News

On a recent dive trip I met someone who is writing a dissertation on people who are 50+ and diving. If you are interested in contributing, the following is a link to a simple questionnaire which takes about 5 minutes to complete. I've become paranoid about online scams, phishing etc. But this looks fine and I know the author - and the information gathered is pretty innocuous. https://forms.cloud.microsoft/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=e3VPRDDLUkaTvMqNbR74E5Cna1DJ6d1KvM2oRz5_gAdUM0Y3UEpYTkZERDJON

The annual German "Boot" show took place on 18-26 January. I visited on 25 January to see what might be new in the dive and underwater photography world and met up with other Waterpixelers.   I was also tasked with tracking down the new unicorn of the underwater photography world, the Inon Z-xxx   Boot is a massive show spread over 13 exhibition halls. It wouldn't be hard to spend a few million euros there - assuming you had them in the first place. Diving was maybe one and a

Waterpixels is delighted to announce that Maria Munn has joined the team as our Compact Systems Specialist. For many years Maria has taught and specialised in producing amazing images using compact systems especially the Canon G series. She’s been looking too at action cameras and housed smartphone systems and has posted some really helpful guides and reviews. A more detailed resume for Maria is on our About page. We’re sure members will welcome warmly her knowledge, experience and enthusias

We are proud to announce that the winner of the 2025 Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year, Overall category, is our fellow member Ross Gudgeon for his photograph titled "Fractal Forest". Fractal Forest - Macro By Ross Gudgeon, Western Australia From the 2025 Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year announcement: The overall winning shot, Fractal Forest, skews perception and leaves us questioning reality with an inside-out view of a cauliflower soft coral, captur

(image credits: Sony) Sony has unveiled the Sony A9 III, a full-frame mirrorless camera boasting a 24.6MP resolution and a global shutter. The global shutter functionality ensures simultaneous readout of information from each pixel on the sensor, eliminating distortion in both still images and videos of moving subjects. Employing a stacked design, the 24.6MP CMOS sensor, in conjunction with the latest Bionz XR processor, guarantees swift operational performance. The Sony A9 III, also r

It's worth a read of the link to Dive Magazine's article on the UK's Marine Accident Investigation Branch report on Red Sea liveaboard incidents.   The report makes for sobering reading: 16 boats lost in 5 years.   https://divemagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2025-SB1-RedSeaDiveBoats.pdf

This article in the UK's The Independent newspaper caught my eye...... The Independent Scientists find way to develop shark bite-proof suits for... Researchers hope materials assessed in study can be part of the ‘toolkit’ to reduce shark-bite risk

Edge sharpness with wide-angle lenses underwater  can be an issue especially for users of full-frame sensor camera bodies.   One solution to increasing edge sharpness, which has worked for some photographers, has been the Sea&Sea correction lens which came in 77mm and 82mm diameter options. But this lens disappeared from sale a little while ago.   Waterpixels member @Ido has been in contact with Sea&Sea and has been told that the company plan to make the lens availabl

A member who is a physician (thanks @DocTock ) has passed on a warning from the Federal Drug Administration about the effect of Scopolamine motion sickness patches used under certain conditions. If you’re a user, you might like to read this link https://waterpixels.net/index.php?app=core&module=system&controller=redirect&url=https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-safety-and-availability/fda-adds-warning-about-serious-risk-heat-related-complications-antinausea-patch-transderm-scop&key=a

I came across the following article by By David Clapp, published on 31 July 2025 in Digital Camera World. Worth a read, I thought! "It’s getting near that time again - as September means a new iPhone. Then there’s a new Android. Then it’s the turn Fujifilm / Canon / Nikon / Sony / Panasonic etc - all of them use tried and tested strategies stretching back as far as the 1930s to make you, the consumer, feel dissatisfied with the equipment you own. Let’s be frank, you are a subliminal and anonym

The biggest trade fair for boats, diving (and underwater photography) in Germany traditionally takes place in January every year, BOOT in Düsseldorf. I can report on Nauticam (who shared the stand with PanOcean), Seafrogs, Seacam and GoPro, but of course only individual impressions. There were 3 Nauticam employees on site. One of the three FCPs currently available outside the factory was on display, along with the WACP-1, WACP-C and WWL-1b. I was particularly taken with this comparison.

