The weather held out today – sunny skies and a little wind instead of the forecast which was cloudy. So, with iPhone in hand I headed of to borough market for a coffee and then Greenwich for a little exercise up and down the park. On the way back I captured the following 360° image using Photosynth on the iPhone.

Taken with photosynth and edited by using camera plus on the iPhone 4S

Dive logging software has moved on a lot from the original paper based log books and  Suunto style desktop applications.  One thing divers like to do is to talk and relive their dives with friends over a beer.  With the advent of the iOS based dive loggin apps,  you can synchronise logs between your dive computers (I sync my Suunto and VR3), manual dives performed without a dive computer, pictures, ratings and equipment used easily out in the field.  My preferred dive logging app is Dive Log Manager for the iPhone.  It’s made up of the iPhone app and free desktop companion to synchronise with either your desktop software and/or dive computer.

The third category is dive planning – which can be split between recreational and technical planning. With Padi’s move away from teaching the basics of using the RDP process to using software and more people wanting to dive on Nitrox, it is certainly useful to have a dive planning tools for recreational dive purposes at hand.  I’ve seen far too many people dive “blind” by following a guide not knowing the implications of their choice of gas.  There are a number of free apps that allow you to plan repetitive dives with limits on the Air/Nitrox mix and several Pro apps which remove the restrictions.  They also have hand calculation tools all divers to work out the best mix for depth, equivalent air depths and max bottom times.  Apps such as iDiving, iDive and iDive Nitrox have similar functionality and costs.

Technical diving introduces a few more issues – multiple gasses including trimix, multi-level, gas bailouts, VPM models, conservatism and the list goes on.  Most technical divers would travel with a laptop installed with either V-Planner  or some derivative so that they can iterate through numerous scenarios to optimise depth, time, gas and risk.  A new alternative is to carry your planning software (and diving history) on your iPhone or iPad.  V-Planner was migrated over to the iOS platform early on and provides an excellent planning tool (Warning : Always double check you plan with an alterative source where possible to reduce the risk of error!). V-Planner presents the VPM decompression model and includes both VPM-B and VPM-B/E model versions. The diver can specify any combination of nitrox or trimix, and as many deco gases as required. Planning methods include both OC and Closed Circuit Rebreather. It includes planning for bailouts with SCR and OC legs in a CCR plan. Includes details of ppO2, END, and gas consumptions. It includes many of the features from the desktop version such as conservatism adjustments, extended stops, adjustable last stops, the planning monitor system and extensive control over many other planning features. Also included is a set of dive planning tools for calculating best mix, maximum operating depth (MOD), END, EAD and other planning considerations. The Mixer utility for blending nitrox and trimix, is included too.

A new app on the block is the Baltic Deco Planner, an app that is similar in functionality to V-Planner but a little more polished with respect to the user interface.  The best addition is the graphing capabilities – very useful for looking for your off-gassing points and on deeper dive profiles looking for potential isobaric counter diffusion events.

Finally, there’s the social apps and or travel tools.  There are a couple of niche players out there who think that the diving community need their own collaboration platform such as Diving Dude, DiveTime and the aptly named “The best scuba diving and snorkelling locations”.  Unfortunately, I find that little applications such as Facebook, Google and TripAdvisor cover those bases quite comprehensively already!

The project allows you to navigate google street maps as normal but has the added benefit of showing the stereographic image too.  Although not immediately useful and more of a technical demonstration, it’s quite a cool way to view your local area or some of the more interesting sites of the world.

Below are a couple of examples from around London.

1. Fill lower bowl with pre-heated water
2. Insert upper vessel containing measured amount of coffee
3. Apply heat source to lower vessel – the water will rise and mix with the coffee in the upper vessel.
4. Once all the water has migrated to the upper vessel (there will be a little residual water) leave heat on for approximately 1 minute
5. Remove heat and watch the wonder of gravity and pressure differentials (the vacuum) draw the coffee back down
6. Remove upper vessel and enjoy your coffee

http://vimeo.com/34564139

However, there’s yet another entrant to the market place which was announced on the Christmas edition of the Gadget Show is the BubbleScope.

The examples on the website are pretty much the same as you’d get from the GoPano Micro and Dot 360, although the static image is a feature you don’t get with the other two!

Priced at £50 plus another £15 for the case it will be in the same price range of the two existing solutions.

So, what can you do to either lessen the effects or avoid them completely?   Well, the first is to avoid the commercial radio and tv channels and minimise the time you spend in the larger shopping areas – i.e West End or the Westfield hell holes.  Safer areas are the usual markets and artisan areas (Borough and Spitalfield markets) which, although have Christmas trees for sale, remain largely unchanged.

Secondly is to plan what you’re going to do on Christmas day – I’ve already confirmed that one of London’s best curry houses is open.  Tayyabs, the bastion of simply excellent Pakistani food, will be open as usual over the Christmas period.  In addition, the Narrow pub will also be open most of the day (pending any unforeseen disaster!!)

Now that you’ve planned the avoidance procedures, food and drink – why not get out and about.  The streets will be quiet so if you’re into walking, photography or architecture then as long as the weather behaves then it’s a great time to get out.

For recreational diving where the majority of divers observe the 30m limit, so the design challenges aren’t too great and surprise, surprise there’s a kickstarter.com project to come to the rescue.  The as yet unnamed product is a custom underwater housing rated down to 100′ in salt water for the iPhone 4 & 4s.

While there are a couple of impressive videos of great white sharks (reminds me of a trip to Gansbaai years ago) but it’s missing out on the details of how the camera is operated.  There is a mechanical button which I’m guessing activates the volume up button to start and stop recording, but no information on whether or not you have access to the touch screen.

One of the most important features of an underwater camera is the ability to set the white balance manually.  Although apps such as Filmic Pro have a white balance feature, it will require access to the touch screen.  The iPhone 4s’ fixed aperture and low light performance may make it suitable for the shallower dives (18m etc) but will inevitably need additional lights when you go deeper – adding to the cost.

In summary, if you’ve spent your money on an iPhone and are willing to risk it while you go diving (I’ve seen so many cameras lost while diving and being a technical diver, found a couple!) then the additional outlay of £260 (kick-starter prices only) then it might be a good solution.

At this time of year, the moon is normally visible to the east in the late afternoon sky (n.b. I’m in the northern hemisphere).  At the time of writing this post the moon should rise at 13:05 -according to the Pocket Universe app for the iPhone, which leaves plenty of time to capture an image.

It’s quite an impressive site and as long as the skies are clear you should be able to get a good picture using a telephoto lens and DSLR with a remote shutter release. To capture the image above I used my Canon 7D, the Canon EF 100-400mm Zoom, Canon 2x extender and Lilliput field monitor to help with focusing.

A Good camera bag

I’ve seen people shoving their expensive camera, lenses and filters into handbags, ruck sacks and even plastic bags.  Nothing beats having a good padded camera bag with the compartments for all your accessories. The National Geographic Midi Shoulder Bag is a perfect solution to carry your gear around.  Unlike most of the “camera” bags on the market which look a little too geeky and attract unwanted attention, the National Geographic bag is unassuming and functional.

