Aquatica announces the production of a new housing for the Nikon D7000 camera. Although housing specifications haven't been announced yet, we have been advised that this housing will be loaded with innovative features and new technologies. It will also feature a depth ratio of 100 meters/300 feet, fulfilling even the most demanding needs of technical divers.

In addition to these promising features, Aquatica will be offering this new housing at an attractive price point of 2,499 USD (retail price).

Estimated release date is early 2011.

Furthermore, if you wish to use your new AD7000 on an upcoming shark, pole bear or alligator expedition, you will be happy to find out that it is perfectly compatible with the new Aquatica Pole Cam System, designed especially for such risky missions! This modular pole system was designed in order to allow the photographer to stay off the food chain while providing them with the dramatic "in your face" close up image capabilities.

Curious to find out what the AD7000 Housing is going through these days?
Aquatica's Technical Adviser, Jean Bruneau, has written a 5-part series of articles which offers a behind the scenes tour of how an Aquatica housing is made, start to finish. Click Here for this great read.

Among modifications carried out since the preproduction prototype is a new retractable focus/zoom gear rack and lens release lever. Pulling out these controls clears the path for installing and removing the camera/lens assembly. Replacing the battery, card or lens now becomes a simple task to do. The controls layout has been ergonomically positioned with vital functions (for both stills and video), all being accessible at the tip of your fingers.

The Aquatica AT2i Housing is manufactured in North America by a team of highly trained individuals from a company with over 28 years of experience in making underwater photography housings. The housing is manufactured from the best quality aluminum and high grade stainless steel components, which will not rust. The housing shell is treated to a military specification anodizing process and covered with a protective layer of baked powder coating. The Aquatica AT2i is designed and destined to provide its owners with years of loyal services.

Aquatica housings have long been known for offering a wide variety of strobe connectors to accommodate most of all lighting requirements for underwater photography. The Aquatica AT2i is no exception, and for optical strobe usage, a simple and easily accessible knob has been added, which allows the built in flash of the camera to be lowered for the purpose of ambient light images. Activating a push button allows to raise it when the photographer wishes to return to strobe illumination.

Since the introduction of video on modern cameras, it has become imperative that both still and video controls be made as equally accessible. This has been accomplished on the Aquatica AT2i housing with the use of internal control extenders, none being held by fasteners passing through the housing shell, thus eliminating the risk of leaking from through retainers. All controls are sealed with dual sealing O-rings and all push buttons are equipped with sealing Quad-rings. Aquatica is committed to the safety of the camera. The 300ft/90m depth rating and sturdy construction bears testimony to this fact.

Also introduced this summer and now available are two ports:

• 4” Mini dome 100 (#18410)
• Low profile Macro Port (# 18429), designed especially for the Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro lens

All this, coupled with the fact that the Aquatica AT2i is one if not the smallest of housings for the Canon T2i on the market, will make packing this housing kit a dream for travelling.

SharkTees is a company that offers an exceptional collection of T-Shirt designs, including scuba T-Shirts, zodiac T-Shirts, celebs T-Shirts, eco T-Shirts, humor T-Shirts and more. These T-Shirts dare to make a difference, featuring innovative, original, creative and exclusive ideas, based on the world of scuba diving, celebs, horoscope, humor, politics and ecology.

One of the most fascinating facts about SharkTees T-Shirt designs, is that they are all created by the famous and talented artist, caricaturist, scuba diver, journalist, world news specialist and T-Shirt freak, Shlomo Cohen.

Shlomo Cohen has been diving since 1969 and was one of the first in the region to be certified as a Dive Master. Back then, dive sites in the Red Sea were hardly mapped and the most impressive coral reefs were mainly a matter of rumor. Shlomo’s natural tendency to creativity led him to an adventurous experience, in which he had slowly revealed the most attractive Red Sea dive sites, mapped them within extraordinary accurate drawings and released the first Red Sea dive sites guide in 1975. Dive sites discovered and mapped by Shlomo back then are nowadays some of the most popular dive sites in the Red Sea, including the world famous Dunraven wreck.

Ever since, Shlomo has become an internationally acknowledged scuba diving artist and writer. Up until now, Shlomo has managed to create over 40 logos for the diving industry, to edit 15 dive guides and to map numerous world famous dive sites by incredibly fascinating three dimensional illustrations.

However, throughout the years, the scuba diving world served only as one source of inspiration out of many for Shlomo. His impressive general knowledge and deep acquaintance with a variety of fields, such as politics, environmental conservation considerations and cultural issues, led to a wide variety of creations dealing with almost any theme one can come up with.

For instance, one of Shlomo’s eco designs called “Fried World” and featured as one of the T-Shirt designs on SharkTees, has won the 3rd prize on the Ranan Lurie Political Cartoon Awards category of the UNCA 2009 competition, which is an annual international competition among artists, held by the United Nations Society of Writers and Artists. This award winning humor eco drawing was designed in light of one of the most pressing environmental issues nowadays being dealt with – global warming. Our earth is originally introduced on this eco humor design as being fried like an egg as result of global warming factors. The design has won the prize due to a unique and amusing combination of humor and serious contemporary environmental hazards.

Being a big fan of T-Shirts, Shlomo recently decided to share his unique, amusing and original art by printing them on fine T-Shirts, thereby enabling the public to further enjoy his work.


And this is what SharkTees is all about.

