Bob Stubbs and I boarded the long flight to the West Coast last weekend for the annual Scuba Show in Long Beach, California. This is always a fun event and usually our last retail show before we start gearing up for DEMA--the annual industry trade show.

Show-goers buzzed about the announcement of the exciting new SubStrobe DS-160. Building on the wildly popular DS-125 strobe body, this strobe delivers nearly 1.5x the power in a still blazing-fast 1.5 sec recycle time. The strobe offers 10 manual power settings in addition to full compatibility with current TTL systems. A built-in 5-watt LED modeling light automatically turns off and on when the strobe fires. Full details will be posted within the week. The SubStrobe DS-160 is available now for pre-order through your local Ikelite dealer to be available in limited quantities in late July.

We were also pleased to see a strong interest in videography during this show. We had lots of inquiries about our full line of video housings for hard drive and high-definition camcorders. For those who want the flexibility of shooting still or video, some new cameras offer very high resolution still images in addition to excellent video quality. For example, our current package camcorder the JVC MG-730 processes still images separately for a 7.38 megapixel still image.

For the truly discerning videographer, we are pleased to announce the addition of a High-Definition Wide-Angle Port to our line of video accessories for select camcorder models. Designed by Fathom Imaging, these ports are superior in edge-to-edge clarity and completely distortion free.

After the show we played hooky long enough to enjoy a day of diving off Catalina Island. The kelp forests are stunning and provide a great backdrop for underwater photography. Housing controls proved easy to maneuver even with thick gloves, and our TTL systems worked well as usual. Unfortunately I didn't see the Great White I was looking for--apparently he was on the other side of the island knocking a woman off her kayak that day. It was a great time nonetheless, special thanks to Ikelite dealer Catalina Scuba Luv for taking care of us!

The following day we stopped by PADI to discuss the finer points of drysuit diving. And since that only took us about 30 seconds, they were kind enough to give us a tour of the facility. They have quite an operation going and it's no surprise they're one of the leading certifying agencies worldwide.

That's all for now. We have lots of exciting new things coming out for you in July, so keep checking in on us!

Next time you're in California, skip on over to Catalina and say "Hi" to our friends at Catalina Scuba Luv.