Filters, Filters and more Filters

You can never understimate the importance of having the right filters with you.  From the basic UV Filter to the enhancing effects of the neutral density filters such as the Hoya 58mm HMC NDX4 Filter and on to the fantastic polarising filters such as the Hoya 58mm Circular PL Filter, you should invest as much money as you can as some of the cheap brands suffer from poor optical quality.  While not strictly a filter, you should also invest in a White Balance Lens Cap.  Trusting the camera to correctly calculate the white balance is something that you do not need to do.

A better view

Something big, very big!

One of my most prized and often used possessions is the Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L Zoomlens.  Not only does it look the business, it delivers on every level.  If you like shooting people then this lens lets you get in very close without upsetting the subject.  If you like mother nature, then this will let you capture both wildlife and astronomical events with ease.

I’ve built a custom slider using the same components from Igus for my Canon 7D but the mobislyder looks a little more portable (given it’s only 35cm long).  Stylish and compact, mobislyder adds controlled flowing movements to your production, letting you create a variety of shots in an effortless and elegantly simple way. mobislyder comes with 5 different mounts so there are numerous ways to attach it to your device.

This is a great little tip, especially if you’re using an application like SlowShutter.  Although it does have the self timer capability, I find it better to be able to trigger the shutter when I want, and not have to guess the interval.

Camera+ is by far the best app for the iPhone for taking pictures, editing and adding effects.  The features which make Camera+ stand out the most are the independent focus and exposure locks, which is sadly missing in the native camera and video app.

Browsing the extensive video app section in the App Store reveals a number of contenders, namely FiLMiC Pro and Almost DSLR.  While sharing the key features of independent exposure and focus lock, FiLMic Pro stands out as it supports the native HD resolution of the iPhone 4s where as Almost DSLR only supports 720p (perhaps an enhancement is on the way).

Whilst the FiLMiC Pro app gives you that added control over exposure and focus, don’t forget to use your glif and tripod to capture those steady images. The other features provided by the app are:

• Variable Frame Rates (1-25 and 30fps) including both the US (24p) and European (25p) film production standards.
• Selectable Resolutions
• Framing Guide Overlays (4:3, 16:9, & 2:35.1).
• Thirds Guide for help with compositions.
• Audio Metering.
• Color Bars for Post Production.
• Film Production Style Slate for adding info to your clips, syncing dual system audio, and organizing your clips.

Maybe you want to get a tweet when your laundry’s done, or get an email when the basement floods while you’re on vacation. Even if you’re good with electronics and programming, these are involved projects.

Twine is a 2.5-inch square box with a WiFi module, thermometer and accelerometer — stick in two AAA batteries and it should last for “months.” To get started after taking one home, introduce it to your network and fire up Spool, the web app that controls the units.

So, what are the options to transfer the data?  The most common way is to use the camera connection kit. It’s the simplest of all the methods requiring only the CCK and a USB lead but is quite slow.  A new way is to use one of the new iPad to CF card readers – popularised by the great people over at Photojojo.

Given that I’m a fan of the Camera+ application, I was more than happy to find out that they’ve re-introduced the “Volume Plus” option to activate the shutter in the same way that apple introduced it with iOS 5 for the native camera app.

However, there’s another way to activate the shutter using the soon to be released Belkin LiveAction remote control. The remote control allows you to activate the camera shutter from up to 30 feet away—completely wirelessly. Two button controls let you instantly switch between photo and video functions without ever touching the iPhone. If you haven’t taken you Glif or Joby tripod with you, you can also use the detachable camera stand to prop up your device and then slide it back onto the remote to create the ultimate pocket-sized camera kit.

The November 9th student protests were a perfect opportunity to observe the behaviour of not just the students and police officers but also the people on the street “observing”.  Thankfully, unlike recent protests there was very little unrest (a few individuals targeted by undercover officers) so most of my attention was drawn to the large crowds that gathered to watch – not protest.

One thing that struck me was the number of people with smartphones, DSLRs and video cameras appearing from everywhere.  In fact, the first one or two hundred people of the protest march appeared to be a photographer or reporter.  One of my favourite shots was of the crowd trying to capture the oncoming protesters with their varied digital capture method.

Inspired by the method employed by Monmouth coffee to brew their filter coffee, I purchased a similar porcelain coffee cone from amazon.co.uk (at a fraction of the cost sold in most shops).

Grind your beans!

From observing the skilled baristas of Monmouth I fathomed out most of the brewing ritual.  Firstly, grind your beans just before you’re ready to have your coffee (yes, they grind the beans to order at Monmouth so you don’t have to order the coffee of the day).

Pre Warm

Second, there’s the pre-warming ritual for both the cup, filter cone and importantly the filter paper.  As noted by the folks over at Serious Eats, the paper filters may introduce a papery, woody flavour to your coffee. Once warmed, discard the water.

Filter the coffee

Finally, it’s time to put the grounds (approx 50 grams) into the filter and slowly pour the water (brita filtered water is best) over the grounds.
Now, there’s two popular ways to pour water to best agitate and extract the coffee.  This simplest and easiest way is to poor the water around in a spiral motion starting from either the middle moving to the outside or in reverse. The second way is to use a spoon to stir up the beans as your pouring. I prefer the spiral motion for it’s almost zen like relaxing effects.

Specifications of the Lomokino

• Film type : 35mm
• Exposure area : 24mm x 8.5mm
• Frames per. roll (36 exp.) : 144 frames
• Frame rate : Approximately 3-5 frames per second
• Taking Lens : 25mm
• Angle of view : 54 degrees
• Aperture : f/5.6, f/8, f/11 (Continuous aperture)
• Shutter speed : 1/100
• Film Advancing : Manual
• Film Counting : Volume display
• Focusing : (Normal) 1m~infinity, (Press button for) 0.6m close-up
• View finding : Inverse-Galileo foldable viewfinder
• Flash sync : x-sync (hot-shoe)
• Tripod mount : Standard 1/4″ tripod screw

After giving the lens a walkabout in borough market, I headed north of the river into the famous Spitalfields E1 market equipped with my iPhone 4s and GoPano micro. With its eclectic collection of stalls, restaurants and bars; Spitalfields is a great destination on a sunday.  Watch the video below and remember it’s interactive so you can move around the movie with your mouse or screen (iPhone users will need the GoPano app from the app store)

Interactive 360 video

Although the movie was shot using the iPhone 4s and GoPano micro, I had to trim, edit and join several movies together on my mac.  Unfortunately, iMovie on the iPhone doesn’t know how to handle the odd dimensions of the GoPano movie output.

The app itself is very easy to use – simply choose to shoot in either landscape or portrait mode and slowly move your iPhone around you (they recommend at arms length) and the app will automatically take the overlapping shots.

Once you captured the scene (a complete 360 or even a partial scene) you can share it via the photosynth.net site, facebook or email a flat version of the image.

As noted in one of my previous posts, you can also save the image to the cameras photo roll and then play with it in any of the photo effect apps you may have.

Limehouse basin captured using photosynth

My impressions? Wow, I knew the iPhone should have been faster than its previous model but I wasn’t expecting this lowlight performance and increase in speed.  Selecting, trimming, adding effects and rendering was much faster.

The result, although not probably going to win any awards, can be seen on my youtube account.

The new Photo app in iOS 5 has image cropping, it lacks any effective filters and image correction capabilities.  This is why I use camera+ – it’s editing features are better than most – with several scene modes including Backlit, Sunset, Night and 1-touch effects such as Lomographic, lo-fi and many many more.

Sharing is also a breeze, with the images saved to the campl.us website, camera roll and the usual social sites – twitter, facebook etc.

