Thursday, April 26, 2018

UNDERWATER DRONES-Powervision takes the lead with POWER DOLPHIN

Well you may ask yourself "Why would  I need an underwater drone?" Well sit back because the number of reasons are growing! Whether you simply enjoy watersports, underwater photography, professional videography, scientific research etc...oh yeah and how about even sportfishing?! The latter of which seems to be the most popular reason to purchase one!



Powervision came out early in the game with the first consumer and prosumer type product, the POWERRay and the newly announced tetherless POWER Dolphin both supporting their Fishfinder module, basically UNDERWATER SONAR, WOW!!



As a user of their products I can tell you they have been put to the test in the best and worse of conditions including keeping up with Great White juvenile sharks for our current and upcoming televised shows. You can check out some of the footage here.

On the scientific research side of things both products fit the bill for underwater research and mapping capability at a low cost point of entry. 

NEW FUJINON CABRIO 20-120. GREAT LENS GREAT PRICE !


Image result for fujinon 20-120 reviewFujinon showed there new 20-120mm lens at NAB and it's performance was spectacular. It's predecessor, the Cabrio 19-90mm  sold for up to $35K and this lens is on special for $13.5K which is an amazing price for such a high quality servo enabled cinema lens. It doesn't quite measure up to the 19-90 as it is rated at T-3.5, so not quite as quick but the newer cameras more than makeup for this with their impressive ISO and low light performance capabilities. So we can overlook this a bit...
Features:
* T3.5 to T22 aperture with 9 iris blades for attractive bokeh
* Detachable, ENG-style, digital drive unit with zoom rocker switch
* Industry standard 0.8 film MOD gears for focus, zoom, and iris control
* Power & data/control connections to the camera via connectors in rear of the lens.
* 16-bit encoding supports sharing LDS and /i Technology lens data with the camera
* The barrel markings in metric or imperial measurements are switchable in the field
* Luminous barrel markings make it easier to read measurements
* 200° focus barrel rotation and 120° zoom rotation
* No shims are required to adjust the flange focal distance
* Macro focus function available

If you are thinking of using this on something like the new SONY Venice or other Full size sensors then YES you will get some vignetting at the wider end of the spectrum. 

Want to stretch this lens capability even more! Add the new DUCLOS 2.0 x PL extender to boost the lens up to a 40mm to 240mm.