News
Aquatica Digital Announce the A70D Housing for the Canon 70D
Aquatica, the only established manufacturer of aluminum DSLR housings in North America, have announced the release of the A70D housing for the Canon 70D.
The A70D housing has been carefully designed and manufactured with the finest and latest technological innovations. With over 30 years of experience, once again Aquatica’s deep engineering mastery has yielded a finely crafted underwater housing.
The housing is priced competitively at a price point of USD $2,699.00 and will be available January 2014.
About the Canon 70D
The Canon 70D comes along with a 20.2 MP APS-C sensor and offers lots of innovation in the field of autofocus with their Dual Pixel CMOS technology allowing delivery of smooth and precise autofocus in full HD mode that were thought to be impossible until now. The camera comes with fast acquisition in the LIVE VIEW mode brushing off the most challenging of situations easily. This new Auto Focus technology paired with the 19 points AF system enables the camera to shoot up to 7 frames at full resolution with tack sharps results. Furthermore, the wide range of ISO setting from 100-12,800 (H: 25,600) and Canon famous dynamic range lets the photographer take advantage of the light, no matter how dim it is.
The AF system is highly customizable allowing you to adapt to your subject. The viewfinder of the camera has 98% coverage of the image, another desirable trait for the underwater photographer. Besides excellent still images, the Canon 70D also lets you shoot full HD movie with a 1920 x 1080p resolution and to push the creative boundary even further, frame rates can be adjusted to 30, 25 & 24fps in HD and in the 720p mode up to 50 and 60fps.
About the Aquatica A70D housing
Ergonomic comfort does matter and Aquatica has, yet again, lifted the bar higher in this sense with the release of their A70D housing. Their innovative design team has conceived a precise, under your fingertips, housing that does away with confusing and cluttered controls. The controls of the Aquatica A70D are spaciously located for easy access, even with the thickest of cold water gloves and its vital functions have been extended to “hands on the grip” positions allowing optimization of underwater buoyancy.
Aquatica’s new pressure ‘‘check’’ circuitry
Aquatica has developed a new atmospheric pressure sensitive circuitry that will allow the user to confirm water tight integrity before the dive. This new system will give the user additional peace of mind, knowing their expensive camera equipment will stay dry.
How it works
Once your camera is installed, simply push the start actuating button (integrated on the circuit board). The LED light will turn green for two seconds, this will confirm actuation. Once a solid vacuum is achieved, the LED will blink green again for two seconds. During the dive the LED will flash green every few seconds, indicating system integrity. If the vacuum starts to decrease, the LED will start to flash orange, and if water is detected, the audible alarm will go off and the LED will also flash red.
The advanced Aquatica circuit has a temperature compensation included, so any change in ambient temperature or changes in the internal temperature will not cause an incorrect reading.
The onboard start actuating button is for the vacuum only; your alarm is always on.
The results
This new Aquatica vacuum/alarm system is the most thought-out on the market today.
– Easy user installation
– Intelligent use of LED technology
– Can easily be adapted to any system on the market
– The underwater photographer can now be assured with a single look, that their housing has water tight integrity before, during and after the dive.
More about the housing’s unique features
The Aquatica A70D housing shell is built of the finest material available; crafted to military specification and meant to last a lifetime. It wraps around the Canon 70D like a glove and the access to the Quick Command knob has been totally redesigned from previous housings and is now positioned at a nice comfortable angle, right next to the main command knob, and just waiting for your creative input. The AF-ON /* (star) lever is fitted with a rotating collar, allowing access to function without the need for obstructive levers sticking out the housing. All while retaining its ease and simplicity of operation, the all important ISO function button is now activated with a thumb activated lever, again positioned so it does not overwhelm the already busy right hand side of the housing.
The Aquatica A70D also takes full advantage of the Canon 70D high level of video performance. The access to the video feature of the camera has been optimized on the housing allowing a smooth underwater adventure.
The housing features quick and easy camera insertion and water proof integrity with a reliable time-proven closure system equipped with safety locks. A Reliable port lock mechanism also safely locks in the port to the housing. The comfortable housing grips are a sturdy platform for mounting the largest strobe and lighting without flexing or when requiring additional support.
