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DEMA 2008 coverage live from Las Vegas
The Wetpixel team leaves tomorrow for DEMA 2008 Las Vegas! As we have done every year since 2000, we will be on the floor live, posting photos and commentary of everything related to underwater photography and videography at the show. If you have any requests, please leave a comment here on the website and we will try to accommodate your request. We’ll also be representing Wetpixel and Wetpixel Quarterly magazine at our booth in the Imaging Resource Center (booth #3049, shared with Magic Filters and UwP Magazine), so please come visit!
Use this entry as an index to all of our DEMA coverage this year; check back periodically for updates! We should be done with all of our coverage by Friday, October 31.
DEMA 2008: i-Divesite
i-Divesite offers a range of accessories for underwater photographers, including Titan, a new set of strobe arms and clamps made of 100% titanium. Kelvin Lee told me that the arms resist rusting and are much stronger than standard aluminum arm systems, though pricing and weight may crimp that advantage.
Also new for this year was the i-Torch, a 3-LED focus light with a choice between “warm” color temperature or “bright white,” running on 4AA batteries and with a burn time of 1.5 hours…
DEMA 2008: Epoque World Co
Epoque World Co. had a selection of interesting housings and accessories on display, including the ERX-C1010 for the Canon Rebel XS/EOS 1000 10.1MP digital SLR. The housing allows for the internal flash to be deployed and used for TTL control over fiber-optic cable (compatible with Epoque’s EUS-C430 flash housing for the Canon 430/430 II).
Rated to 150 feet, the housing is also fitted with an S6 bulkhead for eTTL2 compatibility, and can be paired with three different flat ports or either of the Athena 170mm or 200mm dome ports…
DEMA 2008: Xit 404
Xit 404 is a new entrant to the underwater photography market, owned by frequenct Wetpixel shootout participants and forum members Mike and Jody Elliott.
Recognizing the recent surge in interest for macro and super-macro photographer, Xit 404 offers inexpensive focus gears for the Canon 100mm and Nikon 105mm macro lenses that can extend to allow for use with the 1.4x and 2x teleconverters. The gears are compatible with Subal and Aquatica housings…
DEMA 2008: Liquid Image Co
In early 2008, Liquid Image Co introduced the Explorer Series underwater camera mask rated to 5 meters for snorkelers, complete with a 3.1MP or 5MP camera built-in above the eye glass.
With Lithium-ion batteries, the mask can hold up to a 4gb microSD card for two hours of video or a few thousand 5MP photos, and come complete with a LCD status display to indicate number of remaining shots, remaining video record time, or memory full, as well an audio alert…
DEMA 2008: SeaBotix
Jeff Conger of SeaBotix walked me through some of the options on the Little Benthic Vehicle (LBV) mini-ROV - 600m to 1200m depth ratings, up to 2200m of tether cable, fiber-optic video feed.
The unit is neutrally buoyant and can be fitted with a number of accessories, whether grabber or cutting attachment, scanning sonar, echo-sounder, or thickness gauge, or a unique Crawler Skid with ‘vortex generator’ that allows the vehicle to suction onto vertical ship hulls and carry out inspection work…
DEMA 2008: JW Fishers Mfg
JW Fishers Mfg specializes in wired underwater video including handheld video cameras, drop-cameras, and towed-systems, most featuring lighting systems of multiple 100W halogens.
Christopher Combs showed me the new Sea-Otter 2 mini-ROV, half the size and half the weight of the original Sea-Otter 1. Featuring front and rear gimbaled video cameras, the ROV uses surface-supplied power to 500 feet depth and is activated by none other than a Sony PS2 controller…
DEMA 2008: Hydroacoustics Inc.
Hydroacoustics Inc was one of a few companies at DEMA exhibiting the latest in underwater ROV and mini-ROV technology. The basic Proteus series is rated to 500 feet with up to 5000 feet of tether cable, and provides joystick control (of unit, camera, lights, etc) and return video feed over a light, thin fiber-optic cable.
The unit can be equipped with LED lights, a sonar scanner for immediate topography mapping, and grabber arm, among other accessories, and provides direct video to the controlling computer…