Muchachos

Small entrance, big cave. Due to travel depth and distance, nitrox and a stage tank are recommended. We dived it on air and only just avoided decompression by keeping it short, read: 72'.

[ entrance fee: 100 Pesos ]

Kalimba

Another great dive in Kalimba, this time involving one jump and one T, both times to the right. A 102' underwater trip of eyes-wide-open speleological pleasure. Mind you, though wonderfully decorated this system is very fragile and often restrictive, requiring perfect buoyancy control and careful crawling through various passages. Meaning should anything go wrong you'll need more than just a cool head to get out again. 50' into the cave is a long way back indeed. But then, nothing like a bit of risk awareness to keep a clear focus and sharp senses.

Taj Mahal

To my dismay the whole jungle clearing was full of vans as we arrived, but luckily they all belonged to cavern tours, meaning we had the cave all for ourselves. Though the best part here is arguably the extended cavern zone, actually connecting two cenotes and an air filled dome in between with several small holes in the roof through which sunlight beams in and refracts onto the water's surface.

The cave itself reminds of the weirdly eroded tunnels in Calavera, but unfortunately lots of it is exactly at halocline level, here at 12m, thus resulting in blurry vision for anybody except the leading diver.

[ entrance fee: 80 Pesos ]

Tortugas

Nice tunnel dive, left at the first T then right at the second T. I didn't see any turtles though? In order to avoid having to decompress, as most of the dive is spent below the halocline, here around 21m deep, nitrox is recommended. We used EAN36, diving on air this dive would otherwise most probably have resulted in a rather long deco penalty.

[ entrance fee: 70 Pesos ]

Tulum playa

Sun drenched day at the beach, barely 5km away from downtown Tulum, but another world all together, reachable by taxi for 40-60 Pesos. After having met some old acquaintances at La Zebra, I didn't hang around too long before marching off again. All the way back to Tulum pueblo, a rather hot, not to say rationally insane, 8km stroll.

A look into the Room of Tears

The original 320x240 30fps AVI source clips used for this video were recorded in Aktun Ha with a Sea&Sea DX8000G digital compact camera fitted with a 0.6x WAL, by the light of a TillyTec HID 35 with 80° flood reflector and a TillyTec LED 1000 with diffuser.

For the record: Uploading this 2'22" (15.6MB) video-clip took about 25', excluding a failed first attempt and post processing by Blogger.

Aktun Ha

This cenote is actually better known as Carwash, though I much prefer its Mayan name, which simply means water cave.

Somehow today I felt like doing a mourning dive to the Room of Tears, a relatively easy one jump cave dive, through a small hole off the main line, requiring some crawling, before being rewarded by the sight of this most famous & highly decorated little room.


Called back into action is my almost 3 years old Sea&Sea DX8000G, which despite two powerful lights alas still won't let me take sharp pictures in the darkness of the cave... so it will be down to low-res video-clips from here onwards. Shows that my drowned Xacti's one stop more sensitive lens and EIS clearly made a huge difference.

Chac Mool

While the 500m dive along the highway large eroded tunnel isn't too interesting, the destination is all the more so: Xich Ha Tunich, supposedly the world's largest underwater stalactite, measuring at least 8m according to my depth gauge, starting just below the halocline at around 11m down to about 20m. This giant drip stone is not just big though, it's also really beautifully formed.


As we got near the water, Miguel noticed a Turquoise Browed Motmot, which I only got to see thanks to my camcorder's 10x zoom. As it turned out, that would be the last picture it took for me.

[ entrance fee: 80 Pesos ]

Floods happen

Yesterday morning, as I checked my equipment prior to the first dive, I noticed my Tektite Expedition Star wasn't burning evenly. The reason: a few drops of water somehow got through the double O-ring protection supposed to keep it dry :o( How? Who knows. Maybe the O-rings were just too old. I've been wanting to replace them for a while, but haven't been able to find any new ones of that particular size. Luckily I brought a third back-up torch with me, so I still have two as required for cave diving.

Worse and impossible to replace here and now, this morning as I submerged and wanted to switch on my camcorder, it didn't respond. Through the housing's translucent back I suddenly noticed some small drops and immediately resurfaced, opening it as soon as I'd swum back to shore, releasing several cc of water... too late though, the damage already done. Sensitive electronic components + H2O = The End.

Through the dive I kept hoping that maybe I'd be able to resurrect some life into my Xacti later on, after it had had some time to dry, but alas it hasn't given a single peep ever since :o( There's no way this O-ring could have been too old. I'd cleaned & greased it prior to the dive and everything had seemed fine enough. Of course it could also have been a failure of one of the smaller, inaccessible control button O-rings? All it would take is just one little grain of sediment lodging itself where it shouldn't. As you can imagine, I'm a bit depressed loosing my camcorder so soon. Six video dives is all I got to do with it. I was only just starting to get the hang of it...

Despair not however, I still have my old Sea&Sea DX8000G, so I sure hope to do some more shooting, if not high-res photos than at least better-than-nothing low-res video-clips. The show must go on!

---

UPDATE: I took my empty Epoque housing for another test dive down to 5m and it remained dry... meaning it was probably the main O-ring that failed, and thus my fault? There not being any obvious reason for the leak isn't very reassuring though and my confidence got flushed.

