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Attention Members of the Wetpixel Forum Community! Given the current situation with the Wetpixel forum, a dedicated and trusted group of community members has taken the initiative to establish a contingency plan. We recognize the significance of preserving our community connections and continuing our discussions, even in the event of website downtime. This plan serves as a backup or alternative option that will enable us to stay in touch. Our intention is not to encroach upon Wetpixel.com in any manner, but rather to ensure that if the site becomes inaccessible, we can provide a means to maintain the camaraderie, knowledge-sharing, and passion for underwater photography & videography that have made Wetpixel such a special place for all of us. To join our newsletter mailing list, please CLICK HERE or use this link: https://form.jotform.com/232575186496166 Stay connected, stay informed, and let's continue capturing the marvels of the underwater world together! Best regards

Some recent pics from mid 2023. Good number from the FL Keys, some from Curacao, some from my home of New England. Most shot on Sony A7R IV with Ikelite housing and Canon 8-15mm Fisheye, some with old Panasonic Lumix G7 with Ikelite housing and Olympus 8mm Fisheye Pro. Let me know what you think!

Great idea, I signed up. If something goes wrong, we have a way to stay in touch and maybe organise elsewhere.

after a few decades of reading wetpixel I am a bit stressed about what will happen to it - hoping for a happy ending Tim Hochgrebe - Director at Underwater Australasia - https://underwater.com.au/

I just came across this article: https://divernet.com/scuba-news/wetpixels-hanlon-denies-sitting-on-divers-cash/ It seems to reference, and include some responses to, an article in Undercurrent which I've not read.

Dear Robert, This is very well written and true, but I fear that our posts in several social media just serve the purpose of group therapy for ourselves... I decided now to go the legal route. Yesterday I filed a complaint at the local public prosecutors office here in Austria. It will take time, but they are obliged to make investigations.. Today I filed another complaint at this official U.K. site here: https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/reporting-fraud-and-cyber-crime => Everybody from any country of the world can file a complaint at this fraud department in U.K. and I think every victim should do so. If we are lucky they make a substantial case out of all the complaints and then I would not wish to be in Adam's skin... The mills of justice grind slowly, but steadily... I do not expect to get money back by these actions, but I also do not want that Adam gets away with it and in a couple of months he resumes normal activity as usual... Wolfgang

I used it for 2 days without charging (4 dives everyday), on the last 2 night dives I used it as a torch also, all on a single charge. The flash was on power 2 or 3 most of the time, I had about 400 or 500 pictures in total on that charge

(I searched the forums and couldn't find an answer to this, so....) I've only used the Retra strobes on one dive trip (love them!), and for that trip I dutifully bought Eneloop Pro batteries (2,550 wAh, about $5 ea) as they only recommend Eneloops. But are those the ONLY batteries that'll work? What about EBL 2800mAh ($1.70ea) or 3000mAh ($4.12 ea)? I've had really good luck with EBL batteries over the years (in Inons and for other applications). I don't want to be pennywise and pound foolish if other brands might damage the strobes(?), but if there's no practical difference, I'd rather have more mAh per dollar (about 3X). TIA, Bruce

Done, thanks - Always good to have a backup plan!

Done, thanks

Done!

This is a great idea from @Moodog If something goes wrong, we have a way to stay in touch and maybe organise elsewhere.

Ikea Ladda batteries (2450) could be a good alternative. They seems to be manufactured in the same japanese factory and are fraction of price. You can find many comparison tests like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0ygoravFPY I use both Ladda and Eneloops in my ProX (and before in YSD1) without noticeable difference in duration and recycle time.

The one I have folds better than this new one. But in general.... this is what it look like. I also need to buy a another inner bag that helps it to not leak. Sent from my SM-F946B using Tapatalk

Hi Everyone just putting out a line of Underwater photography apparel T-shirts and mugs made my own designs with my photographs in photoshop and some AI vectors, selling through Etsy,free shipping in the USA. https://www.etsy.com/shop/Iconic2022?ref=related&listing_id=1324311848#items Cheers enjoy

Done. Thanks!

Usually, after my last dive session, before I store it away, I take the port off, clean everything, take off the O-rings, and put caps on the housing and port (Fantasea housing for Sony a6300). That way, you clean all the salt, it won't take much place in the storage box, and it's kind of a therapy to clean all parts.

