DEMA 2005 Show Report

by Christa Loustalot Thursday, October 20th, 2005

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Equinox

Equinox Underwater Products, long known for their bright yellow, versatile video housings, are in the digital still market. TJ Mansfield proudly showed me the SEASPY, Equinox’s customizable digital point & shoot camera housing for only $325, and also their new arrival, the SEAPIX 5.0. This compact little camera/housing combo boasts such features as a Sony 5.25 mega-pixel CCD processor, Macro, a rechargeable Li-ion battery, and movie mode to name a few. And just to “wet” your appetite even more, they have an 8 mega-pixel version coming out in January 2006.

TJ Mansfield - President of Equinox Underwater Products - holds a customizable Seapix housing

A customizable Equinox Seapix housing - the front remains the same for any camera

A customizable Equinox Seapix housing - the back before the customization

A customizable Equinox Seapix housing - after customization

Equinox Seapix 5.0 camera/housing combo

Fisheye

I had the absolute pleasure of being a Fisheye employee for the week, and I have to say that Kenji Ohmura was a wonderful boss. It would be hard to find a nicer person, and Fisheye products are definitely top of the line. A newly minted Fisheye expert (and admittedly now a bit biased), I switched into sell mode and showed off six new products to the scores of folks who came by:

1. The new FIX LED48 DX light system. The same body as the FIX LIGHT HG20DX, but with 48 super-bright LED’s and 8 AA batteries. Use it for a focus light, for macro photography, or put a handle on it and use it as a dive light.

2. The Brightstar HID Diving Torch. Light, (as in not heavy) rechargeable Li-ion battery, whoa-mama 21 or 24 watt HID bulb, and your choice of spot or wide-angle beam.

3. The FIX Diving Pocket LED light and optional mounting bracket. This mini aluminum focus light packs a punch, and it’s also handy in a BCD pocket to use as a backup.

4. FIX Rotary Hot-shoe Base – affix this to your hot-shoe on your housing and mount your new FIX LED48 DX – how convenient is that?

5. The UK Light Cannon rechargeable battery set. Is your Cannon weighing you down? Get the lead out! The Fisheye Li-ion battery set includes the lightweight Fisheye Li-ion battery (used in the FIX HG20DX) and charger, plus an adapter to fit it into your UK Light Cannon. Much better…

6. The Seatool Sony DHR-HC1 housing in a Standard and Deluxe version. They did their homework on this one – its lightweight polycarbonate form hugs the camera, making it the smallest HC1 housing out there. The controls are easy to use, and they even installed a mirror for easy viewing of the LCD screen. It’s also customizable if you want to use the bigger battery. Check this one out – even the big guns were coming by to admire this little gem. There are even the faintest whisperings of a 5D housing in the works….maybe soon???

Fisheye Seatool housing for the Sony DHR-HC1 (Standard)

Fisheye Seatool housing for the Sony DHR-HC1 (Deluxe)

Fisheye FIX LED48DX focus/modeling/dive light

Fisheye Rechargeable Battery Pack Holder for the UK Light Cannon

Fisheye 21/24 Watt Brightstar HID Diving Torch...yes we know the label is on upside down....

Fisheye Rechargeable Battery Pack Holder for the UK Light Cannon - you can see the Fisheye Li-ion battery within and the included charger

Another Fisheye Brightstar HID....again, with the upsidedown label...

Fisheye FIX Rotary Hotshoe Base - seen here attached to the hotshoe of a DSLR for display purposes

Fisheye FIX Rotary Hotshoe Base

Fisheye FIX Diving Pocket LED Light and holder

Kenji Ohmura - President of Fisheye and General Manager of At Deep - tells a customer about the new FIX LED48DX

The Fisheye booth

Gates Underwater Housings

Pamela Mazey Mertz at Gates was showing off three new black beauties: The PC II - which houses the Sony PC1000, the Prototype HC1/A1U – for the Sony HDR-HC1 and HVR-A1U, and the FX1/Z1 – for the Sony Handycam HDR-FX1 and HVR-Z1. Another feature was the Squid 50 – a cute but rugged little video light who’s big brother, the Squid 100, might be getting a little jealous. And coming up…..housings for the Panasonic HGVX200 and the Canon XCEL HD.