On the SharkTees website you will find a wide variety of designs and caricatures created by Shlomo, offered to be printed on high quality 160 grams (5.64 ounce) ###### T-Shirts within an advanced, state-of-the-art digital printing method.

Professional digital printers used for this purpose feature four CMYK print heads and four white print heads, enabling to reach high printing resolutions while achieving exceptional color prints with many shades. This innovative and advanced printing technology allows SharkTees to offer T-Shirts with high quality prints, as never seen before.

These exclusive and innovative T-Shirts can be ordered through the SharkTees website. A user friendly platform has been established in order to allow you to fully customize your T-Shirt, including model, color, size and printed design. In addition to the original T-Shirt model, you can also find on SharkTees a nice selection of long sleeve shirts, tank-tops and V color shirts. Once ordered, T-Shirts can be shipped to almost anywhere in the world.

If you have the perfect photo or graphic design that captures the excitement and beauty of scuba diving in Raja Ampat, Indonesia, enter this contest for a chance to have your image printed on the 5,000 park tags that will be attached to BCDs of visiting divers!

This year's contest is limited to non-professional (amateur) photographers only. Entries from professional photographers will not be accepted.

The lucky winner of the 2011 Raja Ampat tag design contest will be able to choose an all-inclusive, minimum 10-day dive trip for two people at one of the following resorts or liveaboards in Raja Ampat (subject to availabilty, excludes airfares):

• Seven Seas
• Papua Seahorse Paradise
• Papua Diving
• Smy Ondina
• Dive Damai
• Worldwide Dive and Sail
• Misool Eco Resort

To enter the contest, submit up to 2 photos or graphic designs per contestant before midnight (PST) on Monday, September 6th, 2010. After finalists are chosen, the public will vote for the best image or design until October 11th, 2010. Winners will be announced on October 13th, 2010.

• Prepare your images. Images should be in JPG format, 5 MB maximum file size. High-resolution images preferred, but smaller images will also be accepted(minimum: 1200-pixels in the long dimension). Each contestant may submit up to 2 images or designs.
• Rename your images so the filenames include your full name. This is very important because if your filename doesn't include your name, judges won't be able to associate it with you!
• Email your image to rajacontest@wetpixel.com. Include your full name, email address, alternate email address, mailing address, and phone number. If you cannot e-mail large files from your e-mail account, sign up for a new account at gmail for use in entering this contest.
• Reminder: this year's tag design contest is limited to non-professional photographers only. If you consider yourself to be (or if the judges consider you to be) a professional photographer, your submission will not be accepted.

• Sep 6, 2010 - Submission deadline (via e-mail)
• Sep 10, 2010 - Finalists announced, public voting begins
• Oct 11, 2010 - Public voting ends
• Oct 13, 2010 - Winners announced!

For further information and registration please Click Here.

Among the (many) goodies you will find on the 56th Issue of the Underwater Photography Magazine:

• Shark Death - A Waste of Life
• World Festival of Underwater Pictures in Marseille, France
• Epson Red Sea Full HD Underwater Live Broadcasts
• Basking Sharks of Cornwall, England with Mauricio Handler
• Golden Trident 2010 - The Nobel of the Sea to Jean-Claude Uldry
• Brighton Pier with Maria Munn
• 2011 Raja Ampat Entrance Tag Design Contest
• A Ray of Hope for Manta Rays in Brazil
• Ocean Art Photo Competition 2010
• Waterworld Images Dominica ##### Whale Trips
• MacGillivray Freeman Films Launches “One World Ocean”
• Blue Water, White Sharks with Charles Hood
• The inaugural International Dive Photo Contest of Timor-Leste

• Sea&Sea DX-GE5
• Wild Waters
• The Beginner’s Guide to Underwater Digital Photography by Larry Gates
• Nimar Nikon Housings
• New Depth Rating for Sea & Sea MDX-7D Housing and Ports
• UNZ-2449 Universal LCD 3x Magnifier for Underwater Housing LCDs
• Nauticam NA-550D Housing for the Canon T2i
• Ikelite Panasonic ZS5, ZS7, TS8 & TZ10
• Ikelite Housing for Canon SD4000IS, IXUS 300HS & IXY 30S
• Sensational Seas Two
• New BS Kinetics Universal Housing for Camcorders
• INON X2 Housing for Panasonic GF1
• UnderWater Camera Stuff Housing Sentry
• Ikelite Housing for Flip SlideHD Camcorder
• Underwater New South Wales DVD
• Gates HMR10/HCK10 POV Housings

• Olympus E-PL1 & PT-EP01 Housing by Phil Rudin
• The Sigma 17-70mm - A lens for the indecisive? by Alex Tattersall
• Nauticam White Balance Port by Peter Rowlands
• SeaLife DC1200 by Peter Rowlands
• Leak Insure by Alex Mustard
• Shooting SLR Video by Berkley White
• Over/Unders by Peter Verhoog
• Digital Infrared by Kathy White
• Shark Shootout by Joseph Tepper
• La Palma caves by Glenn Lawyer
• Lobelia lakes by Ole Pedersen
• Walea by Angel Cegarra
• Sea of Dragons by Erik Henchoz
• Low Lee Reef by Mark Webster
• Book Review by Dan Bolt
• Parting Shots by Joe Dovala, Morris Gregory and Alex Tattersall

Download the 56th Issue of the UwP Magazine by Clicking Here.
All you are required to do in order to download the latest issue is to subscribe for free.

The 17th Issue of the Underwater Journal magazine is now available for free download.

