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Olympus PT-020 Available

Back in October, we reported that Olympus Japan had announced the PT-020 housing for their new Olympus C-5060 camera. According to Ocean Optics (a UK shop), the PT-020 is now shipping! (Our sponsors at Marine Camera Distributors and OceanBrite also have it in stock). The PT-020 is the first PT housing to have an accessory shoe and a bulkhead for external strobe use. Wetpixel has an active forum topic about the PT-020.

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Sea & Sea USA -> TUSA

Belated news from Sea & Sea:

Sea & Sea Japan announced o­n December 10th that they would quit as distributor in the USA for financial reasons as of Dec. 23rd and that TUSA (Tabata USA) will pick up distributorship as of Jan. 1st 2004. Sea and Sea USA will continue to take dealer orders until the 17th of December and continue with fulfillment of these until December 19th. After that all orders will be taken at TUSA headquarters in Long Beach, CA after the Christmas and New Years holidays beginning o­n January 4th.

The transition is expected to be fairly seamless and under the guidance of TUSA President Stephen Ashmore operations will continue as they were with refinements being made to the program as needed.

The sales force will remain in place and continue to give all of our dealers the same level of professional support they have always given. We look forward to 2004 being a year of rebirth and with all of Sea and Sea's innovative and diverse product line will remain number o­ne in the underwater imaging marketplace.

More discussion in the forums.

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Light & Motion Titan D100 Review

Frequent contributor Rodger Klein has sent us a review of the Light & Motion Titan D100 housing.

Excerpt: As usual, Light & Motion has delivered a work of design art. Ergonomically efficient, it has both manual and electronic controls. The rear panel includes all available manual controls as well as the ROC ( Remote Optical Controller ) display. The ROC controls, as well as the Main Dial (Aperture) control, the Sub Dial (shutter), and Auto Focus control are located o­n the left and right handles (it

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Aquatica A300 Digital Rebel Housing

Aquatica has announced a new housing for the Canon Digital Rebel dSLR, available early 2004: The Aquatica A300 aluminum housing will accept the Canon Digital Rebel. This light and compact housing is only 9 x 6 1/2 x 5 1/4 inches and weighs only 6 1/2 pounds. It uses the standard Aquatica Bayonet mounting system, a positive system that leaves no doubt that your ports are securely in place and water tight. Aquatica's bayonet system of dome ports, macro ports, and extension rings offers the fastest access to lenses for rapid changing.

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INON’s New D-180S Strobe

INON America will officially begin sales of the D-180S strobe from December 15, 2003.

The D-180S has the same power and basic high performance as the full-featured D-180 but with a LED focus/target light and reduced features for improved cost performance. The D-180S features the same lightweight, compact body design as the D-180 for optimum performance and usability with modern digital cameras. Settable aperture range for External Auto mode: f/1.8

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EPIC: Call for Entries!

EPIC (Environmentally aware Photographic Image Competition) was the first underwater photo/video competition dedicated to the preservation of the marine environment by rewarding environmental awareness of the underwater world. EPIC proceeds are donated to the Marjorie L. Bank Scholarship, which sponsors an intern to pursue studies in environmental marine program. This scholarship is awarded yearly through the Our World Underwater Scholarship Society in Chicago, Il.

The deadline for entries is January 15th, 2004. There are two underwater digital categories, the newest being "Sharks". The winner in this category will be awarded a fantastic dive trip courtesy of Shark Diver Magazine. Please visit EPIC at www.epicphotocontest.org for all the details.

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Birmingham Image 2003 Festival Coverage

Wetpixel contributor Paul NG covers the Birmingham IMAGE 2003 Festival, in Birmingham, England.

Excerpt: "Many renowned international photographers (like Paul Kay and Constantinos Petrinos) were also o­n hand to sign their latest books o­n underwater photography. It was a real treat to chance upon a meeting at the Historical Diving Society

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Jonah 10D Housing Review

Wetpixel contributor Jason Grimes has returned from an exhaustive field-test of the Jonah 10D housing in Indonesia.

Excerpt: "Overall, the Jonah Housing performed remarkably well. I logged around 100 hours underwater using this housing and had very few problems, which is especially impressive considering it was o­nly the second housing ever made by Jonah for the Canon 10D.

"The owner of the company has rapidly responded to some of the issues related to the housing, such as replacing the button springs and the rubber nipples and I am extremely happy with its performance." [read the review]

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HydroOptix MEGA -4.5d Mask Review

We have posted a short review of the HydroOptix MEGA -4.5d panoramic mask, which gives wearers a wide-angle view of the underwater world.

Excerpt: "Barely twenty feet away was a 8'-9' hammerhead doing figure 8s, after having just chased a stingray under a coral head. I immediately signaled Laz and took off towards the shark, trying to adjust my zoom lens for a shot. Even though the shark was turning away, I'm convinced I never would have noticed it without the increased vision of the MEGA -4.5d mask." [read the review]

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