INON UK held an equipment demonstration day at Ocean View Diving Services in Lancing on Sunday 29^th January. The idea was for dealers and customers to get their hands on the very latest INON underwater photography equipment and have a look at what was due for release soon.

One of the highlights of the event was that Takuya Torii from INON Japan had travelled over to the UK to give the very latest news to the group who attended. He has worked at INON for 15 years and there is no one who knows the products better.

The day started with him introducing some of the new products that will be out in the coming weeks. There is some exciting stuff including a new macro lens (UCL-67) for those who love to get very close indeed! The magnification of this lens is impressive, as is the quality. It is the equivalent of a +15 diopter, giving 2.7 magnification when using the Nikon 105mm lens. It will have a 67mm screw thread or bayonet mount and will also soon be compatible with many flip adapters. There will also be an accessory that allows to you add another macro lens to increase magnification further. So if super macro is your thing….

There is a new adapter for the latest Sony 4K action camera that will allow for a wide angle lens to be added to restore the 140 degree field of view whilst underwater. Inon have also developed a way for you to be able to take the live view screen underwater and for the wi-fi to work so that it can be used whilst you are diving. You can even add a macro lens to boost the size of the screen by 20% too, so you will be able to see what you are shooting! This is a great addition to the already available GoPro and Olympus TG4 systems.

There are two new lights being released in a few months too. We loved the new focus light, LF1300-EWF, which is packed with innovative features. It has a dome lens to give a wide spread of light, and comes with a hood to help direct light, as well as a red filter. It is small, compact, easy to use and takes AA batteries. The best bit – it has a sensor that turns the light off when you fire your strobes. This feature can be disabled if using it as a video light, and there are strobe users nearby who may trigger it. It is also the quickest to come back on (0.2 sec) on the market. The new 3100 lumen video light looks good too and follows the same idea as the focus light, with a dome front to give a wide (more than 100 degree) spread of light. It will have the same accessories as the focus light as well as the ability to use AA batteries.

Takuya then also showed the group, who filled the room at Ocean View, some of the existing INON range, including more lenses and equipment for action cameras, the bug eye lens for SLR users, telescopic arms and floats, and there was even a hint at a new INON tripod in development. There was plenty of time to then get your hands on the equipment, ask questions and chat to the INON team.

Ocean View Diving Services have their own pool on site, and so, in the afternoon, those that wanted to try out the equipment could put all the INON gear through its paces. Caroline jumped in for a quick go with the new close up lens, the Sony action camera with video lights and the focus light too. The INON UK team had brought a number of small artificial reefs and plastic marine life for everyone to practise on.

This was a really good event for both the dealers, who could see what was coming out in 2017 and try it out before customers starting asking about them, and also for the underwater photographers who turned up to see what goodies they might want to invest in next. The fact that all the equipment was also available to try in the pool was fantastic. We very much hope to be able to do full reviews of all of this new INON equipment once it becomes available. Watch out for more information here on Scubaverse.

www.inonuk.com

www.oceanviewdiving.co.uk

For more from Nick and Caroline visit www.frogfishphotography.com.