The following articles are featured on this issue:

• Key Largo Reloaded- A father-son dive with Spencer Slate revives cherished memories about diving the Florida Keys.
• Bonne Terre Mine- Diving in North America’s underground billion gallon lake. Walk down an old mule trail to get to your next exciting dive site.
• Beyond the Basics- Teaching an old dog new tricks. The perspective of a veteran technical instructor’s transition to diving rebreathers.
• Laguna Beach Resort- A look at one of Utila, Bay Islands premier dedicated dive resorts.

• Goliath Summer- South Florida’s BIG SHOW is underway. Why you shouldn’t miss spending some time with reef cruisers bigger than you, Goliath groupers.
• Dangerous Seafood- What you need to know about toxins in our beloved table fare.
• Kona Manta Concert- A night to remember diving Kona’s acclaimed coast.

Click Here to download the 17th Issue for free.

Nauticam NA-550D

Nauticam: Innovation Underwater

Innovative Nauticam NA-550D Housing features compact size, new locking latches, new lens release lever, new two stage shutter release, and continues the Nauticam tradition of unmatched ergonomics.

Canon EOS Rebel T2i

The newest member of the Canon DSLR lineup boasts an impressive number of advanced features at an entry level price point. Depending on territory, this camera is known as the Canon Digital Rebel T2i (North America), Kiss X4 Digital (Japan) or the Canon EOS 550D (worldwide). With its 18 megapixel sensor and 1080p HD video with manual exposure control, some pundits have called it a baby 7D.

Call it what you will, this camera is now ready to go exploring the underwater world! Nauticam is proud to announce the imminent arrival of the NA-550D housing for Canon 550D/T2i. The NA-550D housing inherits the renowned piano keys from NA-7D housing, patented Nauticam port locking system, comfortable rubberized handles, and innovative ergonomic access to key camera controls. New features include locking housing latches, lens release lever, a fingertip ISO paddle, and access to the camera’s playback button from the left handle.

Unmatched Ergonomics

In keeping with the Nauticam philosophy, the NA-550D housing continues to innovate while building on previous success. Notable examples are the AV+/- switch, new fingertip paddle on the top of the housing to allow easy access to ISO control, a unique rocker lever for easy access to the star (*) and focus point selector buttons, and a piano key for accessing the quick control button. The playback button is moved out to a lever on the left side of the housing accessed from the handle by the user’s thumb. All of these controls are designed to allow the underwater photographer complete access to the camera’s important functions without removing their hands from the handles. AV +/- is a pushbutton on the back of the camera body that must be held down while rotating a command wheel to change F-Stop in Manual Exposure Mode. The Nauticam AV +/- switch brings this control to the right side of the housing, easily accessed from the handle. This two position switch has a position for adjusting f-stop, and a position for adjusting shutter speed, eliminating the press and hold or long reaches required by other housings. The fingertip ISO paddle is designed with video shooters in mind, allowing quick exposure changes from the handle.

Continued Innovation

Another innovative ergonomic advancement is Nauticam’s new two stage shutter release lever. This mechanical lever greatly enhances tactile feel of the half press and full press positions of the shutter release button, allowing precise focus control, and less accidental shutter actuation.

New, easy to use locking latches eliminate the stainless steel latches used previously. This new closure method reduces overall size and is easier to operate. These locking latches are easy to close with minimal hand strength required, and protected from accidental opening by a locking detent.

A lens release button is offered as standard equipment, allowing lens changes while a zoom gear is attached without opening the housing back.

NA-550D housing is the smallest housing in the Nauticam lineup, which should appeal to anyone concerned with the large size of some DSLR housings. This housing can still accommodate the same accessories as all other Nauticam housings, allowing use of an extensive line of lenses, ports, port adapters, lens gears, and viewfinders.

Patented Locking Port Release Lever & Locking Extension Rings

Nauticam’s acclaimed Patented Locking Port Release Lever is incorporated into the NA-550D housing. Lens ports are inserted straight into the Nauticam mount, eliminating the twisting or threading actions that can extrude dry o-rings. Once seated, the large red port lock lever is engaged, securely locking the port in place. To remove a lens port, the silver unlock button is pressed, the port lever rotated to the outer position, and the port is pulled straight out of the housing.

Nauticam is pleased to offer the industry’s only locking extension ring system as standard equipment, securely fixing large dome ports even when mounted with an extension ring.

Patented Expanded Viewfinder

Nauticam’s optional accessory viewfinder provides a crystal clear life size view of the camera’s optical viewfinder through a diving mask. The patented external dioptric adjustment allows eye relief to be fine tuned in water. High quality optics eliminate distortion and keep color fringing to an absolute minimum. The edge to edge, magnified viewfinder image makes confirming fine focus and checking corner composition an absolute breeze.

Port Adapters for Other Housing Lines

Nauticam offers a full range of port adapters allowing existing housing owners to use their current ports. This greatly reduces the cost of switching to a Nauticam housing, and brings the benefits of Nauticam Innovation to a wide range of underwater photographers! Port Adapters are available for Aquatica, Ikelite, Inon, Nexus M5, Nexus M6, Sea & Sea NX, Seacam, Subal Version 3, Subal Version 4, and Zillion lens ports.

