, August 31st, 2011

Underwater Photography magazine issue 62 available

The September/October issue of Underwater Photography (UwP) magazine is now available to download. UwP is currently the only dedicated underwater imaging magazine and as such often offers a wealth of great articles. Issue number 62 is no exception with reviews of the Light and Motion SOLA 4000 and Nauticam GH2 housing, articles on the A6M Zero fighter wreck in Papua New Guinea and diving off of Plymouth, UK, and a primer on using fluorescence filters to capture unique images.

UwP 62 is available as a free download.

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