UPDATE: Epoque's quick reply to my email informing them of my misadventure:

Dear Mr TM, Firstly we thnk you for your having purchased our EHS-1000 HD underwater housing and we are sorry that you have had trouble on this unit for flooded. We are producing our underwater housing with care and we are doing waterproof test with 100% and sufficient pressure before shipment and we are sure that there is no item we shipped with flooded. Anyhow so sorry for this. If you would have any further question please be back to us. Best regards, NN, Epoque World.

UPDATE: According to some german forum posts from an underwater photography shop in Austria, great care must be taken when placing the Sanyo Xacti HD1000 inside Epoque's housing, otherwise the housing's lid might actually not be properly closed, even though all seven clamps are shut! They've apparently had several customers coming back with flooded camcorders, and have now put an explicit warning on their website stating Epoque does not assume any responsibility what so ever no matter the cause of the flood and therefor recommend some kind of third party insurance. They also note that the first Epoque housings (pre 02/2008) for the Sanyo Xacti HD1000 require some internal pieces to be replaced (to me that reads: production error). Anyways, I actually did replace the two small rubber pieces in question inside my housing. To no avail :o(

UPDATE: There's no longer any doubt in my mind that Epoque's EHS-1000HD housing is indeed leak-prone, as more and more users are reporting similar floods. (see forum threads listed below)

→ Forum thread #228051 on ScubaBoard
→ Forum thread #24014 on Wetpixel
→ Forum thread #24410 on Wetpixel
→ German forum thread #4823 on Taucher.Net
→ German forum thread #5019 on Taucher.Net
→ Spanish forum thread #48305

UPDATE: Sanyo (Germany) of course declines any responsibility, even though they promote the EHS-1000HD as accessory on their website.

UPDATE: Interesting read in UWP #48 in which Sim Chee Ghee describes both Epoque's EHS-1000HD and Patima's Xacti housing, thereby briefly commenting on the EHS-1000HD's susceptibility to flooding:

Apropo flooding, a few samples earlier versions of this housing reportedly have had some flooding issues, which upon checking was due to user misalignment of the camera in the housing. The camera inserts into the housing with opened LCD directly as it is, without any trays or adapters. Epoque attended to the problem and improved the housing by installing a nicely, chromed semi circle bracket on the top and 2 plastic brackets in the middle and bottom part to align the camera. Misalignment is therefore passé, however a caution note is still included in the housing packaging, warning users to be careful.

Kalimba

Kalimba is an amazing wonder of underwater speleology at its best, low ceilinged and often restrictive, it forces one to get close to its fragile beauty. Everywhere you look, its petrified past stares back at you. I could make a whole movie here.

[ entrance fee: 100 Pesos ]

Splash movie

Not all entries are this splashtacular, most of the time it's possible to just step or wade in, climb down or fall back into a cenote.

Calavera

Also known as the Temple of Doom, the thrill here starts with a 2m high splash in, followed by a blurry descent through the boundary between fresh and salt water, continuing with a silent prayer past the Madonna, along eroded tunnels, beyond the Fang and back to the fossilized past, when this was not a cave but the bottom of the sea.

[ entrance fee: 80 Pesos ]

A place to stay

→ Todo Tulum: Villa Matisse

Grand cenote

Another test dive. This time to check out my alternative video set-up, where my Green Force Flexi II battery is attached to my housing's tray together with a float, i.e. an aluminum bottle, so that I can hand over my camcorder to another diver, in order to be able to make a few appearances in my own movie :o)

⊗ This sure ain't a professional set-up and it's a bit too front heavy, but it kind of works, though I wouldn't recommend it for long dives.

Chan Hol

[ entrance fee: 100 Pesos ]

Tux Kupaxa

Five hour expedition to the cave of the mastodon. From Tulum we drive north along highway 307 to Chemuyil, turning left just before reaching this growing settlement for hotel employees, following a relatively even dirt road cut straight through the jungle.


After several kilometers, the dirt road deteriorates into a roughly hewn track, then simply ends. Time to gear up: hooded 2mm vest underneath a 7mm neoprene wetsuit, topped with about 50kg of cave diving equipment and camcorder. Then off we march into the jungle.


It's about 30°C in the shade and by the time I reach the cenote I'm steaming hot and really really happy to splash into the refreshingly cool 25°C water.


Tux Kupaxa, explored by my former boss Gunnar Wagner from Aktun dive center and Xibalba's owner Robert Schmittner is one of the most beautiful caves I've ever had the chance to dive.

Like most cave systems here, this one too seems endless, with countless passages branching off to who knows where. What makes this one special, beside the discovery several years ago of prehistoric mastodon bones of National Geographic fame, are the wonderful decorations everywhere you look.


Unfortunately the nicest bones have been removed, for archeological study, leaving only a few of the smaller ones, which you'll only see if you really know what you're looking for.

[ entrance fee: 100 Pesos ]

Grand cenote - video test

First photo/video dive with my new Sanyo Xacti VPC-HD1000 mini-camcorder in an Epoque EHS-1000HD housing, fitted with a 0.56x WAL and my two TillyTec dive lights, i.e. a LED 1000 and HID 35.

To my surprise it's actually possible to take quite decent photos. Getting sharp footage in auto-focus mode alas seems to be much harder to accomplish... but then, I may need some shooting practice?




First camcorder & housing observations so far:

⊗ Despite its relatively compact size, the Epoque EHS-1000HD is rather bulky and very uncomfortable to hold.

⊗ Fitted with a WAL this housing becomes very front-heavy.

⊗ Epoque's screw-on WAL is a pain to remove & replace underwater. Personally I much prefer Sea&Sea's quick & easy bayonet system, but alas that's not an option in this case. Still, I recommend using a WAL.