Optical Flash Connectors for Inon S-TTL, and Sea & Sea DS-TTL

Reliable automatic flash exposure is available with Nauticam housings and a variety of optically fired flashes. Inon Z-240, D-2000, S-2000, Sea & Sea YS-110 Alpha, and YS-01 strobes provide automated lighting, precisely reproducing the camera’s onboard flash at a proportionally greater intensity. This system yields accurate TTL flash performance with no electrical sync cables to flood! Nikonos, Ikelite, and S6 style flash connectors are available as optional accessories for customers utilizing legacy electrically fired strobe systems.

Rubberized Ergonomic Handles

Nauticam uses a sophisticated over-mold process to produce extremely comfortable rubberized ergonomic hand grips. Handles are available in two sizes to accommodate customers with different size hands, and spacers are available with the housing for cold water divers.

Proven Construction Materials

Nauticam Housings are machined from a solid block of seawater resistant aluminum alloy, then hard anodized making them impervious to corrosion. All hardware is marine grade stainless steel. Acrylic windows protected with a scratch resistant material.

Specifications

• Depth Rating: 100m
• Dimensions: 325mm (180 mm without handles) x 158mm x 120mm
• Weight: TBD

Standard Features

• Patented Locking Port Release Lever
• Sensitive Two Stage Shutter Release Lever
• Optical Strobe Connectors
• Rubberized Ergonomic Grips
• Customizable Accessory Hole (allowing use of optional Nikonos, S6, or Ikelite Strobe Connectors and Hydrophone, Video Out, and Remote Control Connectors)
• Embossed Control Function Labels
• Quick Release Camera Mounting Shoe
• Lens Release Button
• Four Strobe & Accessory Base Mounting Locations
• Complete Access to All Key Camera Controls
• .66x Optical Pickup Finder (Enhanced 180 deg Viewfinder with External Diopter Adjustment Optional)

USA Retail Price, $2500

Estimated Shipping Date, June 14

More information is available from Nauticam USA.

Contact Nauticam USA:

Chris Parsons

Nauticam USA

3320 NE 32nd Street

Fort Lauderdale, FL 33308

954-489-8678

http://www.nauticamusa.com

innovation@nauticamusa.com

About Nauticam USA:

Nauticam USA is the exclusive wholesale distributor of Nauticam products in the North American Market. Nauticam USA’s warehouse and service center is located in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Our staff of underwater photography experts strives to provide the best customer support and after sale service available. Dealer inquiries are welcome!

Want to be Invited to the Epson Red Sea 2010 Competition

FREE OF CHARGE?

Compete for the title "Photographer of the Year"!

Between the months of April and August, the Epson Red Sea 2010 online competition will take place. Each month during the competition, amateur and professional photographers from all over the world are invited to submit a portfolio of 3 digital photos. By the end of each month, 3 photographers will be announced as the winners of that particular month, chosen both by the public and by a panel of 5 international judges.

An online competition among all the monthly winners (15 photographers) will then begin on September 1st, 2010. Online voters and a panel of 5 internatioal judges will eventually select one of the competitors as the Photographer of the Year.

Flights, accommodation (BB) and diving costs of the Photographer of the Year will all be covered, in order to enable this winner to participate at the Epson Red Sea 2010 shoot-out in Eilat.

So starting from April 1st, you can start submitting images to the competition by CLICKING HERE. Don't have any winning images yet? What are you waiting for! Get into the water...


Epson Red Sea 2010

The 6th annual Epson Red Sea competition will be held on November 8-13, 2010 in Eilat. A wide variety of innovative categories and worhy prizes are included this year, which makes it very much worthwhile to be elected as the Photographer of the Year.

>> Click Here for Epson Red Sea 2010 Innovative Categories and Prizes

See you on April 1st!

Best Wishes,

David Pilosof
www.eilatredsea.com
+972-9-7457055

Aquatica proudly introduces the BK-7 coated glass Mini Dome 100.

This new addition to their already fine line of ports is ideally suited for fisheye lenses, such as the Nikon 10.5mm, Tokina 10-17mm and Sigma 10mm.

Because of its small diameter of only 100mm (4 inches), its reduced frontal signature means you can really sneak up on a subject and have the extra room to properly position your strobes in ultra close-up wide angle situation. Its miniature size and lighter weight are welcome features by travelling underwater photographer in these days of increased travel restrictions.

Made from grounded BK-7 mineral glass and polished to perfection, the Mini Dome 100 is competitively priced without compromising on quality.

Discriminating photographers will appreciate the integration of optical anti reflection and scratch resistant coatings provided at no extra cost.

The Mini Dome 100 will shortly be made available for other housing brands.

• Depth rated to 90m / 300ft
• Made from BK-7 mineral glass
• Suggested Retail Price: 699 USD
• Available: Spring 2010

The 15th Issue of the Underwater Journal Magazine is now available for free download.

The following articles are featured on this issue:

• Farnsworth Bank: A snap shot of a truely great California dive, when Mother Nature lets you
• DSMB’s: A look into the types of Diver Surface Marker Buoys and why you should have one
• Red Demons: Sleek, fast, powerful & voracious. What you should know about Dosidicus gigas, the Humboldt Squid
• Dolphin Dream: Taking in the exciting reaches of the Little Bahama Banks on board the M/V Dolphin Dream
• Fiji’s Shark Reef Reserve: How Fiji maybe setting the new bench for both the protection of sharks and the continuation of shark dives
• Frozen Fins: Put down that glass of iced tea and jump into a form of diving under the ice that can really exhilarate the senses
• Superior Producer: Looking back on one of Curacao’s great wreck dives, the Superior Producer
• Parting Shot: Sometimes keeping it simple can land truely stunning underwater imagery

