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