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WHEN GEORGE EASTMAN INVENTED THE FIRST CAMERA FOR POPULAR USE, the Kodak No 1, it was so simple that you didn't even have to put film in it. That was done at the factory. All you needed to do was line up a shot and press the button. "Kodak!" was the noise it made, hence the name.
Of course, technology being what it was, most pictures didn't come out. Today we have the fantastic technology of the microchip available to us, so getting your pictures to come out has been well taken care of. Digital cameras give users the instant gratification of seeing their pictures immediately, and they always seem to come out.
The problem appears to be that the computer nerds who design these things are unable simply to leave it at that. They have to give us lots more options. Why? Because they can!
We can choose file sizes, colour balance, record a brief audio note, even shoot a live-action sequence. They can connect us to the cell-phone network to send our art instantly to another, probably uninterested, party.
We can tell the time in China, get the half-time football scores and remotely switch off the oven that's cooking the Sunday lunch when it's done (I made up that bit).
George Eastman's challenge was to give the public the simple facility to record a moment in time, a snap. If they could do that, they were happy. When I'm under water and I see a tiger shark taking a bite out of a hapless turtle, I want to press a button and record that split second. I want nothing more.
Digital photography nerds might sneer at the Sea & Sea Aquapix camera. I'm told it's already "old" technology. Well, I don't want technology. I want pictures and I don't care how I get them. If you want pictures you've taken under water, read on. If you're a digital nerd, you're better off reading Wot Digital mag.
Unlike its competitors, the Sea & Sea Aquapix is not a digital camera in a housing. It's an amphibious digital camera depth-rated to 45m. What appeals to me about it is that it has been designed for use by underwater photographers, and we all know how unclever we can be at times. So it has some very simple-to-understand controls.
On the top, one can choose between the modes for initial set-up, taking pictures, playing them back and making short video clips. Then there is the camera on/off switch and the shutter release. Easy so far?
There's a lever that allows you to position a diffuser in front of the built-in flash. You won't need that; I'll explain why later.
At the front is a lever that allows you to choose between normal focus, close-up for subjects about 10cm away, and a filter for use without flash when in the shallows, to take out some of the blue. Still with me?
At the back are six buttons. The top four are for turning the flash on, setting up the self-timer (not that useful except when trying to photograph shy garden eels), and telephoto and wide-angle effects. These are electronic rather than optical and have a ratio of 3:1. The Aquapix will accept Sea & Sea accessory wide-angle lenses from the MX-10 range, too. These top four buttons are also used for navigating round the set-up menu options.
Then there are the menu/OK and LCD activation buttons, use of which become obvious when the camera is in your hands. That's it. If you don't feel overwhelmed by now, you have qualified to use the Aquapix successfully.
The whole thing runs on two AA batteries, accessed through an O-ring-protected hinged door in the side of the camera. This is where you can insert an optional Smart Media card.
The number of shots you can save depends on the size of the card, whether you choose to save fine- or normal-quality jpegs, and what file sizes you choose.
There is also an on-board memory of 16Mb. This will give 21 pictures at 3 megapixels in fine jpeg mode or 2min 46sec of video action. A 128Mb memory card will save up to 795 images at the least-good quality of resolution or save more than 23 minutes of live action, enough to scare any of your friends away for the evening.
Whether you shoot onto a digital CCD or chemical light-sensitive film, one thing is certain. For good underwater photographs with a full range of colour, you must have a light source other than the daylight that is filtered blue as it passes through many metres of water.
I used the Aquapix with the Sea & Sea YS 25 Auto flashgun. This was a little difficult to set up, as the instruction manual was not good at explaining the options - it was anything but "Auto" in function. After a lot of experimentation, I found that I needed to set it to switching-on option one (of two) and set the power setting control close to minimum for well-exposed pictures at about 45cm from the subject.
Like the camera, the external flash uses two AA batteries and is synchronised to the on-board flash by means of a reliable fibre-optic cable. However, I did find that I needed to cover the on-board flash with black tape to stop it lighting up detritus in the water and causing backscatter - which is why there is no need for the diffuser option.
The LCD screen, the only viewfinder system supplied, has a little rubber hood to keep out extraneous light. The images it displayed were so burnt out, however, that I had a hard job deciding what I'd captured anyway.
I could find no way of adjusting this and had to wait until I downloaded the images on to a home computer. Not good.
Taking a picture under water was not an instant occurrence. First, I found that I had to turn on the camera, because it was set with a power-saving switch-off that came into effect after about three minutes. You can set this to either one, three or five minutes.