⊗ Despite having both batteries attached to my belt, my underwater camcorder set-up is still too heavy, due to the WAL and two light heads clammed onto the housing via flex-arms.

⊗ While recording in video mode, the autofocus really has a hard time finding the right sharpness in the caves.

⊗ Inside the housing, the HD1000's auto-focus becomes very noisy, rendering any underwater tone almost useless (unless you shoot in locked focus mode).

⊗ Video quality suffers from graininess, despite the 225W of combined output, due to the rather limited range of diffused light.

Cenote Cristal

Slightly deeper two jumps test dive to about -20m to make sure my Epoque underwater housing is indeed watertight before taking my camcorder down with it. I also tried out having my two dive light batteries attached to my belt, as that will probably be my main set-up for underwater videography, the other one being one battery attached to my belt as usual and one beneath the camcorder housing, together with a float so as to achieve as neutral as possible buoyancy.

This time I also had the diffuser on my LED 1000, so as to avoid any hotspot later on while filming. I found the effect very pleasing to the eye... but of course only actual shooting will tell whether it also pleases my camcorder.

[ entrance fee: 100 Pesos ]

Power

Dive lights, camera, camcorder, laptop, useless* mobile phone, ... all these devices need power. That means plugs, cables, chargers, socket adaptors (e.g. US style here in Mexico) and rechargeable batteries.


(* my old 6210 Nokia mobile phone is not able to get me connected to anybody anywhere - at least not from here)

TIllyTec LED 1000 in Sac Aktun

Easy one jump cave dive towards Kalimba through a really nice section I sure hope to dive again with camcorder later on.

⊕ Both dives today were illuminated by my new TillyTec LED 1000, which I'm really happy about, even though it's just a pre-production model. And it's not only Tilly's big lights that shine brightly, his W30 back-up torch bundles an amazing lot of power in such a small 3x AA handheld package, enough I'd say as to be almost useable as main light source... two of these on an helmet could be pretty cool?

[ entrance fee: 100 Pesos ]

Carwash

Equipment check and training dive: Air share, laying of the primary reel line till the cave's permanent main line on the way in and retrieving it on the way out, shutting off & turning on of each tank and the manifold between the two, harness removal & replacement and of course constant buoyancy control while going up and down following the cave's main tunnel.

Showing me around is Miguel, a PADI OWSI & cave diver from Spain, with an interest in underwater videography.

[ entrance fee: 100 Pesos ]

Dive gear set-up

Set up & checked my dive gear at Xibalba, my base of operation for the next few weeks.


After two self-imposed acclimatization days, I'm looking very much forward to start diving tomorrow. Of course without camera at first, as I'll have more than enough at hand just getting back into cave diving mode, an already gear intensive art of submersion as it is. Plus I'd like to do some basic safety drills and skill rehearsal exercises before going for the big motion picture.

On location

Sonthofen - Tulum

Travel details: 04:45, Early wake-up. Luckily, yesterday evening's new snow did not stay and the road's clear to go. 05:00, Petra drives me to Sonthofen's Bahnhof. 05:22, Train to Kempten. 06:05, Connecting train to Buchloe. 06:52+5', Connecting train to München Hauptbahnhof. I get off 7' earlier however in Pasing, from where I take the 07:49+2' train straight to the airport. Arriving there at 08:40, well in time for my flight.

I could also have taken the 06:10 train in Sonthofen, in which case I should have arrived at the airport around 9:30. But with only 5' in Kempten to make a connection, that would have been risky.

Walking from the airport's train station to terminal 2 takes 15'. 09:05, Being early I don't have to queue in order to check in my two trolley bags, which indeed weigh in as 26 & 16kg. 09:35, After a short drink-up-all-forbidden-liquids break, I walk through security. Of course they make me open my backpack to check & sniff both my gun-like camcorder and X-ray challenging dive light batteries.

11:15, Boarding. 11:55+35', Take-off. 24:00-25', Touch-down. 15' later we're let out of the plane, immediately finding ourselves in a queue towards immigration. 24:10, Officially stamped into Mexico. 24:15, My two bags are sliding in just as I arrive at the luggage belt. Only to get stuck in another unorganized queue to get through customs. Which I luckily clear without getting the red open-up-all-your-bags light. 24:35, On the way out I get myself a shuttle bus ticket for 50$. 24:50, Six other tourists and I ride out towards Playa Del Carmen and Tulum, where the driver finally drops me off at 03:30 (German time).

Señora Lourdes from Villa Matisse is waiting for me and immediately makes me feel at home. I get a nice upstairs room with private hot-water bathroom, double bed, hammock and fan. Perfect. While for me it's 04:20 by now, here in Mexico it's only 21:20 yet, i.e. seven hours earlier, but late enough for me to fall straight into bed after a refreshing shower :o)

Currency: 1 Euro = 14.80 Pesos , 1 USD = 10.30 Pesos

Packed!

While 2x 30kg check-in allowance is more than enough, the 6kg hand-luggage limit is only half of what I actually need. The problem being that I'm required by LTU to carry my two heavy dive lights onboard, thereby forcing me to stuff more fragile photo/video equipment into my check-in bags, just so as not to exceed the limit too much...


Final weigh in: 16+26+10 = 52kg!

