A mine of information and advice for dive photographers

Yesterday evening I called in at Ocean Leisure, the watersports gear specialist store at the end of Northumberland Avenue, next to the Victoria Embankment, to join in the celebrations marking a new website for the store's underwater photography department: http://www.oceanleisurecameras.com/.

It would be stretching the truth to say that I'm an underwater photographer, although I do have an elderly PADI Open Water diving qualification and have used simple cameras underwater when diving and snorkelling, from a disposable water-resistant film camera to Olympus Tough cameras. In the short time I was in the store chatting to the highly experienced and knowledgable staff I certainly learned a great deal about the world of underwater photography - and the increasingly popular use of still cameras for underwater videography.

Ocean Leisure keep a good deal of stock in their London store.

I was able to learn why a domed lens attachment for underwater photography is a must if you want to avoid chromatic aberration and the distortion effects of the difference in refractive index between water and air, which acts like a focal length magnifier.

Why is it best to have a domed front end to your Canon G12 underwater casing? The guys at Ocean Leisure Cameras will explain all.

The store can supply camera-brand housings but they will also explain why many of these housings are not actually very good and why third party solutions are much better. Basically it's often down to the access of the camera controls, especially white balance controls, that for some reason some camera manufacturer housings leave out.

Another interesting fact I learned is that despite its historical reputation with its Nikonos brand of underwater cameras, in recent years Nikon has virtually disappeared from the underwater photography scene.

This is a housing for a Panasonic Lumix FT3 digital camera, which is itself a water-resistant model.

Anyway, I was left with a very clear sense that the Ocean Leisure Camera guys really know what they are talking about. One of the team was not able to be at the do last night. He was in Indonesia... diving. Well I suppose somebody has to do it!

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