Wednesday, July 25th, 2012

The trials, tribulations and perils of the Sardine Run

Wetpixel member Christian Loader has added a humorous personal account of the trials, tribulation and perils of trying to capture images of the annual sardine run off the East coast of South Africa to the Wetpixel Facebook page. In his tongue in cheek version, he describes spending hours at sea chasing bits of “action” only to be swamped by other snorkelers when you find it, trying to out-swim dolphins and sardines and getting swamped by waves. Sounds like fun then! Lest this sounds too negative, Christian also promises that he will return to do it all again.

Tuesday, July 24th, 2012

Alex Mustard image goes viral

A self-portrait of Wetpixel Associate Editor Alex Mustard “posing” with a friendly harbor seal (Phoca vitulina) at the Farne Islands, Northumberland, UK has gone viral. The image has been published in the UK daily papers including The Daily Mail and is now featured in The Huffington Post too. The Farne Islands seal rookery, with over 6,000 seals, has always had very interactive seals, but they do seem to be especially playful this season. The best time to visit and interact with them is from August through to October.

Tuesday, July 24th, 2012

Book Review: A guide to Underwater Wildlife Video and Editing

Wetpixel Editor Adam Hanlon reviews Jeff Goodman’s “A guide to Underwater Wildlife Video and Editing”. The book contains a wealth of information about shooting video underwater and serves as an excellent primer for all aspiring underwater filmmakers. In addition, the author’s personality and experiences provide a welcome counterpoint to the drier technical information

Monday, July 23rd, 2012

Canon announces EOS-M EVIL camera

Canon UK has announced the release of the EOS M camera. This is the company’s first offering of a mirrorless/EVIL camera. It features a 18 megapixel APS-C sensor, a hybrid phase detection AF system, native ISO from 100-12,800 and 1920 x 1080 HD video output in a mov format.

Also announced today are two new lenses for the EOS M, the EF-M 22mm f/2 STM pancake and the EF-M 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM standard zoom, and the camera will ship with the Speedlite 90EX flash. There is also an EOS-EFM adaptor available which will allow the use of all Canon EF lenses.

The EOS M will ship in September at a UK retail price of £769.99 with the EF-M 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens.

Sunday, July 22nd, 2012

Video shows Seacam D4 housing for use at the Olympics

UK camera retailer, Greys of Westminster, has posted a video featuring Neil Lucas introducing the Seacam D4 housing on YouTube. Lucas, formerly a producer with the BBC’s Natural History Unit was responsible for producing the under ice timelapse footage used in the BBC series Life and featuring worms and seastars. From minute 1:47, the video shows the housing as having external power connections as well as a LAN connection and 10 pin remote control. Lucas describes how the camera and housing will be used on a remote pan and tilt head and shot entirely remotely.

Sunday, July 22nd, 2012

White balance in Lightroom 4

Erin Quigley, a digital imaging consultant specializing in customized workflows and editing strategies, has posted the first part of a series entitled “Essential post processing for Underwater Photographers” on Vimeo. Erin is using Lightroom 4 for the series, and in the video, makes the excellent point that the editor’s eye will become accustomed to any color cast unless he or she uses the “" or “Y” shortcuts to toggle before and after views.

Friday, July 20th, 2012

iGills announces iPhone dive computer app and housing

iGills has announced a housing and app that allows the use of the iPhone as a dive computer, dive logger, underwater still and video camera, digital compass and back-up flashlight. The iGills SE-35 is an underwater iPhone case and electronic system developed for the iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, and iPhone 3GS and features on-board electronics including precision depth and temperature sensors that communicate with the iPhone. A six button diver interface provides navigation within the iGills app while diving. It is made of polycarbonate and stainless steel construction and depth rated to 130ft/40m.

The SE-35 is currently available to pre-order at $329.99.

Friday, July 20th, 2012

Aquatica announces the AD800 housing for the Nikon D800/D800e

Aquatica has announced the release of the AD000 housing for the Nikon D800/D800e SLRs. The housing features access to the Fn and DOF buttons situated around the lens bayonet. These can be programmed to provide a variety of additional functions. ISO, AF Lock and AF on all get their own levers, the latter two with a rotating collar that prevents ambient pressure from pushing them. It features three ports for additional bulkheads, and there are three standard versions, one with Nikonos, one with Ikelite and the third with Nikonos and fiber optic bulkheads.

Aquatica have not specified a release date for the AD800, but the retail price will be $3,359.00.

Thursday, July 19th, 2012

Zacuto publishes the results of the Great Camera Shootout 2012

Zacuto has published the results of its [Great Camera Shootout 2012]9http://www.zacuto.com/shootout-revenge-2012/revenge-the-great-camera-shootout-part-two). This “blind” testing compared footage from the Apple iPhone 4S, Panasonic GH2 (hacked), Canon 7D, Canon C300, Sony FS100, Sony F3, Sony F65, RED Epic and Arri Alexa by offering it to invited audiences of filmmakers and asking them to vote for their favorite. Th result was a massive first place for “no favorite” followed by the hacked Panasonic GH2 and then the Arri Alexa. The verdict is:

“While it’s an oft-repeated mantra in these shootouts, the fact is that cameras don’t make good movies, people do — and the results of our poll shows that most people don’t care what something was shot on.”

Full details of the Shootout are presented in a multi-part film entitled “Revenge of the Great Camera Shootout 2012” on the Zacuto website.

Wednesday, July 18th, 2012

Wetpixel D7000 housing review

When Nikon released the D7000 in September 2010, it was immediately apparent that they had produced a camera that was going to be significant for underwater use. By increasing the megapixel count and adding high ISO performance, a new EXPEED 2 image processing engine, new metering and AF systems, HD movies and 14 bit RAW processing, Nikon has produced a camera that competes with the Canon equivalents.

Since it’s introduction, it has been our aim to provide a comprehensive review of housings for it. Our original schedule was to do this by mid-March, but this has proved to be unachievable. What follows are the housings that have been supplied for review thus far, in the chronological order in which they were supplied. As new housings become available, they will be added to the review, so please check back frequently for updates.

Reviewed thus far: Nauticam NA-D7000, Ikelite SLR-DC for Nikon D7000, Aquatica AD7000, Sea & Sea MDX-D7000, Subal ND7000, Nauticam NA-D7000V and Hugyfot D7000

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