Obviously, if you also have an iPad (first or second generation) you can connect your iPhone using the camera connection kit

So, what’s in the box?

The two key components are a split case and the panoramic lens.  The split case allows you to use the Glif iPhone stand to attach the phone to a tripod.  The panoramic lens is quite small and light enough to fit in your pocket.  A QR sticker on the box links you to the app store so you can get the accompanying application.  After downloading the app, currently version .9, it’s simply a matter of clipping on the case and attaching the panoramic lens.  The app is reasonably intuitive with functions to re-align the centre of the lens and refocus the scene.

GoPano Micro 360 lens

In practice it’s all quite easy – although you do get some very funny looks from passersby. Have a look at my video walking through Borough Market – check out the expressions of the people behind me (especially the security guard!).

First impressions are as expected.

The quality similar to the sony bloggie but the exposure compensation and focus seem to be a little far from finished.  I think an enhancement for the future should be to separate the focus and exposure functions into a facility similar to that shown in Camera+.  The next version of the app will introduce the ability to upload directly to the GoPano website – a process which requires you to upload when you get home in the current version.

Obviously, with the release of the iPhone 4S there should be a dramatic improvement with regards to image quality and smoothness with which the app records the action.

As a side test, I had a go with the Kogeto Looker app which is also free using the GoPano micro lens.  The difference between the maturity in the app design is strongly in favour of the GoPano app.  The kogeto app records the 360 polar image and then transforms it once you’ve finished recording.  Not much of a problem when you consider that you can’t actually see the screen when using the kogeto dot lens!

Firstly, what’s changed?

The old 5-megapixel camera on the iPhone 4 has been upgraded to 8-megapixels. It also has a bigger aperture of f/2.4 thus allowing in a lot more light which should improve the low light shooting.  Also, with iOS 5 you can use the volume buttons to activate the shutter a great bonus!  When it comes to video, the camera will be able to shoot in 1080p as opposed to 720p at 30fps.  Good for quality, bad for the need for storage. I’ll be interested in seeing how the old iPad will deal with playing back the new format.

So what are the best camera apps?

Broadly speaking there are two categories – the almost professional camera apps and the social effects apps.  In the first category I’d recommend Camera+ as it has a number of key features.  The ability to independently control focus and exposure brings the capabilities of iPhone closer to the DSLR world.  The self timer and burst mode add another layer of creativity, especially if you have a Glif and tripod available.

Here’s a sample image taken on the iPhone 4 and Camera+

In the second category, the excellent Instagram stands out from the crowd(read about the latest contest here).  The filters that are included are excellent (the Lomo and X-Pro II) and with a simple method to share across the usual channels such as twitter, facebook and various third party sites such as instagrid.

So where can you find out the details fast?  Apple will be offering a private live stream of the event to its Covent Garden retail store in London, where it will be hosting simultaneous gathering for European press.  If you don’t have an invite the check out the following :

Gizmodo – A very reliable source for the inside (and outside) gossip from the Apple HQ in Cupertino, California.

Engadget – although they’ve not yet said they’ll be live blogging I’m sure they’ll have the info.

Mac Rumours : They’ll have all the info – plus they’re putting bets on!

Problems aside, GoPano have released their application for the iPhone. So I wondered if it would work with my DIY Sony Bloggie lens (similar in design to the kegoto product). To my surprise it did – you can view the you tube video below.

The obvious surprise was that I can’t believe anyone will really like using the lifetime dot360 product. Given that you have to orientate the phone horizontally you’ll inevitably have harsh movement at the start and end of the clips – coupled with the unnerving sense that it’s not recording.

Update

I’ve used a bit of sugru to attach the Bloggie lens to an old case I had lying around.  Although it doesn’t look as good as the dot it works very well.

Playing back media is there – you can import all the media types from the Canon and view/playback the RAW stills and 720p/1080p footage.

The image below is my current submission – only one allowed so I’ll see what I capture during the week and may change it!

From the Physorg.com site, a story on decompression :

Researchers at the Navy Experimental Diving Unit (NEDU) have designed, built and validated a novel hyperbaric environment to study cellular behavior at greater depths. The joint ONR-NEDU effort is designed to explore advances to protect Navy divers working at depths of up to 1,000 feet.

From the Sun news website (one I very rarely visit), a story on the thistlegorm :

GLITTERING fish swim around a Second World War ghost – the rusting hulk of a British ship sunk off Egypt’s coast

Not forgetting my video from the thistlegorm which is on Vimeo

Despite the lacklustre weather, we all had a great time largely due to the post sailing activities and parties!  There’s links below to my flickr gallery with shots of the crew of Magnum and the other yachts in the races.

The best way to start is to ask friends for a recommendation – that way you should be pointed in the direction of a supplier that’s passed at least one quality test! From my experience, a friend recommended the Sausage Shop in Tonbridge Wells. Putting it simply, they make the best sausages I’ve ever tasted. Each one is high in meat content and superbly spiced. The range includes the usual traditional sausages through to the exotic Mergueze, Thai and Firecracker. Good news, however, is often followed by bad. The owner of the shop has decided to close as the overhead of the shop may for an unfeasible ongoing business concern and has decided to supply to other butchers (who are yet unknown).

So, where else can you get decent sausages? Borough market is a great start – with the Ginger Pig leading the way with varieties such as their “Beef, garlic and chilli”, “Garlic Toulouse” and Merguez. Oddly enough though, they no longer produce any Boerewors varieties – down to a lack of demand. All are tasty and clearly defined in flavour and texture.

Next door to the Ginger Pig is the Sillfield Farm Butchers who have a similar range to the Ginger Pig, but also have an extensive selection of black pudding and the elusive Boerewors (not guaranteed every day though).  Elsewhere in the market you’ll find more traditional sausages – mostly of the pork variety.

Not far from Borough Market you can find Simply real sausages who operate through a number of outlets including their own situated at Bermondsey.  Alternatively you can also find their produce at the Grocery in Shoreditch, Baily & Sage in Wimbeldon and Budgens of East Finchley.

One producer of gourmet sausages which fails to impress was the newly opened butchers called Barbecoa at One New Change.  Trading on the name of Jamie Oliver and Adam Perry they appear to stock a wide range of sausages.  However, on tasting it was nearly impossible to differentiate the sausages – they all had the same generic seasoning.  If you’re looking for steaks though, it’s definitely worth a visit.

Update – iOS 5 Beta 2

The latest release from Apple not only brings the Wi-Fi syncing feature but has also improved the rendering and playback of the Canon MOV files. With Beta 2 the thumbnails of the movies are now rendered and playback is full screen.

The restriction with iMovie remains – it can’t deal with non iPhone/iPad shot video.

Here’s a little flickr gallery of the early races and the wishing tree.

Another great free app is the Abobe Photoshop express which include a number of free features along with the opportunity to purchase in-app filters and features.The user experience with the Photoshop express app is a little different (lack of sliders etc) but it can generate some nice results – and I’m sure that some of the premium filters will be quite good (but it’s going to take me a while to get bored with the Instagram Lomo-fi filter)

Plastic Bullet is something you’ll have to buy – and was one of the first photo manipulation apps on the scene.  It doesn’t have the usual filter selection list but “randomly” applies effects in groups of four.  If you like one, save it, otherwise keep going until you find one that you like.  This is a great little app for sitting in coffee shop going through your photos and generating some random effects – whereas Instagram does what it says on the tin!

