Liquid Lense are proud to unveil the new downloads area on their website.

Take a look at the selection of screensavers and wallpapers to bring the underwater world alive on your desktop – with all downloads available for free, you can have a lot of fun reliving your dive memories at home.

There’s also free guide books available to download if you’d like more information about Ko Lanta and the surrounding dive sites or diving in general in Thailand.

Take a look at the Liquid Lense guide to Underwater Photography and Videography Courses to see which course is best for you.

Liquid Lense Screensavers:

Turtle ScreenSaver – A slideshow collection of underwater images captured from the dive sites around Ko Lanta.

• Liquid Lense Turtle Screensaver for Mac
• Liquid Lense Turtle Screensaver for PC

Download the linked file and follow the instructions for installing as a screensaver on your computer.

Watch the underwater world come alive on your desktop!

Guide Books

Ko Lanta Pocket Guide – everything you need to know about Ko Lanta in a pocket size!

The Ko Lanta Pocket Guide paper version is available for free and can be picked up in locations all over Lanta and at main travel ports around Thailand. The guide includes information about the island, travel tips, adventures and activities, scuba diving and snorkelling, resorts, restaurants and bars and plenty of maps.

Download your free copy of the latest edition here:

• Lanta Pocket Guide

Start planning your holiday itinerary now! (courtesy of www.lantapocketguide.com)

Pocket Dive Guide Thailand – Thailand’s complete scuba diving information source: dive centres, dive courses, dive equipment and dive sites.

Thailand has much to offer the visiting diver and snorkeller. There’s a vast range of exhilarating sites of many different kinds, providing something for everyone, regardless of their qualification levels or experience. Download the free Thailand Pocket Dive Guide to see which dive sites appeal to you.

• Pocket Dive Guide Thailand

Start planning your dive itinerary now! (courtesy of www.diveguidethailand.com)

All at Liquid Lense would like to say a big CONGRATULATIONS to Emma Kirton, our most recent Underwater Photography PLUS student, who completed the course with flying colours!!
Emma had never used a camera underwater before and decided to go for the 4 day course so that should could gain a good understanding of underwater photography, then possibly go on and use her new found skill for work or as a serious hobby.
During the course, Emma was first taught about the basics of white balance and flash photography, which she picked up and mastered very quickly. She then moved on to working with the manual settings such as shutter speed and aperture, as well as exposure settings, different shot types including black background, sunbursts, macro and wide angle and using a strobe. Also during the course, she was taught how to set up and care for an underwater system, learnt about the special considerations underwater photography has from land photography and was shown how to catalogue and edit her pictures in Adobe Lightroom.
For the course, Emma was using our Canon G10 camera with Canon underwater housing, and you can see from the pictures below what good results the camera gives. The colours are vibrant and the detail is fantastic, thats why we love it so much!
Emma can now go out and photograph with a comprehensive knowledge base to work from, and can produce some pretty fantastic underwater shots, so well done Emma!!

Liquid Lense would like to say a huge congratulations to our newest videography student Paul Kirton, who has successfully completed our 6 day Underwater Videographer PLUS course with flying colours!
Paul started out as a complete beginner to underwater videography, having only ever taken pictures while diving before. However, by the end of the 6 days, he was filming the diving guests from Scubafish so well that some of them requested copies of his completed movie!! He also managed to capture some of the resident Black Tip Reef Sharks out at Ko Haa, which is pretty impressive as they are not the easiest of subjects to film.
Paul is the first student to use our brand new Canon Legria HF21 video camera and Ikelite housing, which as proved to be a fantastic addition to our range of rental cameras. Simple to use, lightweight, compact and capable of producing stunning underwater footage, we are more than happy with the results.
Pauls course consisted of learning how to set up and care for an underwater video system, different shot types and filming techniques, composition, buoyancy considerations as well as some indepth editing techniques.
So now Paul is able to film, fully edit and finally produce a stunning DVD of professional standards. So well done Paul, we are very proud of you! Go out there and use your new found skill!

If you’re thinking of diving during Christmas and New Year 2010-11 – you’ll be pleased to know that we’re open and running dive trips everyday over the next few weeks – you can even dive on New Year’s Day!

There are a few changes to our usual schedule and we plan to leave a little later on New Year’s Day – to give everyone a chance to recover from the celebrations the night before!

Please take a look at our Christmas and New Year diving schedule (changes to the usual schedule are in BOLD):

• 20/12/10 – Monday – Koh Haa / Hin Daeng / Hin Muang
• 21/12/10 – Tuesday – Ko Haa / Ko Phi Phi
• 22/12/10 – Wednesday – Ko Haa / Hin Daeng / Hin Muang
• 23/12/10 – Thursday – Ko Haa / Ko Rok
• 24/12/10 – Friday – Ko Haa / Ko Phi Phi
• 25/12/10 – Saturday – Ko Haa / Hin Daeng / Hin Muang
• 26/12/10 – Sunday – Ko Haa / Ko Rok
• 27/12/10 – Monday – Ko Haa / Hin Daeng / Hin Muang
• 28/12/10 – Tuesday – Ko Haa / King Cruiser Wreck
• 29/12/10 – Wednesday – Ko Haa / Hin Daeng / Hin Muang
• 30/12/10 – Thursday – Ko Haa / Ko Rok
• 31/12/10 – Friday – Ko Haa / Hin Daeng / Hin Muang
• 01/01/11 – Saturday – Ko Haa / Ko Haa Night Dive – LATE DEPARTURE 12:00pm
• 02/01/11 – Sunday – Ko Haa / Ko Rok
• 03/01/11 – Monday – Ko Haa / Hin Daeng / Hin Muang
• 04/12/11 – Tuesday – Ko Haa / King Cruiser Wreck

If you’re interested in any of the above trips, please do not hesitate to call or pop into the shop for more information. We look forward to seeing you soon to celebrate with us!

