Laptop

Apple just announced new MacBooks! Available right now. So I guess I should get my hands on one, if only for the duration of this project?


While the outside remains pretty much the same, the inside got an unexpected but nonetheless very appreciated upgrade:

+ 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 45nm Penryn processor, slightly faster & more energy efficient than the previous 2.2GHz 65nm Merom
= 800MHz FSB
+ 2x1GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM, in stead of 2x512KB
+ 160GB 5400rpm Serial ATA HDD, a 40GB increase
− 3MB of shared L2 cache, down from 4MB
= Intel GMA X3100 GPU with 144MB of shared DDR2 SDRAM

Disappointingly lacking are Apple's much talked about Multi-Touch trackpad and a next-generation LED display. Not to mention that the remote control now is a 19€ optional accessory. But then, the price dropped 50€ here in Germany, so you actually get more for less :o)

Archive & back-up?

I think I've got about everything required for my project by now... except for some storage solution for all the footage I hope to shoot?

While on paper it's supposedly possible to copy video clips directly from the Sanyo Xacti HD1000 camcorder to any external hard disk drive, in practice this isn't quite so straight-forward: For this easy transfer to work, the HDD must have its own power source. Mobile drives however typically rely on their host for power. And self-sufficient desktop drives aren't really meant to be lugged around. Using a media-storage-device with incorporated card-reader isn't that obvious either, as most of these apparently do not yet support SDHC.

So, either I'll have to regularly copy all my raw footage onto a PC in some internet café in order to then burn it onto a DVD (leaving me with only one copy in the end) or, I must bring my own laptop. The latter would allow me to better manage my project, pre-view & pre-edit any footage, letting me save to HDD & backing up to DVD only what is worth to be kept. Immediate feedback would also allow for corrective measures in case some scenes need to be redone. This kind of quality control just isn't feasible on the camcorder's small LCD.

Bring my own laptop? Easier said than done. Apple's pre-intel PowerBook G4, which served me well before, alas lacks the required processor power to handle HD video, not to mention the necessary HDD capacity for a five week shoot. Apple's cheapest MacBook comes with a ComboDrive which can read but not write DVDs, making it a no go. The standard model with SuperDrive has been out of stock for more than a month. The previous edition with SuperDrive still comes with Mac OS X 10.4 (read: without iMovie '08), another no go. The Pro models, besides being totally outdated, are way too expensive to even be considered for the job. And with all the rumors of new ones being on their way, buying anything now isn't really recommended.

LED there be light

Seeing is believing. At first sight however I didn't see anything and actually thought their was no bulb inside TillyTec's demo LED 1000 at boot... that is, until I turned it on and saw the light.


Inside Tilly's bright new LED 1000 you won't find just any old bulb, but an award winning OSRAM Opto Semiconductors OSTAR, a 6-chip LED!

Dive watch

When you have to send your watch to its manufacturer just to get its battery replaced, you know it's going to cost you time and money. Three weeks and 58€ to be precise, including pressure check.


A tick more than just a cool dive watch, Citizen's Promaster Aqualand also measures depth & water temperature and warns in case of rapid ascent, exceeded maximum depth or bottom time. While not quite as smart as an actual dive computer it's still a wise to have back-up.

Regulators

It took five weeks to get my three Scubapro regulator sets serviced by Tauchsport Manta in Munich, but now they're supposed to be as good as new... and that for 164€ only, quite a reasonable price actually for maintaining three first-stages, four second-stages and various hoses.


Not only that, they also pointed me to Foto-Video Sauter, where I finally found a 40.5mm UV filter (19.50€) and a flexible sun hood (12.50€) for my camcorder, both made in Germany by Heliopan.

---

UPDATE: ¡Be warned! After several regulator related incidents, I'd never trust Tauchsport Manta to service my SCUBA gear ever again.

Orthopedist

Upon general recommendation (read: peer pressure), I went to an orthopedist this morning to have my knocked chest checked out by a professional. For some peace of mind I guess 10€ Praxisgebühr (with Krankenversicherung) is cheap enough, even for a cursory inspection?

A nurse took two X-rays, which I didn't get to see, and a doctor briefly listened at my chest and barely at what I had to say or ask, concluding nothing to be broken nor ripped. The bruised spot just needing time to heal by itself, no need for any suggested supportive bandage nor unasked-for painkillers.

I'm even allowed to practice any sportive activity, as far as possible, and should be alright for some unusual diving in a few weeks time :o)

Camcorder impressions

After some trial shootings, both in- & outdoors, I must say I'm quite satisfied with my Sanyo Xacti VPC-HD1000's overall performance.

⊕ While not quite as pocketable as other Xactis, the super compact & light HD1000 is a very portable & easy to handle mini-camcorder.

⊕ Its comprehensive menu is easy enough to navigate and allows straightforward access to lots of optional manual settings.

⊕ Even in less-than-full 1280x720p HD-HR video resolution, clips are good enough to be viewed in full-screen mode on e.g. a 24" iMac.

⊕ Playback is remarkably smooth at 60fps.

⊕ The HD1000 is a best-of-both hybrid, taking surprisingly good 4MP (4:3) or 3.5MP (16:9) photos with vibrant no-need-to-adjust colors.

⊕ Useable 0.9MP snapshots can be taken while filming in HD-HR, and even better 2MP ones in Full-HD.

⊕ Effective EIS enables handheld shooting without too much noticeable shaking, even with some zooming.

⊕ Low light performance seems to be pretty decent.

