What's New @ Dema 2016

It's that time of year again, DEMA, the big industry show that occurs each fall. As always, Bluewater Photo hit the show floor to check in with all the underwater photography manufacturers and see what great new gear will be coming to you over the next few months. Here's a run down of the great new gear from Dema this year. 

Aquatica

Aquatica jumped quickly on the new housing scene with their 5D Mark IV housing, which will be available by the end of this month. It features some redesigned controls to make your shooting experience even better, such as an angled control dial, and repositioned shutter release and shutter speed dial. The best part about this new housing? It will come in at only $,2800.00... nearly $1,000 lower than other aluminum housings!

Continuing in their tradition on high quality aluminum housings, they have also just put the finishing touches on their Sony a6300 housing. In addition to a well designed, small housing, they've also completed work on a very useful accessory - a power pack, that sits just below the camera tray and can triple the life of the Sony battery. A must have for any video shooter!

Fantasea

Fantasea has alwasy brought us great inexpensive polycarbonate housings and they continue to produce those. Now they have paired with AOI to introduce the UWL-09, a fisheye dome port with 67mm threads, which will pair perfectly with their Canon G7X housings and with the RX100 IV / V housing (using the adapter). There is no vignetting, and good sharp results throughout the photo. Look for an updated RX100 V housing sometime in the future featuring 67mm threads instead of the 55mm size the housing currently offers. Another new housing is in the works for a popular camera. They gave us a sneak peek at the show, but its not quite ready for production. Keep an eye out in the upcoming months for news on this great new release! 

Fix Neo

Fix has updated their popular line of lights with new displays in the LED window. Instead of having to press a button to see your light power, mode or battery, the new LED display features all key aspects together on one screen. Easy to use, extremely powerful and easy to dial in for the perfect shot, the Fix Neo lights now display even more information at a glance.

Ikelite

Ikelite has revolutionized their housings with a new polycarbonate blend that they released after last year's DEMA. This year marks the full release of their new Dry Lock port system, a very easy to use, functional port system designed so you never accidentally drip water inside your housing while making a port change on a dive boat. In addition, Ikelite is jumping into the world of vacuum systems, offering a new vaccum bulkhead with several of the new dSLR housings. 

Speaking of housings, we previewed the new 5D Mark IV housing, which should be shipping this week, as well as the Nikon D500 which was just recently released. Ikelite has revised their popular TG-4 housing and the RX100 V housing in the new cream colored polycarbonate blend as well, which makes these housings lighter overall. 

iTorch

(talk to Doug today)

Light & Motion

The top light vendor in the United States is still hard at work producing high quality lights for the underwater photographer. They have continued to expand the Sola and GoBe lines, increasing lumen rating without sacrificing burn time. This year they release an updated video light, the Sola 3800 Video, which has 3800 lumens, in the same incredibly small Sola body. It features the Fast Charge ability, with a 90° beam and. A new accessory, that was designed with this light in mind, but is compatible with any Sola light, will be released shortly, which is a dome port for the light. Just like the dome port on your housing, this reverses the effects of refraction, giving you an additional 25% angle of view for your light. There is a very small (8%) loss of power on the light from it being more diffused through the dome, but the difference is neglible when compared against the same light without the dome. 

Keldan

Keldan continues to improve the high end lighting market, with the offiical release of their large 21,000 lumen lights - capable of filling in shadow and augmenting your video even in the brightest, clearest waters. In addition they have updated the software inside all of their lights, improving the power control to 9 levels. Where it really makes a difference is on the low power end of the light, allowing the shooter to dial the light way down so it is not overpowering on night dives, and resulting in a battery life of up to 15 hours!

Nauticam

Always on the front of releasing new housings quickly, Nauticam does not disappoint this year. They have the RX100 V housing ready to go, and we got to check it out at the show. Expect this housing to hit the shelves soon. The 5D Mark IV housing is already out and shipping, and we previewed the new a6500 housing, which like Aquatica, will offer an option for installing a battery pack to increase your shooting time underwater. Nauticam displayed their new Atmos Flame housing, a perfect solution for anyone needing to record video externally, as well as their newly redesigned carbon fiber buoyancy arms. 

Olympus

We got our hands on the new E-M1 Mark II and Olympus PT-EP14 housing. We're excited to get out and shoot this new camera (look for a full review coming in the next few weeks). The camera features the upgraded 20MP sensor, improved autofocus and image stabilization. The housing features the same port system as the E-M5 and E-M1 housings, making it an easy upgrade for anyone shooting the PT-EP08 or EP11 housings with the older cameras. A new dedicated macro port for the 60mm and new 30mm macro lenses is being released, which includes 67mm threads, perfect for attaching wet lenses without the need of additional adapters. 

Sea & Sea

Sea & Sea has expanded their line of housings with new releases such as the Canon 5D Mark IV, Sony a6300, Nikon D500 and Canon D80. In addition they now offer each of these housings in a bright unique color. Find the 80D in red or black, get the D500 in navy blue or black, etc. Continuing to work on improving the shooter's experience underwater, Sea & Sea is working with Vivid Housings, to have the new Leak Sentinel V5 available with their new housing options as well. Lastly a new buoyancy arm should be available soon, adding 10oz of buoyancy to your set up, as well as a useful, configurable grip.