Wetpixel/Under The Jungle Cenote Workshop 2021
Articles
Review: Seacam Prelude D7000 Version 2 housing
Mike Mesgleski, of the Jim Church School of Underwater Photography, provides a review and overview of the Seacam Prelude housing for the Nikon D7000. The Prelude series of housings were originally supplied with a limited selection of camera controls. This was largely due to them being positioned as “entry level” Seacam housings, and in order to be price conscious. The popularity of the D7000 has forced the re-examination of its place as an underwater camera, and Seacam has responded with a new version, that incorporates many of the controls “missing” in the original iteration.
The Seacam Prelude D7000V2 sells for $3,499.00 at current exchange rates.
The Blue on Vimeo
Mark Peters has posted some amazing video from a GoPro, towed behind a boat in a “torpedo” of his own design, on Vimeo. The short film is about a fishing trip 20 miles west of Santa Cruz, that ended up being something completely different. Mark’s camera captured some of the best dolphin footage that I have seen for a long time. However, a warning is appropriate: This video starts off as being about fishing for Alabacore tuna, and there are scenes of these fish being gaffed. If you would rather not see such scenes, please skip to 1:23.
Freediving with whale sharks
Wetpixel publisher Eric Cheng has posted footage from a GoPro HERO showing him freediving under a whale shark on Vimeo. The film was shot during the Wetpixel Whale Shark aggregation expedition near Isla Mujeres, Mexico in 2011. The 2012 Wetpixel Whale Shark trip is coming to an end tomorrow, so I’m sure we can expect lots of similar footage being posted on the trip’s forum thread.
Nikon announces the Nikon 1 J2 EVIL camera
Nikon has announced the release of a new EVIL camera in its Nikon 1 J range. The J2 features a 10.1 megapixel CX-format CMOS sensor and the EXPEED 3 image processing engine, together with a new hybrid AF system, which combines both phase and contrast focus detection. Native ISO is from 100-3200, with a 10fps burst rate.
Nikon has also announced the release of a new 11-27mm f3.5 lens for the 1 series cameras and the WP-N1 housing for the J1 and J2. The new products will all be available from September, with the J2 camera with a 10-30mm lens at a retail price of $549.95, the 1 NIKKOR 11-27.5mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at $189.95 and the WP-N1 housing at $749.95.
Retra revises its Light Shaping Devices
Retra has released a third generation Light Shaping Device (LSD) and announced that it is now available in three different models. The LSD contains three elements; a light collector that gathers the light onto a small circular matted area, a kind of aperture, not meant for determining brightness, but the shape of the projected light spot and a lens that projects the light spot at a distance.
The three new versions are basic, pro, exclusive, are available now and start at €499.00.
National Geographic highlights threat to rays
Photographer and journalist Thomas P Peschak has an image and article featured in a double page spread in the August 2012 issue of National Geographic (NG) Magazine, which seeks to publicize the issue around mobula and ray fishing. The disturbing image shows rays for sale in a fish market in Sri Lanka. Thomas captured the image early in the morning using a long exposure which blurred the bustle of fishermen and traders but left the dead rays sharp and in focus. The NG article’s text is based on the excellent Shark Savers/Wild Aid “Manta Ray of Hope” report by Wetpixel moderator Shawn Heinrichs, Mary O’Malley, Hannah Medd and Paul J Hilton.
Countdown for entries to Raja Ampat tag contest
As announced previously, the 2013 Wetpixel Raja Ampat Entry Tag contest is now underway. If you would like your image or design to be worn on every diver who visits Raja Ampat’s BCD for the whole of 2013, and to win some fantastic prizes, you have just over a week to submit your entry. Entries will close at 12.00pm Pacific Standard Time on 15 August. The shortlisted entries will be open to the public vote on Wetpixel from 16 August.
Full entry details are on the contest’s page. There is no fee to enter up to two entries per person. Please note that for this year, we are only accepting entries from amateur designers and photographers, and that you must own individual copyright of all images, designs or design elements on your entries.
Seabed mining to commence in Papua New Guinea
The Guardian reported yesterday that the Papua New Guinea (PNG) government has granted a 20-year license to the Canadian firm Nautilus Minerals to commence the Solwara 1 project, the world’s first commercial deep sea mining operation. This will involve mining the seabed 1.6km beneath the Bismarck Sea, 50km off the coast of the PNG island of New Britain. The ore that will be extracted contains high-grade copper and gold. Opponents of the plan express concerns that the ecological impact is impossible to predict, but may well include the decimation of deep water organisms yet to be discovered by science, sediment plumes could expose marine life to toxic metals and indirect impacts that could clog the gills of fish, affect photosynthesis and damage reefs. They also claim that the Canadian company has:
“Found a place so far away from people that they can get away with any impacts. They’ve picked an underfunded government without the regulation of developed countries that will have no way of monitoring this properly.”