So, why not leave a comment and let me know what your favourite app is?

The project has already met it’s funding requirement so will be in production very soon. Probably a good thing given Apples iOS 5 announcement whereby you can now use the volume up button as a shutter release.

So, how hard would be to mod the Sony Bloggies lens on to the iPhone 4?  Not hard at all as shown below. All you need to get it working is little blue tack and a GLIF (second image)

iPhone next to the Sony Bloggie 360° lens

iPhone, Sony Bloggie 360° lens and the GLIF

The footage is recorded as a doughnut within the confines of the iPhone’s 720 mode.  Given the spherical dimensions, the final output will be similar to the forthcoming GoPano Micro (The GoPano micro will cost around $88 and you can also use the iPhone’s screen to frame the shot unlike the blind shooting of the dot360).

iPhone recording with Sony Bloggie Lens attached (upside down!)

Kogeto will be launching an iOS app that will then transform the captured doughnut into the appropriate immersive experience in the future.  To get around this, I’ve transformed the video using the Pan-Pro Video Publisher and put it below for you to have a look.

The iPhone footage being processed in Pano Pro Video Publisher

To  capture the scenes in and around Pissouri, Aphrodites Rocks, Tomb of the Kings and Kourion I used the Microsoft Photosynth app for the iPhone 4.  To view the photosynths you’ll need silverlight or an appropriate viewer.

There are  many dive centres and numerous other operators that sell dive trips to the Zenobia, but after a bit of research and email conversations I decided to use ScubaTechDivers.  Based in Protaras, they provide both PADI and BSAC approved recreational courses but also technical diving (both open and closed circuit).

The MS Zenobia is a massive wreck with lots to see. Unfortunately due to time constraints and the water temperature (18-19° C) I chose to do a multilevel technical dive for 87 mins using twins on 28 and 50 as a deco gas.  To get an idea of the wreck watch my HD video below that was shot on a Kodak Zi8 (Inon Wide lens but no external lights)

Many thanks to Peter Crane from Scubatechdivers.com

The fisheye creates about a 180 Degree field-of-view while the wide-angle is around double the normal view and the macro up to 10X. If you’re looking for that special macro shot, just unscrew the top of the wide-angle lens to reveal the macro lens underneath. Sure, there are apps available that will apply a fisheye “look” or vignette to an image, but it’s impossible to increase the field of view of the original image with any app…what you see is what you get, and we’re confident that once you see what a real fisheye lens can do you will be amazed.

Head over to kickstarter to look at the project!

In order to use the offline panorama generation you have to purchase one of Pixeet’s own lenses and enter a validation code to activate the software. You can use the cheaper magnetic fisheye lenses but without the lens activation code you have to submit to using the online processing server – free for 50 panorama uploads per month. Not too much of a problem while you’re on a fast wifi link but near impossible on 3G(and watch those data charges go through the roof if you’re not on an unlimited plan). You can see the resulting image below or on the Pixeet website.

Quality is no where as good as the Inon Lens (just look at the price difference!) but it does add another creative tool to your box for very little cost or weight.  Sample images with the standard Kodak image (no lens) and then the wide followed by the fisheye.  The video (on Vimeo) shows the camera shooting 1080p with firstly with the fisheye and then without.

Now, I’ve been on many many dive boats in my time but hadn’t experienced life on a racing yacht.  Much to my surprise, the yacht spends 90% of the race at angles between 45 and 70° (even more when the wind picks up).  Why the surprise?  Well, standing while holding a Canon 7D and 100-400mm lens as the yacht tacks back and forth is not a good idea.  So, after adopting a seating position behind the skipper, I started shooting the other yachts which can be seen below or on my flickr page. I also took along the Kodak Zi8 and filmed the crew briefing and exit from the port and also my Garmin 405 which logged the route of the race.

Most importantly of all, Magnum one the race with only 30 seconds to spare!

vimeo.com/23488299

While the Canon was shooting away I captured a little Photosynth on the iPhone which is viewable here! Once I’d resized the images from the Canon down to 720, passed it through Quicktime 7 (as an image sequence) it went up to Vimeo and can be watched below

I’ll be asking the project owners with regards to the security rating – in order to see where it ranks against the existing suite of heavy locks and insurance ratings.

So, you’ve seen panoramas rendered with the usual flash (not on this page), sliverlight (photosynth) and html5 solutions.  The problem most solution providers have is compatibility – looking at the market it’s pretty much flash/silverlight across most desktop patforms including OSX and Windows and to that extent the mobile platforms of iOS and Android suffer. The ability to capture a 360° image and share it across most platforms still alludes us!

The options for the iPhone

I love Photosynth for it’s simplicity and ease of use but 360° from floaty provides a truly quick and easy panorama without the need to capture sequential photos and the time it normally takes.  On the other hand Panoramatic does provide the best quality of panorama.  When you compare the samples provided below please consider leaving a comment if you like any of the images or applications listed below.

Photosynth

Here’s one of the latest entries to the immersive image market – and surprisingly it’s from Microsoft. Photosynth has been around for sometime now but had been dependent on you shooting enough images to create the 360 using a normal camera and then using the Silverlight software to stitch them together once you get home. However, with the introduction of the iPhone app, Microsoft have made a very successful and easy to use application to capture, render and share immersive images.

Although the Photosynth app has a number of positives, it’s implementation is classic Microsoft (fortunately sans the blue screen). Once you’ve captured a panorama, you’ll more than likely want to share it – ouch. This is where the app will get a little confused authenticating with Bing, Facebook or Photosynth.net. Once it does crash, you’ll have to relaunch it several times in order for it to finish what ever it was trying to do. You’ll notice the internet activity icon spinning away – just let it finish before you try to access any of it’s features.

Panoramatic

Although it’s not as interactive as Photosynth, panoramatic generates a better quality image than both Photosynth and 360°. The downside is the time it takes to slowly pan around and aligning each subsequent image.  Rendering on the iPhone can take anywhere between 2 to 7 minutes (a bit longer if you’ve chosen the 360 VR option)

Floaty 360

The app from floaty, 360, is still the quickest way to capture a relatively good 360° image. The one shown below was captured in only 15.7 seconds and uploaded to yFrog (Twitpic was having a bit of a problem during at the time)

Well, it’s very simple and only requires two very cheap connectors.  Firstly connect the female cigarette lighter adapter to the Sunlinq panel and then insert a suitable cigarette lighter USB convert.  In most situations (i.e. sunny days) the panel generates well over 9V which is sufficient to provide power to USB chargeable gadgets.  I then connect the Hypermac Micro to the USB adapter using the supplied

USB – DC in lead.

This is great news as it means I can leave the heavy Tekkeon MyPower Lithium battery at home!

So, starting with Google earth and planning your route using the path tool.  An important tip for using the path tool is to orientate the map view so that you have and idea of the contour of the land.  If you try and plan your path from the aerial view you’ll observe some very odd routing decisions and probably have a route that you can’t ride/walk.