Underwater videography gear

• camcorder , e.g. Sanyo Xacti VPC-HD1000
  
• underwater housing , e.g. Epoque EHS-1000HD
  
• wide-angle lens
  
• tray , e.g. Sea&Sea multi-stay
  
• flex arms with light-head grips
  
• videolight #1 , e.g. TillyTec LED 1000 with diffuser, umbilical cable, Green Force Flexi II battery, handle & float
  
• videolight #2 , e.g. primary dive light as listed under cave diving gear
  

Basic cave diving gear

exposure protection

• swim trunks
  
• hooded vest , e.g. Camaro hooded Ice vest 2/4mm
  
• dive suit , e.g. Camaro Stingray 2x7mm
  
• booties
  
  abc
  
• mask , e.g. Cressi BigEyes
  
• fins , e.g. Mares Plano Avanti
  
  monitoring
  
• dive computer , e.g. Suunto Vyper
  
• dive watch , e.g. Citizen Promaster Aqualand
  
• wrist slate & pencil
  
  buoyancy device
  
• stainless-steel backplate & harness
  
• wings , e.g. standard single-bladder from DiveSystem
  
• pocket with spare mask
  
• pocket with arrows & cookies
  
• primary knife
  
• secondary Z-knife
  
  primary regulator
  
• 1st stage , e.g. Scubapro MK25AF
  
• 2nd stage on 2m hose , e.g. Scubapro S600
  
• wing inflator hose
  
  back-up regulator
  
• 1st stage , e.g. Scubapro MK25AF
  
• 2nd stage on standard hose , e.g. Scubapro S550
  
• SPG
  
  stage regulator if needed
  
• 1st stage , e.g. Scubapro MK2+
  
• 2nd stage on standard hose , e.g. Scubapro R390
  
• SPG on short hose
  
  primary dive light
  
• light-head , e.g. TillyTec HID 35
  
• umbilical cable
  
• battery , e.g. TillyTec TT 3
  
• goodman handle
  
  back-up dive lights
  
• torch #1 , e.g. TillyTec LED W30
  
• torch #2 , e.g. Tektite Expedition Star
  
  reels
  
• primary reel , e.g. large Dive Rite reel
  
• safety reel , e.g. small Dive Rite reel
  
• jump & gap spools|reels as needed , e.g. Oxycheq finger spool
  

My basic cave diving set-up, with just one safety reel and without stage, weighs approximately 17.5kg plus about 17kg per full 11l aluminum tank! With two primary lights, underwater camera, primary-, jump- & safety reel make that 21.5kg plus tanks.

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

Let's roll!

Ordered online barely two days ago, this morning a box full of goodies was delivered at my doorstep :o)


• Sanyo Xacti VPC-HD1000 camcorder (642€), including:
+ DB-L50 3.7V 1900mAh lithium-ion battery
+ SanDisk Ultra II 2GB SD memory card
+ IR remote control
+ docking station charger
+ AC adaptor & power cord
+ USB connection cable & adaptor
+ HDMI connection cable
+ D-AV & S-AV connection cables
+ microphone adaptor cable (from 2.5 to 3.5mm)
+ lens cap
+ wrist strap
+ soft polstered pouch
+ user manual
− useless* DVD with MS Windows software

• SanDisk Extreme III 8GB SDHC memory card (60€), including:
+ MicroMate USB card-reader
+ neoprene pouch
− useless* mini-CD with rescue software

• Lowepro Edit 100 camcorder bag (16€)

• Velbon CX-480 video tripod (33€), including:
+ carry bag

Burntimes

Deep inside a cave is not exactly the best place to find out your gear is not delivering as promised on paper. Which is why I did another burn test, in order to check out the two light setups I plan on using in Mexico, i.e. HID 35 with TT 3 and LED 1000 with Flexi II battery. To my surprise both actually performed a lot better than expected!

	Flexi II	TT 3
HID 35	90'	200'
LED 1000	195'

With more than 3 hours of juice, I should be able to do two decent 90' cave dives in a day without need to recharge in between, or do some extended exploration diving without worries of ending up in the dark.

Luggage allowance

26/12/2007, LTU's online ticket reservation system not having informed me as to how much luggage I'm allowed to travel with, I called their service desk and got told I could check-in one anorexic bag of maximum 20kg. With a Top Bonus Service Card, costing only 40€/year, I would however be allowed a meager 10kg extra.

31/12/2007, My flight ticket seems to say I'm allowed 30kg, and that without having applied for the Top Bonus Service Card?

14/01/2008, A second call confirms that I can indeed check-in 30kg and have up to 8kg of hand-luggage, because I'll be gone more than 29 days. While that's good news, it's still not quite good enough yet. Technical diving gear weighs a lot, e.g. I had 43kg last time and want to bring even more this time!

Internet research indicating I could get a special allowance for dive gear, I sent two emails to LTU's service desk, requesting precise information regarding resp. check-in allowance and packing rules for dive lights. Hoping to get clear written answers to two simple questions, ten days later I got a rather confusing reply about my gear having been registered, together with a new but unchanged bill?

28/01/2008, Another call, another answer. This time I'm told I can check-in a healthy 30kg of normal luggage and an additional 30kg of dive equipment, besides 6kg of hand-luggage. Now we're talking :o) Heavy dive lights however must now be carried disassembled in the hand-luggage. Not only that, they must be declared before hand, separately from the dive gear. I even had to say how much they weigh and how big they are. So now my problem is that I've got more than 6kg of hand-luggage (2 lights @ 2kg/pc + 2 cameras @ 0.5kg/pc + 1 laptop @ 2.5kg). But if I read the rules correctly I think it should be possible to board with 8kg of hand-luggage when carrying a laptop, not counting small stuff like a photo bag?

