DEMA 2005 Show Report

by Christa Loustalot Thursday, October 20th, 2005

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Light & Motion

Light & Motion’s booth was gorgeous, and very, very, VERY busy. However, I lucked out when Barrett Heywood dropped everything to show me around. For starters they have the new Bluefin FX1 housing for the Sony HDR-FX1 and HVR-Z1U, and then there is the Bluefin HC1 for the Sony HC1, HC1000, V950 and PDX10. Last but certainly not least, the Tetra 7070 housing for the newly discontinued Olympus 7070. I really didn’t want to leave….and before I could…there was…Scootercam!! (check the photos)

Light & Motion Bluefin FX1 housing for the Sony HD HDR-FX1 and HVR-Z1U

Light & Motion Bluefin HC1 housing for the Sony HC1, HC1000, V950, and PDX10

Light & Motion Tetra 7070 housing for the Olympus 7070

Scootercam!! A QD swivel adapter for any housing that fits a tripod mount...

Barrett Heywood - President and CEO of Light & Motion, and John Larkin - Engineer and CTO. There was so much stuff, I could have stayed there all day....

Marine Camera Distributors

Unfortunately, the DEMA show directory didn't list MCD, so we missed their booth. (content coming)

NightSea

I anxiously made my way to NightSea’s booth to take a look at their products….and they weren’t there. Well, their booth was there, but it was empty. Darn. Disappointed, I contacted author and scientist Charles Mazel when I got back to see what happened. He assured me that NightSea was still around, but they just had to cancel their DEMA appearance at the last minute. They are not offering any new products this year, but they still have the same blue-light flashlights and fluorescence filters that they have been offering. If you haven’t seen the Wetpixel thread on NightSea, make sure you take a look, and then check out their website. Fluorescence photography is really neat! Charles did tell me that he has been working on a technique to take these photos during the day (whereas previously they were taken only at night). He will release this information on his website soon, so stay tuned!

Photo taken of the same coral with a NightSea Flourescense filter....during the day!

Photo taken of the a coral with in 10m of water at about noon

Sea & Sea

Sea & Sea’s booth looked like a high-class modern showroom – very sharp. Big and roomy and easy to get to the beautifully displayed products…reminded me of an art gallery. I asked Brad Lally for a few minutes of his time and he was more than happy to show me Sea & Sea’s new works of art. There are six new items being showcased this year:

The DX-D50 housing for the Nikon D50. Smaller and lighter than the D70, this little housing unites sophisticated function with ease of use.
The DX-350D housing for the Canon EOS Digital Rebel / XT / 350D. Another light and compact housing that is sure to please.
The YS-110 Digital TTL Strobe. This multi-function, all-camera-compatible strobe boasts a long list of functions that you’ll want to try out.
The VX-HC1 PRO housing for the Sony HDR-HC1 & HVR-A1J – An attractive package for those little camcorders.
The VX-FX1 housing for the Sony HDR-FX1 and HVR-Z1J – You have a wide-angle option with this one as well.
The DX-750G camera/housing combo. It’s so little! This 5 mega-pixel cutie fits in the palm of your hand and is the perfect camera for the diver who doesn’t want the big rig.