Divers24.com reports a fire, this time in the Red Sea, on the Sea Legends.   Keep an eye on those lithium batteries, people!

The team at Waterpixels are delighted to announce that our 1000th member, @Grega  joined the Waterpixels community on 15 March.  An especially warm welcome to Grega!   Thanks to all those who have signed up since we started in Dec 2023.  We reached our 500th member in February 2024 and have seen a continuous stream of people signing up since then.    We'd like to thank members for continuing to engage so positively and in a great spirit of willingness to share and be helpful.

https://xray-mag.com/magazines/133

I installed my first Leak Sentinel vacuum valve, a V3, in my Subal ND800 housing in 2014. Over 700 dives, changes of camera housing and upgrades to the Sentinel system, I’ve moved through V4, V5 and now the newly available V6. As the slogan goes, I’d never leave home without it. Why? The Sentinel provides a unique extra level of security and reassurance to an underwater camera and has saved me from my own stupidity a couple of times…… So what is it? The Leak Sentinel is a small valve w

Issue 140 of the excellent Underwater photography Magazine, UWP, is now available.   https://www.uwpmag.com/

The San Diego Undersea Film Festival has released the screening schedule of films in competition for 2024. The screenings will be held at Qualcomm Hall (5775 Morehouse Drive) Friday, October 4th (7pm) & Saturday, October 5th (5:30pm) 2024. Moreover, many of the competition videos will be available for viewing online on October 7.   https://www.sdufex.com/2024-festival-schedule    

Waterpixels is delighted to report that Emperor Divers have joined our growing lists of industry supporters.   Since 1992 Emperor Divers have shared their experience of scuba diving in the Red Sea, Maldives and Indonesia and have  looked after thousands of happy divers – a great many of whom keeping coming back to us year after year.   Emperor's focus has always been on providing safe and sustainable diving holidays for everyone. Liveaboards, Resort Diving and PADI Courses ar

Incredible though it may seem, Nikon have just announced a firmware upgrade to that much-loved Nikon D500.   The new version, 1.40:  Changed the default password displayed on the connection menu after all the camera's settings were reset. The upgrade is available here:   https://downloadcenter.nikonimglib.com/en/download/fw/544.html

https://xray-mag.com/magazines/126     https://xray-mag.com/magazines/126

With thanks to Conrad Gowell (DriftC) for this article: A legal victory for the Wild Fish Conservancy (WFC) marks a turning point in the protection of Orcas and Chinook salmon in South-East Alaska https://wildfishconservancy.org/wfc-legal-victory-marks-turning-point-for-southern-resident-orcas-and-wild-chinook/

Sony have announced major firmware upgrades for the a1, a9III, a7SIII and a7IV   According to the Sony press release, firmware v2.00 for the Sony a1 is perhaps the most extensive.    The Sony a7SIII and a7IV are upgraded to v3.00.   The Sony a9III will be upgraded to v2.00 which is expected to be available from 9 April. However if you live in the USA, availability is from April 9.

Reports have come in of another live aboard fire in Indonesia, this one in Raja Ampat, details are scant, however it was posted that every one got off the boat.  Only seems to have made Indonesian new channels so far, there is a link to a news page in Indonesian.   https://scubaboard.com/community/threads/raja-ampat-boat-fire-dive-boat.643793/   https://papua.jpnn.com/papua-terkini/2670/kapal-pesiar-terbakar-di-perairan-raja-ampat-bagaimana-kondisi-23-wisatawan

U39 · Jul/Aug 2024 Visit https://www.uwpmag.com to download.      Editorial   Competitions, RIP Martin Edge RIP Martin Edge  by Alex Mustard  News, Travel & Events 2024 Monterey Shootout - August 23-25, 2024 Inaugural Underwater Awards Australasia Imaging Competition Reef Species of the World Bunaken Oasis 2025 Photography Workshop with Alex Tattersall ‘Word on the Reef’ podcast

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