In addition to revealing its new Stylus 770 SW, today Olympus announced its new 7.1-megapixel Olympus SP-550 UZ. UZ stands for "Ultra Zoom," and in this case, they ain't lying. The UZ features a 18X optical zoom lens (28-504mm equivalent in 35mm photography), which gives users the ability to shoot telephoto, wide-angle and macro all in one. The camera also features a 2.5-Inch LCD; Dual Image Stabilization to ensure blur-free images; High-Speed Sequential Shooting; and Full Manual and Automatic Control. The camera is compatible with the Olympus-made PT-037 underwater housing, depth-rated to 130 feet.

The SP-550 UZ will be available in March 2007 for $500. If you're looking for more details, check out Imaging-Resource's hands-on preview of the nifty little camera.

Today, Olympus announced the new Stylus 770 SW, a 7.1-megapixel, 0.8-inch wide camera that you can as deep as 33 feet -- without a housing. Want to dive deeper than 33 feet? Grab a (soon-to-be-released) PT-035 underwater housing and descend to 130 feet. The 770 SW also boasts a 2.5-inch LCD, four custom underwater scene modes, and a built-in manometer. No, a manometer doesn't measure how "manly" you are. Rather, it measures and records water and air pressure when each image is taken, and stores the information within each picture's digital file, so you can easily recall exactly how deep you were when you saw that pair of nudibranchs.

Available in sporty red and blue, expect to pay $380 for a 770 SW in March. For more specs, check out the always excellent DPReview.

Recently, SeaLife announced their new 6.1 megapixel digital camera, the DC600. Featuring a 2.5" LCD; 12 land modes; a "Color Booster" Sea Mode; a Shark Mode with "virtually no shutter lag"; and a 12X zoom, the tiny camera -- which uses a rechargeable lithium battery and an SD memory card -- takes some pretty good pictures.

The camera's rubberized, shock-resistant housing is depth-rated to 200 feet. Expect to pay somewhere between $500 for the basic rig (just the camera and housing) and $1300 for the Maxx set (which includes two external flashes, a wide angle lens, and a carrying case).

[Via UwP 34]

Not every underwater shot that the pros squeeze off is spectacular, of course. We only see the best ones. If you're aching to create shots like the pros, then maybe you should check out Jack Connick's Digicam Tips. Purveyor of Fantasea housings and a fine shooter himself, Jack has compiled a digicam Q&A from his mailbag.

Providing tips from how to light a wreck, to how to achieve those cool black-background effect, Jack explains things clearly yet concisely. If you're brand new to shooting underwater, you might not understand all the jargon Jack uses, but if you're gunning to take the best pictures you can, I'm guessing you'll read carefully.

Personally, I hope he makes digicam tips a regular feature on Optical Ocean. I can't get too much photo advice.

Made from a shock-proof, waterproof polycarbonate casing, Go Pro's Digital Hero Camera shoots photos and video while strapped to your wrist. Locked flat during activity, James Bond -- or you! -- simply flips the camera up when ready to capture that perfect shot. Held on by a sturdy Velcro strap, the Digital Hero is waterproof to 100 feet, although it's functional only to 30 feet.

Though tiny, the unit sports 32MB of on-board memory, which'll hold up to 250 photos or 32x10-second video clips. Both PC- and Mac-compatible, the $80 Digital Hero might be the adventure-seekers geekiest, yet coolest, toy yet. Once they figure out how to put a depth-gauge or an MP3 player in the Hero, they've hit pay-dirt.

[Via X-Ray Mag]

This week, Sea & Sea announced the release of their new DX-860G underwater camera system. Depth-rated to 150 feet, the 860G boasts a 2.5-inch TFT liquid crystal monitor and 6.2 megapixel effective resolution. Additionally, the polycarbonate-constructed 860G sports an optical 3x zoom lens with a focal length ranging from 35 to 105mm. (An optional Wide-Angle Conversion Lens is also available.) Other cool features of this entry-level camera include:

• Adjustable white balance;
• A continuous shooting function;
• A built-in memory of 32MB;
• A built-in flash diffuser;
• A macro mode on the zoom lens that lets the camera focus on a subject only 2 inches away;
• Adjustable ISO sensitivity (Auto, 100, 200, 400) that sets CCD capture sensitivity for added exposure control;
• A motion picture function that captures video of up to 640x480 pixel (VGA) resolution at a rate of 24fps.

Big brother to the 750G, the 860G is available now. Price has not been announced.