— LTU luggage allowance

Every passenger has a baggage allowance of 20 kg (or even 30 kg for journeys exceeding 29 days) together with one piece of hand luggage (EU-rules) (max. 55x40x20 cm) weighing up to 6 kg (8 kg for Laptop) which is not included in the baggage allowance, as well as small items needed during the flight (photo bags, something to read, etc.). All other baggage is subject to the excess baggage rates. ...

— LTU special luggage allowance

... Scuba diving equipment up to 30 kg, belt w/o weights, tanks emptied. Please pack diving equipment separately. Light sources need to be disassembled and transported in hand luggage. ...

Dive computer

After switching on my Suunto Vyper dive computer to check its battery status, I got the long expected "low bat" warning. Not so surprisingly after 252 hours of computing under pressure during 259 dives, down to a maximum depth of 69.7m, since its purchase in April 2003. Not that I keep that tight of a record, it does that all by itself :o)


I've actually been keeping a spare battery kit (10€) since February 2006, not knowing when exactly it would demand more power. Replacing the 3V lithium CR2450 doesn't require any special tools or expertise, just a small screw driver and a bit of Fingerspitzengefühl.

boot 2008: TillyTec

Seeking illumination, I once more turned to TillyTec, maker of lights for divers venturing into darkness. The master himself wasn't there this year, but he did have a couple of shiny new insights to help his craving faithful to the next level of enlightenment.


Presented at boot were three new LEDs and one new HID. So instead of requesting a quote for a now seemingly dim old LED 500 & TT 3 set, I asked one for a bright new LED 1000 & TT 3 super set. And got a deal I just couldn't say no to (including: umbilical cable, diffuser lens, flexible video arm, attachment bag & strap, charger & plug, storage bag and a brand new LED W30 back-up light).

The LED 1000 has an halogen equivalent output of about 100W and should burn approximately 160' on my Flexi II battery. Whereas my HID 35 should last 180' on the TT 3, still TillyTec's most enduring battery pack. That makes both set-ups quite similar in output, color temperature and burntime.

Note that mixing light types is frowned upon by professional videographers, for whom similar just ain't good enough. For me however, this dual set-up is already a lot better than I'd thought possible given my budgetary restrictions and practical concerns.

boot 2008: UW-Fotopartner

One of my main reasons for attending boot this year was to get a look at various underwater video housings from different manufacturers, a handful of whom were present themselves besides being represented by several dealers eager to sell.

To name but the ones I had a quick look at: BS Kinetics, Light & Motion, Sealux, Silverfish, Subal and Top Dawg. Indeed, a quick look at their price tags, ranging from 1000 something to 3000 plus Euro, was usually enough to get me moving on without much of a second thought, nor much regret considering their rather bulky sizes and general tendency for being slightly overweight, e.g. from 3 to more than 4kg and that without camcorder. Still, there was some pretty cool engineering to be seen there.

Having casually blinked off each of the major-league contenders on my list, it didn't take long before I once more focused onto my one and only minor-league candidate: Epoque's EHS-1000HD. Its presence here at boot an unexpected surprise, as much so as the unexplained absence of its core companion, Sanyo's Xacti VPC-HD1000.

UW-Fotopartner's staff being rather clueless regarding photography in general as well as about their own products and their prices, I would have looked elsewhere but for the fact that nobody else already had this brand new Epoque housing on offer. So, after waiting several hours for Sanyo's supposedly-on-its-way Xacti and never getting a fair quote for the whole package, I just purchased the wanted EHS-1000HD. Together with a WAL of course. But without a VPC-HD1000.

Meaning I'm now the happy owner of an ultra-compact palm-sized light-weight affordably-priced video housing (76x124x143mm, 660g, 319€), without possessing the actual camcorder that fits into it yet. Actually, I haven't even tried, let alone seen, Sanyo's new Xacti! But then, it being that one or no one... and me absolutely wanting to make a movie... I had to play or get off the stage.

boot 2008: DAN

My diver insurance having expired, I renewed it on the spot at DAN's rather uninteresting boot stand: 68€ for a year's basic coverage and peace of mind. Because, well, you never know.

Insurances make a lot of money out of peoples insecurities & worries, but at least DAN puts part of its membership fees into dive research.

Battery test

For a quick verdict I connected my TillyTec HID 35 via umbilical cable to my Green Force Flexi II, turned it on, dumped it into a bucket of water and got 70' of bright white light out of it.

Considering the battery had been lying around for some time since I last recharged it, I guess that's not too bad. To be sure, I'll do another test later on, to check whether when freshly loaded it can still deliver its specified burntime of about 90'.

UPDATE: My HID 35 burned exactly 90' on a fully charged Flexi II.

Videoaktiv

The internet is an abundant source of information, but sometimes it's just nice to sit back and read a good article printed on old fashioned paper. So when I saw that Videoaktiv, in their December/January edition, was reviewing several camcorders I was interested in, I didn't hesitate too long before dropping the 7.5€ for the German magazine.


Better yet, in their latest February/March edition, still wet from the press, they're reviewing five camcorder underwater housings!

Video editors

Apple computers come with iLife, a multi-media suite of inter-related applications, one of which is iMovie, a user-friendly video editor that just might do the trick for me - especially in conjunction with its predecessor, which offers some more functionality.

QuickTime, Apple's free multi-media player can be upgraded to a Pro version (30€) for some added functionality like audio & video capture, editing, conversion, etc.

