Nauticam has announced the release of the NA-60D housing for the Canon EOS 60D SLR. The new housing features: New-style locking latches (as on the Nauticam NA-D7000), a lens release lever, an ISO thumb lever, ergonomically placed AF-ON button, two-stage shutter release and an improved rear command dial control.
It will be available from 31 March at a US retail price of $3000.
Bluewater Photo has launched the first of its monthly theme photo contests on Facebook. Images entered will be available for public voting, with the winning images being the ones with the most votes. The competitions are free to enter, and each will have prizes for the winners. All submitted images must have been taken in last year and the each entrant is limited to three entries per contest.
The theme for the first competition is “blue” and the deadline for entries is 31 March.
Ikelite has announced the release of a housing for the Canon EOS 600D (Rebel T3i). It is constructed of heavy-duty clear polycarbonate and is rated to 200 feet (60m). It will be slightly negative in fresh water depending on choice of lens port. Controls are provided for every camera function except the diopter adjustment dial with a large zoom control knob that can be reached without removing your hand from the handle. Recording start/stop while in video mode can also be controlled from the handle by the thumb of your right hand. The housing is supplied with the Super-Eye magnifier which enlarges the view of the camera’s viewfinder.
The housing is available to order now, and has a suggested retail price of $1400.
DiveFilm HD has posted three award-winning short films. Scheldt Estuary, Dutch National Park by Edward Snijders won silver in the Our World Underwater competition this year. It features the amazing life in the estuary, which is near Zeeland, Netherlands. Galapagos: Evolution to Extinction is an award-winning short film by Josh Jensen documenting some of the major environmental and ecological threats to the Galapagos Islands. It includes interviews with local experts from WildAid, Conservation International, and Sea Shepherd. Lastly, Hope by Simon Spear won gold in the Our World underwater competition. In it, humpback whales are depicted as giving hope for our ocean’s future.
All the above films are available as free downloads from the DiveFilm HD page on iTunes.
Sealux has announced the release of the VNT universal housing for Sony, Panasonic, JVC and Canon camcorders. It is designed with a tray that can be adjusted in three axes for different cameras to allow for an optimum set-up with different models. As the camera position relative to lens can be varied, the VNT can be used with macro, wide-angle and fish-eye lenses.
The housing is constructed of CNC machined aluminum and has a depth rating of 90 meters (270 feet). Please contact Sealux for exact camera compatibility. They are accepting orders now and the VNT will retail at 1,987.39 euros.
Borut Furlan presents a comprehensive, illustrated and scientific review of the pros and cons of full versus crop frame sensors for underwater photography. He considers and explains factors including chromatic aberration, dome port theory, field of focus, curvature of field and the use of wide-angle zoom lenses. He also looks at the advantages and disadvantages of both types of sensor for macro photography.
Steve Douglas reviews Rick Young’s book: Rick’s Tips-Inside the Mind of an Editor. The book is described as:
“This is a book about editing, about workflow, for anyone who has ever dealt with clients or had to knock out a production under pressure. Written for Final Cut Pro versions 1-7, this cuts to the core of the knowledge needed to make this system work for you.”
With about 13,000 dead or missing, half a million people homeless and entire towns wiped off the map, Japan is facing a serious crisis, especially with the people dislodged by the nuclear power station situation. The American Red Cross is taking donations to aid their Red Cross Japanese counterpart with disaster relief efforts in Japan. Please help the victims by donating to the Red Cross either directly or via iTunes.
Japanese underwater photographer Kyu Furumi has launched a project called “Smile for All” with the aim of raising funds to help alleviate the situation in Japan. They have launched an appeal via a Facebook page, and are asking their fellow underwater photographers worldwide to donate their images to it.
They plan to use these pictures to organize exhibitions and to sell postcards, the profits of which will be donated to charitable causes in the regions affected by the tsunami and earthquakes.
On Thursday 24 March 2011 at 7.30pm there will be an exclusive private screening for 200 people of the ITV documentary Man to Manta, complete with an introduction from the show’s presenter, Martin Clunes (Doc Martin, Reggie Perrin, Men Behaving Badly), at London’s prestigious May Fair Hotel. The film follows Clunes as he seeks to fulfil a burning ambition to swim with the rays. It is amongst the first to highlight the growing problems mantas face from fishing pressure for the Chinese medicine trade.
The event will help raise important funds for three conservation organizations, Bite-Back, The Pacific Elasmobranch Foundation and The Marine Megafauna Foundation. Tickets are available now at a cost is £24.00 per ticket and after the screening, there will be an auction of lots donated to help the causes.