Then I had to turn on the on-board and external flash and wait for both to be ready. I often forgot to switch on the on-board flash in the heat of the moment, and would then get virtually nothing.
I then lined up the subject and pressed the shutter release. The delay seemed interminable before the camera grabbed the shot.
This could be the Achilles heel of this camera. You're limited to images recorded when the camera is good and ready. My fishy subjects had often vacated the field of view before this had happened.
A second O-ring-protected hinged door in the side of the camera revealed the connections for both the USB and RGB cables for connecting to computer and TV set respectively.
It was straightforward to download my efforts on to my Apple Mac using the software provided and I'm sure it would be the same with a PC, but I took the precaution of ensuring that I had two fresh AA batteries in the camera first.
It was only now that I discovered that the 3 megapixel camera producing 3Mb jpeg files did not give me the quality I had come to expect from the 17Mb TIFF files of my professional 12 megapixel camera. I shouldn't have been surprised.
For personal snaps of the sort one might e-mail to friends, this camera is more than adequate. The average user will have far more success in obtaining recognisable images than they would attempting to do the same thing with Sea & Sea's MX-10 entry-level film camera. I anticipate the demise in popularity of that little yellow plastic job in favour of this little yellow plastic job.
I found the Sea & Sea Aquapix intuitive to use, if frustrating in its inability to capture the moment. A word of warning: because, without a capacious memory card, I had only 21 pictures to play with, I found myself going through shots I could delete to make room for more.
It's easy to lose track of time doing this, so keep a close eye on both air supplies and deco no-stop time. People with newly purchased digital cameras have drowned in the process.
Early purchasers of the Aquapix might have been disappointed to find that they were not entirely water-resistant. Since then, a new rear door has been designed and should be retro-fitted by the distributor.
If you already own an Aquapix, return it to where you bought it as soon as you can for this important modification.
The Sea & Sea Aquapix costs £389, and a YS 25 Auto flash, mounting bracket arm and synch cord costs another £490.
Sea & Sea 01803 663012, www.sea-sea.com
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+ Unique amphibious digital camera
+ Designed to be simple
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- Slow grab-time
- Complex procedure to get picture with external flashgun
- Poor LCD
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Moray eel captured with an Aquapix - the photographer didn't see the cleanerfish till later because of the shutter delay
Nudibranchs are also good subjects for this camera as they don't move fast
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Some words stick in your mind. I remember checking into a rather exclusive hotel in the Scottish Highlands run by an ex-New York banker who was inclined to wear plus-fours and play the part of the Laird. It all seemed a bit twee.
One of the guests interrupted the occasion by rushing into reception from the lounge, where some form of parlour game was in progress. He wanted to check the meaning of the word "meretricious". I wondered whether he was referring to our host?
As it was, I thoroughly enjoyed my stay, and forgave the ex-New York banker his little bit of whimsy. Meretricious means false, tawdry, bright and attractive on the surface, but not what it appears to be. One could make that mistake by going on first impressions with the Oceanic GT regulator.
It does look a bit plastic and tinsel, with the nasty, shiny, stuck-on label on its CDX-5 first stage and a very lightweight plastic second stage. Well, that's how it struck me on the surface. How did it do once I got it well below that? I found it superb!
The Oceanic GT has about the most lightweight second stage you will find, and with its orthodontic mouthpiece it was very comfortable indeed. It's derived from the successful Oceanic Gamma but without any of its annoying switches.
I have never noticed the need for a venturi plus/minus control, and as for a breathing-resistance adjustment knob, why would anyone want to crank up the cracking pressure on a properly maintained regulator?
If I want less air I simply demand less by inhaling less forcibly. It is a demand-valve, after all!
The unit is easy in the mouth and just as easy when it comes to getting at its interior to remove any grit or detritus that might have made its way inside during a rough shore-entry. The mechanism inside looks simple but nicely finished, and the front of the regulator complete with its rubber diaphragm fits back together without fuss.
The CDX-5 is the latest in a line of successful diaphragm-type first stages. It has two high-pressure and four low-pressure ports. Although we at Diver have proved the simpler and cheaper Oceanic piston first stage to be almost beyond criticism when it comes to performance, the guys at Oceanic in the UK prefer to sell diaphragm valves, as so many of their customers are likely to throw themselves into a lake after purchasing a new regulator.
No, I didn't mean that! I meant that they like to try a new regulator at a cold freshwater inland site, and diaphragm-style valves are generally less likely to give problems with malfunction due to freezing than piston types.