The level of detail provided by the satellite imagery within Google Earth is generally good enough to work out existing paths, trails and bridleways.  Before you go off tearing up the country side you better check that what looks like a path (i.e. right of way) in Google Earth is real – I use the OS map service in the UK to confirm a path really is a path as logically they should have the most up to date information.  So, back to planning in Google earth.  Once you’ve completed your route the next challenge is to get it onto your GPS device as Google Earth can only save as either KML or KMZ.  As I use the Garmin Colorado 300 the KML/KMZ formats are next to useless.  This is where Garmin Basecamp (or GPS Babel) comes into the picture.  Once you’ve saved your path from Google Earth, you can import the KML into Basecamp (or transform in GPS Babel using the KML to GPX transform).

The main reason for using Garmin Basecamp at this stage is that you can send over the associated map and birdseye imagery to the Colorado otherwise you’re stuck with the very basic standard map.  The main reason that I don’t use Basecamp to plan my routes is down to the silly size restriction the OS map component has – as you can see from the image on the left the window of detail is limited on my the standard and 3D views.

Now, when using the Garmin Colorado you have to remember to reset and orientated the device before setting out on your trip.  Firstly, establish the satellite link otherwise the device will struggle as you’re moving.  I also reset the the trip details so that I know how far I’ve traveled on this trip (and not a cumulative amount) and archive whatever track is currently in memory (then clear the current track).

When I get back to base I normally upload the history to Garmin Connect as well as the Garmin Training Centre.  A key part in this process is to grab the GPX files off the Colorado as the automated upload facility does not process the Heart Rate monitor and Cadence data.

As a side note, if you’re the kind of person to try and just use your iPhone to do all this you’re in luck.  Simply upload your route from Google Earth to your Google Maps (my maps section) account and activate the my maps layer on the iPhones Google Earth app.  Just make sure you’ve got enough juice in the phone to last the length of your walk/ride!

Luckily, most of the photo editing software on the market has an warp feature which can sort the image out. I’m going to use Photoshop CS5, but I’m sure there similar functionality available within something like GIMP. The Warp command lets you drag control points to manipulate the shape of images, shapes, or paths, and so on. The default setting is for a Custom warp – this is the one to stick with as the others will just mess up the image even more.  To the manipulate the shape, drag the control points, a segment of the bounding box or mesh, or an area within the mesh. Shown below is the image mid transform

So, by simply playing around with the control points and more often than not the areas within the mesh you will end up with the following:

Delay : The amount of time before the remote starts to control the cameras shutter.
Long : The length of time the shutter will stay open when using BULB mode on the camera.  It has no function in the other mode such as Av/ Tv etc.
Interval : The time between shots – this is quite important, see below.
N: the number of shots the remote will take – anything between 1 to 399 or “-” which means keep going until the batteries give in!

Firstly, the delay feature is the best way to avoid any camera shake when starting a long exposure at night. Set it for 10 or 20 seconds and set the remote off – that way, by the time the first shot is taken the camera, lens and tripod should all be stationary.  Secondly, the interval between shots should be considered with respect to how long the shutter will be open.  If, for example you’re shooting at night with a long exposure it would be pointless to set an interval less than it takes the camera to process and save the shot to the memory card.  Thirdly, how many shots are you going to take, do you have enough space and will your batteries last the duration of your time lapse? The answer is to calculate the desired number of shots (see my other post on creating a time lapse) and put the camera on external power.

Here’s a quick demonstration on how to set the timer – the functions are navigated using the up/down and left/ right controls with functions confirmed by pressing the set button.

1) Stationary tripod

Most of the time I use the Glif with a small tripod – either one of the free small ones you get with most compact camera kits or the Joby GorillaPod.  Both are light and easy to fit in most small bags.  I’ve got the DSLR GorillaPod so use the Glif to attach the iPhone (remember, if you’re shooting video you’ll want it in landscape mode otherwise you’ll have the black bands when played back on a TV or computer).  If you don’t already have a GorillaPod then you could by the one designed for the iPhone 4.  The only drawback of the GorillaPod over the Glif is that you can only connect the iPhone to the GorillaPod stand as it’s a bespoke attachment where as the Glif uses a standard 1/4″-20 thread that fits any standard tripod.  It also allows you to use your bigger tripods…

2) Moving tripod

For a slightly more mobile solution you could try to use something like the Konig Neck Tripod – check out the link for a picture of someone using it with a video camera.  I’ve used this with both the iPhone and Canon 7D instead of carrying a heavy tripod up mountains and it actually works quite well.  I’ve found that the best results are when you’re standing still and try not to breath too heavily!

3) Software

SteadyCam Pro say that they use advanced signal processing algorithms and a little bit of magic to stabilize your video and correct for rolling shutter in real time.  It’s a free to try app and $2.99 to buy.  I’ve tried it while both standing still and then moving and have yet to obtain results as good as they say (and show in their demo video).  The app introduces a delay while trying to start recording and then stutters every now and then.  This is one to watch but not buy at the moment.

—— iPhone Camera Specifications ——-

Horizontal Resolution:    72 dpi
Vertical Resolution:    72 dpi
Exposure Time:    1/1257 sec
F-Number:    f/2.8
ISO Speed Rating:    80
Lens Aperture:    f/2.8
Focal Length:    3.85 mm

I set off from London just after 9am Geared up with a full CamelBak filled with water and High5 Zero Hydration tablets, some snack bars, Garmin GPS, iPhone 4 and HyperJuice Micro.

Although the official bike route changes year to year with the route not being announced until the day of the ride, it’s pretty easy to find past years routes as most riders now carry GPS trackers. So,not wanting to ride through the early morning rush hour just to get to Clapham I started up Google earth and planned an intercept route from Limehouse to Chipstead. The routes winds it’s way through the city’s many traffic lights and roadworks from Tower Bridge down through Elephant and Castle, Brixton, Streatham, Thornton Heath, Waddon and Purley.

From Purley you pick up the more traditional route from Chipstead (here’s the first hill) that takes you under the M25 to Merstham and onto some of the better roads. The route (as can be seen above) is less than flat but the uphill sections reward you with some pretty fast downhills (over 35mph without traffic but watch out for the pot holes and gravel on the corners!).

Turners Hill

The second major climb is Turners Hill which ends at The Crown pub. Depending what time you set out this could be a good pit stop for a beverage or bite to eat. From Turners hill it’s all downhill to Brighton except for the hellish climb up Ditching Beacon. The climb, sometimes 1 in 10, is a killer as it’s at the 54 mile mark. However, all you have to think about is that once your at the top it’s all downhill from here!

Top of Ditching Beacon

For those of you who want to try out the route, you can download the GPX file from my Garmin Connect site below or on Bikely.

The file is shown using the Ryubin Panorama Flash player (sorry iPad/iPhone) users and you can move around the scene as it plays either using your mouse or the arrow icons in the flash player.

Hopefully with the development of the GoPano Micro for the iPhone and accompanying HTML5 player which they say will be open sourced, I’ll be able to serve up the video to everyone.

The player has been embedded using the <object id> method within the wordpress post so there’s no need to use a post template. The video file was encoded using the Pano-Pro video software to a flat video format and dropped down to 480p to save on space. The movie is made up of two separate files that were merged using Quicktime. Both were shot holding the Camera and Pano-Pro lens so apologies for the wobbly motion.

Panorama of Epping Forest

Just to make it easy, there’s quite a few routes you can download from the web to add to either your GPS device (I use the Garmin Colorado) or your iPhone. Below is the route I took which tries to follow mostly singletrack but at this time of year some of the tracks have been closed (£200 fine if you head down a closed track) by the forestry guys – and yes, they’re monitoring the park like hawks.