The Sea & Sea booth

The new 2006 catalog....very sharp

Sea & Sea DX-350D housing for the Canon EOS Digital Rebel / XT / 350D

Sea & Sea YS-110 TTL Digital Strobe

Sea & Sea DX-D50 housing for the Nikon D50

Sea & Sea VX-HC1 PRO housing for the Sony HDR-HC1 and HVR-A1J

Sea & Sea VX-FX1 housing for the Sony HDR-FX1 and HVR-Z1J

Sea & Sea DX-750G camera and housing combo

Brad Lally and Kevin McDonnell of Sea & Sea

Seacam

Harald Hordosch was not giving away any secrets, not even with some gentle and polite prodding from Stephen Frink…but he did happily give me the scoop on some new Seacam products that most of you probably don’t know about. The newest “Silver” that Seacam has to show off is their new Remote Control Cable. This you have GOT to see! It will come in two styles, curly cord or straight, in lengths up to 25 meters. Just imagine…with the cord connected to your Seacam housing, you position your camera close to the hidden Garden Eels and slowly squirm away. The eels rise, admiring the sleek silver housing at their…um…feet. Press the button halfway to focus, all the way to click the shutter…and BAM! You have the photo that every photographer wants but can never get. Sweet! Then there’s the new Seacam Wet Diopter – small, fits in your BCD pocket, comes in +2 or +4, and slips on and off the front of your flat Seacam port with ease. Look for these and more goodies (like a NEW Seacam digital flash) to be presented at the Antibes Festival…and the 5D? Soon my child….soon.

The Seacam booth

Harald Hordosch - President of Seacam - shows me the new Remote Control cable accessory (Photo courtesy of Stephen Frink)

The Seacam remote control cable and wet diopter system

The Seacam wet diopter - see how it fits nicely into the front of the Seacam port, and notice the small loop for easy removal

Seacam wet diopter

The Seacam remote control cable attached to a housing. Depressing the button halfway works the focus, depressing it all the way clicks the shutter. You'll have your choice of cables, curly or straight, up to 25 m long. Can you say Garden Eels?

Stephen Frink and Harald Hordosch show off Seacam's newest underwater housing....the MicroCam 2005X

And here it is...small enough to pin to your lapel and the TSA will never get their hands on it.....

A close up of the Seacam remote control cable

Here's Stephen with his new baby - the S.M.A.R.T (See Me And Respond Tube) - you gotta check this out. It's being distributed by Innovative Scuba Concepts. Ask for it at your LDS!

The S.M.A.R.T. Conceived by Stephen Frink - made for photographers - this safety sausage gives you a hands-free way to signal without dropping the camera. A one-way valve keeps the air in even if your BCD deflates, and it fits 80% of all BCD's. It's about time someone made one of these!

Great report Christa
Posted by Mike Veitch on 2005-10-22 05:17:45 That's Not bluriness! That's "swirlies" ! Please not center and other points of faces are IN focus! As stated, a "special" technique honed over muchos anos :) Plus cerveza..... dhaas
Posted by dhaas on 2005-10-21 17:19:31 You can relate the amount of bluriness to the amount of David's content of margarita :), it was a definite pleasure and a must do again event. Girl you have been busy and have done a great job on reporting.My tip of the hat to you. Beneath the Sea is coming up this spring, let's do that again.
Posted by Viz'art on 2005-10-21 15:00:43 Christa, It's ok, there were alot of people and it was loud. You did great! Love the picture of the NCUPS booth too. Thanks for including us. Best, Kathy
Posted by kathymm on 2005-10-21 13:18:27 Psyschadelic photos are a Haas Photography technique, only possible after 1-3 beers :) Wish they were bigger so you see the real effects !!!!!!!!! It was great fun and chatter, plus meeting many people from the Wetpixel community. Dave Haas
Posted by dhaas on 2005-10-21 12:46:27 Sorry Kathy about the name mix-up. It was really loud in there and I could not hear names very well...most of them I didn't even get. I apologize to Randy over the error. Christa
Posted by cloustalot on 2005-10-21 11:08:13 Great write-up and photos Christa! DEMA this year was really fun. It was nice to meet you all at the Wetpixel cocktail hour. Thank you to Eric, Bonnie, and Jean! Interesting how the photos got more psychadelic with each round of drinks. Best, Kathy Mendes BTW...Ryan is known as Randy when not at DEMA cocktail parties. :-)
Posted by kathymm on 2005-10-21 10:48:57 Well done Christa....lots of good information and photos for all of us who couldn't make it Karl
Posted by kdietz on 2005-10-21 08:11:56