One of my New Year's Resolutions for 2007 is to take more photos. I'm going to do this with the small point-and-shoot I own currently, but I'm very seriously considering an upgrade. This weekend, in fact, I was at Best Buy, checking out camera systems. One of the cameras I saw was Casio's EX-Z1000, a minuscule camera with a gigantic LCD screen. As I was handling the camera, two hippies came up to me and started looking, too. "It's small," I said. "It's gotten good reviews online," one of the hippies replied. If nothing else, Casio seems to be getting their name out there. Don't have much faith in hippies? Calvin Tang just posted a lengthy review of the EX-Z1000 used in conjunction with an EWC-80 housing. As with all of Calvin's reviews and how-to's, this one is well-written, thorough, and engaging.

According to Calvin, the EX-Z1000 offers long battery life, a shutter lag time of only .002 seconds, a simple interface, and excellent macro capabilities. Meanwhile, the EWC-80 housing is "simple and thoughtfully designed." Although he finds the housing's shutter button and button cluster a bit tricky, overall Calvin declares the rig to be "the best, most powerful compact camera/housing pair on the market right now." Since the entire rig is priced around $500, the EX-Z1000 sounds like an excellent entry-level camera. Alternatively, if you're a big dSLR shooter, this package might make a nice back-up to your pre-existing rig. Check out Calvin's review and see for yourself whether this camera'll suit your needs.

When I was thinking about what kind of DEMA show coverage I wanted to provide, I decided to focus on dive gear and interesting equipment that was NOT related to underwater imaging. Though I briefly covered some of the Sea & Sea housings, Top Dawg housings, and, of course, Light & Motion's sleek, sexy housings, when it came time to spotlight imaging products, I decided to defer to the professionals. And by "professionals," of course, I mean the geniuses at Wetpixel.

Providing in-depth, detailed analysis, Eric Cheng and Drew Wong covered camera and video camera equipment (respectively) like crazy. Each time I passed them on the show floor, they were scribbling furiously, snapping pictures, grilling vendors, and inspecting equipment. (Well...at least Eric was.) If you want the lowdown on Fisheye, L&M, Seacam, SeaLife, Patima, Ultralight, Sea & Sea, Aquatica... -- Whew! You get the idea! -- then check out Eric Cheng's exhaustive DEMA Show coverage. More interested in video? Check out Drew's video products round-up. In either case, you'll get the low-down on all the newest underwater imaging equipment.

(If you think imaging equipment is boring, then at least check out Eric's fun people-at-DEMA photo galleries. Pay particular attention to my favorite shots.)

Stephen Frink is the world's most widely published underwater photographer. Not surprisingly, he has a deep, color-rich library of underwater photos that most divers would kill for. In addition to being an "artsy" photographer, he's also quite articulate: he's written books, housing reviews, and loads of articles for Scuba Diving Magazine. He provides personal photo instruction as well as escorted photo tours. He's also an inventor. In other words, if it has to do with cameras in or near water, he's your go-to man. Pretty amazing for someone who grew up in Illinois.

For this installment of 10 Questions for..., Stephen gets comfortable, removes his sunglasses, and opens up about his work, including how barnacles helped shape his future, why HD video is so compelling, and what, exactly, "predictive previsualization" is.

Divester: How did you get interested in underwater photography?

Stephen Frink: It was a circuitous route for sure, but a few of significant forks in the road took me there. First, I suppose it was because I was a competitive swimmer as a kid. Did that for 13 years, all the way through college. So, I was always intrigued by water sports, but living in land-locked Illinois made scuba diving a bit more of a challenge. Second, I ended up in graduate school in California, so at least there was an ocean nearby and diving was an easier possibility. Third, I was working on my thesis in experimental psychology and had some spare time to take elective classes. I enrolled in Photo 101 and the magic alchemy of that first black-and-white print evolving in a tray of Dektol was instantly addictive. Fourth, I needed a part-time job while in graduate school and there was a marina in my neighborhood with a yacht hull cleaning service. I went in to ask if they needed any help, and they said I could have a job cleaning boats, but I had to be a certified scuba diver. So, even though I was already interested in photography, the underwater hook didn't happen until I finally got certified. All for 25 cents a linear foot to scrape the barnacles off of boat hulls.

Divester: What was your first rig? What do you shoot with now?