For more advanced editing, Apple offers ambitious amateurs Final Cut Express (199€) and professional filmmakers Final Cut Studio (1149€). FC Studio is definitely beyond my means and abilities, but FC Express might be an option for me as wannabe moviemaker.

Adobe's Premiere Elements (94€) is supposed to be a pretty good entry level video editing tool, but unfortunately there's no Apple compatible version, as there is for Photoshop Elements (88€). Premiere Pro CS3 (919€), just as FC Studio, is way too expensive for me. Note that professional grade video editing also requires some serious processing power beyond your average consumer desktop.

→ Video software for Macintosh

1080i viewing/editing issue

Sanyo's Xacti VPC-HD1000 being my number one candidate, I've cross-Googled it again and again to get as much elusive data about it as possible, finding out some rather disturbing facts along the way.

For example, it does not seem possible to view, let alone edit, Full-HD 1080i content taken with this camcorder on a Mac. At least not without some hacks and/or additional codecs (see: Steve's Digicams Sanyo forum or e.g. this Apple discussion forum).

I wrote Sanyo Germany an email asking them about this issue, but they just gave me a non-answer and forwarded me to Apple:

Sehr geehrter Herr, Wir danken für Ihre Anfrage und können Ihnen diesbezüglich folgendes mitteilen. Da die im Lieferumfang der Sanyo VPC-HD1000 Digitalfilm Kamera enthaltene Software, mit der Ausnahme von QuickTime, ausschliesslich für die Betriebssysteme von Microsoft ausgelegt sind, können wir Ihnen leider nicht die gewünschten Informationen bieten. Vielleicht kann Ihnen Apple, in dieser Sache, Näheres sagen.
Mit freundlichen Grüssen, Ihr Sanyo Support Team

Apple? Surely they must be kidding, Apple support basically consists of redirecting any problematic customers to its self-help group-therapy discussion forums.

On Sanyo's other Xacti VPC-HD1000 site, it does mention in small print that "1080i movie playback is not guaranteed" on the included QuickTime 7.1 movie player from Apple. So much for Sanyo Germany not knowing anything about this issue. (note that QuickTime is freeware and that the included version is not the latest)

So, I sure hope I can get my hands on a VPC-HD1000 soon, in order to take some sample material for further private investigation.

UPDATE: As mentioned in Steve's Digicams Sanyo forum, downloading and installing avc1decoder partially fixes this problem. That is, it enables viewing of 1080i clips with QuickTime and editing with iMovie '08, though the latter is not as smooth as with 720p clips.

Gear maintenance

Yearly pilgrimage to the nearest trustworthy diveshop in order to personally hand over my three Scubapro regulators for revision & maintenance, so as to be able to dive with a clear conscience later on.

When venturing deep into Yucatan's underworld, fresh air left far behind, it's not the time to doubt your life support gear and lose faith.

Google's search oracle pointed me to Munich, so that's where I went and found Tauchsport Manta, a small diveshop run by an elderly man, in whose hands I laid my trust. (DB Bayern day ticket: 19€)

Whereas most open water recreational divers already have a mouthful with just one set, as soon as you get technical, two sets are the basic minimum to get started. Add to that as many stages as required for the mission. In my case, at most one stage should probably do.

---

UPDATE: Having lost all trust in Tauchsport Manta after several regulator related incidents, this year I went to Gerda's Dive shop.

Here's what Gerda's technician wrote in the maintenance bill:

Bemerkung zur Reparatur: Letzte Wartung wurde Fehlerhaft ausgeführt. Es wurden O-Ringe vertauscht und O-Ringe eingesetzt wo eigentlich Teflonscheiben hin gehören. Teilweise fehlten die O-Ringe und Teflonscheiben ganz. Sitzhalter 1. Stufe beschädigt durch falsches Werkzeug. Schraubverbindungen teilweise Lose.

In short, he confirmed my worst suspicions: Whoever checked my regulators last time can not possibly have been a professional. And that's phrasing it nicely, considering the supposed internal state of things: unfitting replacements, missing parts and damage due to the use of inappropriate tools... Luckily, I can still blog about it.

Underwater housing?

Unless I get offered an irresistable Canon deal at Boot, nicely wrapped in a tight fitting underwater housing I haven't heard of yet, Sanyo's Xacti VPC-HD1000 camcorder, in combination with Epoque's EHS-1000HD underwater housing, is the only candidate fitting my bill.

However, Epoque's housing is not quite just there yet. Actually, it's not even on their website, though it was presented at DEMA two months ago. The good news is that online dealers are already offering it on their websites. Two of whom mention the end of January as expected availability date (see: ScubaCam & CamerasUnderwater).

UPDATE: Epoque Japan now has the EHS-1000HD on its website.

Voucher for boot

This morning I received a free voucher (worth 14€) for boot, courtesy from Andreas Voeltz of Top Dawg Germany, with whom I've been in email contact regarding camcorder underwater housings.

Lighting

Even good recreational diving lights, typically handheld and meant for open water night dives, rarely last much more than an hour, after which they need the rest of the night to recharge. Alkaline battery torches may last a couple of hours but usually lack the power to light up much of one's surroundings.

Cave dives in Yucatan's shallow underworld easily last 90', with 120' excursions not uncommon, especially when an extra stage tank is carried along. Meaning any light brought into that world of stone and utter darkness, better be extremely durable, robust and powerful. As you can imagine these little underwater stars don't come cheap.

