After Digital Photography Review’s Phil Askey mentioned the introduction of a possible 25 digital SLRs at this year’s PMA 2008, Wetpixel associate editor Alex Mustard started a discussion asking if it is really necessary for housing manufacturers to attempt to support each and every new model of camera. Alex says:

While I love my Subal housings, I would be the first to admit that my Subal D2X does not have the attention to detail of a Subal F5 housing. It was also a damn sight more expensive. Of course it works and the ergonomics are perfectly acceptable, but I miss those good ol’ days!...Maybe if we did not demand a housing for every DSLR we would have cheaper, better housings.

Do you think the rush to produce the first housings (and small amounts at that) for a camera is leading to a loss in quality and support? Should manufacturers only focus on the most popular cameras of each pricing level? Discuss in the forums...

Continue Reading

Wetpixel member Angel Fitor (Tide) is proud to announce the release of his new book, Tanganyika, Africa’s Inland Sea. Fitor calls Tanganyika, the longest African lake, “probably the most amazing and fascinating freshwater environment in the world. It is also an almost completely unseen underwater realm where evolution has produced one of the most striking fish assemblages on Earth.”

At 192 pages, this hardcover coffee table book holds nearly 300 photographs of fighting cichlids, pygmy shell-dwelling fishes, and other colorful and distinct species, and can be shipped around the world. Visit Tanganyika, Africa’s Inland Sea for sample pages and more information…

Continue Reading

Join Eric Cheng and Indonesia dive-guide extraordinaire Graham Abbott in two chartered expeditions to Indonesia designed especially for serious photographers. Instead of hopping around from dive site to dive site, we will take our time with a flexible itinerary designed to give us a lot of time at areas that are rockin’ with life.

EXPEDITION #1: Sorong, Halmahera, Ambon | March 7-22, 2009 (15 days)
UPDATE:

2 spots left as of Feb 1, 2008

EXPEDITION #2: Ambon, Banda Sea, Maumere | March 25-April 9, 2009 (15 days)
UPDATE:

9 spots left as of Feb 1, 2008

We’ll be aboard the Seven Seas, a fantastic luxury liveaboard vessel.  For more information, visit our Ultimate Indonesia info page.

Continue Reading

53 sea lions, among them 13 pups, 25 youngsters, nine males, and six females, were found massacred on Pinta island in the Galápagos Islands nature preserve. Park officials have stated that “each [animal] was killed by “a strong blow from someone”, though the motive is unknown.” The bodies of the sea lions were not mutilated, unlike an incident in 2001, when poachers killed 35 sea lions for their genitals and teeth.

With no natural predators on land, sea lions are unafraid of humans - is enough being done to protect them (and other species) in the Galápagos Islands?

Continue Reading

Keith Phillips, Scuba Diving magazine’s editor, writes in with news of a paper format change in the magazine:

Check it out: Starting with the March 2008 issue, Scuba Diving magazine has a new look, whiter paper and a larger page format that will allow us to showcase the very best in underwater and topside photography.

The March issue began mailing to subscribers this week and will be available on newsstands Feb. 19. You’ll find it at Borders, Barnes & Noble, Books a Million and at more than 650 local dive centers. (preview the March issue)

Continue Reading