Among the goodies you will find on the 53rd Issue of the UWP Magazine:

• ‘The Red Sea in Focus’ - Cameras Underwater and blue o two
• Worldwide Dive and Sail Photo Courses
• Amazing Seas Book Event
• Komodo and Rinca with Alex Mustard
• Bunaken and Lembeh with Eco Divers
• Underwater Images 2010 Entries now being accepted!
• DivePhotoGuide Tutorials

• Diveross DSLR housings
• Ikelite Kodak Zi8 Camcorder housing
• Fisheye filter holder
• INON 28AD DC35
• Zen Underwater DP-100 100mm Fisheye Dome Port
• Sea & Sea YS-01 strobe
• Leak Insure’s Ultra Absorbent Sachets
• INON Panasonic M67 Adapter
• Nauticam arrives in the UK
• INON MRS100 Port UIII
• Ikelite Photo School, Wakatobi
• FinePix F80EXR and WPFX-F80 housing
• INON X-2 for Panasonic GF1
• Ultima Digital Hasselblad H2D II housing
• Sea & Sea MDX-D300s housing

• Canon 7D Housing Review By Berkley White
• Canon 7D, Aquatica A7D and Fibre Optics by Glenn Lawyer
• Olympus E-620 SLR, PT-E06 and UFL-2 strobe by Rob Spray
• Memory Kick review By Alex Mustard
• Lightzone Software By Peter Rowlands

• The Aquarium Diver by Marcelo Mariozi
• The Sunken Goose By Joseph C. Dovala

• How can you be so happy when your photos ####? by Craig Reynolds
• Marine life Summer and Autumn by Mark Webster
• Photographing the Great White Shark By Don Silcock

• The End of the Line by Peter Rowlands

• by Pete Atkinson and Alex Mustard

Download the 53rd issue of the UWP Magazine by Clicking Here.
All you are required to do in order to download the latest issue is to subscribe for free.

Aquatica announces that Canon's new flagship camera, the Canon 1Ds MK IV, is a perfect fit for Aquatica's current housing for the Canon 1DS MKIII.
No modifications are required and no function or access buttons are sacrificed when using the newer Canon body. In addition, access to the video mode of the MK IV model is fully enabled.

It turns out that right from the beginning, Aquatica’s design team aimed to provide photographers with complete access to as many controls as possible. Thanks to this foresight, easy access to the FEL button, used to activate video capture, was already enabled, as well as access to other essential buttons, such as exposure compensation, ISO and the illuminator control. Therefore, reassignment of these functions through the DSLR's custom menu setting is not necessary in order to make use of all functions.

• Totally new 45-point autofocus system that's claimed to fix all the issues reported with its predecessor
• 10 fps continuous shooting
• New 1.3x crop (APS-H) 16.1 megapixel CMOS sensor
• EOS HD movie with manual exposure control and multiple frame rates
• ISO 100 - 12800 (expandable to L: 50, H1: 25600, H2: 51200, H3: 102400) for shooting from bright to dim light with low noise levels
• 3.0-inch ClearView II LCD monitor, 160° viewing angle, 920,000-dot VGA
• Magnesium alloy body with shutter durability up to 300,000 cycles and exclusive dust- and weather-resistance

• Depth rating: 300 feet/90 meters
• Precision machined from a single aluminum block
• Fully anodized to military specifications and coated with polyurethane powder paint and clear coat
• All function labels are pad printing so they do not peel off or fade
• Accurately balanced ergonomic design - all controls are within easy reach
• Replaceable sacrificial anodes protect the housing from electrolysis
• Bayonet Port: Positive bayonet mounting ensure that your ports are secure in place and watertight
• Fingertip access to all camera menu controls including On-Off, Mode, bracket, Meter positioning, focus control and AE/AF lock as well as AF preferences
• Lens release lever for easy lens changing through the front port with camera installed
• Built-in remote control compatibility, no modifications or special connectors to install
• Viewfinder: built-in viewfinder that derives a large and bright image in full frame viewing. An accessory Aqua View Finder is also available

DivePhotoGuide and Wetpixel have announced the winners of the 5th annual Our World Underwater international underwater photography and video competition. The competition was held in association with Our World Underwater and is part of a joint series often referred to as the "Super Bowl" of international underwater imagery events, with world-class prizes, esteemed celebrity judges, and significant global media support.

Thousands of entries were received from dozens of countries and the winners represented fourteen countries. The quality level of the images submitted was very high, and the bar is continually being set higher each year. A formal statement from the judges can be found Here.

The winners were presented during the film festival at a special 40th anniversary Our World Underwater show in Chicago.

Photographers and videographers competed in seven still-image categories and two video categories, to win nearly $50,000 in prizes including premium dive trips, underwater photography and video and diving equipment and more. Dive packages to some of the top photo destinations in the world included the Sea of Cortez, Wakatobi-Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, the Red Sea, Grand Cayman, the Solomon Islands, Vietnam, and Norway. Other prizes included underwater strobes, focus lights, and Cressi dive equipment.

Esteemed judges included leading professional underwater photographers, cinematographers and magazine editors. Eric Cheng, David Doubilet, Ric Frazier, Alex Mustard, and Berkley White comprised the judging panel for still categories and Steve Douglas, Eric Hanauer, and Mary Lynn Price for video categories.

Winning images are published by supporting media partners worldwide, and Divefilm.com will be podcasting the winning videos as episodes of the iTunes-featured DiveFilm Podcast Video and DiveFilm High Definition Podcast Video.