⊗ The rather slow auto-focus tends to hunt in less-than-optimal conditions, like in low-light & full zoom, but...
 + it's possible to shoot with preset manual focus or lock the auto-focus anytime while filming

⊗ Sanyo's Full-HD AVC/H.264 encoding format is not supported by Apple, meaning it is not possible to just view or edit video clips shot in 1920x1080i resolution on a Mac, but...
 + downloading & installing avc1decoder* partially fixes this problem

⊗ The LCD's default 16:9 video preview changes into a very different 4:3 still preview when (half-)pressing the photo button, meaning what-you-see-is-not-exactly-what-you-get regarding snapshots.

⊗ The otherwise very decent built-in mic suffers from white noise and inevitable nearness to internal mechanics of focus and zoom engine. Topside, both these interferences can be eliminated by using an external microphone, definitely a recommended accessory when clear audio is important. Underwater however, such an external solution is not available. Worse, due to noise amplification by the underwater housing, the camcorder's internal creaks & whizzes become so irritating as to render the o-tone unuseable.

⊗ Epoque's underwater housing allows access to all the camcorder's buttons except for the mini-joy-stick's up. While this is not really a problem as menu navigation is circular, it does mean one less menu short-cut option.

⊗ The underwater housing's biggest button is its least useful one. Worse, the rather obtrusive push & turn button, meant for switching between record & play mode, is I-can't-figure-it-out impractical.

Hard fall

14:00, Coming down from Gaisalpe along the asphalted road, I suddenly slip on an icy patch and fall hard onto the upper left-side of my ribcage, my left arm stretched above my head. While my arm probably prevented my head from hitting the road, it also pulled up my coat's pocket in which I'd stowed my glasses hard-case and mobile phone, one of which got between my ribs and the road, inflicting a rather painful jab that literally knocks all the air out of my lungs. Unable to move, for a moment I'm afraid I might have broken some ribs, needing several minutes to recover my restricted breath. But once the shock has subsided, I'm able to get up again, breathing in & out deeply without problems and even being able to squeeze my ribcage without feeling any hurt. I look like a green ghost though and forced coughing does indicate a tender spot.

16:00, Back home, I immediately check my ribcage once more, but no trauma whatsoever is visible. As preventive action I swallow five micro-pills of arsenicum twice with one hour interval and take it easy. Inactivity however doesn't really help matters, the contact point feeling more & more bruised as, I guess, my body's natural painkillers wear off. I can now also feel that my left hip-leg joint-bone absorbed some of the impact too, but not much.

18:00, A hot bath seems to relax and do some good, until something suddenly locks up in my left collar bone hole and in my left rib cage, preventing easy breathing. Lying down in bed does not bring much relief, but by now I'm too exhausted to move.

19:00, Two Ipren pills (2x 200mg Ibuprofen) and a cold quark treatment alleviate the pain enough for me to get up again and have some dinner. I can't help but worry about my upcoming trip, hoping I will have recovered enough by then. In order to be able to lift 30+kg of cave diving gear onto your back, walk around with it on rocky paths through the sweaty jungle, climb down steep ladders or wriggle yourself through cracks in the earth's crust, just to reach a cenote's entrance pool, before doing a relatively demanding dive, well, some healthy fitness level is indeed kind of required.

20:00, I can feel the impact actually got some repercussions on my entire frame, e.g. that my spine got rattled, more specifically between my shoulder blades and in my lower back.

23:00, One more Ipren pill before going to bed plus some local Nifluril treatment, as lying is clearly less comfortable than sitting or standing, especially for my left shoulder, but I soon fall asleep anyway.

Teaser

Here's a little teaser to give you an idea about what I'd like to do with twice as much light and a better camcorder...

The original 320x240 30fps AVI source clips used for this video were recorded in Mexico's underwater caves in March 2006 with a Sea&Sea DX8000G digital compact camera fitted with a 0.6x WAL, by the light of a 125W* 5500°K TillyTec HID 35 with 80° flood reflector.

Camcorder specs: Sanyo Xacti HD1000

☆ SANYO XACTI VPC-HD1000 digital mini-camcorder

Sensor

• 1/2.5" 4MP CMOS

• photo: 2288 x 1712 pixel (4:3) or 2496 x 1408 pixel (16:9) • video: 1920 x 1080 pixel (60fields/s, 12Mbps, 16:9)

• ISO: auto or manual from 50 up to 3200

• WB: auto, fine, cloud, incandescent, fluorescent, manual

Lens

• 10x optical zoom • equivalent to 38-380mm (photo) & 50-497mm (video)

• aperture: F1.8 (wide) - F2.5 (tele)

• focus: from 10cm to infinite (wide) & down to 1cm (macro)

• shutter: 1/2-1/1000s (photo) & 1/30-1/10000s (video)

Storage

• SD or SDHC memory card up to 8GB

Formats

• photo: JPEG

• video: MPEG4 (AVC/H.264)

• audio: AAC (48kHz, 16bit, 2ch, stereo)

Features

• 2.7" widescreen TFT LCD (230'000 pixels, 285° rotatable)

• electronic image stabilization (photo & video)

• face detection (photo)

• built-in microphone

• 2.5mm microphone jack (with 3.5mm adaptor)

• 3.5mm headset jack

• built-in flash

• accessory shoe

• IR remote control

• multi connectivity via docking station

Size & Weight

• W:55 x D:90 x H:113mm

• 311g (incl. battery & SD card)

• 40.5mm thread for filters & conversion lenses

☆ EPOQUE EHS-1000HD underwater housing

Features

• access to all the camcorder's functions & settings

• clear view of the camcorder's LCD

• rated to -45m

Size & Weight

• polycarbonate

• W:195 x D:124 x H:186mm

• 720g (dry)

• 67mm thread for filters & conversion lenses