Celebrate the festive season underwater!! …and bring in the new year with some deep sea adventures!

Liquid Lense is proud to announce that they are now featured on the TripAdvisor website.

Please read our latest reviews below and we invite you to write your own review of Liquid Lense to share with others who may be interested in visiting us here in Ko Lanta.

The Micro Four Thirds system (MFT) is a standard created by Olympus and Panasonic for mirrorless, interchangeable lens, digital cameras and camcorders. Micro Four Thirds does not require space for a mirror and a pentaprism, which allows smaller camera bodies to be designed.

Compared to existing compact cameras, which have smaller image sensors and fixed (or non-interchangeable) lenses, Micro Four Thirds cameras are intended to offer a compact solution with interchangeable lenses and a larger sensor more similar to a DSLR camera. A Micro Four Thirds camera’s sensor is around nine times larger than in a typical point-and-shoot digital compact camera, giving vastly improved image quality and far greater ISO sensitivity, comparable to an entry level DSLR system.

A Micro Four Thirds camera provides near DSLR-quality pictures from a significantly smaller camera, however they are still larger and heavier than current compact cameras.

The Four Thirds name stems from two ideas: the size of a camera’s image sensor and its aspect ratio. Four Thirds casts off the 3:2 aspect ratio still used by consumer-level digital SLRs in favor of a more enlargement-friendly 4:3 ratio. High-end broadcast TV cameras use an image sensor with a diagonal measurement of 2/3 of an inch. The Four Thirds systems use an image sensor that is twice the size of a standard 2/3-inch TV camera sensor. Nothing about the Four Thirds image sensor actually measures 1 and 1/3 inches, but the idea that two 2/3-inch sensors put together equals a 4/3 sensor fits nicely with the 4:3 aspect ratio.

Advantages of Micro Four Thirds over DSLR cameras:

• Smaller and lighter cameras and lenses;
• Shorter flange-focal distance means that practically all manual lenses can be adapted for use;
• Shorter flange-focal distance allows for cheaper, smaller and lighter normal and wide lenses;
• Smaller sensor size allows for cheaper, smaller and lighter telephoto lenses;
• Absence of mirror eliminates “mirror slap” noise and vibration;
• Electronic viewfinder can provide real-time preview of exposure, white balance and tone;
• Brighter electronic viewfinder in low light.

Disadvantages of Micro Four Thirds compared to DSLRs

• The sensor may be smaller than APS-C sized sensors, this can lead to a potentially lower image quality than APS-C based DSLR cameras with a similar pixel count;
• Contrast detect autofocus is generally slower (albeit more accurate) than the phase detect systems used in most DSLRs.
• Due to the absence of a mirror and prism mechanism, there is no ability to use a through-the-lens optical viewfinder. The electronic viewfinder or a separate optical viewfinder must be used instead;
• Changing lenses can expose the sensor to dust (though equally true of all ‘mirrorless’ interchangeable lens digital camera designs today), compared to DSLRs which have both a mirror and a closed shutter protecting the sensor (all current Micro Four Thirds cameras include a [2] dust reduction system);
• Larger crop factor (2x multiplier) means deeper depth of field for the same equivalent field of view and f/stop;

Advantages of Micro Four Thirds over compact digital cameras

• Greatly increased sensor size (5–9 times larger) allowing improved low light performance and greater dynamic range;
  Interchangeable lenses;

Shallower depth of field possible (e.g. for portraits).

Disadvantages of Micro Four Thirds compared to compact digital cameras

• Physical size (camera and lenses are both larger due to increased sensor size);
• Extreme zoom lenses available on compacts (such as currently available 30× models) are not available on large sensor cameras due to physical size, cost, and practicality considerations.

Implications for Underwater Photography

Liquid Lense is delighted to announce the arrival of our new Canon Legria HF21 Video Camera!

This exciting new addition to our range of rental cameras comes with a fantastic and easy to use Ikelite underwater housing and is just dying to get wet!

The Legria is Canon’s newest, smallest (about the size of a soda can!) and most ultra lightweight camcorder – among the smallest and lightest HD camcorders on the market. It has an integrated Flash Memory and what makes the HF21 stand out in the category of flash memory camcorders is its Dual Memory capability. You can capture video on the camcorder’s internal 64GB flash memory as well as directly to an SDHC Memory Card which can then be inserted into your computer or HDTV’s card reader slot for immediate viewing.