Pamela Mazey Mertz at Gates Underwater Products

Gates PC II Housing for the Sony PC1000

Gates prototype of the HC1/A1U housing for the Sony HDR-HC1 and HVR-A1U

Gates Squid 50 light (little brother to the Squid 100)

Gates FX1/Z1 housing for the Sony Handycam HDR-FX1 and HVR-Z1

Ikelite

Ikelite – my own personal investment plan – is always a treat. David Haas, Roger Carlson…all those guys are a lot of fun. The commotion this year is all about the DS-80, Ikelite’s new digital strobe that is midway between the DS-50 and the DS-125. Looks good to me – manual and TTL, Pre & Non-preflash settings, LED modeling light, built-in diffuser, 4 AA batteries, and LED screen…should I go on? Can’t wait to see the final version. Also on the menu is Ikelite’s new 8” dome – made by them, for them. Look for that in November. And last we have their latest version of the Canon G6 housing – now new and improved with TTL! What about the 5D, you ask? Well, (pause for effect) let’s just say it’s coming soon….

The Ikelite booth (Photo courtesy of David Haas)

Aquatica and new mold Ikelite 8" dome port. Plus prototype "low
volume" 8" dome ports (same radius as 8", but smaller volume) for
Nikon 10.5mm and possibly other lenses.....(Photo courtesy of David Haas)

Ikelite's Roger Carlson tells Ryan the new DS80 strobe will be
"the bomb" :) (Photo courtesy of David Haas)

Ikelite's Sandy Thomas gets Ryan Canon's wallet buying all the
Ikelite stuff he can! (Photo courtsey of David Haas)

Ikelite DS-80 Strobe prototype

Ikelite DS-80 Strobe prototype...it's ON

Ikelite's own.. 8" Dome!!

The Ikelite Canon G6 housing....Now fortified with TTL!

Nobody seems too sure about what Roger's selling......

I just love the catalog!

Inon

Inon was showcasing two items this year, a prototype X-2 housing for the Canon 20D (looks nice), and their new D-2000W strobe. Steve Philbrook showed me that the difference between the D-2000W and the earlier version of the same strobe is the addition of a 5-pin sync connector for DLSR and film cameras...gotta love it! The X-2 prototype is still just that…and there is no expected release date as of yet. However, to note, this housing has a magnetic manual focus ring – a verrry nice feature.

Inon prototype of the upcoming X-2 housing for the Canon 20D

Steve Philbrook of Inon shows off the X-2 prototype and the new D-2000W strobe

Inon X-2 prototype and D-2000W strobe

Inon X-2 prototype housing for the Canon 20D

Close up of the Inon D-2000W strobe - notice the 5-pin sync connector

Close up of the magnetic manual focus ring on the Inon X-2 prototype

Great report Christa
Posted by Mike Veitch on 2005-10-22 05:17:45 That's Not bluriness! That's "swirlies" ! Please not center and other points of faces are IN focus! As stated, a "special" technique honed over muchos anos :) Plus cerveza..... dhaas
Posted by dhaas on 2005-10-21 17:19:31 You can relate the amount of bluriness to the amount of David's content of margarita :), it was a definite pleasure and a must do again event. Girl you have been busy and have done a great job on reporting.My tip of the hat to you. Beneath the Sea is coming up this spring, let's do that again.
Posted by Viz'art on 2005-10-21 15:00:43 Christa, It's ok, there were alot of people and it was loud. You did great! Love the picture of the NCUPS booth too. Thanks for including us. Best, Kathy
Posted by kathymm on 2005-10-21 13:18:27 Psyschadelic photos are a Haas Photography technique, only possible after 1-3 beers :) Wish they were bigger so you see the real effects !!!!!!!!! It was great fun and chatter, plus meeting many people from the Wetpixel community. Dave Haas
Posted by dhaas on 2005-10-21 12:46:27 Sorry Kathy about the name mix-up. It was really loud in there and I could not hear names very well...most of them I didn't even get. I apologize to Randy over the error. Christa
Posted by cloustalot on 2005-10-21 11:08:13 Great write-up and photos Christa! DEMA this year was really fun. It was nice to meet you all at the Wetpixel cocktail hour. Thank you to Eric, Bonnie, and Jean! Interesting how the photos got more psychadelic with each round of drinks. Best, Kathy Mendes BTW...Ryan is known as Randy when not at DEMA cocktail parties. :-)
Posted by kathymm on 2005-10-21 10:48:57 Well done Christa....lots of good information and photos for all of us who couldn't make it Karl
Posted by kdietz on 2005-10-21 08:11:56