Which is why I originally chose for one of Green Force's relatively affordable modular & expandable solutions: a TriStar Diamond (triple LED head) connected via an umbilical cable to a Flexi II rechargeable battery, thus allowing the heavy battery to be attached to one's harness belt, the light head small enough to be held in one hand together with a reel if necessary.

LEDs don't mind being bumped around a bit and burn seemingly forever, as in more than 9h on one charge for the above system. However, though pleasantly soft for recreational purposes, it didn't quite shine up to its promised minimal 30W output.

Two years later, at boot 2006, I got to talk with Tilly, maker of lights compatible with Green Force's. Being very disappointed by Green Force's misinformation, lack of improved models and having some reservations about their HID lights, Tilly had no trouble convincing me to try out one of his new power lights: a shock resistant TillyTec HID 35, with the halogen equivalent output of about 125W.

Combined with Green Force's Flexi II battery, TillyTec's HID 35 burns brightly at 5500°K for about 90'. Just enough for standard cave dives, but not for extended exploration dives.

So now I'm thinking of getting a TillyTec TT 3 battery pack, a 375€ investment, that should return enough juice for at least 180' per charge, i.e. twice as much as my Flexi II.

This would then free up my Flexi II for a new 321€ TillyTec LED 500. A secondary set-up able to provide an estimated 65W of halogen equivalent output for up to 300' per charge.

Fitted with flood reflectors and diffusers, I'd sure hope these 190W of combined power would provide enough illumination for some decent shootings deep inside the crystal clear water caves around Tulum.

Camcorder accessories

Even more than cameras, camcorders can be outfitted with all kinds of optional accessories depending on one's needs & wishes. In my case that list is long indeed, though reasonably kept in check here...

Camcorder

memory cards (min. 8GB, pref. SDHC class 6)

rechargeable batteries

battery charger

UV filter

polarizing filter

wide angle lens

video tripod

external microphone

headset (with microphone)

protective bag

Underwater housing

wide angle lens

red filter for blue water

magenta filter for green water

UW video lights (incl. tray, flex arms, reflectors, diffusers, etc)

Equipment scouting

Booked myself an overnight DB train to Düsseldorf (148€ return, in a 6 persons sleeper compartment) in order to attend boot 2008.

As far as I know, it's one of the biggest annual watersports fairs in Europe, and the ideal ground to get a look at existing & upcoming offerings from various manufacturers and dealers.

Of special interest to me this year are of course any affordable camcorder & housing solutions, compact & lightweight enough for underwater overhead environment exploration, not to mention extremely restrictive air travel.

Who knows, with a bit of luck I may find myself a good deal. Actually, this project kind of depends on me getting any deal there at all.

How to write a script?

Having decided I wanted to make a movie, or rather an amateur documentary about cave diving, I started to write down some scenes I'd like to shoot. And before I knew it, I found myself wondering about screenwriting terminology and format.

So once again, I got Google to spew out a heap of links. One of which led me to Celtx, a basic but nevertheless very practical tool for managing and organizing a movie project.

Celtx for example auto-formats my script while I write it; allows me to keep track of tasks & events in an incorporated calendar; lets me describe locations, specify cameras, scribble notes, bookmark relevant websites, etc. Everything I guess which has anything to do with producing a movie. And all that totally free for download!

Online flight booking

Booked myself a direct LTU flight from Munich to Cancun! (1228€ return, incl. the train ride from Sonthofen to Munich and back)

The online reservation was click easy & straightforward, but failed to inform me as to how much luggage I'm allowed to bring with me.

Flights towards America usually are surprisingly generous in this respect compared to ones bound for Asia. But, taking nothing for granted, I called LTU's hotline to check. To my dismay I was politely told I could check-in up to 20kg.

Twenty kilo only? My cave diving gear weighs more than that just by itself! In 2004 I was allowed 2x32kg, in 2006 2x20kg, and that with stingy dutch Martinair. And now only 1x20kg?

With a Top Bonus Service Card, costing only 40€/year, I could however get a meager 10kg more. Either that, or risk 10€/kg/way for any overweight upon check-in. Considering I had 37kg last time I flew to Mexico, not counting 6kg carry-on, that's not really an option. And I was actually already planning on bringing more gear along...

Storage media

Currently there are basically four storage media to choose from: MiniDV, DVD, HDD & FLASH. Each with its pros & contras. Whichever medium is chosen, a back-up plan is of course highly recommended.

MiniDV :: Mini tapes are the oldest but still very popular medium, especially among prosumers, thanks to their mature technology and ability to record high quality images, each frame containing the full picture, as opposed to AVCHD's interlacing or progressive fields.
+ best standard-definition image quality
+ mature technology
+ relative ease of editing
+ cheap (tapes only cost about 2€)
+ after transfer, the tape can be kept as stand-alone archive
− moving parts
− sequential
− outdated

DVD :: Why anybody would go for this medium is beyond me?
+ ease of use: recordings can be viewed instantly on any DVD player
+ cheap (DVDs only cost about 1€)
+ after transfer, the DVD can be kept as stand-alone back-up
− rotating disks are prone to head crashes
− capacity limited to 4.7GB (8.5GB with DL)
− multiple DVD formats

HDD :: If you need loads of storage space, this is currently your only option. That is, until affordable Solid-State-Drives start rolling in.
+ enormous storage capacity (from 30 to 100GB and more)
+ random access
− sudden movements may interrupt recording (an automatic safety precaution to prevent head crashes)
− built-in medium (any damage is fatal)
− no auto back-up solution
− relatively expensive

FLASH :: With flash memory capacities of 4GB and more getting cheaper each day, I'm sure this medium will eventually wipe out all the others. Be it in the form of replaceable memory cards or SSD.
+ capacity (up to 16GB and increasing)
+ random access
+ robust (no moving parts that can crash)
− affordable but not cheap yet
− no auto back-up solution (after transfer cards are usually reformatted for re-use)

Conclusion... While MiniDV still offers the best image quality, as Einsteiger I’d personally rather not get started with tape. It’s the past. It reminds me of film rolls and I sure never had fun with those. I know it’s not quite the same, but that’s how I feel about it.

