DEMA 2010 Coverage - Day 4

Day 4 was the last day of DEMA, so I rushed around the showfloor getting in all the new stuff I had missed.  There are quite a few goodies in Day 4, and make sure to check out Day 1, Day2 and Day 3 as well.

SeaLife

Sealife, who always  marks the way into the Image Resource Center, with their big booth and comfortable carpeting, had a brand new light system on display. Their new unit , the SL980, is a 3-in-1 light, designed for photographs, video, and can be used as a dive light as well.

This new Sealife light is a powerful 500 lumen LED, featuring 2x 3w Cree XP-G R5 LEDs. It has a soft, even, 70 degree light beam that evenly lights subjects without hot spots. The SL980 has a flash cancellation mode that dims the light for 2 seconds when it detects an external flash, 3 different power modes (100%, 50%, and 25%), an SOS mode that blinks, and a power override mode that increases light power to 600 lumens for 2 minutes.

It has one button to power the light on and off and to  also  choose light modes.

The light can be used alone, but also works in conjunction with the SeaLife Digital Pro Flash, to light up the background when shooting longer distances, while the LED light brings out the colors of the foreground.

As video becomes more and more popular, expect to see more lighting systems that are ideal for both video and still underwater imaging.

ReefNet

ReefNet was part of the Imaging Resource Center again, as they are featuring two of their imaging products, the newest SubSee adapter and the brand new fiber optic snoot.

The SubSee comes in both +5, and +10 magnification versions. They have a multielement lens design and relatively light compared to most powerful diopters.  It has a 67mm thread so it can screw directly into many compact camera ports, and ReefNet also makes a adapter that fits onto flat ports of most popular housings.


ReefNet was also showing their brand new Fiber Optic Micro Snoot. The snoot consists of an adapter and snoot arms. They will be making adapters for the DS-125/160/161, Inon Z240 and Sea&Sea YS-250, with the possibility of other models being supported as well. The adapter comes with two holes to attach snoot arms, with one of them plugged in case you wish to only use one arm.

The arms are 10 inches long and are centered over the flash tube. Each arm has a 150 x. 0.75mm fiber  optic with a polished end. You have the choice of either a .25" or 0.5" output tip.

The adapter is set to cost around $100 and each arm will cost around $130.

Nauticam

Nauticam made their big splash onto the scene last year at DEMA, and man, have they grown since then.  They had three brand new products at DEMA for us to feast our eyes on.  The first housing we looked at was the NA-645DF for the PhaseOne 645DF camera. 

The camera is professional level camera, and one many of us will never get our hands on. It's an open platform medium format SLR, that accepts a number of backs. The housing can support the system's numerous backs, including the P65+ back which lets you take 60megapixels worth of camera underwater with you.  The housing costs around $10,000 and the camera can cost many thousands more, so it's really only for commercial use, and is a specialty item, but it's certainly fun to look at.  The only issue- wiping off all the drool from other photographers who looked at it before me.

Nauticam also had their NA-NEX5 housing for the Sony NEX-5, the first housing for a interchangeable lens camera.  The housing features ports for multiple lenses and, of course, there is an adapter available for using the much loved Nikonos lenses.

Lastly, Nauticam had their D7000 housing at the booth. It will be the first D7000 housing to hit the market, perhaps even beating Ikelite. The housing looks impressive, with an updated latch system, a compact design and some features from other housings, like the piano keys from the Canon 7D and T2i housing.  All in all, it looks like an impressive upgrade from the D90 housing.

SEA & SEA

Sea & Sea didn't have too many new products, their biggest being the new viewfinder that fits their MDX series housings.  The viewfinder is 2.0x magnification, 45 degree viewfinder. 

They also totally redesigned their tray and arm system, getting rid of the old red system and replacing it with a totally aluminum, modular system. You can now buy arms in three different sizes and by the individual part so that it can be mounted on a number of models. 

Seacam

Seacam didn't have too much new this year, but of course, had a display of their beautiful high end housings. The new product they did have was small mini dome used for very close focusing fisheye lenses like the Tokina 10-17mm. Mini domes are clearly rising in popularity with most major manufactures now making them.

Canon

Since we thoroughly covered the Canon Expo, there were no new products for us to cover at the Canon booths. I did enjoy playing with the 8-15mm fish eye they brought with them.  It's always great to see a major manufacturer support the underwater photography industry.