Oxynoe antillarum Hypselodoris ruthae "Gold line sea goddess." Chromodoris binza

There are some news via Kay Burn Lim FB page who helped to develop the housing. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid02sRDLzNNRZTPsaLdeMMV3wvEnDrhz58xN9h4NCyfdGQFKoiFAu6eVxvWpm3mjTUUdl&id=582259232&sfnsn=scwspwa Among the several comments:

Click the link below: Filming the Garibaldi

As art of my effort to get some coverage through my credit card, I was required to attempt contact with Adam. I sent him an email, which did not bounce back, asking for payment or that he contact me if he disputed that payment to me was due, or intended to repay but needed time. I heard nothing back. It appears he may be trying to salvage his public image in the media, but he is definitely ignoring those he ripped off, or at least me. If this was not just fraud and theft, Adam would be explaining himself in some way and taking some steps to make this right. He has done neither. I know of one person who tried reaching out toAdam through Adam's wife's facebook page and within a few days, the FB page went private. Hiding like this is not indicative of a mistake or medical problem.

You are right... On my recent trip to the Red Sea, when housereef diving, the shallow dives (5m - 10m average depth) typically lasted 90'-130'. Maximum two dives with Z330 containing white Eneloops was possible (only one dive with the battery of my A7R5, that lasts typically for 180' in my hands). When calculating the total Joules that fully charged white Eneloops (1.2V; 1900 mAh; 4 pieces) deliver, I end up with 32800 Joules (the black Pro ones deliver 43200 Joules) compared to 132000 for three 18650 (assuming 3400 mAh). This is four times the energy stored in the battery pack compared to white Eneloops, hence 8 dives should be possible - more than I can do. This is enough for an entire day, even when the average flash power would probably be higher with D-Pro, at least for WA, where every Joule is needed with FF, not so for macro... Wolfgang

Like i said originally, i could be wrong. And most likely i am. Reading through the A key to the dwarfgoby species (Teleostei: Gobiidae: Eviota) described between 1871 and 2016. and Addendum to the 2016 key to the dwarfgobies (Teleostei: Gobiidae: Eviota) there are quite few other possibilities as well (like E. prasina). For exact match, we would need the whole body shot with fins.

I'm not sure a second battery pack is needed in this case; with three 18650 cells and a 500 full power flash rating, this should easily last through a day of diving, and then recharge overnight.

I would go with Eviota pictifacies, but i could be wrong. https://reefbuilders.com/2017/06/13/eviota-pictifacies/

The Scupalamp D-Pro looks attractive, but as often, it is difficult to judge from reviews, whether a product performs as one hopefully expects: the reviews of Phil Rudin in UWP#134 and of Giacomo Rossi here (https://wetpixel.com/articles/review-scuba-lamp-d-pro-strobe-by-giacomo-rossi) suggest to me that the D-Pro plays in the same league as Retras or Seacam, but at a fraction of the price (the new Retra with booster costs almost 2k, because of 20% VAT within EU). For the money I would have to spend for one Retra with booster, I could get two D-Pros plus diffusers and one snoot. The only drawback seems to be no TTL and HSS, but I could easily waive these features without regret... Another review of Hannes Klostermann on the D-max, the precursor product, shows this to be an inferior product that performs just proportional to the price tag. One may be tempted to suspect that also in the case of D-Pro, for a similar price, one gets a strobe with similar performance as a Z330 (that is very good, but I am looking out for a stronger and better strobe). Even worse, the D-Pro weights 1 kg and needs a special battery back (>100 Euro; at least two/strobe are required for continuous operation) that requires to lug around another special charger (how long does it take to fully charge this battery pack?)... Are there more user experiences and/or thoughts on this dilemma? Thanks, Wolfgang

we have everything in place and ready. if the time comes it is needed, we will release the information via the list and other means.

40mm, but that doesn't exist. Weefine, however, list the 16-50mm kit lens as compatible, so you should be able to use that in the 40-50mm zoom range. https://www.weefine.com/product/196.html

...but much better to go to 1/2000 s: * In RC mode, selecting 'super FP flash mode' it is possible to shoot to 1/2000 s :-D with the mechanical shutter. It allows TTL and manual from the super control panel. It seems the way to go. Surprises how hidden the option is! I assume ambient light cutting possibilities should be much better (will test). Any caveat?