Don’t forget the gadgets and beer at the end of the ride!

Great you think!  Hardly..  Kickstarter uses the Amazon Flexible Payments Service, which enables the all-or-nothing funding method.  Apparently no other credit card processor currently supports their requirements. This is where the problem starts for non US kickstarter backers as the Amazon Payments registration process requires a US address.  An now the good news – the registration requirements are in no way connected to the method of payment which is odd.  So, all you have to do is enter a duff US address (or even register with someone like BundleBox to receive a PO Box and accompanying ZIP code) and then proceed to the payment section where you’re free to select and use you credit card details for your home country.

So, non US kickstarters, start backing some projects!

noun

1 a drink made from the roasted and ground beanlike seeds of a tropical shrub, served hot or iced : a cup of coffee | [as adj. ] a coffee pot.

There’s nothing like a good coffee – but all to often you’re no where near a good coffee shop. That could be either at home or when your out and about. I’ve had a number of espresso machines at home and at some point they’ve all let me down, primarily due to issues with hard water. The calcification of the internals and delivery mechanism destroys the flavour almost immediately. I’ve tried using filters but that only delays the inevitable and looked elsewhere to find a solution to the problem and it’s name is “Presso”. To use the presso all you have to do is to add the desired amount of hot water (not boiling!) to the reservoir, then add your coffee into the basket then raise both arms to the up position and finally bring them down with a steady pressure.

The “Presso” in action

Although it’s a great machine, the Presso isn’t exactly portable. There’s been many a time in the wilds when I’ve wanted a good espresso but have had to make do with an instant coffee. All that changed with the release of the handpresso! It’s about the size of a small bike pump – which is how it generates the required pressure! 10-15 “pumps” is all that you need to charge the mechanism to which you add your hot water (from a vacuum flask) and finally the ESE coffee pod. Then a quick push of the button and the coffee is dispensed into your waiting cup.

The Handpresso in action

Solio Classic

The Solio classic is an attractive little solar charger with a built in lithium ion rechargeable battery. It’s built, primarily, to charge itself and attached goodies from the sun but can also be charged from USB or DC adapter in case of bad weather.  When charged it will provide enough juice for an Iphone 4 (with special adapter – check the solio website) and the Bloggie.  Unfortunately it takes a lot of sunlight to fully charge (more than 8hrs) and has to be positioned appropriately to gain the full benefit of the suns rays.

Hypermac Micro

The iPad is a special case when looking at charging solutions as it requires a specific amp/volt combination to initiate charging which is above the standard USB output, therefore the Solio is unable to recharge the iPad.  One of the best performing (and looking) rechargeable batteries for the iPad is the HyperMac Micro (iPad edition). It packs a 3600mAh and extends the life of the iPad by another 5 hours and can recharge the iPhone three times. As a hybrid solution, you can also charge the HyperMac Micro with the solio.

Sunlinq 12W and Tekkeon MyPower

The Solio classic and HyperMac are great if you’re not going to be off the grid for more that a weekend.  If you’re going to be off the grid for a little while longer then I recommend the Sunlinq 12W folding panel and Tekkeon MyPower battery.  Shown below is the Sunlinq 12W folding panel connected to the Tekkeon MyPower (on my table and when trekking through Mongolia) and to a Uniross Universal Li-Ion Charger.  The Uniross Universal Li-Ion Charger is configurable for most li-ion batteries including the Canon LP-E6, Canon G10, HyperMac Micro , Nokia phone battiersand even a netbook (I’ve had it powering my eeePC 901)

Step 1 – Setup the tripod and attach the Giottos MH621 Sliding Quick Release Adapter Plate to the Giotto – 4 Section Pro Carbon Fibre Tripod With Two-Way Column

Step 2 – Attach the WK10-80 system to the tripod – here’s the underside view of the rail.

Step 3 – Attach the Giottos MH7000-652 Series 1 Ball Head With Quick Release to the rail slide

Step 4 – Slide the carriage on to the rail gently so that you don’t damage the polymer bearings and attach the camera.  If the carriage is a bit sticky then loosen off the bolts holding the bearings but don’t forget to tighten them up!

And here’s the video

I’m a great fan of the iPad as it’s replaced my macbook pro on my travels and is normally within reach. But I’ve only had it 10 months and the second hand market price has collapsed in the past week from £340 to £200 so do I really want to spend another £400 on the updated model?

What’s changed.. Hardware specs for the CPU, gpu and two cameras. Now, I don’t play games on the iPad so it’s hard to get excited over the increased frame rates possible in the future.

As for the cameras – I have an iPhone 4 and Canon 7D so what’s the point? None. I can’t wait to spot the first person seriously trying to (a) capture a quick moment (b) holding the iPad up, nice and steady to record something worth while. I’ve recently bought the “Glif” tripod stand for the iPhone which is small enough to fit in your pocket and produces great results. How big will the tripod holder for the iPad 2 be? Too big.

Right, now on to the Canon 7D and iMovie. The iPad 2 is still dependent on iOS 4.3 which does not support the use of any output (movies – jpg and RAW are fine) from the Canon even when jail broken. Even worse, Apple will be releasing 4.3.1 soon to fix the jailbreak vulnerability on the iPad 2 so you won’t even be able to play them back!

So, for the first time ever (really, this will be a first!) I won’t be buying the next generation of an apple product. I’m going to see what happens when the Xoom and other tablets as they are released.

However, if you don’t have an iPad then buy one – seriously, buy one!

Word map based on johnmason.me

It’s been a while since I’ve had a look to see what visualisation techniques are out there – possibly because had nothing that interesting to visualise. However, looking at my dive log the other day I thought it could do with a more intuitive way of analysing the data – in the form of a treemap or similarly visual experience.

Two quick, and free, methods out there are the Many Eyes visualisation service from IBM and the use of R – the free statistical modeling language. Playing with Many Eyes is extremely easy – once you’ve registered. The only drawback is that once you’ve uploaded your data set it’s public. So don’t include any personal or private details! So, here’s a sample created with Many Eyes which shows the dives I’ve done by Country, location and dive site where the size of the boxes represent the time I was underwater and the colour indicates the max depth.

Now, what about R? There’s a great tutorial on the flowingdata.com website about using R – an offline statistical package. Ultimately, you have more control over every aspect of the analysis but it will take you a lot longer to familiarise yourself with the functions – and the command line interface. Here’s an example using the same dataset as the Many Eyes example above. The IBM tool clearly has the edge for quick analysis but is limited with regards to data handling (i.e. only public datasets).

iPhone and accessories

After receiving my Glif stand from Photojojo at the weekend I thought I’d swap my Canon 7D and associated lenses for the iPhone 4, mini tripod and iMovie on the iPad.

As you can see from the layout of gear on my table, all I took out were:

iPhone 4
iPad (1st Generation)
mini tripod
Glif iPhone tripod mount
Solio Classic solar charger
iPhone USB lead (and charger for emergency use)
Camera Connection Kit
16GB SD card for additional back up storage
Sunglasses

Apart from the obvious weight saving, using the iPhone with the Glif made for some excellent shots. Statically placed shots appear to work the best, as the “jelly wobble” introduced by the CMOS chip when panning can be a little ugly for use.

iPhone 4 on Glif stand

Short of ordering an “OWLE” iPhone 4 video rig and carrying my Igus Slider, I was surprisingly happy with the results. I used the iPhone on and off all day, most clips around the 10 sec mark except for the action shots with the BMX riders and skaters which went to around 3minutes.  Inevitably the battery took a hammering but I’d brought out the trusty Solio charger to provide additional power.