DVD and HDD are out of the question for me: rotating disks, moving write heads and handheld shooting just don’t go together.

Meaning flash memory is my only remaining candidate. SSD however isn’t quite there yet, but it’s coming, as announced e.g. by Canon. Needing a camcorder right now though, I’ve decided to go for SDHC, the most standard flash memory card solution. As a bonus, that would also allow me to reuse my current camera’s 1GB SD cards, at least above water where I can easily swap them. For underwater an 8GB SDHC card, with about as much capacity as a tape, would be super.

Sanyo Xacti VPC-HD1000

Can a wannabe videographer expect to be taken seriously with a Xacti from underdog Sanyo? Well, probably not by any Canon or Sony boy. But that's not really my problem is it. Thing is, Sanyo's Xacti, at least on paper, fulfills most of my requirements. Something I can't quite say about its big name brothers. And that for half the price.


+ at 649€ it's the most affordable HD camcorder of the bunch, but what really makes it the best package deal is the custom-built Epoque EHS-1000HD UW housing for only 299€, fitting the Xacti like a glove!
+ camcorder (55x90x113mm, 311g) & housing (195x124x186mm, 720g) both are super compact and together weigh just about 1kg!
+ the Xacti can record in Full-HD on standard SD/SDHC cards of up to 8GB, good for 1h25' of 1920x1080i/60fps video
+ decent low light performance judging from Videoaktiv's test shots, thanks to a relatively large 1/2.5" CMOS sensor
+ 4MP photos (more with interpolation, less while filming)
+ 1cm macro!
+ EIS*, while not as good as OIS*, it's better than nothing
+ 285° rotatable 2.7" widescreen TFT LCD
+ microphone & headset mini-jacks (resp. 2.5 & 3.5mm)
+ accessory-shoe
+ pop-up flash for photography
+ IR remote control
+ decent battery life of up to 120' of video or about 340 photos
+ the housing allows full control of the camcorder's settings and clear viewing of the camcorder's LCD!

Of course, everything just ain't peachy and sweet...

− MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 compression, while very space efficient, can not quite match the image quality of HDV, nor its relative ease of editing
− editing actually may pose some serious problems: besides requiring a lot more processing power, not all video players, let alone editing tools, support all the possible compression methods
− the 10x zoom reportedly isn't very smooth
− narrow lens equivalent to a 38mm objective for photos and 50mm objective for videos, but at least x0.4 & x0.7 wide angle conversion lenses are available, besides a x1.6 tele, and more importantly, a x0.56 UW WAL for the housing
− no OIS*
− no video light


− the housing is only rated to -45m, which, though it should be enough, won't let me do any deep dives with it

JVC Everio GZ-HD7

Fujinon 10x zoom with OIS. Three 570KB 1/5" CCD sensors. 60GB HDD good for 5h of Full-HD recording in MPEG-2 format, plus SDHC card slot should more be needed. 2.8" widescreen LCD. 750g for 1099€.


There are currently two housings to choose from for this camcorder: Ikelite's #6015.7, rated to -60m, for about 1100€ and BS Kinetics' 2.2kg Sonoran, rated to -80m, for 1499€ (shown below).


→ JVC Everio GZ-HD7 review by Camcorderinfo
→ JVC Everio GZ-HD7 review by Tech.co.uk (Best buy: 5/5)
→ JVC Everio GZ-HD7 review by TrustedReviews (8/10)
→ JVC Everio GZ-HD7 test shots by Videoaktiv (72/100)

Sony HDR-SR8

Carl Zeiss 10x zoom objective with Super SteadyShot OIS. One 3.2MB 1/2.9" CMOS sensor recording HD videos to a 100GB HDD and photos to a proprietary Memory Stick Duo. AVCHD (HD) and MPEG2 (SD) support. Super NightShot Infrared System. Tele Macro. A pretty impressive feature array indeed, but definitely not cheap at 1299€. For only 1149€ though, you can get the HDR-SR7, with a smaller 60GB HDD.


UW housing wise, Top Dawg Germany seems to offer the best deals for this Sony camcorder, be it the Top Dawg II or Mini at 899€ (shown below) or the brand new Top Dawg III at 949€ (without monitor!). Not cheap either, but then, these housings can be used with various Sony camcorder models, supposedly also future ones...


→ Sony HDR-SR8 review by PC PRO (Recommended: 5/6)
→ Sony HDR-SR8 review by Tech.co.uk (Best buy: 5/5)
→ Sony HDR-SR8 review by TrustedReviews (Recommended: 8/10)
→ Sony HDR-SR8 test shots by Videoaktiv (71/100)

NOTE: Sony also has a purely flash memory based camcorder, the HDR-CX7, which records to Sony's like-no-other Memory Stick PRO Duo. This proprietary approach, also seen in Sony's non-standard AIS*, while not bad per se, is enough reason for me to look elsewhere.