I tried other batteries like premium duracell or amazon or varta but none worked. Only eneloops... Inviato dal mio SM-G998N utilizzando Tapatalk

OK so the issue is that the anglerfish cannot fire the sea and sea YS-D2. I have both I can try mine. I do use Inon for remote strobes as the YS-D2 are my main on camera strobes...

Came across this bag at Academy Sports in US, their Magellan brand. It is a 24 can beer soft bag. My Nauticam rig with WWL-C and the dome fits nicely. Can be used as a dip bag and a beer chest. Different color options. Cost $ 79.00, not bad considering alternatives.

Hello friend, The macro footage looks great! That frogfish--wow. Show us more of that when you can. My Grand Cayman trip went great and I came home with 91 gigs of video to edit. My goodness, I shot a lot of video. It will take me all fall to go through it all. The highlight was filming a reef shark that (snuck up on me from behind and) swam along side me for a while. The lowlight was dropping my back up camera (Paralenz Vaquita) and watching it disappear over the north Cayman Wall. It's probably at about 10,000 feet right now. I'll drop a couple of stills that I cut out below. In six weeks, I head to Puerto Galera in the Philippines. I cannot wait to film there. I'm getting more and more comfortable with the trusty little LX10. I like my rig as it is, but may consider a light upgrade in 2024. I'm using the BigBlue 4600PBs, but am being tempted by their bigger 7200PBs. The ROUS Channel

This weeks trip to the Florida Springs with the new Sony A7R V, Sony FE 28-60mm zoom and Nauticam WACP-C, a trifecta of optical performance. Little Devil Silhouette and dive buddy Courtland in the bowl at Devil's Eye looking into the cavern.

Hi Guavakal, I have the A7R5/Nauticam trigger combination. As Champers already said, syncronization is reliable at 1/200 and at 1/250 I see always a small dark region at the top of the image. In case you want 1/250 (and much more important. rear curtain sync) you need another trigger as e.g. turtle-trigger. I find the Nauticam trigger the best with respect of the "form-factor", but other triggers are, technically, more advanced... You can get the camera for much less here: https://www.e-infin.com/eu/item/11680/alpha_a7r_v_mirrorless_digital_camera_(body_only) Wolfgang

Hi Massimo, We returned just tonight from our trip to Egypt... You are completely right, I was wrong. A misunderstanding from my side - it does not matter, how the on-housing flash is triggered. This flash triggers the Anglerfish, no matter which camera trigger is used, but the Anglerfish is not able to trigger the remote Sea&Sea YS-D2 in my hands.. For remote triggering, I will use a remote Z330 in the future and work with one Z330 on the housing (maybe the Sea&Sea as second on-housing flash, but on-housing flash is not the important flash, when working with remote flash...). Wolfgang

Near Pulisan, northern Sulawesi. About 10 meters

How can Adam's actions, and the condition of Wetpixel's assets, be monitored and reported to the public? Who at present is capable and willing to monitor and report on Wetpixel's condition and Adam's actions? Will Wetpixel crash this coming May 2024? Or, might it be better to set up a new publication, say SeaPixel, with a new board, and start afresh?

Thanks for this.. Sent from my SM-F946B using Tapatalk

Banded it is then, the Blackbelly is much smaller in size. Keep an eye out for them though!

As Chris wrote, seeing some video would help us to give her more focused hints. The video posted by @bghazzal is really a good starting point and it applies to all videocamera. That video is part of a full playlist plenty of amazing tutorial on all aspects of underwater video making.

Many great shots here, thanks for sharing! I love the skeleton shrimp party just because I’ve never seen more than one.

Your little fish in question is a Blackbelly Blenny Stathmonotus hemphilii. Nice rare find!!

@bghazzal You mentioned "It's somewhat paradoxical to feel a decline in UW photography in a context where - quality aside - it's actually exploding, since waterproof equipment has never been as cheap or readily available." - although you don't mention UW photography while scuba diving - we have data on at least part of this.The number of newly certified scuba divers (WW) has been dropping year over year for close to a decade - the industry has reported on this consistently for the last number of years (both within the US and across Europe and Asia). So with fewer divers, there is most likely an impact on UW photography. It's fairly clear that people are looking to capture their experiences while underwater, however with fewer divers the # number is likely down as well. To your other point: more people are traveling than ever before. As these people experience new places they want to capture these in video/pictures. It's the "diving" bit that isn't a priority...

