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Last week, Las Vegas wasn’t just buzzing with the sweet sound of Formula 1 cars; it was also that time for one of the most significant events on the dive industry calendar—DEMA Show! Never mind the wisdom of having the world’s biggest trade-only dive show coincide with the local Grand Prix (with prices for seemingly everything being jacked up for everyone’s benefit!)—it was another excellent, packed event in the South Halls of the Las Vegas Convention Center, and we got to check out all the latest and greatest gear and gadgets in the world of underwater imaging.

In the following, we report from the booths most relevant to underwater photographers and videographers, discovering what’s new with Backscatter, SeaLife, Seacam, Marelux, Nauticam, Inon, Keldan, Isotta, Sea&Sea, Kraken Sports, Divevolk, Ultralight, Bigblue, GoPro, Insta360, and 10Bar. (We also chatted to underwater photographer Erin Quigley about her exciting new software, BackscatterXterminator.) Plus, we had an opportunity to catch up with old friends and make new ones at countless other booths occupied by the good people who welcome us into their resorts and onto their liveaboards!
 

Backscatter

The biggest retailer of underwater photo and video gear on the planet doesn’t mess around when it comes to DEMA: Their booth was huge, packed with equipment, and bristling with TV screens showing off their latest products. Backscatter, of course, doesn’t just sell every imaging product under the sun; they have also developed various awesome gadgets of their own—and as you’d expect, Media Producer Thomas Anderson spent most of our time together talking about their latest—the Hybrid Flash. (Make sure to check out Nicolas Remy’s recent review on DPG.) Thomas also gave us a sneak peek at their in-development Sony TTL flash trigger for Nauticam housings, telling us that there are other versions in the works—universal TTL triggers as well as a dedicated trigger for OM System cameras. Finally, it wouldn’t be a visit to the Backscatter booth without a little chat about GoPro accessories, and this time around Thomas showed us their forthcoming quick release system for the MacroMate Mini, which will allow you to easily switch between that close-up lens and their Sharp Wide Lens Pro (which already attaches via quick release bayonet mount).
 

BackscatterXterminator

No, Backscatter doesn’t have a pest control side business! This is actually the name of a new software product by GoAskErin’s Erin Quigley. Everyone knows that Erin is the Lightroom Queen, but BackscatterXterminator is, in fact, a brand new Photoshop plugin that is specifically designed to tackle—you guessed it—the backscatter in your images. As Erin explained to us, she co-developed the plugin with a software engineer who creates image-processing solutions for astrophotography. BackscatterXterminator is based on a similar program designed to remove foreground stars from deep space images such as nebulae, and it works in much the same way on underwater images by replacing backscatter blobs with the “missing” image data. Check out the video to see Erin talk about the plugin and demonstrate the extraordinary effectiveness of the software. Begone backscatter! POOF!
 

SeaLife

At last year’s DEMA Show, SeaLife had just released various exciting new products for the company’s hugely successful SportDiver smartphone housing, including their Six-Inch Wide Angle Dome Lens (which allows you to shoot over-unders) and their 52mm Wide Angle Dome Lens (with Lens Adapter). This year, SeaLife Vice President Sven Harms showed us those lenses on the new SportDiver Ultra—a bigger version of the housing that’s able to accommodate the largest phones—as well as the Sea Dragon Duo 10K+ Color Boost Set, which bundles a pair of their top-end Sea Dragon 5000+ photo/video lights with their new Flex-Connect Ultra Dual Tray. Sven also let us know about their new Micro 3.0 Limited Edition Explorer Set, which bundles a free Sea Dragon 2300F photo/video light with their fully sealed camera. Stocking filler anyone?
 

Seacam

Seacam may have occupied a relatively modest corner booth, but the Austrian maker of high-end housings, strobes and accessories once again reminded us why their products are among the most impressive (and desirable) on the market—and why they have so many top photographers as their ambassadors (David Doubilet, Laurent Ballesta, Tobias Friedrich, Stephen Frink, Renee Capozzola, Michael Aw… the list goes on). As always, we had a good chat with Seacam founder Harald Hordorsch, but it was his daughter Esther Böhmer who talked us through their newest signature silver creations—the latest being their new housing for the Canon EOS R5 II, which was on display paired with the flip adapter for their supermacro lenses (Achromat 2.0, Achromat 3.0 and Achromat 4.0). Pro Sony shooters will also be happy to hear from Esther that following the release of Seacam’s housing for the Sony a9 III, their housing for the Sony a1 II will be coming out at the start of 2025.
 

Marelux

While they have only been doing business for about three years, Marelux has been working hard to build up a full product line comprising aluminum housings, strobes, lenses and accessories. They have also brought together an impressively large group of ambassadors to represent the brand, including numerous very well-regarded shooters—Scott Portelli, Hannes Klostermann, Robert Stansfield, and Shane Gross, just to name a few. We spoke to another familiar name in underwater photography, Phil Rudin, who serves as a Marelux product specialist when he’s not reviewing gear for Underwater Photography Magazine. Phil showed us their latest housing for the Sony a7C II and a7CR, new Apollo S and Apollo III 2.0 strobes, and a variety of innovative accessories. This is a new kid on the block that’s very much here to stay!
 