Transfer between the iPhone and iPad was quick, given that I was using the Camera Connection Kit and not iTunes.  iMovie on the iPad was surprisingly responsive with the final edit coming in around 3 minutes in length.

The iPhone connected to the iPad using the standard USB cable and Camera Connection Kit

After messing around with various cameras, file formats and a number of iOS apps to transfer compatible movies onto the iPad I took a step back.  Pretty much everything I’ve tried indicates that iMovie will generally only work with footage from either the new iPad 2 or from the iPhone 4/3GS.  Although PhotoSync is a great app, it’s dependent on either wifi or (slow) bluetooth.

While charging my iPhone I realised that it’s cable is a bog standard USB lead – one which fits into the Camera Connection Kit.  Could it be that easy?  Yes, it is.  To get photos and video off the iPhone and into the iPad simply plug the iPhones USB lead into the CCK attached to you iPad and hey presto – the files speed themselves over!

Then, as long as you’ve installed iMovie using the iPhone Configuration Utility, iMovie recognises all the files and off you go. (Follow the instructions from Wired)  Obviously you could use iMovie on the iPhone but if you have and iPad with you the the extra screen size makes things much easier!

Check out my post on how to use the iPhones USB cable and Camera Connection Kit!

Here’s a demo video showing how easy it it to transfer files from an iPhone to the first generation iPad using PhotoSync and the manipulate them in iMovie.  Even though my iPad is jail broken (so that I can test the Canon 7D file playback issues) you don’t have to in order to install iMovie.  The instructions to install iMovie on your iPad can be found on Redmond Pie.

Read my post regarding the forthcoming iOS 5 as it appears that Apple have introduced support to playback the Canon MOV files.

I’ve been playing with various file formats to see what works on the iPad for (1) playback and (2) for editing within the recently updated iMovie.  To view the Canon 7Ds video on the iPad you have to jail break the device, use the camera connection kit and use something like iFile.  However, even though you can play back the 1080 and 720 footage using iFile, iMovie will not recognise it for editing purposes.  This is hardly surprising given that iMovie also transcodes the Canon files at import on the Mac to the AIC (Apple intermediate Codec).

A quick test to export the Canon 7D file using the Quicktime on the Mac yields partial success. I say partial, because I’m using my Mac as an intermediary.  Not much use when you’re in the field – as you’d be better just using a MacBook Pro(or other laptop of your choice!).

If you’ve access to a very fast wifi and accompanying network connection to you base workstation, you could automate the process to download from your Compact Flash card using the camera connection kit to DropBox, and have your workstation monitor a specific DropBox folder to do the appropriate transcoding.  Depending on how much footage we’re talking about, that may take some time.

So, I think at this point it safe to say that iMovie on the iPad 2 will not support the Canon 7D h.264 format (which everybody accepts is a delivery format and not one best suited for editing). I could just imagine starting up iMovie on the iPad and waiting it to transcode your files into AIC. I guess Apple just want you to use the built in cameras to record footage.  You never know, the secret project between Apple and Canon may not just be Thunderbolt but a collaboration on the Codecs used within the Canon product suite and Apples editing programs – i.e. iMovie and the eagerly awaited update to Final Cut Pro.

Well, you can still use video shot on your iPhone though – I’ve started using PhotoSync to move files to and from the iPad/iPhone with Bluetooth  – negating the need for wifi and the cloud.

Oh, and just to show how much I trust my Joby Gorillapod with the Canon 7D on top, here it is balanced on a wooden rail overlooking the Thames!  Any of you who follow @PhilipBloom, I too was thinking of the moment when he lost his Panasonic GH2!

Canon 7D gorillapod balancing act

Canon 7D files don't render

Well, from the looks of it, not a lot.  Working with a non jail broken iPad, there’s very little you can do.  iOS 4.3 hasn’t fixed the issue with playback of the video files from the Canon 7D or Kodak Zi8.  Again, it’s all rather stupid given that you can play back the files through GoodReader and the VideoPlayer apps – although you have to jailbreak your iPad to be able to get to the files.  As you can see from the images above and below, on the import screen the thumbnails are rendered correctly, but when you go to the photos page the imported movies thumbnails are not rendered – just a grey box with “mov” in the middle.

Oddly enough, the iPad was able to playback the 720p files from the Sony Bloggie from within the iPhoto App but iMovie was unable to recognise the file and display it in the video selection window.

So, as there’s no camera on the first gen it’s down to the iPhone’s camera.  There’s no easy way of transferring the video files from an iPhone to the iPad without using iTunes to synchronise the files via your laptop/ desktop.  So, as Microsoft would say, it’s off to the cloud!

Into the Cloud

From the iPhone it’s easy to add the video files to your DropBox from the iPhones Camera Roll.  Over to the iPad – unfortunately DropBox doesn’t let you add photos or videos to the Camera Roll. Neither does another of my other favourite apps – GoodReader or even FileBrowser.  So, thanks to Sn0wbreeze (pwnagetool didn’t work for 4.3) and iBooty I can use the all powerfull iFile.

Firstly, I had to use GoodReader to download the file from DropBox then it’s over to iFile.  In iFile navigate to the GoodReader document folder and open up the file attribute window of the movie you want to add to the camera roll – and click on “Add to Camera Roll”

iMovie on the iPad

Once you’ve added the movie to the camera roll, you can then fire up iMovie and start a new project to play with. The interface is pretty much the same as the iPhone – just much bigger.  The jury is still out on the whether or not the new iPad 2 will be able to render the HD files from the Canon 7D or just with files captured from either the iPhone and iPads camera.

iPhone file in iMovie

If the new iPad 2 doesn’t gain the capability to be able to play nicely with the Canon 7D, an upgrade looks less and less attractive.

Canon 7D set up for time-lapse outside the Bank of England

Shooting time-lapse is a relatively straight forward affair.  The equipment you need varies depending on the duration and or quality of the time-lapse you’re trying to capture.  At the basic end of the scale, all you need is a camera.  With just a camera, it all about you! All you have to do it take photos in series at a specific interval using the shutter release.  Obviously, if you’re doing it manually the end result may not be the most professional – but it will be a time-lapse non the less.

Time-lapse photography is a cinematography technique whereby the frequency at which film frames are captured (the frame rate) is much lower than that which will be used to play the sequence back.

Equipment

So, to improve the quality of the time-lapse you’ll need two things (three if you include the time it takes to capture!). The first is an appropriate tripod based on the camera you’ll be using and the location at which you’ll be taking the photos.  For the less intrusive camera positions (or more creative)  I always use my trusty Joby Gorillapod. For safe, wide open spaces where people aren’t an issue, I use my Giottos Carbon Fibre Tripod.

The second depends on your camera – the intervalometer.  Some cameras come with the feature built in to the software (or if you’re using an iPhone and suitable app), some cameras can be hacked to provide the feature and the rest will need an appropriate piece of equipment.

Canon 7D set up for time-lapse at the Tower of London

As a quick side note, the CHDK firmware enhancement for compatible cameras is great.  I’ve used it with my old Canon A620 to capture lightning during storms and sunsets with great success. But, as it says on the tin, it’s for compatible Canon cameras only.  Unfortunately that does not include the Canon 7D or Canon G series!

