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S.U.P.E.R. Part 6: INON X-2 housing for the Canon EOS6D

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X-2 housing

In our ongoing series S.U.P.E.R. (Scubaverse’s Underwater Photography Equipment Reviews), Nick and Caroline Robertson Brown from Frogfish Photography review new underwater photography equipment, general diving equipment, and some older favourites too. 

For the sixth instalment of S.U.P.E.R., Nick and Caroline take a look at INON’s X-2 housing for the Canon EOS6D.

X-2 housingA few weeks ago, we managed to get our hands on one of the very few demo models of the new housing by INON: The X-2 for the Canon EOS6D. Unfortunately, we only had the chance to play with it over one weekend in the Farne Islands and so for life-long Nikon users, we had to get into the swing of how to adjust the settings on the Canon very quickly. This intuitive housing made that far easier for us than we had expected. However, the first thing you notice about this beautifully put together piece of kit is how small and light this housing is. The Canon EOS6D is a full frame camera, and so we were expecting a bigger, heavier setup than this lovely compact system that arrived as we were packing up our car.

The housing is an extremely well designed and robust aluminium affair, but even with the 45 degree viewfinder that arrived with the system, it came in at only 2kg (without port). Once we had set it up with a wide angle lens, port and strobes, we found it to be a full 2kg lighter than our own full frame setup, which is impressive, if not amazing. It is only fair to say that some of this likeness is due to the Canon 6D, which in itself is remarkably light for a full frame SLR. The housing, however, is also very compact and you feel that you could use it without a tray or handles to make it even smaller and lighter. We were not too keen on the handles that had been sent up with the system, which seemed a little flimsy, but it turns out that these are not the finished article and there are much more solid and tactile versions that have been made to go with this housing.

X-2 housing

We headed up to the Farnes to photograph seals, and agreed that we would do a day each with the INON system. As Nikon users, our only problems came with an unfamiliarity of the camera system. Neither of us had ever used a Canon SLR camera and so struggled at times with that – but not with the housing, whose controls are designed to make sense to someone who is familiar with this camera. The one control that did catch us out somewhat was the switch for live-view/video. It is quite easy to knock it across without noticing it, but obviously, a Canon user would know immediately where to go to rectify the situation. All the other buttons are easy to operate, and the chrome push-buttons are inside a chrome surround which looks superb. The autofocus system works really well too, whereby the operator needs to use forefinger and the thumb to squeeze the two levers together with the autofocus lever on the thumb and the trigger on the finger. Personally, however, I found these two controls the least robust of all, but they certainly appear to do their job. The atlantic grey seals also seemed to like this new system, getting up close and personal with Nick, and even having a taste! (Sorry INON)

X-2 housing

The price of this new housing is, amazingly, very competitive. Depending upon the viewfinder you select, you could be paying under £2000. It certainly gets our seal of approval!

For more information about the X-2 and other INON product visit www.inonuk.com.

www.frogfishphotography.com

 

Nick and Caroline (Frogfish Photography) are a married couple of conservation driven underwater photo-journalists and authors. Both have honours degrees from Manchester University, in Environmental Biology and Biology respectively, with Nick being a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society, a former high school science teacher with a DipEd in Teaching Studies. Caroline has an MSc in Animal Behaviour specializing in Caribbean Ecology. They are multiple award-winning photographers and along with 4 published books, feature regularly in the diving, wildlife and international press They are the Underwater Photography and Deputy Editors at Scubaverse and Dive Travel Adventures. Winners of the Caribbean Tourism Organization Photo-journalist of the Year for a feature on Shark Diving in The Bahamas, and they have been placed in every year they have entered. Nick and Caroline regularly use their free time to visit schools, both in the UK and on their travels, to discuss the important issues of marine conservation, sharks and plastic pollution. They are ambassadors for Sharks4Kids and founders of SeaStraw. They are Dive Ambassadors for The Islands of The Bahamas and are supported by Mares, Paralenz, Nauticam and Olympus. To find out more visit www.frogfishphotography.com

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Palaemon Divers shortlisted for top Business Award

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North West-based Dive Centre, Palaemon Divers, has been shortlisted for Leisure and Tourism Start Up of the Year with Start Up Awards 2023.

Palaemon Divers is delighted to be named a finalist in the Awards which celebrate Start Up Businesses and what they have brought to the economy within three years of their launch.

Palaemon Divers was started by Leanne Clowes in the midst of COVID lockdowns. Leanne walked out of her well paid corporate sales job with no savings after a redundancy in a previous role and spending the majority of the year before COVID to follow the dream! After the redundancy and COVID, life struck just a little differently and the pull to become a full-time dive instructor became impossible to ignore!

So with that… notice was handed in, no savings, nothing physical to start being a full time dive instructor other than personal kit at the time – oh and the fact, Leanne was actually an Assistant Instructor at the time and hadn’t attended the instruction exam at that point as there had been none going on through COVID obviously!

However, the first Instructor Exam that was happening out of COVID was booked onto – no pressure at all with no full time job, no money as a back up, mortgage and bills to pay…

Leanne started freelancing as an instructor in the North West using various outdoor locations for training, and the business snowballed and quickly gained its first physical dive centre in January 2022 along with finding their own private in-water training facility at Princes Dock in Liverpool. Since then, 100s of new people from Liverpool and further afield have been introduced to the amazing sport of scuba, and experienced the abundant life under the surface of the dock itself.

In a time of no travel to outside your area or abroad, Palaemon Divers found something new and exciting to introduce the city of Liverpool to those who spend five days a week in the office looking down at the dock and not really being able to appreciate what the dock actually means to Liverpool!

It became apparent during 2022, that although Liverpool was fantastic, more growth was on the cards which came in the form of a second location, Palaemon Divers – Warrington. The second dive centre is an ex micro brewery in Warrington with a central location close to the M6, M62 and M56, spread over two floors which includes a classroom, workshop, compressor and a floor dedicated to retail.

The efforts in building this business have not gone unnoticed with the shortlist for Startup Awards, and also another shortlist which will be announced in the next month.

For more, email or visit: 

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Gear Reviews

Gear Review: Quilted Polar Hat from Otter Watersports (Watch Video)

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In a video shot exclusively for Scubaverse.com, Jeff Goodman reviews the Quilted Polar Hat from leading drysuit manufacturer Otter Watersports.

For more information, visit www.otterwatersports.uk.

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