Nauticam

Over at the Nauticam booth, ambassador Todd Winner could have shown us any number of awesome housings for all kinds of different cameras, but he instead focused on two new optics that the Hong Kong-headquartered company has developed. The first was very recently announced and replaces the now-discontinued SMC-1: the Super Macro Converter 3 (or SMC-3), which is a third the weight of the original but promises the same optical quality. The second, which has not yet been officially unveiled, is a unique diopter called the Mid-range Focus Optimizer 1 (MFO-1). Todd explained that the lens is designed to solve the problems associated with flat ports—pin cushion distortion, chromatic aberration—and produce very sharp, high-contrast images, while eliminating the focus hunting that can plague cameras when shooting macro. We’re looking forward to seeing how these new wet optics perform in real-world scenarios.
 

Inon

The Japanese maker of imaging equipment didn’t have a booth at DEMA, but Inon’s charming Takuya Torii is always welcome to swing by the DPG booth to show us his wares. This year was no different, and Takuya had some nice goodies to show off. First up was their action camera setup based around the Inst360 Ace Pro in its matching dive case, which featured Inon’s new ZD Front Mask lens mount. This mount allows shooters to use a variety of Inon wet lenses specially designed for action cameras, including their new UCL-G55 ZD and UCL-G100 ZD macro lenses and their new UFL-GR140 ZD and UFL-GR140 Pro ZD semi-fisheye lenses. These redesigned lenses can be used with the larger-sensor Inst360 Ace Pro as well as the GoPro HERO13 Black in “open gate” mode (8:7 aspect ratio). Tantalizingly, Takuya also showed us a prototype of their forthcoming housing for the new Canon EOS R5 II, which features a traditional zoom ring that operates the zoom lens inside the housing by way of magnets. Kakkoii!
 

Keldan

If you want the biggest and brightest video lights on the planet, everyone knows that you have to reach for those stylish fuchsia-tinged beasts… At the Keldan booth, of course, you’ll find plenty of them, and you’ll also find the lovely Daniel Keller ready and willing to tell you everything you want to know about them. (He designed them, so he should know!) When we visited, Daniel introduced their new RC2 remote control, which is a much more compact unit for those who don’t need the range of the standard remote control (RC1): The new remote has a 10-foot range versus the 150-foot range of the bigger brother. Daniel also showed us the 18,000-lumen 8XR Ambient, which features a specially designed LED that emits a light spectrum equivalent to the ambient light at a depth of 20 feet, and their new 11,000-lumen 4XR light, which is a little more powerful than its predecessor and is now compatible with the remote control units. Finally, Daniel gave us a preview of a forthcoming product that breaks new ground by offering the ability to adjust the balance between blue and white light—like a “variable ambient filter,” as Daniel put it—allowing future filmmakers to dial in just the right amount of blue light required for the depth they’re shooting at. Pros, take note, this light might be coming in about “a year”…
 

Isotta

While fuchsia might be reserved only for the well-heeled (see above!), signature red—courtesy of Isotta—is a much more affordable way into underwater imaging. The family-run Italian company’s line of aluminum housings have been available through Backscatter for several years now, and they do an impressive job of keeping up with all the new camera models. Elisa Isotta demonstrated their latest housings’ main features: one-handed open/close, double O-ring seals, and an M24 bulkhead for hooking up an external recorder/monitor via HDMI 2.0. Elisa showed us their new tripod-style and sled-style housing bases, which allow you to place your rig down safely. We also saw their new adapter that allows Isotta shooters to use Nauticam’s water contact optics, such as the Fisheye Conversion Port (FCP) and Wide Angle Conversion Port (WACP). And if you want to know why Isotta chose that lovely red color for their housings—we asked! Check out the video to find out…
 

Sea&Sea

Over in the Sea&Sea booth, we chatted to Kaz Okada about various new products: their forthcoming Canon EOS R5 II housing, released in January; their LX lights, which come in three powers (1,200, 2,400 and 4,000 lumens) and can be remote controlled (controller released in March); and new colors of their YS-D3 DUO strobe—a “red ring” black version to match Olympus/OM System housings and a white edition to pair with “silver or white” housings. The “red ring” edition makes sense because the YS-D3 DUO strobe shares its main specs with the YS-D3 Mark II Lightning strobe but adds the ability to make use of the RC flash protocol of OM System/Olympus cameras, allowing for precise automatic TTL flash exposure.
 

Kraken Sports

If you’re trying to find DPG Photo Editor Matt Sullivan at DEMA, don’t go to the DPG booth: Matt wears a different hat at dive shows and helps out at the Kraken Sports booth. When we caught up with Mr Sullivan, he gave us a good overview of all the new stuff happening at the Canada-based company. He showed us a new version of their wired remote control, which now has its own battery (rather than draining power from the light in use); a new 25,000-lumen video light with variable color temperature; their new “baby” KR-S80 strobe, which features a handy LCD display that tells you how many flashes you have left at a given power; and a freshly updated range of monitors, which will be released in the near future.
 

