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Backscatter in the Channel Islands

Friday, August 20th, 2010

No, not that kind of backscatter…. the kind that sells underwater photo gear including Nauticam housings. The guys from Backscatter Underwater Video and Photo recently invaded the Channel Islands of California to do some staff training and gear testing. This once a year trip allows the staff to get together to get some diving in, work on their skills, and yes, have some fun in the process. They invited me along to which I happily said yes, and after packing about 220 pounds of Nauticam, Zen Underwater, and cold water diving gear, I went to California.

Did I mention that I brought my drysuit? Well, good thing I did as the water was quite cold, even by California standards. On two of my dives, I registered a nippy 47 degrees at the bottom. Visibility was not the greatest, so yes, there was some of the other kind of backscatter to deal with. Despite the less than perfect conditions, there were plenty of great subjects underwater; everyone did around 4 dives a day and enjoyed the trip very much.

Nudibranch from Santa Cruz Island. Shot with Canon 7D in Nauticam with Canon 60mm macro and Nauticam C60 port

The boat was the Peace, out of Ventura. The Peace is well suited to the Channel Islands, with a wide beam and plenty of room for all that gear needed for cold water diving… not to mention a huge amount of photo gear.

The Peace

The new Sony NEX-5 came along for the trip for topside shooting. This is a cool little camera that packs an APS-C sized sensor and interchangeable lenses into a point and shoot size. It has a built-in panorama mode which entertained me for a long time.

Panorama shot with Sony NEX-5

I brought 3 complete Nauticam setups for the Backscatter guys to use… Canon 7D, Canon T2i and Nikon D300s. I also brought Nauticam ports to support some different lenses, plus a couple Zen Underwater 100mm mini fisheye domes. One of the Backscatter guys already owns his own Zen Underwater 230mm super dome, so that was in use as well. It was great to see how eager these guys were to try and get experience with the different Nauticam products.

Some of the photo gear

One more comment about the Peace… the food is awesome! (Sorry, no pictures of the food).

Peace dive deck panorama with gear. Photo by Berkley White.

Diving the Channel Islands is a unique experience, with some creatures and scenery you just don’t see anywhere else. From Purple Hydrocorals on Farnsworth Bank to the ubiquitous kelp forests to the myriads of nudibranchs on Santa Cruz, there is an amazing amount of life underwater here. This isn’t the first time these guys have been here and they know the best spots.

Horn Shark. Shot with Canon 7D Nauticam with Tokina 10-17mm fisheye behind a Zen Underwater 100mm mini fisheye dome

Shot with Canon 7D Nauticam with Canon 60mm EF-S.

Nudibranch from Santa Cruz Island. Shot with Canon 7D in Nauticam with Canon 60mm macro and Nauticam C60 port

Backscatter Underwater Video and Photo has a beautiful showroom located in Monterrey, California (and one in Derry, NH). Besides being an authorized Nauticam dealer, they are authorized to perform service on Nauticam gear, plus can service just about anything else related to underwater photo/video gear. They have a large staff, all of whom are divers and photographers. Their extensive website is packed with Nauticam housings, ports, and accessories, plus gear from many other vendors. Visit the website here: Backscatter web site

The Backscatter Channel Islands Dive Team 2010. From top then left to right: Berkley White - Owner; Rusty Sanoian - Product Manager; Sean Boone - Web Sales; Rob Duncan - Sales; Mike Tamayo - Accounting / Sales; Craig Dietrich - Sales; Sterling Zumbrunn - Technical Support

Posted in Canon 7D, Canon T2i/550D, Nauticam Dealers, Nauticam News, Nikon D300s, Ports, Travel | Comments Off

60:Second ScubaLab: Nauticam NA-550D

Sunday, August 8th, 2010

Nauticam NA-550D housing featured on ScubaDiving.com:

Posted in Canon T2i/550D, Nauticam News | Comments Off

Underwater DSLR Rig in a box. Or a bag.

Thursday, July 22nd, 2010

This is a gear intensive sport, no doubt about it. Combine that with the fact that airlines are turning into absolute misers when it comes to baggage, and it’s no wonder that some people are abandoning DSLR’s for smaller cameras. That’s a shame, though, because giving up on DSLR means giving up on significantly better image quality, better lenses, shallow depth of field, fast focus…. ouch.

The Canon T2i with a Nauticam housing, along with a small dome like the Zen Underwater 100mm Fisheye dome and small strobes like the Inon S-2000 or the Sea&Sea YS-01 might be just the antidote for this. I wanted to see just how well a rig like like packed, so I assembled a representative set of gear and a couple of candidate pieces of luggage.

I started with a Pelican case, model 1510. This is a popular size Pelican because a) it is carry on legal and b) it has wheels and a handle.

The Pelican 1510 - Carry on size with wheels

DSLR rig in a box

A complete T2i setup

The Pelican handled more that I thought it would. I was able to pack the housing, camera, viewfinder, 3 lenses, 2 ports, a port extension, zoom/focus gears, strobes, arms, clamps, and a focus light into the box. I had some room to spare so I added a battery charger for the camera, plus a spare battery. Still more room, so I added strobe batteries, 8 cell battery charger, charger for the focus light, spare o-rings, and o-ring grease.

