Photography

Wetpixel LLC is proud to announce the immediate availability of issue #5 of Wetpixel Quarterly magazine. In its trademark landscape-oriented, high-resolution format, issue #5 celebrates Clark Little’s Living Glass Collection of exquisite surf photography from Hawaii and Magnus Lundgren stunning portfolio of underwater photographs from his native Scandinavia and around the world.

Also featured are surf photography portfolios by Ryan Beppu and Brown Cannon III, Tony Wu’s column The Photographic Eye featuring humpback whales, Eric Cheng’s Shot-O-Rama covering Seattle’s six-gill sharks, a report on Wetpixel’s Socorro Expedition by Alex Mustard and Berkley White’s column Saturated. 

CES 2009: Lastly, Olympus has announced three new budget cameras; the FE-5000, FE3010 and FE-45. They all include the 'One button, one Function' design principle and a built-in camera guide for easy operation. The 12MP FE-3010, 10MP FE-5000 and FE-45 all incorporate features such as Dual Image Stabilization, Intelligent Auto mode, Advanced Face Detection and a number of shooting modes. Available in a choice of colors, the FE-5000 and FE-45 will become available in late January, and the FE-3010 in early March 2009.

CES 2009: Olympus has announced three new 12 megapixel Stylus compact digital cameras. The Stylus 9000 (mju 9000 in Europe) is the smallest 12MP 10X zoom digital camera on the market, the company says. There's also a 7X version, the Stylus 7000 (mju 7000 in Europe) and, in Europe only, so far as we can tell, the mju 5000. All three feature 'Beauty Mode' that aims to smooth people's complexions in portraits.

CES 2009: Olumpus has announced two new models in its Stylus TOUGH (µ TOUGH in Europe) series of shock-, water- and freezeproof compact cameras. The Stylus TOUGH-8000 features a 12 megapixel sensor while the sister model TOUGH-6000 captures 10 megapixel images. Both cameras come with a 3.6x (28-102mm equivalent) zoom lens and feature Olympus' TAP control technology for easy operation when wearing gloves, ideal for all sorts of outdoor activities.

CES 2009: Next in the line from Olympus is the Stylus 550WP. It incorporates a robust body and boasts of being water-resistant up to 3 meters. This 10MP digital compact with a 2.5" LCD includes features such as the Perfect Shot Preview, Perfect fix for in-camera retouching and Intelligent Auto mode. Available in a choice of Crystal Blue, Pure White or Midnight Black, the camera will start shipping in February 2009.

CES 2009: Olympus has announced the SP-590UZ ultra-zoom digital camera. Trumping Kodak's 24X zoom, the SP-590UZ features a 26X zoom lens that covers a 26-676mm equivalent focal length range. Thankfully there's image stabilization to help prevent camera shake at the long end of the zoom. Like previous recent Olympus UZ cameras, the SP-590UZ can record RAW files.

Underwater Photography Magazine Issue 46 is now available for free download. The issue contains travel and product news relating to underwater photography as well as feature articles including FX for Nikonians by Alexander Mustard, Tamron 70-200mm Macro Lens by James Wiseman, The Underwater “Golden Hour” by Don Silcock, Life in the middle of the Atlantic by Andre Seale, Palau by Open Road by Tim Rock, Horseshoes and Dragons by Mark Webster, Kona: The Big Island by Michael Wicks, Doggone Dugong by Mark Webster, Mantas of the Maldives by Julian Cohen.

UWP Magazine is a free PDF magazine, published every two months.

A few spots have opened up on the second trip of the Wetpixel Ultimate Indonesia expedition. Join Eric Cheng and Indonesia dive-guide extraordinaire Graham Abbott on a charter especially set up for photographers. We will have a flexible itinerary that will bring us from Ambon, through the Banda Sea, to the famous sea snake island of Guning Api (featured in BBC’s Planet Earth series), and the amazing critter life around Alor, Pantar, Flores and Maumere. 

We offer a last minute discount for this trip. Contact Dan Baldocchi at for details.

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

EXPEDITION #2: Ambon, Banda Sea, Maumere | March 25-April 9, 2009 (15 days)
UPDATE: 6 spots available

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

Sea Turtle and Salmon Shark Wash Up On Shore

Ocean Explorer/Submarine Pilot Embarks on Special Solo 'Expedition' to All 50 U.S. States, Territories

Marine life is returning to near-shore reefs that were so smothered by a devastating outbreak of red tide along Florida's central Gulf Coast in 2005 that the area became known as a "dead zone"

Pentax has released the Optio E70 digital compact camera. This 10 megapixel camera features a simple to use interface with large buttons. Continuing the simplicity theme, it also includes Pentax's 'Green' shooting mode, where the camera takes control of all the key shooting settings. Although the camera promises simplicity, it is packed with features such as Triple Anti-Shake Protection, Super-Fast Face Detection and 7 shooting modes.

Pentax has also launched the Optio P70 digital compact camera. Sporting a 12 megapixel image sensor, 2.7" LCD and 4x optical zoom that starts at 28mm equivalent. It also features Triple Anti-Shake protection (digital image stabilisation), advanced face detection of up to 32 faces and HD video recording. There's also an interesting Vertical Snap Mode whereby all icons on the LCD automatically rotate vertically for easier operation of the camera in a portrait mode.

Kodak has announced the Z980 mega-zoom digital camera. This 12 MP camera sports a 26mm wide angle lens with 24x zoom, a detachable vertical grip with shutter release and is capable of HD recording. Kodak has also announced the addition of three new models to its EasyShare M series. The M380 features a 10 megapixel sensor, a 2.7" LCD and 5x optical zoom. The 10MP M340 and the 9MP M320 feature 2.7" LCDs and 3x optical zoom.

Phase One has announced an updated service release of its Capture One 4, PRO and DB RAW workflow software. Version 4.6 of Capture One and Capture One PRO extends RAW support to the Canon G10, Nikon D3X, Olympus E-30 and Phase One P 65+ cameras. It also provides improved camera support for the Canon EOS 5D Mark II and EOS 50D. Capture One 4.6 PRO also supports tethered shooting using most of the current Nikon DSLRs.

Kodak has announced the Z980 mega-zoom digital camera. This 12 MP camera sports a 26mm wide angle lens with 24x zoom, a detachable vertical grip with shutter release and is capable of HD recording. Kodak has also announced the addition of three new models to its EasyShare M series. The M380 features a 10 megapixel sensor, a 2.7" LCD and 5x optical zoom. The 10MP M340 and the 9MP M320 feature 2.7" LCDs and 3x optical zoom.

Our friend Tim Hochgrebe has sent us some info on the Byron Underwater Shoot Out in Australia

New Camcorder line up for Canon

the first expedition using state-of-the-art autonomous underwater vehicles to survey, map and identify large areas of the ocean bottom, researchers discovered three previously unknown Lophelia coral reefs

An interesting article about walrus reproduction