Viewing is done with a state of the art Galileo view finder. Aquatica introduced its Aqua View series of finder a few years ago, and has built a solid reputation for crystal clear and precision viewing. The Aqua View 180o finder is a streamlined design that is compact and non obstructive to the rear camera LCD window, the dioptric adjustment is internal, thus eliminating both unnecessary external bulk and the risk of being thrown out of adjustment unintentionally. The Aqua View 45o finder offers one of, if not the most, compact profile of any 45 degree finders – it easily rotates left or right allowing vertical shooting.
These finders provide the utmost accuracy, brightness and best viewing comfort that you can experience underwater. No special tools are required to mount these accessories to the housing allowing new users to mount one safely and in very little time.
Understandably, the ports system of any housing system is the key to optical performance. The Aquatica system is composed of four hemispherical dome ports, the 4” mini dome, the 6” dome, the 8” dome and the 9.25” Megadome. Three flat ports are available and nine ports extensions ring ensure that you can take full advantage from one of the largest range of supported lens for underwater photography.
About the strobe connectivity
The Aquatica A70D and it other siblings have the largest selection of strobe connections. The optical fiber connections provided are compatible with standard off-the-shelf cord and do not require proprietary adapters or specially made cords. The unique strobe connectors system, designed by Aquatica, allows for modifying, adapting, replacing or alternating connectors simply in a matter of minutes without requiring any special tools. This design is made for easy field maintenance and is a result of a long history of working with professionals in remote locations and paying attention to their needs. Aside from addressing all existing optical strobe requirements, the A70D can also be equipped with classic Nikonos type connectors or with Ikelite original bulkhead connections.
Extra access bulkhead on the housing provide space for accessories such as our own Aquatica Remote Trigger grip and Amphibico (or other brands of) video monitor.
For more information on the A70D and other Aquatica products visit www.aquatica.ca
Jake Davies boards Ghazala Explorer for an unforgettable Red Sea diving experience…
The second day’s diving was a day full of wreck diving at Abu Nuhas, which included the Chrisoula K, Carnatic, and Ghiannis D. The first dive of the day was onto the Chrisoula K, also known as the wreck of tiles. The 98m vessel remains largely intact where she was loaded with tiles which can be seen throughout the hold. The stern sits at 26m and the bow just below the surface. One of the highlights of the wreck is heading inside and seeing the workroom where the machinery used for cutting the tiles are perfectly intact. The bow provided some relaxing scenery as the bright sunlight highlighted the colours of the soft coral reef and the many reef fish.
Following breakfast, we then headed to the next wreck, which was the Carnatic. The Carnatic is an 89.9m sail steamer vessel that was built in Britain back in 1862. She ran aground on the reef back in 1869 and remains at 27m. At the time, she was carrying a range of items, including 40,000 sterling in gold. An impressive wreck where much of the superstructure remains, and the two large masts lay on the seafloor. The wooden ribs of the hull provide structures for lots of soft corals, and into the stern section, the light beams through, bouncing off the large shoals of glass fish that can be found using the structure as shelter from the larger predators that are found outside of the wreck.
The final wreck at Abu Nuhas was the Ghiannis D, originally called ‘Shoyo Maru,’ which was 99.5m long and built in Japan back in 1969 before becoming a Greek-registered cargo ship in 1980. The ship then ran aground on the reef on April 19th, 1983, and now sits at the bottom at a depth of 27m. Heading down the line, the stern of the ship remains in good condition compared to the rest of the hull. The highlight of the wreck, though, is heading into the stern section and down the flights of stairs to enter the engine room, which remains in good condition and is definitely worth exploring. After exploring the interior section of the ship, we then headed over to see the rest of the superstructure, where it’s particularly interesting to see the large table corals that have grown at the bow relatively quickly considering the date the ship sank. After surfacing and enjoying some afternoon snacks, we made sure everything was strapped down and secured as we would be heading north and crossing the Gulf of Suez, where the winds were still creating plenty of chop.