Divevolk

Taking your smartphone diving has become very fashionable over recent years, and the market for smartphone housings expands every year. The folks at Divevolk have become synonymous with innovative iPhone/Android housings because theirs actually allows your phone to function underwater as it normally would topside—you’re not restricted to a few buttons and a proprietary app because the phone’s entire touchscreen is usable. When we dropped by, Louis Chen ran through the main selling points of their latest housing, the SeaTouch 4 MAX, and announced two new colors—“starlight gray” and “dreamy pink”. Louis pointed out that because your phone’s Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity function as normal in the housing, you can easily post images and video to social media as soon as you surface. Divevolk are even going a step further: They have been developing an innovative “underwater mobile data transmitter” (called SeaLink) that floats on the surface and is wired to your phone, allowing you to do things like live-stream your dive site—wow!
 

Ultralight

When it comes to hardware for underwater shooters, Ultralight Camera Solutions (ULCS) have got plenty of, well, solutions! At the booth, Ken Kollwitz introduced us to just some of their seemingly endless range: every type of clamp imaginable, extendable arms, and adapters for strobes of various brands—and in a wide range of colors (including custom colors of your choice). Ken also showed off a big pro camera setup with two four-inch floats cleverly mounted above the housing attached to their new sled tray, which lifts the housing well off the ground so you can accommodate a very large dome port. Ken told us that he’s happy to make any custom request happen—just drop him an email!
 

Bigblue

Another company that specializes in dive and video lights is Bigblue, and Tim Ratcliffe was in the booth to tell us about their latest and greatest gear. Tim introduced a newly improved version of their popular 1,300-lumen narrow beam light (AL1300NPGS), which now features a green laser; one of their multipurpose video lights with wide white beam as well as red and blue beams; and a compact light with both narrow and wide beams. Tim also brought out a couple of “bad boys”: one dual-beam light offering 30,000-lumen wide and 7,000-lumen narrow beams (VTL30000P-MAX), and another with a jaw-dropping 65,000-lumen wide beam (VL65000P)! That’s a whole lotta light!
 

GoPro

No dive show would be complete without a generous GoPro booth, and this DEMA Show was no exception. Diran Devletian, an underwater videographer himself, was on hand to tell us why the HERO13 Black is the most awesome version of their ubiquitous action cam to date. He told us how you can now rely on the latest GoPro’s automatic white balance at different depths, get great stabilized shots, easily upload them to the GoPro Quik app, and then edit and share on social media. Diran also pointed out that GoPro now partners with PADI to offer the GoPro PADI Distinctive Specialty Course, which is designed to teach divers how to capture amazing underwater photos and videos, and tell compelling stories of their underwater adventures.
 

Insta360

GoPro has a fair bit of competition these days, and it was interesting to see Insta360 making their DEMA debut this year. Of course, Insta360 is best known for their impressive dual-lens cameras that capture 360° video: As we found out from Gabby Shepard and Anne Gumiran, the latest model—the Insta360 X4—is the only camera of its kind to capture 8K/30p immersive video. We’ve definitely noticed more and more divers shooting 360° video with this unique camera in its bulbous Invisible Dive Case. In addition, Insta360 produces very capable “conventional” action cameras, such as the Insta360 Ace Pro and Insta360 Ace Pro 2, the latter having the ability to shoot 8K and boasting a lens made by Leica. As demonstrated in the Inon booth, you can also mount wet lens accessories to the Ace Pro Dive Case. We fully expect Insta360 to become a regular fixture at DEMA!
 

10Bar

We couldn’t wrap up our DEMA Show coverage without popping in to the 10Bar booth to find out about their innovative “underwater presentation system”—essentially a dome-style helmet combined with a closed-circuit rebreather (RD1). Michael Lombardi explained to us that the system was designed to allow a talent—a presenter or scientist, for example—to talk freely underwater without all the noise from the bubbles produced when using a full face mask. Michael told us that they’ve already used the system on some projects for non-profit organizations to talk about environmental issues, and they’re hoping it will find a use in larger productions in the future. You saw it first at the DEMA Show in Las Vegas!
 

Around the Show Floor
 

Alex Whitley-Wilson and Mik Jennings from Master Liveaboards
 

Danielle Marianelli from Siladen Resort and Coral Eye
 

Danny Charlton (second from right) and team Lembeh/Murex
 

Seacam boss Harald Hordorsch with ambassador Ace Wu
 

Irene Ang and Alberto Reija from Dive Damai
 

Gary He from XAdventurer
 

Steve Darling from Volivoli Beach Resort
 

Mark Evans, Penny Evans, Mark Newman and Kelly Hall from Rork Media (responsible for the Go Diving Show ANZ)
 

When purchasing underwater photography equipment like the products mentioned in this article, please support DPG by supporting our retail partner—Backscatter.com.