As with all Wetpixel and DivePhotoGuide competitions, 15% of proceeds will be donated to marine conservation efforts.

Congratulations to all winners! I would have added "lucky", but the truth is that luck has nothing to do with what you're about to see below...

• Gold - Keri Wilk from Canada with "Stargazer"
• Silver - Keri Wilk from Canada with "Mantis"
• Bronze - Acevedo Eduardo from Spain with "Multitude"
• Honorable Mention - Todd Mintz from Canada with "Room with a View"
• Honorable Mention - Acevedo Eduardo from Spain with "Eggs"
• Honorable Mention - Magnus Lundgren from Sweden with "Pelagic Merlin"

• Gold - Luc Eeckhaut from Belgium with "Froggy and Shrimpfish"
• Silver - Jeffrey de Guzman from Philippines with "Glass House"
• Bronze - Yigal Aharoni from Israel with "Reflection"
• Honorable Mention - Michele Davino from Italy with "Thanks to Keri"
• Honorable Mention - Keri Wilk from Canada with "Stargazer"
• Honorable Mention - Ross Gudgeon from Australia with "Olive Sea Snakes Mating"

• Gold - Keri Wilk from Canada with "Squid"
• Silver - Keri Wilk from Canada with "Octopus Eye"
• Bronze - Maxim Tomashevich from Russian Federation with "Starting a new life"
• Honorable Mention - Jody Elliott with "Woaaah!"
• Honorable Mention - Esteban Toré from Spain with "Diver down flag"
• Honorable Mention - Indra Swari Wonowidjojo from Indonesia with "Zebra Crossing"

• Gold - David Barrio from Spain with"Mistery Wreck"
• Silver - Fredrik Ehrenström with "Waterlily and Perch"
• Bronze - Carlos Villoch from Spain with "Natural Net"
• Honorable Mention - Stuart Westmorland from United States with "Lucky Triple"
• Honorable Mention - Alexander Safonov from Hong Kong with "hitting sailfish"
• Honorable Mention - Jose Alejandro Alvarez

• Gold - Keri Wilk from Canada with "Lily Pads"
• Silver - Gianni Pecchiar from Italy with "Ray of light"
• Bronze - Bartosz Strozynski from Poland with "Next Way"
• Honorable Mention - Fredrik Ehrenström with "Pink Waterlily"
• Honorable Mention - Ross Gudgeon from Australia with "Inner Glow"
• Honorable Mention - Jonas Thormar from Denmark with "Leopard on ice"

• Gold - Matt Curnock from Australia with "Inquisitive"
• Silver - Stephen Holinski from Canada with "Mantis Shrimp with Eggs"
• Bronze - Stephen Holinski from Canada with "Giant Frogfish"
• Honorable Mention - Tamás Szabó from Hungary with "The boss and the gang"
• Honorable Mention - Anders Korsvall from Sweden with "Pygmy Seahorse"
• Honorable Mention - Guy Carter from Australia with "Tangler on Tippy Toes"

• Gold - Jeremy Kozman from United States with "Curves"
• Silver - Francesco De Marchi from Italy with "Harlequin shrimps - Hymenocera elegans"
• Bronze - Jeremy Kozman from United States with "Sand Tiger"
• Honorable Mention - Isgro Paolo from Italy with "Diabolic "
• Honorable Mention - Steven Jacobs from United States with "Shark Patrol""

• Gold - Bruno Vanherck with "Belgica"
• Silver - Kris Wilk with "Alien Rhythm"
• Bronze - Mike Elliot with "Rasta Pasta"

• Gold - Zsolt Sasdi with "Survivors"
• Silver - Shawn Heinrichs with "Reef's End"
• Bronze - David Vik with "The Way It Used To Be"

For high res winning images, Click Here.

The following are the winners of the BTS International 2010 listed by competition categories:

Grand Prize is a week at the Manta Ray Bay Hotel and diving with Yap Divers.

• First Place - Salt Water Crocodile, H Chng, West New York, New Jersey

• First Place - Lilly, Keri Wilk, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
• Second Place - Lightflower, Pedro Carrillo-Montero, Madrid, Spain
• Third Place - The Bridge , Tobias Friedrich, Wiesbaden, Germany
• Honorable Mention - Wale and Friend, Peter Allinson, Kingsville, MD
• Honorable Mention - Diver dream, Tomashevich Maxim, Moscow, Russia

• First Place - Humpback Calf, Isabelle M Thiebaud, Port Stephens, NSW, Australia
• Second Place - Dolphin in the Sun, Noam Kortler, Eilat, Israel
• Honorable Mention - Inner Glow, Ross Gudgeon, Exmouth, WA

• First Place - Shrimp Resting , Gery Beeckmans, Sint Niklaas, OH, Belgium
• Second Place - Stargazer, Keri Wilk, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
• Honorable Mention - Algae Sprout, Keri Wilk, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
• Honorable Mention - Skeleton Girls, Bettina Balnis, Velbert, Germany
• Honorable Mention - Shrimp on Cranoid, Noam Kortler, Eilat, Israel

• First Place - First Born Seahorse, Lazaro M. Ruda, Lake Park, FL
• Second Place - The Next Generation, Kat Ramage, Grand Cayman
• Third Place - Blue Snack, Bettina Balnis, Velbert, Germany
• Honorable Mention - Loving Sepia's, Luc Rooman, Kieldrecht, Belgium

