SCUBA September 2021 Issue 118 | Page 64

TESTCENTRE
The rear of the camera is home to its full-colour screen , access to MicroSD slot and charging port
Paralenz Vaquita
COMPANY : PARALENZ PRICE : € 749 (£ 640 AT TIME OF WRITING ) WEB : WWW . PARALENZ . COM

A screen for the Lenz

Back in December 2019 BC ( Before Covid ) my review of the Paralenz Dive Camera + ended with the sentence : ‘ Call me old-fashioned , but I do like to see what I ’ m shooting ’. This of course referred to the lack of a live display on the otherwise excellent compact , cigar-shaped device .

Having joined the ever-expanding range of ‘ action cameras ’ on an already saturated marketplace several years previously it was , however , far removed from being a GoPro wannabe . Paralenz took an entirely different take on the genre and with its manufacturer ’ s tagline ‘ designed for divers by divers ,’ it had several innovative features that made it stand out from the crowd .
For many divers the lack of screen was perceived as a weakness . So Paralenz have rectified this with their new Vaquita camera . Slightly larger than its predecessor , the Vaquita measures 128 x 40 x 30mm with a dry weight of 240g . Once in the water this weight is substantially reduced .
The full-colour OLED screen itself is a smaller-than-a-postage-stamp sized 20mm x 15mm . This is of course due to the constrains of the camera ’ s dimensions , but it does offer a surprisingly good indication of what you ’ re filming . It is angled nicely for easy viewing .
The Vaquita is supplied with plastic threaded mount and rubber strap
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I was familiar with the general operation of the Vaquita , sharing as it does , the same rotating control bezel as the previous model . The bezel can be turned clockwise or anticlockwise through its eight individual settings and provides a reassuring click as it turns .
A magnetic slider situated on the upper side of the aluminium body uses short and long slides – complete with tactile and audible vibration – to navigate between menus and select settings . One long pull in the power mode starts up the device .
Moving the bezel clockwise provides : Snap ( still images ); Video ; Custom 1 and Custom 2 ( enabling different video / photo setups ); Settings ( everything from depth-calibration to white balance and definition ); Dive Logs and finally , GPS positioning .
While each mode is clearly marked onscreen , the bezel ’ s own subtle light grey on grey symbols is unfortunately much less visible than the original camera ’ s white on blue . In addition to the screen there are several other improvements such as the integral GPS which will provide your current surface position .
Unlike the threaded cap used by the Dive Camera +, the Vaquita employs a double O-ringed push-on / pull-off version with a locking ring , not unlike the connection used on a BCD ’ s lowpressure hose . This makes access for charging via USB cable or changing the Micro- SD card a more efficient process .
Accessory grip
Colour correction
Paralenz ’ s patented Depth Colour Correction technology ( DCC ) is designed to automatically adjust the white balance according to depth . While I had mixed results with green water use in the past , the new system appeared much more reliable . Rather than individual settings for blue and green , the Vaquita ’ s new sensor is able to identify and adjust regardless of the water ’ s primary hue .
The option to use DCC can be chosen in the menu or alternatively , during a dive by pulling the slider three times in quick succession . The results could be quite impressive in depths of up to 10 metres when combined with decent visibility and sufficient sunlight . Deeper , and with less light penetration I found the DCC tended to provide a slightly greyer , more washed-out look to footage .
A further trio of pulls on the slider defaults to the previously selected white balance setting . This can be fully automatic , or one of several alternatives that can be matched to artificial light sources . Do be aware that in DCC mode any torch beams or video lighting will likely be overcompensated , resulting in unnatural hues . Also , switching between the two modes while recording will also pick up on the vibration and heard during playback . A custom white balance setting would be the ideal solution for mixed light sources and I was surprised this option – available on many other action-type cameras – was not available .