Basically, a complete DSLR rig, with not one but three lenses, a macro port and a dome port, plus everything else needed, all in a carry-on sized box. With wheels.

Ok, so then I tried to see how much I could fit into a large camera backpack, but not too large; the kind that would fit under the seat in front of you. Maybe like the Tamron Evolution 8. My thinking was that I’d be able to fit the housing and the 18-55, with one port and two strobes, and that’s it. The backpack is pretty narrow, so I had to remove the handles from the housing, but once I did that, I was pleasantly surprised with how much I could fit in there (the same could be done for the Pelican, of course, which would let you put even more gear in there). I was actually able to get all of the same gear into the backpack, plus my laptop went nicely into the laptop pocket.

The Tamrac Evolution 8 Backpack

Nauticam NA-550D housing in the backpack

Fully loaded

All of the gear from the backpack

Yes, you read that right…. a complete DSLR rig plus a laptop… in a carry-on sized backpack.

Here’s a list of what I packed:

Nauticam NA-550D
Nauticam 180º viewfinder
Nauticam 0.66x standard viewfinder
Canon T2i body
Canon 18-55 lens
Canon 60mm macro lens
Tokina 10-17mm fisheye zoom lens
Nauticam Compact Port 15 + port base + covers
Zen Underwater 100mm fisheye dome port + cover
Nauticam 20mm extension ring + cover
2x Inon S-2000 strobes
2x Nauticam Fiber Optic cables
Light&Motion Sola 600 focus light
Sola 600 charger
Canon LC-E5 Battery charger for T2i
2x LP-E5 battery for T2i
8 LSD NiMH batteries
PowerEx 8 cell battery charger
2x Nauticam M10 strobe mounting balls
2x ULCS Inon adapters
7x ULCS clamps
2x ULCS 8″ arms
2x ULCS 5″ arms
ULCS hotshoe adapter
ULCS adapter for Sola
Nauticam Zoom gear for Canon 18-55
Nauticam Zoom gear for Tokina 10-17
Nauticam Focus gear for Canon 60mm macro
2x Nauticam lubricant
Spare housing o-ring
Spare port o-ring
Spare Inon o-rings
Inon o-ring grease
15″ Apple Macbook Pro (in the backpack only)

All of that, in one carry-on sized bag. Now there’s no excuse to shoot with less than a DSLR.

Posted in Canon T2i/550D, Travel | Comments Off

Shooting T2i with the new NA-550D

Monday, June 28th, 2010

The first Nauticam NA-550D landed in our warehouse a few days ago – it didn’t take long before I managed to head to Key West and the Dry Tortugas for a quick dive trip. (So far, the oil from the gulf has not impacted the Dry Tortugas, but it is definitely a worry). I packed some lenses, a couple of Z-240 strobes, arms and also a 7D rig for some Nauticam family photos.

[Click on an image to see a larger version]

Nauticam NA-550D and big brother NA-7D

Since many T2i’s are purchased with the 18-55 kit lens (EF-S 18-55mm IS), I tried this lens first, using a Nauticam Compact Port 15 with the 18-55 zoom gear. This is a versatile combination, 18mm on the wide side is wide enough to get some decent reef scenes, and it will allow a 1:2 reproduction ratio on the 55 end. This combo has a lot of range in a small package, and is very handy for fish portraits. Given the small size of the NA-550D housing and this port, this is a compelling setup for someone who wants to travel light.

Juvenile Blueheads shot with 18-55mm at 55mm

My biggest problem on this trip, aside from the weather being a little rough thanks to a passing tropical wave, was that everyone wanted to try the housing. I only managed to get to use it for about 2 dives. Using the 18-55, my friend who is new to underwater photography, managed to get some nice shots.

Shot with 18-55mm at 18mm

The new latches on the housing proved to be easy to use and very secure. To open, you press the small release button and move the lever in the opposite direction past a mechanical catch, making it virtually impossible to open inadvertently.

Shot with 18-55mm at 55mm

I had the camera’s autofocus set to the default setting, such that the autofocus is initiated upon a half press of the shutter release. The NA-550D has a unique new two stage shutter release lever. The increased tactile feel of the two stages allows more control over the half press with less accidental actuation. Though I am more used to a configuration where the autofocus is moved to a different button, I found the default half press autofocus to be easy to use with this housing.

Shot with 18-55mm at 39mm

On the second dive, I traded the 18-55 for a Tokina 10-17mm fisheye lens plus zoom gear, combined with a Zen 100mm fisheye mini-dome plus Nauticam Locking Extension Ring 20. Trading out the lens is made easy by the new lens release on the NA-550D, and trading out the port is simple and secure thanks to the distinctive Nauticam port release mechanism. One thing I really liked was the lever to access the playback button, which made reviewing photos and video a breeze. I shot some in manual on this dive so I could try out the Av button lever. In what is apparently becoming a Nauticam tradition, I find this lever makes the camera easier to use inside the housing than by itself, i.e. instead of having to hold down the Av button and move the command dial at the same time, I just flipped the switch, then used the command dial to change the aperture, no need to hold anything down.