I tried the Oceanic GT several times, to a depth approaching 50m. It was always unobtrusive in the way it worked. The small exhaust-T managed to direct the exhaled bubbles well away from my face, and when at times I found myself working really hard and heaving heavily, the supply of air it gave me continued to be as smooth and diffuse as it had been when I'd been hanging around in the shallows.
There was never any tendency to gush or flutter, which can happen in these circumstances with some other valves.
I am not an ANSTI machine. My impressions tend to be merely subjective or, as Michael Winner would say: "Calm down, it's only an opinion." However, I did use the Oceanic alongside another regulator and was thus able to make a direct comparison. That regulator was the Atomic B2, and regular readers will know that I hold that item in the highest esteem. The performance of the Oceanic GT with CDX-5 first stage appeared to match it.
Do I have any complaints? Not about the valve. But the high-pressure gauge that was supplied in a console with depth-gauge and compass alongside the GT was a heavy enough lump to clout the most nimble buddy after a dive - so I left it on the dive-deck of Red Sea liveaboard mv Excel and used a nicer one instead.
Meretricious-looking or not, the Oceanic GT does the job.
The Oceanic GT with CDX-5 first stage costs £212.
Oceanic SW 01404 891819, www.oceanicuk.com
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- Looks a little meretricious!
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BCs come and BCs go but some seem to stay forever. At least, some names do, even if the manufacturer does improve the product by stealth year by year, without making any fanfares or grand announcements. If an owner of an original Mares Vector Chrome were to pick up the 2004 version, I bet he would hardly recognise it as the same thing.
For a start, the BC now has MRS, QAS and BPS!
Yes, I know, but scuba-diving equipment manufacturers all love these indecipherable abbreviations. MRS stands for the "mechanical release system" of Mares' patented integrated-weight pouches. QAS stands for the "quick adjustment system" of the waistband harness. BPS stands for the "back protection system", or cushion, that goes between the hard backpack and the diver, and BC stands forÉ well, never mind.
Despite poking fun at its name, I like the Mares integrated-weight system enormously. The weight pouches are slotted in on a track and each is retained by a spring-loaded clip that engages with a fixed stud.
I would have said that there's no danger of dropping a loaded pouch unless you want to do so. However, overloading them with 5.5kg each, as I had to do while diving in a heavyweight semi-dry suit and floaty aluminium tank in a wintry Red Sea, I tended to pop them free from their retaining studs during bumpy Zodiac rides. On two occasions I started my dives with a hard-swimming descent to 20m to pick up a wayward weight-pouch.
This MRS system is an optional extra, but despite these tribulations I would still heartily recommend it. The difference in comfort between using this and a weightbelt is amazing and there is none of that feeling of swimming with heavily loaded saddle-bags, because the weights are securely stowed and are kept tucked into the diver's horizontal body.
The QAS allows you to adjust the length of the cummerbund easily to suit your fit. Each side simply passes through a slot in the side of the backpack and doubles back on itself to be held in place by a large slab of Velcro. The BPS cushion does not drink water when submerged and it too is attached to that shaped backpack by small tabs of Velcro. The pockets are usefully roomy and have large-gauge zips. Five large stainless-steel D-rings and two smaller ones are strategically placed.
There are three dump-valves, one at each shoulder and one at the lower back. The one on the right shoulder is operated by a pull-cord that is threaded down through the shoulder-facing to a toggle quite low down at the front. I found it very convenient to use this, and tucked the corrugated hose out of the way under the sternum strap. This valve, together with the one at the lower back, serves as an over-expansion valve too.
The other shoulder-dump is operated by pulling on the corrugated hose, and this has the usual Mares Ergo direct-feed inflator at the free end. In either event, there is never any need to raise the hose to dump air and let water back in the other way, so the BC stayed uncannily dry inside during my 15 or so dives with it.
The material used is a heavyweight-thread Cordura 1000 material on the outside and a softer 420 denier nylon on the inner surfaces. The BC is quite slim-fitting. It leaves you feeling sleek in the water, and there is nothing to flap, but this is at the expense of maximum lift.
I estimate that there is only about 12.5kg in the medium-size version but, as a rule of thumb, for single-tank diving you should not need more lift than there is weight on your belt or in your integrated-weight system, so that will do for me. Remember, that part of a BC that is above the water while a diver is at the surface contributes nothing towards lift at that time.
I enjoyed using the Mares Vector Chrome. Under water, it became part of me. It is available in sizes S, M, L and XL and costs £289.
Blandford Sub-Aqua 01923 801573, www.blandfordsubaqua.co.uk
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- Don't overload the weight-pouches
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