SF: Like many of us, my first rig was a Nikonos, and I shot it available light only. Since it was back in 1971, mine was the original Nikonos, bought used from a surfer in Seal Beach. I still had that camera when I moved to Kona after graduate school. I added a Vivitar 283 flash in an Ikelite housing and took roll after roll of spectacularly run-of-the-mill photos, but the water and reef was a lot more beautiful than the beach dives in Southern California, so I was having fun. Today I shoot a Canon EOS1DsMKII (16.7 MP digital) in a Seacam housing. I find a combination of 17-40mm zoom, 50mm macro, 15mm fisheye, and 100mm macro will cover most of the things I need to shoot just about anywhere. For strobes I use a combination of Ikelite DS125 and Inon Z220s. If I need more punch for wide angle or distant subjects, I'll use my Ikelite 200. Just this week I tested the new Seacam Seaflash 250 for Canon. It provides TTL (which isn't all that important in digital photography, truthfully, but is nice to have), and also strobe synchronization in rear curtain synch (which is an important feature previously unavailable except with housed Canon strobes). So, I'll buy one of those and add it to my travel kit.

Divester: What are the 3 best dive sites in the Florida Keys?

SF: The Duane shipwreck for sure. That may be the best shipwreck in this hemisphere for color and concentration of marine life. Once the much larger and more notorious Spiegel Grove was sunk as an artificial reef in Key Largo, visitation to the Duane dropped off. But, the Duane is a far more mature wreck, with more marine life. Plus, it is small enough (327-feet) so you can feel like you did it on a single dive, whereas the Spiegel Grove is so massive you have to decide which vignette of the ship you want to experience. For reef life, I like a site called Fire Coral Caves at the south end of Molasses Reef. Always great pelagic action, and the resident Goliath groupers and Atlantic spadefish are of interest. For sheer masses of marine life, I like Snapper Ledge, part of the Pickles Reef complex in the Upper Keys. I realize you asked in the context of the entire Florida Keys, but Key Largo is my home and I tend to do most of my local diving there. However, once my friends in Key West put the Vandenberg wreck on the bottom, no doubt that will edge right up there as one of the top dives in the Florida Keys. I am very optimistic they are going to do something very meaningful with that ship.

Divester: A lot of underwater photographers seem to be branching into video. Do you see yourself moving in this direction, too?

SF: I've always said "no way", assuming it was too hard to serve two masters. Plus, all the post-production tedium of video editing intimidated me. But now High Definition video shows such compelling promise, I can't ignore the possibility. Plus, the web and other media venues will continue to demand more and more video content. And finally, there are some subjects that are just more interesting when shown in motion, rather than that frozen moment in time we capture as still shooters. I don't see video as being an all-consuming passion, like stills have always been. But as HD cameras and housings get smaller, I can see where one might fit in the travel case. My biggest issue though is that there is a finite amount of time that one can spend in the water. Will I want to share even a moment of that with video as opposed to stills? I don't know, but until HD I never even considered it.

Divester: You're a master at photographing sharks. What are some things photographers should keep in mind when shooting sharks?

SF: Thanks for the kind words. I suppose the first and most obvious is "Don't get your butt bit". Actually, there's a lot you can do to avoid getting hurt, and the dive operators and shark wranglers out there today are a very savvy and safety conscious bunch (for the most part). If it is helpful, perhaps you could point your readers to this link http://stephenfrink.com/sf-tips/200603-shark-shot/ as it does provide some good hints specific to shark photography.
Different sharks require different techniques; but a wide angle lens that focuses very quickly, a fast strobe recycle, quick reactions, and good peripheral vision are all important complements to effective shark imaging. We just finished doing the Shark Shootout at Stuart Cove's by the way, and really had some stellar photo ops. I think we really pushed the envelope in terms of access this year, and perhaps more than anything, that's what good shark photography is all about ... Getting close safely. I call it "Predictive Previsualization". Seeing in your mind's eye how the shot should look, setting all camera and strobe controls for what they should be when the shark gets close enough, and having the presence of mind to trip the shutter once the shark enters the shoot zone.

Divester: You've started blogging at Scuba Diving's Underwater Insider. How do you like that?

SF: Actually, I do like the "stream of consciousness" format of a blog. However, I know I don't contribute often enough. To be really effective I should do it semi-daily, or at least weekly. Maybe that should be my New Year's Resolution? But, in general, blogging has been a huge asset to the global Internet community. Scubadiving.com is just getting ready to launch a pretty major redesign, and I'm sure the Underwater Insider will get bigger/better as a result of the overall upgrades to the site.

Divester: What's the toughest marine creature to shoot and why?