• First Place - Trapped, Leong Yow Chee, Singapore
• Second Place - Struggle for Freedom, Karel Bernard, Tallinn, Harjumaa, Estonia
• Third Place - The Weight of the World, Karen W. Doody, Morehead City, NC
• Honorable Mention - Invasive Lionfish Extraction, Karen W. Doody, Morehead City, NC
• Honorable Mention - Hooked for Life, Phil Sokol, San Diego, CA

• First Place - The Gang, Karel Bernard, Tallinn, Harjumaa, Estonia
• Second Place - Prince Charming, Karel Bernard, Tallinn, Harjumaa, Estonia
• Third Place - Ascent of Humpback, Christine Kornylak, Venice, CA
• Honorable Mention - Coming in for a Closer Look, Shannon C. Price, Seattle, WA
• Honorable Mention - Red, White & Blue, Glenn M. Zavalko, Milford, CT

Grand Prize is a live-aboard trip on the Manthiri in the Maldives.

• First Place - Cosmos, Bartosz Strozynski, Poznan, Poland
• Second Place - Parliament, Alexey Stoyda, Moscow, Russia
• Third Place - On Eternal Patrol, Jeremy Kozman, Orient, OH
• Honorable Mention - Raggiezoom, Dennis Vandermeersch, Heule-Kortrijk, Belgium

Grand Prize is a live-aboard trip on the Nai’a in Fiji.

• First Place - Beauty in the Beast, Sharon Wada, Snohomish, WA
• Second Place - The Romance of Lembeh Straight, Roger Roth, Cincinnati, OH
• Honorable Mention - Alien Rhythm, Kris Wilk, Mississauga, Ontario

• First Place - Carcharhinus Longimanus, Rudolf Gonda, Budapest, Hungry
• Second Place - Cuttlefish Hunting, Roger Uzun, San Diego, CA
• Third Place - Batray Feeding, Walter Marti, Mission Viejo, CA
• Honorable Mention - Magic, Istvan Nemeth, Szombathely, Hungry

Click Here for all categories winning images.

Beneath The Sea is a federally tax-exempt (501(c)(3)) organization incorporated as not-for-profit in the State of New York.
All proceeds from the Imaging Competition go to further BTS’s goals, which are to:

• Provide continuing education to the recreational diver community
• Educate the public in the benefits of protecting the ocean environment
• Support ocean and environment related projects and charities.

The 34th Annual Beneath The Sea Dive Exposition will take place on March 26-28, 2010 at the Meadowlands Exposition Center, Secaucus, New Jersey - 10 minutes from Manhattan. Further information can be found on Beneath The Sea's website.

In response to the global demand from photographers, scuba divers, surfers and snorkelers around the world, DivePhotoGuide.com has launched a highly anticipated free series of comprehensive underwater photography tutorials and guides to help the world learn underwater photography. Never before has there been such a growing interest in underwater photography, as affordable digital cameras have made underwater photography more accessible, and social media has made it easier than ever to share photos with your friends, family and the world.

These underwater photography guides offer easy-to-read tutorials for photographers of all levels to learn how to take great underwater photos.

The tutorials are written by the professional underwater photographer- Jason Heller, and DivePhotoGuide.com editor- Matt Weiss, along with contributions from several world renowned professional and award winning underwater photographers, such as National Geographic photographer David Doubilet, Martin Edge and Alex Mustard. Each tutorial includes beautiful underwater photos and equipment setup shots that illustrate each technique.

Underwater photography can be incredibly rewarding, but it does pose unique challenges and requires an understanding of basic principles and techniques. Beginners will find the Getting Started Guide very intuitive, including the top ten basic principles of underwater photography and how to select your first underwater camera system. Other tutorials include macro, wide angle, super-macro, composition, lighting, surf photography and a number of creative techniques. New and advanced techniques and tutorials will be added on a regular basis.

DivePhotoGuide.com has been a valuable resource to a community of over 50,000 underwater photographers around the world since 2005. In addition to the new free techniques guides, the website features underwater photo galleries from top pros and amateurs all over the world, daily underwater photography and ocean related news, in-depth articles, a comprehensive underwater photography equipment guide, travel guide, event calendars and a monthly photo contest with prizes.

Click Here for Dive Photo Guide Online Underwater Photography Tutorials, and if you're not yet convinced that you're dealing with pros here, click on the video below to watch Dive Photo Guide photographers in action.

A Breathtaking Underwater Journey

The Epson Red Sea 2009 Competition might have already concluded, but such extraordinary images never fade out. And so, we are proud to announce that the Epson Red Sea 2009 Competition Album has finally been published.

All competition nominees and winners images are featured in the album. The result is a breathtaking 152 pages underwater journey.

The album features high quality graphics printed on thick pages at the size of 23x30cm.

“Images submitted to the competition this year consisted of an exceptionally high standard”, says Roni Sofer, head of the Epson Red Sea jury panel. “This might have made it more difficult for us, judges, to make decisions, but at the same time, it sure turned this year’s competition album to one of the best ever presented!”

So whether you have took part in the competition, plan to do so in the future, have an interest in underwater photography or simply a fan of fine art, click here to order the Epson Red Sea 2009 Competition Album.

Regular Price: 39 Euro
Special Price: Only 23 Euro*
*Special Price is valid till February 28th.
**Any of Epson Red Sea previous competitions albums can be ordered as well for a discounted price of 17 Euro only.

