Scuba Diving – September 2019

TOVATEC

MERA

MSRP $299.95; no housing required

CONTACT tovatec.com

This two-in-one design incorporates a full

HD camera into a fully functioning 1,000-lu-

men dive light. Both work independently of

each other using a three-button layout that

testers felt was both ergonomic and intui-

commented. “Couldn’t be simpler,” another

said. The Mera took top score for setup, as it

requires no more effort than your standard

dive light. “Setup? What setup?” one diver

quipped. The Mera doesn’t have a viewfi nd-

er, but was designed so that the camera’s

fi eld of view matches the 120-degree fl ood

beam—anything the light illuminates will be

cause it can be diffi cult to see the beam (and

the camera’s status light) in bright, ambi-

ent light. Most footage captured in shallow,

sunny conditions was crisp and clear with

perfectly natural color, but in other condi-

tions quality “shifts wildly and dramatical-

ly,” as one tester put it. “Some clips appear

oversaturated” was how one diver described

the unnatural-colored haze that accompa-

light. The fl oodlight was useful for restor-

ing color in the dark but was also sensitive to

backscatter—and the 12-degree spotlight

creates a glaring hotspot. When the microSD

card is full, the camera begins to overwrite

existing footage. Because it is built into a

dive light, it makes it much easier to carry

on every dive, ensuring you’ll have a camera

on hand for any chance encounter. It doesn’t

have the features and control that serious

shooting requires, but for the price of a stan-

dard dive light, the Mera is a convenient,

inexpensive way to capture high-defi nition

video to document and share your underwa-

ter adventures.

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34 / SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019 SCUBADIVING.COM

GEARING UP

Trays, grips, lights, fi lters,

macro lenses, dome ports—

depending on what you're

shooting and how, you might

fi nd that there's a long list

of accessories you can’t do

without.

Given GoPro’s dominance in

the market, it's not surprising

that many small action cams

now have GoPro-compatible

mounts or adapters that will

connect to a nearly endless

array of grips or trays. But

aside from mounts, it gets

trickier, because underwater

camera accessories tend to

be manufacturer- and model-

specifi c.

That means it can be tough

to fi nd some accessories

such as depth or water-color-

correction fi lters and add-on

lenses for cameras that aren’t

predominantly meant for use

in scuba, though there are

third-party accessories avail-

able for some more popu-

lar models. Bottom line: It’s

a good idea to consider what

accessories are compatible—

or available—when you're

choosing a new action cam-

era, then decide what you can

and can't live without.

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