Shot with 10-17mm at 10mm

I also changed the camera to only autofocus when the * button is pressed. On the housing, the * button is the top button on the rocker button, and easily reached with my hands still on the handles. Since it is different than the 7D, it took a few tries to get used to the placement, but once I did it felt natural. I prefer this style of shooting, but for many people, the two stage shutter release will allow the default autofocus style to be the preferred method.

Shot with 10-17mm at 10mm

While we mostly concentrated on shooting stills this trip, I did shoot some natural light video with the T2i. This video is shot with manual exposure (using the ISO paddle lever to set ISO) and custom white balance, using Tokina 10-17. The video looks great at 1080p… I’ve uploaded it here to Vimeo, which is 720p and more compressed than I’d like, but not bad.

The NA-550D housings begin shipping June 30th.

NA-550D with 18-55mm in Compact Port 15

Posted in Canon T2i/550D, Lenses | Comments Off

More details on the 550D

Wednesday, June 9th, 2010

We’ve just received some renderings of the 550D that show some details that people have been asking about (click for larger images in a new window):

Fingertip ISO paddle lever

The larger ISO paddle lever extends the ISO control outward so that it is reachable from the handles. The ISO control is especially important for T2i video shooters as it will be the primary control for adjusting video exposure.

Detail of the locking latches.

The locking latches feature both a push button locking release and a mechanical catch that must be overcome, making it virtually impossible to open inadvertently.

Locking latches in open position

Locking latches in open position, detail

Posted in Canon T2i/550D, Innovation, Nauticam News | Comments Off

Announcing the NA-550D housing

Wednesday, May 26th, 2010

The newest member of the Canon DSLR lineup boasts an impressive number of advanced features at a price that is more in line with an entry level camera. Depending on where you are located, this camera is known as the Canon Digital Rebel T2i (North America), Kiss X4 Digital (Japan) or the Canon EOS 550D (worldwide). With its 18 megapixel sensor and 1080p HD video with manual control, some pundits have called it a baby 7D.

Nauticam 550D Housing

Call it what you will, this camera is now ready to go exploring the underwater world! We are proud to announce the imminent arrival of the NA-550D housing for Canon 550D/T2i. The NA-550D housing inherits the renowned piano keys from NA-7D housing, patented Nauticam port locking system, comfortable rubberized handles, and innovative ergonomic access to key camera controls. New features include locking housing latches, lens release lever, a fingertip ISO paddle, and access to the camera’s playback button from the left handle.

Nauticam NA-550D, front view

In keeping with the Nauticam philosophy, the NA-550D housing continues to innovate while building on previous success. Notable examples are the AV+/- switch, new fingertip paddle on the top of the housing to allow easy access to ISO control, a unique rocker lever for easy access to the star (*) and focus point selector buttons, and a piano key for accessing the quick control button.

The playback button is moved out to a lever on the left side of the housing accessed from the handle by the user’s thumb. All of these controls are designed to allow the underwater photographer complete access to the camera’s important functions without removing their hands from the handles. AV +/- is a pushbutton on the back of the camera body that must be held down while rotating a command wheel to change F-Stop in Manual Exposure Mode. The Nauticam AV +/- switch brings this control to the right side of the housing, easily accessed from the handle. This two position switch has a position for adjusting f-stop, and a position for adjusting shutter speed, eliminating the press and hold or long reaches required by other housings. The fingertip ISO paddle is designed with video shooters in mind, allowing quick exposure changes from the handle.

Nauticam 550D housing, rear view

Another innovative ergonomic advancement is Nauticam’s new two stage shutter release lever. This mechanical lever greatly enhances tactile feel of the half press and full press positions of the shutter release button, allowing precise focus control, and less accidental shutter actuation.

New, easy to use locking latches eliminate the stainless steel latches used previously. This new closure method reduces overall size and is easier to operate. These locking latches are easy to close with minimal hand strength required, and protected from accidental opening by a locking detent. A lens release button is offered as standard equipment, allowing lens changes while a zoom gear is attached without opening the housing back.

NA-550D next to NA-7D

NA-550D housing is the smallest housing in the Nauticam lineup, which should appeal to anyone concerned with the large size of some DSLR housings. This housing can still accommodate the same accessories as all other Nauticam housings, allowing use of an extensive line of lenses, ports, port adapters, lens gears, and viewfinders.

Nauticam 550D, open

In short, we think the new Canon T2i and the NA-550D make for a compelling combo. Available soon from any of our dealers.

Contact us here for more information.

Posted in Canon T2i/550D, Innovation, Nauticam News | No Comments »

Nauticam USA

Archive for the ‘Canon T2i/550D’ Category

Backscatter in the Channel Islands

60:Second ScubaLab: Nauticam NA-550D

Underwater DSLR Rig in a box. Or a bag.

Shooting T2i with the new NA-550D

More details on the 550D

Announcing the NA-550D housing

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