It's somewhat paradoxical to feel a decline in UW photography in a context where - quality aside - it's actually exploding, since waterproof equipment has never been as cheap or readily available. The decline is probably that of "traditional" specialist photography (and its culture), with big expensive camera rigs - linked to a specific, aging demographic able to not only afford the equipment but also have the time and funds to go use them somewhere - on the other hand, non-specialist UW imaging is probably on the rise worldwide. Taking underwater images is less of a frontier than what it used to be. Same goes for aerial photography, now that drones are cheap and affordable. But what of the quality? To a certain point, more accessible tools are indeed now competing with specialist equipment as mentioned - less so in some aspects such as control of shutter speed, depth of field, , which still require a little more control - but this might change with iphones and the like, AI and processing. Same goes for UW lighting, where beyond ambient light, results offered by strobes and video lights are still hard to beat - but this might also change with advances in LED technology. The technical requirements of UW macro photography are still some sort of frontier though. The Olympus TG series is the odd man out, as it was really the first to offer cheap, low-maintenance access to macro imaging, through the series' microscope mode digital zoom, and it still is a lone contender in this area. despite gopro / backscatter / inon / AOI forays into macro lenses for action cams But then again, gorgeous supermacro nudibranch pics are also less engaging than a manta selfie or snorkeling clips, immersive experience-based content, and speak mostly to people already in the game, so not sure this will be what drives UW forward on a broad scale. One other thing to consider is that tourism as we knew it is also evolving, and fast. It's difficult to imagine the impacts the onfolding climate crisis will have on our oceans, but also more broadly on global economies and lifestyles, including travel and leisure activities. The technology will certainly be there to shoot amazing content, but are we really so sure (a large demographic of...) people will still be traveling regularly to dive and snorkel, take UW footage and share these "very best life" holiday snippets online in 30 years?

I’m thinking it’s most likely a two-spot or Māori wrasse. ( Oxycheilinus bimaculatus) Or, maybe a flasher wrasse.

I just returned from 10 days at Papua Explorers Resort on the Dampier Strait. Fly into Sorong via Batik or Garuda, then its a 2 hour boat ride to the resort. My son and I had a great experience at the resort. I took an underwater photography course and my son got is PADI Advanced and Nitrox certifications. All aspects of resort operations were well-managed. The lodging was great, the food was delicious, and the diving was well-organized. They even have a room on the dock dedicated to underwater photographers. The resort owners are very conservation-oriented and really take care to limit their impact. They work closely with the local village and employ lots of the villagers. A special treat was an optional excursion to see the Red Bird of Paradise, which was a life bird for both of us. I'd go back to Papua Explorers in a heartbeat. In August, the liveaboards are all tied up for the season but the resorts offer a nice alternative. Weather was very cooperative for our diving. We're going back next spring for a liveaboard trip; either is a great option. Attached are just a few of the images I collected on the trip, taken with my old Nikon D800E in a Nauticam NA-D800 housing (before I acquired my Nikon Z8):

This isn’t accurate. Alex has been very vocal in an attempt to bring this issue to light and collect accounts from all of the victims (including himself). His assessment of the situation and Adam has been scathing to say the least.

And local guidelines too. The last two times I was in the Red Sea with low cost airlines i had no problem getting there but on the return, at the Marsa Alam airport there were guys walking around in airport uniforms (in some countries it is difficult to distinguish between roles) armed with scales and receipt booklets. In short time they carefully scanned all the rows of people who were checking in by weighing the carry-on bags one by one and applying the extra weight fees with a pickiness never seen before. There were so many protests and even the police intervened, who naturally agreed with the port operators. After half an hour they had collected a bunch of bills. A real planned operation to the detriment of tourists that was impossible to escape.

Putting the batteries in the LED trigger is not the way that is obvious. You need to make sure that the little tab that looks like it should be between the batteries is in fact on top of both. Have seen this issue come up multiple times. Bill