The next morning, it was a short hop to Ras Mohammed Nature Reserve for the next couple of days of diving. The 6am wake-up call came along with the briefing for the first site we would be diving, which was Shark & Yolanda. The low current conditions allowed us to start the dive at Anemone City, where we would drift along the steep, coral-filled wall. These dives involved drifts, as mooring in Ras Mohammed wasn’t allowed to protect the reefs. As a dive site, Shark & Yolanda is well-known and historically had a lot of sharks, but unfortunately not so many in recent years, especially not so early in the season. However, there was always a chance when looking out into the blue.
The gentle drift took us along the steep walls of the site, with plenty of anemone fish to be seen and a huge variety of corals. It wasn’t long into the dive before we were accompanied by a hawksbill turtle, who drifted with us between the two atolls before parting ways. Between the two reefs, the shallow patch with parts of coral heads surrounded by sand provided the chance to see a few blue-spotted stingrays that were mainly resting underneath the corals and are always a pleasure to see. With this being the morning dive, the early sunlight lit up the walls, providing tranquil moments. Looking out into the blue, there was very little to be seen, but a small shoal of batfish shimmering underneath the sunlight was a moment to capture as we watched them swim by as they watched us.
Towards the end of the dive, we stopped at the wreck of the Jolanda where the seafloor was scattered with toilets from the containers it was carrying. This provided a unique site to make a safety stop, which was also accompanied by a large barracuda slowly swimming by, along with a hawksbill turtle calmly swimming over the reef as the sun rays danced in the distance.
For the next dive, we headed north to the Strait of Tiran to explore the reefs situated between Tiran Island and Sharm El Sheik, which were named after the British divers who had found them. We started on Jackson before heading to Gordons Reef, where we also did the night dive. All the atolls at these sites provided stunning, bustling coral reefs close to the surface and steep walls to swim along, which always provided the opportunity to keep an eye out for some of the larger species that can be seen in the blue. Midwater around Jackson Reef was filled with red-toothed triggerfish and shoals of banner fish, which at times were so dense that you couldn’t see into the blue. Moments went by peacefully as we enjoyed the slow drift above the reef, watching these shoals swim around under the mid-afternoon sun.
The night dive at Gordon’s Reef was mainly among the stacks of corals surrounded by sand, which was great to explore under the darkness. After some time circling the corals, we came across what we were really hoping to find, and that was an octopus hunting on the reef. We spent the majority of the dive just watching it crawl among the reef, blending into its changing surroundings through changes in colour and skin texture. It’s always so fascinating and captivating to watch these incredibly intelligent animals, in awe of their ability to carry out these physical changes to perfectly blend into the reef. Before we knew it, it was time to head back to the boat to enjoy a well-deserved tasty dinner prepared by the talented chefs onboard.
Check in for the 3rd and final part of this series from Jake tomorrow!
To find out more about the Northern Red Sea reef and wrecks itineraries aboard Ghazala Explorer, or to book, contact Scuba Travel now:
Email: dive@scubatravel.com
Tel: +44 (0)1483 411590
Photos: Jake Davies / Avalon.Red
The Shark Trust is excited to announce that, for two more days only, all donations, large or small, will be doubled in the Big Give Green Match Fund!
Donate to Basking in Nature: Sighting Giants
The Shark Trust is hoping to raise £10k which will be doubled to £20k. This will go towards Basking in Nature: Sighting Giants. And they need YOUR help to reach they’re goal.
The Shark Trust’s citizen science project is to monitor and assess basking sharks through sightings; encouraging data collection, community engagement, and promoting nature accessibility. This initiative aims to enhance health and wellbeing by fostering a deeper connection with British Sharks.
Campaign Aims
- Increase citizen science reporting of Basking Sharks and other shark sightings to help inform shark and ray conservation.
- Provide educational talks about the diverse range of sharks and rays in British waters and accessible identification guides!
- Create engaging and fun information panels on how to ID the amazing sharks and rays we have on our doorstep! These can be used on coastal paths around the Southwest. With activities and information on how you can make a difference for sharks and rays!
- Promote mental wellbeing through increasing time in nature and discovering the wonders beneath the waves!
Donate, and double your impact. Click Here
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