Olympus

This week in the news: Olympus announces a price for their latest Micro Four Thirds lens; Sony NEX users get a surprise; and Google teams up with Acer on a new laptop.

This is your B&H Photo Pulse News Roundup for November 16^th, 2012. Be sure to follow us on Twitter for the latest news as it breaks.

BHInsights blogger David Wells has been a busy man! He was recently on an assignment that tasked him to photograph the historically-significant Islamic architecture in Bijapur, in the Southern Indian state of Karnataka, for Saudi Aramco World Magazine. They were quite tedious to get to, since there is no commercial airport in Bijapur, and during the short window of time that he had for the shoot, no trains could be found from Mumbai, to get him to and from that city with enough time to do the kind of photography he was expected to do.

Capturing the photo above was not only quite a physical task, but also required lots of knowledge and understanding of exposures and metering. Here's David Wells, explaining how he got the shot:

The first question non-divers usually ask is, “Have you ever seen a shark?” If you answer yes, they want to know if you were scared. Well, for most divers, seeing this majestic animal is a thrill. To be able to see dozens at one time is an experience most divers dream of. One does not have to travel far to realize this dream. In the Bahamas, on New Providence Island in the city of Nassau, you can swim with dozens of gray reef sharks. Nassau is less than a three-hour flight from New York City. The island is merely 178 miles from Miami, Florida. Nassau is known for sandy white beaches, calm blue water, casinos, resorts and gift shops. There is enough to do to keep any tourist happy. Vacationers come to this island by cruise ship, airplane and private boat, to relax and party. But if you want adventure, you should venture beneath the Bahamian waters to see the numerous reefs, walls and shipwrecks teeming with marine life.

People go scuba diving for many reasons. Some divers are interested in the natural beauty of coral reefs, and the animals that call this environment home. Wreck divers are interested in man-made objects that have ended up underwater by disaster. Ships and airplanes sink because of bad maintenance, fire, weather, collisions and war. Once sunk, the wreck becomes a time capsule. When diving to explore wrecks, the experience is enhanced if you know its history. When swimming through one of these underwater museums, one can't help but imagine what happened during the sinking. If your objective is to create images, knowing the wrecks history will help.

When people think of traveling for scuba diving, they think of warm blue water locations such as the Red Sea, Australia, Fuji, the Bahamas, Grand Cayman, Cozumel, and Bonaire. But Alaska? The green rich waters of this temperate rain forest are full of life and photographic opportunities. A trip to Alaska is a true adventure, both above and below the surface. My dive buddy Olga Torrey and I decided to experience Alaska on the liveaboard dive boat, the Nautilus Swell. This 100-year-old refurbished tugboat is the perfect platform for cold-water exploration, and is very photographer-friendly. The crew is well versed in dive procedures in this very different environment. We would board the boat in Juneau, and after a week of diving, we would depart from Sitka.

The Olympus E-P3 (also known as the Olympus PEN, EP3 and EP-3) is the company's new flagship Micro Four Thirds camera, and offers a mountain of new changes and upgrades over the previous models. Have you ever had upgrader's envy? Most photographers often feel the need to upgrade when a brand new camera (or the successor to theirs) is announced. If you're already invested into the system, this may be the camera that you'll want to take a closer look at. If not, then perhaps you'll fancy the new 12mm f/2.0.

Think of all the photographers you know that complain about their current camera strap. Then browse through photography forums and you'll often find debates involving the typical brand wars and fanboys taking appropriate sides. If you're combing the web for a different camera strap, take a look at some of these recent popular alternatives.