SF: I suppose the absurdly skittish creatures like the garden eel are the hardest. Telephoto work isn't effective in a medium 600 times more dense than air, and even a 200mm macro doesn't get you close enough for most species of garden eels. Of course some of the bigger and bolder Pacific species of garden eels allow a closer access, and are easier to fill the frame. I know how I should do it though. I'd put my Seacam on an underwater tripod pointing at the hole of a garden eel. Then, I'd get two powerful strobes so I could work at F-22 for great depth of field. Then I would prefocus manually on where the eel would come out of the hole. Finally, I would use a 20-foot remote shutter release to trigger the camera when the garden eel came back out of it's hole, and I would devote a whole dive to nothing but that so that I'd nail it during the random happenstance when the eel bobbed into focus. Why haven't I done that? A headshot of a garden eel doesn't mean that much to me, beyond the challenge. Maybe one day.

Divester: What is Frink's SOS?

SF: To understand the product you probably need to understand the motivation. I was off Peleliu (near Palau), and we had the combination of very rough seas and a strong offshore current. Once I was swept away from the protection of the rock I had the choice of coming to the surface too quickly and risking the bends, or to do a 5-minute subsurface offgass at the mercy of the current. When I finally surfaced, the dive dinghy was a distant spot on the far horizon. Just the year before a group of Japanese tourists had died at this very spot in a similar situation. Their dive boat had an engine malfunction, and they got swept farther and farther away. Then it got dark and the situation spiraled out of control. Anyway, there I was bobbing at the surface in 6-foot seas, juggling two camera systems that would be lost to the deep abyss if I let go. Now, I had to reach in the pocket of my BC and find a little safety sausage, unroll it, take my regulator out of my mouth, blow it up through a pea-shooter valve, tuck one camera under my arm, and hold the safety sausage upright so the boat could see me. Right then I decided there had to be a better, safer way.

The SOS (Surface Observation Signal) was my solution to that problem. I decided that the pneumatics of a buoyancy compensator should be able to deploy a safety sausage so a diver did not have to manually blow it up, or even hold it in their hands. I researched my options, went through an expensive and arduous process to have the concept patented, and licensed it initially to Aqua Lung. Actually, Aqua Lung/Seaquest was a wonderful collaborator on the project. BCs are their specialty, and together we came up with a way the SOS would mount in a pouch attached to the lower right dump valve. Inflating the BC and pulling a rip cord would allow the safety sausage to deploy, and a one-way valve would keep the SOS inflated even if the BC had leaks elsewhere, or was trimmed to personal comfort while waiting on the surface. This year Innovative Scuba will launch a similarly licensed product at the DEMA show called SMART (See Me And Rescue Tube). The SMART will adapt to other BCs other than just the Aqua Lung and Seaquest brands previously served. In the near future you'll also see the SOS/SMART concept directly integrated into high end BCs rather than an add-on accessory.

The things about the SOS that I find most compelling is that:

1. It is always there when needed.
2. It is so easy to deploy that a diver will be inclined to do so at the first hint of trouble, not too late when they are potentially out of sight.
3. It is hands-free, and doesn't require a regulator to be removed from the mouth to inflate.
4. It can be deployed by a buddy for a diver that might be in trouble at the surface.
5. When seen by the dive boat, it means "here I am and I need you to pick me up". It removes the ambiguity of seeing a diver on the surface, maybe waving an arm, and maybe being in distress. The message is instantly clear.

Of course I could be biased, but I think the SOS should be standard equipment for any diver on any live-aboard. We trust our lives to guys we don't know, driving dive skiffs we can only assume are in good repair. The least we can do is put the odds in our favor by helping them see us when we come up somewhere they aren't.

Divester: I'm sure everyone thinks you have the world's best job. What would most people be surprised to hear about your work?

SF: They think it is the world's best job because of the wonderful places we go for dive travel and the adventure of it all. But I think they might be surprised at all the backstage work that goes into managing a photo archive and effectively syndicating the work. To make this fit for me I've needed to multi-task, but ultimately it is all about underwater imaging. The subsets include my close relationship with Scuba Diving magazine, our dive travel business, stock photography representation, Seacam import business, and our studio/gallery in Key Largo. Collectively, it works. But, if the only part of the formula was traveling and taking underwater photos, I'd probably have had to get a real job years ago.

Divester: What do you wish someone had told you when you were starting out in this business?