The advantages of flash memory go beyond the added recording time. As the memory has no moving parts, you’ll find a much quicker response time when you hit the record button. In addition, when you review your footage, it will come up much more quickly.

Even more impressively, the Legria HF21 allows you to record at up to 24Mbps, the highest bit rate in AVCHD format, for the highest quality image. This is enough for six hours of footage, which will be more than sufficient for most diving days.

There are four other quality modes, too. At the lowest setting, which operates at 5Mbits/sec, you can fit a whopping 24 hours of video. The top two quality modes use Full HD resolution, but the bottom three drop down to 1,440 x 1,080, like HDV.

The Legria HF21 delivers brilliant video and photos through a Canon exclusive 3.89 Megapixel CMOS Image Sensor and the advanced image processor, DIGIC DV III. Canon Exclusive features – such as the Genuine Canon 15x HD Video Lens, Genuine Canon Face Detection, Dynamic SuperRange Optical Image Stabilization and a host of new control and creative options – make it clear that it’s a Dual Flash Memory camcorder packed with the optical excellence, advanced image processing, superb performance and technological innovation for which Canon is famous.

In keeping with the HF21, the Ikelite housing is also compact and lightweight but is slightly negative in salt water for added stability. Molded from clear polycarbonate to provide seamless construction and corrosion proof performance, this “Clearly Superior” design provides full view of the camcorder, control functions, and assurance the system is safe up to depths of 200 feet (60 meters). The housing allows full control of the camera while underwater, meaning that all the functions can be accessed through the LCD viewfinder.

The most important feature is the ability to manually set the white balance while underwater. The easy to use canon menu and ikelite controls means that capturing the activity on the reef in all its brilliance is a breeze. However for those who just want to point and go, there is a built in underwater mode to keep things simple. Ikelites UR/Pro Color Filter provides extra color correction in tropical blue water with available sunlight up to 80 feet (24 meters).

Fancy giving this amazing camera a try? Then why not enroll in one of Liquid Lenses Underwater Videography Courses? You’ll be able to experience all the features of this little camera whilst learning a fantastic new hobby!

Ja Ru Pat, (meaning the most excellent, long lasting, golden beautiful one!) , is Scubafish’s brand new fabulous dive boat, and she is finally here in Kantiang Bay!!

With enough space to lose yourself, Ja Ru Pat is pure luxury. The large lower deck saloon boasts a beautiful wood designed interior with booth style seating, perfect for planning your days dives or for catching up on your PADI course work!! Fans mounted above each booth ensure you are kept cool and comfortable throughout the day. The two roomy western style toilets, which are fitted out with sinks and mirrors, are also located on the lower deck next to the purpose built dive platform.

The spacious, shady upper deck is lined with comfy bench style seating and large tables, a breakfast bar with hot beverage making facilities and a dedicated medical room, everything you could want to make your dive trip as relaxing and enjoyable as possible.

Two huge storage containers, specifically for underwater camera systems, are conveniently located by the dive platform, ensuring that taking your underwater camera or video onboard couldn’t be easier. For the ultimate in underwater imaging convenience, power points are available for charging batteries and the saloon area is the perfect spot for editing your images. And as Ja Ru Pat can reach all the best dive sites in the area, you are sure to want to bring your camera on board every time you dive!
So why dont you book an underwater photography or videography course with Liquid Lense, or dive trip with Scubafish and experience the luxury of Ja Ru Pat for yourself.

A collection of the latest underwater images taken by professional underwater photographers from Liquid Lense Underwater Digital Imaging Academy.

Underwater photographs are captured from the dive sites and reefs around Ko Lanta. Stay up to date on what diving conditions are like right now. Photos are usually updated daily and are from today or yesterday’s dives.

Please visit the Liquid Lense Flickr photostream to view more of our underwater images.

The fourth annual Earth Hour is upon us and at Liquid Lense we are joining in and turning off our lights tonight between 8.30pm-9.30pm.

Earth Hour 2010 takes place at 8.30pm (local time) and is a global call to action to every individual, every business and every community throughout the world. It is a call to stand up, to take responsibility, to get involved and lead the way towards a sustainable future. Iconic buildings and landmarks from Europe to Asia to the Americas will stand in darkness. People across the world from all walks of life will turn off their lights and join together in celebration and contemplation of the one thing we all have in common – our planet.

Earth Hour started in 2007 in Sydney, Australia when 2.2 million homes and businesses turned their lights off for one hour to make their stand against climate change. Only a year later and Earth Hour had become a global sustainability movement with more than 50 million people across 35 countries participating. Global landmarks such as the, Sydney Harbour Bridge, The CN Tower in Toronto, The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, and Rome’s Colosseum, all stood in darkness, as symbols of hope for a cause that grows more urgent by the hour.

In March 2009, hundreds of millions of people took part in the third Earth Hour. Over 4000 cities in 88 countries officially switched off to pledge their support for the planet, making Earth Hour 2009 the world’s largest global climate change initiative.

So get involved and support the fight against global warming. Lets help to make this Earth Hour the most successful yet.

Turn on, Tune in, SWITCH OFF!!