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Day 1 - Digital Shootout 2011 Bonaire

Coverage of the Digital Shootout

Nauticam USA is proud to be a premier sponsor of the Digital Shootout 2011 in Bonaire. This is the first installment of our daily coverage of the shootout. 

When the Embraer Bandeirante 15 seater lands in Bonaire, it doesn't need a jetway to deplane passengers. It doesn't even need a set of boarding stairs - it has it's own built into the door of the aircraft. There's nothing quite like getting off of an airplane on a small island, when that first breath of island air and warmth tells you this is a place you want to be. After my nearly missed connection in Curaçao, I knew my bags wouldn't be onboard, and they weren't. Two hundred pounds of demo gear may just require a bit larger plane for the hop over to Bonaire. Indeed, Insel Air came through the next day, delivering all of the Nauticam gear that I had entrusted them with in Miami. 

I'm honored to be here at my first Digital Shootout event. Everyone here has been gracious and kind and there is a real sense of helping each other for a common goal - to make some beautiful images. Divi Flamingo seems like a great spot to host this event, and I can't wait to get started! 

With all of my systems put together and batteries charging, yesterday I got a chance to get into the water. For my first dive I took my trusty Canon 7D with me as it was the only thing I had fully charged and ready to go. I shot the Tokina 10-17 with a Zen Underwater DP-100.

For my second dive, I took the new Panasonic GH2 in a pre-production housing. I'm a big fan of this camera and it did not disappoint. There's a lot of interest in this camera and several others that I've brought so I might not get a chance to dive with it again until the end of the week. For this dive I shot the Panasonic/Leica 45mm macro, and found it to be an excellent macro lens. The working distance seems pretty similar the the Canon EFS 60mm macro on the 7D. Focus was quick though it hunted a bit when I didn't use my focus light. But, with all of the Light&Motion Solas around here, there's no excuse not to run a focus light. The images I got were very sharp and GH2 continues to be my favorite small camera by a long margin.

That's it for today.... Cheers from Bonaire.

Chris