Epson Red Sea 2009 had the honor to be driven by the Israeli "Yam" magazine and by an international leader in imaging products, Epson. This album is one of the many magnificent outcomes of this extraordinary event, which is already known worldwide as the "International Underwater Olympics".

I wish you all enjoyable, exciting and safe 2010 dives.

David Pilosof
Epson Red Sea
http://www.eilatredsea.com

Last year, Wetpixel hosted 44 Picture of the Week contests resulting in 44 stunning winners. Over the next 30 days, you—the public—will vote on what you think was the best photo from last year. The author of the winning photo will score a one-week liveaboard dive trip aboard the M/V Solmar V, a fantastic liveaboard dive vessel that runs trips to Socorro, the Sea of Cortez, and to Guadalupe for great white sharks. There are some incredible images in the mix, and if you're a fan of underwater photography, you owe it to yourself to check out the gallery! Voting ends on February 11, 2010. http://wetpixel.com/competition/index.php?view=competition&id=330&page=all

The Wide Angle Scuba Series HD is an integrated dive mask/camera that records HD 720P video (1280x720) at 30fps along with 5.0MP still images. It features lever style buttons which are easy to press while wearing diving gloves. To record a photo or a video, the photographer should simply turn on the camera, choose the mode and press the shutter button. LED lights inside the mask indicate the mode to the user. The buttons are positioned along the upper right corner of the frame and are easy to access. The goggle lenses are made of tempered glass and have integrated crosshairs that help you to line up shots. This new device is a perfect solution for scuba diving and may also be used for snorkeling, snuba, spearfishing, and freediving.

The new wide angle will solve the issue of not completely framing the subject which some first time Camera Mask users have experienced with the original 54 degree lens. The wider angle POV camera will capture a larger field of view and therefore allow the user to think even less about operating the camera while snorkeling or scuba diving. The camera operates on 4 x AAA Batteries and estimated Lithium battery performance is 2000 still images or 2hrs of video. Downloading images is as easy as plugging in the mask to your PCs or Macs USB port (RCA/USB cable provided) and pressing the power button. TV playback is also possbile through the RCA/USB cable. The included optional software (PC only) allows you to edit your content. A microSD/SDHC card slot allows you to add memory up to 16GB currently and expected to accomodate up to 32GB (when available) for additional pictures or videos. Requires four AAA batteries (included). Ages 13 and up.

• Image Sensor: 1/2.5" 5.0 Mega Pixels CMOS Sensor
• Pixels: Still Image- 5.0 MP
• Image Resolution: Still Image- 2560x1920, Video- 1280x720, HD 720P
• Digital Video Recording Rate: Up to 30fps@720P
• Internal NAND Flash Memory: 64MB for processing only, not for storage
• Storage Medium: Micro SD/SDHC (up to 32GB)
• Lens: 2G2P fix lens, 135 degress
• Lens Aperture: F/2.8, f=8.5mm
• Lens Focus: 0.5m to 3m
• Shutter Speed: Stills- 1/16 to 1/10,000 seconds
• Sensitivity: Auto: ISO 100-200
• White Balance: Automatic
• Audio: Integrated microphone, no speak
• Display: Status LCD Panel
• Storage Capacity: Stills- 36,800 images (2592x1944), Video- 960 minutes
• Data Format: Stills:JPEG, Video: H.264 with audio
• Interface: USB 2.0 High Speed
• Power Supply: 4 x AAA batteries
• Battery Performance: Lithium Batteries - Stills 2000 - Videos 2 hours, Alkaline Batteries - Stills 500 - Videos 16 minutes
• Weight: 360g (with batteries and micro SD card)
• Dimensions: 8.9cm x 18.7cm x 13.3cm
• Optional Accessories: Filters, 4.7W Side Torches

Long after bike riders, racing car drivers, surfers and even snowboarders are conveniently equipped with a camera helmet, the world (or at least the Liquid Image part of it...) finally realizes that divers deserve such a high quality innovative gadget as well. Ok, so we don’t move at a speed of 100 MPH, but that doesn’t mean we’re not loaded with extremely important tasks that totally justify a hands free camera!

There’s no doubt that the Scuba Series Camera Mask is full of good news for divers, especially for those who always refrained from taking a camera underwater due to the (very heavy) commitment to carry it all through the dive. And if you’re a wreck or cave diver, this might be a wonderful opportunity for you to finally carry a camera along without having to accept the fact that you might get lost due to having only one hand free to deal with the ropes and navigation equipment.

As for the optional 4.7W lights which can be mounted on both sides of the mask, I would assume that they are pretty much essential in order to produce fine results with vivid colors (not that I have anything against blue, but there’s simply more to the spectrum!). The problem is that as a scuba diving instructor, I cannot help but recalling the first open water course, in which the importance of keeping your gear from tangling or projecting is emphasized over and over again. I’m not sure how these two lights sticking out of both sides of your head are in line with this self-protective and environmental-friendly rule, but just as with huge DSLR systems, I guess that as long as you keep in mind that you are a potential hazard to yourself and your surroundings, you are safe to everyone…

Another point you should keep in mind when making use of the Scuba Series Mask Camera is that what you see is what you get. Literally. Whatever you are staring at, is recorded on your video. In most cases, this serves as an obvious advantage, as we are usually drawn to look at interesting subjects. In some circumstances, however, you might be forced to slow down your moves and head motions for the sake of your video. Or in other words, stay calm when that tiger shark comes for a visit!