SF: I wish they'd told me (and more importantly, I'd listened), that a picture of a clownfish or a goby isn't worth getting bent over. When I was younger I was way too aggressive with the limits of the dive computer. Plus, the early dive computers were pretty aggressive as well. I can't blame the equipment though. I was too greedy about the photo-ops. I wanted more images, more chances to shoot, always. I spent too many hours in chambers as a result.

Gratefully, not lately. Nitrox availability most places reduces much of the risk, especially when dived on air tables. And modern computers are more conservative than the first ones we dived. There is no doubt sport divers can still spend plenty of time in the water very safely pursuing their UW photo ambitions. A dose of common sense regarding safe bottom time may be an important companion to an 8GB card in a digital camera.

I love my free downloadable dive magazines. This week, Underwater Photography magazine (affectionately known as UwP by those in the know -- or so I'm led to believe) released Issue 33. All 51 pages of the issue are packed with underwater photography goodness, from photo/marine news, new product details (Ikelite's Nikon D80; Olympus E-400 and PT-E03 housings; EWA Marine U-XBP and XBP100 housings; the Tokina 10-17mm fisheye zoom; and more), product reviews (Nikon 105mm VR lens by Alex Mustard; and GreenWater Magic filters by Peter Rowlands), and more. Jammed with loads of images, tips and techniques, book reviews, and upcoming competitions, this is what all the cool kids will be reading next week.

I was beginning to write a post about Pentax's waterproof Optio W10, when I realized that Pentax had already released the Optio W20. Oops.

According to the press release, the W20 features a 2.5-inch LCD monitor, a 3X optical zoom lens that delivers 7.0 effective megapixels, 21.9 MB of built-in memory, a Blur Reduction mode, and the ability to snap photos as close as one centimeter from a subject. Moreover, the W20 is able to withstand up to 30 minutes of continuous operation at a depth of 5 feet, without a waterproof case. While 30 minutes at 5 feet might not make you heave your dSLR/housing/strobe system, the W20 might make a suitable camera to throw in your backpack on the days you aren't diving. Toss it in your day bag, head to the beach, enjoy a picnic lunch, and take the W20 snorkeling.

The camera retails for under $300. Although reviews are a little hard to come by, Chad claims he "can't believe the pictures and adaptability of this camera." Rick and Joe both give the W20 five stars, although grumpy old Glenn returned his the next day. Glenn's just like that, though.

If you were interested in Jeff Mullins' review of the 10 Bar housing for the Olympus E-330, but you're not quite able to make it to Hong Kong to pick up a 10 Bar of your own, check out Jack Connick's website. Jack (who you might remember as the diver from the excellent Optical Ocean) now sells the complete line of Fantasea products -- which includes the same housing for the E-330 as 10 Bar's, but re-named the FE-330. That's right, Jack has the entire Fantasea Line at his disposal -- from housings for Coolpix cameras, to housings for many popular dSLRs, to a variety of strobes and arms -- Jack can even help you order customized packages. Plus, he provides discounted pricing on most of the items he sells! (Suddenly, that FE-330 is sounding better and better...)

If you're a n00b who doesn't really know what you need or want, shoot Jack an email. Promising "no-BS advice," Jack claims he's available for questions, unlike mail-order houses, where no one is a diver, or has any idea about what you need. Personally, I know I sent Jack a photo-related question a few months ago, before he started selling the Fantasea equipment, and he answered promptly and thoroughly. He's a knowledgeable guy with a tremendous talent for underwater photography. I want to be like Jack when I grow up.

Olympus released their 7.5 megapixel Live View digital E-330 SLR this year to much hoopla. The first SLR camera to offer the ability for users to see an image on the LCD before the shutter is depressed, the E-330 is, well, revolutionary. Recently, Jeff Mullins, owner of Tulamben's Reef Wreck and Critter guided dive company and author of the excellent book of the same name, got his hands on an E-330 and put it inside a specially-made housing from Hong Kong-based 10Bar. He posted his very thorough (and positive) review on Wetpixel.

Featuring two memory card slots, Mullins was very pleased with the E-330's "huge memory capability." Moreover, he enjoyed the E-330's easy-to-access menu, RAW shooting ability, large 2.5" LCD, and lack of shutter lag. In terms of the housing, he was delighted by its affordable, heavy-duty construction, and the relatively easy button-access it allows. In short, Mullins claims this camera/housing combo is affordable, especially in light of the fact that no other SLRs have Live View ability. Concluding that the E-330 is "a great stepping stone for those photographers wanting more than their point & shoot cameras can offer," if you were thinking about upgrading, check out Mullins' review and marvel at his excellent photos. His conclusion just might help seal the deal.