Rig For Silent Running

You can tell them in a minute when they walk through the doors. Bronzed, fit, unkempt*, badly dressed*,  thousand-yard stare...the adventure photographers. If they are wearing really, really bad thongs they are underwater adventure photographers - these are the ones I wish to address today.

I admire your courage. I read the shark reports and I am amazed that you venture into the water. Have YOU read the shark reports? Well, next time you do, could you please take one of the Nikon or Olympus underwater cameras with you. We have a fine new batch of hem in stock and they are simple to use.

You won't be able to go taking pictures of the THRESHER - these cameras generally finish at about  5 to 10 metres - but they are shock resistant and well able to cope with surf and sand. Indeed we wish more people would take them onto the beach and not try to make the average dry-land compact camera do this service. The number of people who bring compacts in with sand jamming the lens mechanisms is mind-boggling - and none of them ever admit to having been down to the beach...

The underwater cameras make use of the capabilities of extremely small sensor cameras to bury this and a zoom lens mechanism in the body of the camera behind the pressure-sealed glass plate - nothing extends out in front of the device. There is a decent wide angle and a zoom, and they generally support a video recording. Dare I say it - a better deal than the currently-fashionable bicycle camera.

Still, you'll have to decide that yourselves. If you need to go really deep with a really big lens and a really big camera, you know that you will need a really big housing and some serious flash. Darren Jew, the underwater expert, has just such a Canon outfit and he has whales pose for wonderful portraits.

We can supply the cameras and lenses - for the big housings I recommend the Electric Boat Company in Groton, Connecticut. Ask for the LOS ANGELES class housing.

* Be fair, be fair - this also describes a number of wedding photographers...