So, for shooting time-lapse with the Canon 7D you’ll either need to buy the Canon TC 80N3 or a more reasonable third party model. Both have the same features, it just depends whether you have to have the Canon badge on it or not!

So, you’ve got your camera positioned and intervalometer set up.  Next, what mode to shoot in, what resolution and what interval between shots?  As a general rule, I always shoot in AV mode with manual focus at a resolution of 4.5M (2592*1728) which resolves most issues with exposure metering and card space! The interval depends on a number of factors including the subject matter to be recorded and the desired duration of the resulting time-lapse movie.  With regards to the subject matter you’ll need to vary the shutter speed to capture the effect you want – i.e. long exposures at night to (a) gather enough light and (b) generate  suitable motion in the image.  Fast shutter speeds tend to result in a choppy time-lapse movie, so it’s good to get a little blur in the image to soften it down.  When considering the duration of the final time-lapse  movie, you’ll need to calculate the number of shots you need to take in order to generate the desired film duration at your chosen FPS (24 or 30 FPS is the norm).  So, for a 5 minute 24 FPS movie with shots taken every second you’ll need to capture 5 * 60 * 24 = 7200 individual frames.  If you don’t want to capture so many frames, then you can mess around with the frame rate as anything from 8 FPS can result in a pleasing movie.

Once you’ve worked out the number of images you’ll need, you can then estimate the size of the memory card you need and the likely hood of your batteries running out before you’ve captured all the images!

Software

So, you’ve captured the images and now it’s time to put them all together!  Now, if you’re on a Mac things couldn’t be easier – well, quite easy.  Firstly, you should resize all you images to your desired movie render – i.e. 1080 or 720 – but if you’ve got a fast mac and want incredibly ultra high definition movie then leave them as they are.  Once you’ve settled on the size, place all the files in a folder and make sure they’re sequentially named.  Then using Quicktime 7 (not Quicktime X) open the files using the “open image sequence” and select the appropriate frame rate. That’s it!  Just save your new movie and off you go. Further adjustments can be done using the usual programs such as Final Cut Pro/iMovie etc.

If you’re on a PC then there’s a couple of choices that I’ve seen around.  Microsoft Movie Maker has a similar image sequence import but is restricted to 8 FPS.  MakeAVI is a freeware app that will also resize your images while it generates the AVI file.

Example time-lapse shot at various locations around London

Well, iOS 4.3 GM has been seeded out to developers but unfortunately it doesn’t allow the playback of HD movie imported from the Canon 7D. That’s another disappointment on top of the announcement that iMovie for the iPad will not be supported on the iPad generation 1.  As you can see from the screenshot on the right, the movies are imported (and can be grabbed from the iPad using iPhoneExplorer) but they’re not playable.  So, as far as using the iPad as an interim backup device while you’re on the road – it’s good for as much memory that’s left on the iPad.

I’m still waiting to see if, with it’s new dual core A5 and improved GPU, the iPad 2 will support the native playback of movies.  The only good news so far with the release of iOS 4.3 GM is that it’s already been jailbroken.  Fingers crossed that the hacking community will enable iMovie for the first generation iPad very soon.

Having a look around on the market highlights some of the more popular but expensive video monitors – aka the Marshall line which start around £700. Not wanting to spend that much, a number of blogs point towards Lilliput. Lilliput are a manufacturer more commonly associated with the automotive industry – in providing headrest mounted monitors for people who want to add a little bling to their “ride”.

The model I went for was the Lilliput 669GL-70NP/C – 7″ HDMI monitor (bought of eBay with a spare battery, hot flash adapter and cable). It’s a nice package which can either be attached to the cameras hot shoe or, if space and equipment allow, on another tripod. Small enough to fit in my camera bag and with the extra battery it easily lasts the day.

As you can see from the first image, it’s great for when you’re zooming in on subjects with manual focus. Below is an image where I’m using it for macro. Shooting video using the monitor is a breeze – and if you don’t need to see the shooting info then you can utilise the full 16:9 ratio that the camera pumps out. Oh, it also comes with a hood shade – which projects out an inch.  Not that much use but given that it pops off easily, that’s not too much of a problem.

The only issue you’re likely to encounter with the lilliput monitor is the battery compartment.  To open the compartment you’ll need a philips screw driver to remove the cover.  A bit of a pain but not the end of the world.

As a side note, I’ve also powered the monitor using my Tekkeon MyPower MP3750 Rechargeable Lithium Polymer battery for a long long time.  When plugged into the monitor it also charges the lilliput’s internal battery.

Tekkeon MyPower charging Lilliput Monitor

Canon Battery Pack LP-E6
Hoya 58mm HMC NDX4 Filter
Hoya 58mm Circular PL Filter
Ex-Pro 58mm White Balance Lens Cap.
Canon PowerShot G10
HDMI to Mini HDMI Cable
Air Duster
LCDVF LCD View finder
Giottos MH621 Sliding Quick Release Adapter Plate
Canon TC 80N3 – Camera Remote Control – Cable

And the two things that go over my shoulder are

Giotto – 4 Section Pro Carbon Fibre Tripod With Two-Way Column
Giottos MH5001

Guilin doesn’t really have a centre – well, not that I could establish in the short time I was there.  In the morning, I hastily arranged a river cruise at breakfast and was on the river boat an hour later.  By this point I was getting used to the fact that the chinese tourists out number foreign tourists by a huge amount.

There were only two other foreigners on the boat – which meant loud chinese music blasting out while they all sat inside in the air-conditioned cabin only peering out of the window when ever the tour guide pointed something out.

That aside, the River cruise is stunning.  As the river meanders from Guilin up to Yangshuo you pass small settlements and herds of water buffalo.  The key sites to look out for are the Elephant trunk hell, Karst hills and the famous (if you’ve seen the 20 Yuan note) peaks.

Famous Cigarettes, Famous Wine, Famous Tea Supermarket

Arriving in Yangshuo, you’re greeted by a frenzied attack of water, food and souvenir sales people.  The streets down by the river are packed full of shops selling the usual tourist trash.  Heading away from the river and you’re confronted the new Yangshou – western style restaurants and clothe shops – and yes, they’re full of chinese tourists. However, I did manage to find the shop which was very very famous for cigarettes, wine and tea!

The road from Lhasa ascends quickly to the plateau (don’t look out of the side window if you suffer from vertigo) and then follows the newly constructed railway that runs from Lhasa to Beijing.  As my guide points out – “It used to be much beautiful before they built the railway right through here” – an odd comment from a chinese guide….

After many, many, many more checkpoints we arrive at Laken pass at an altitude of 5190m to an impromptu snow storm. Looking around you could think that the snow up here is a one off as I seem to be the only “tour” with a 4*4. The drive down from the pass to the lake is both spectacular and frightening. Snow, ice, slush, lorries and Yaks all seem to be on a suicide mission – or perhaps they’re just late for the next checkpoint.

Permits checked for the last time we drive along the peninsular to the Tashi Dor monastery. Unfortunately, the thing that stands out the most here (and does elsewhere in Tibet) is the number of Chinese tourists. Yaks line the lake ready to have the Chinese hop on it’s back for the obligatory photo shot. A little further down the peninsula, a chinese couple are getting married. A notable omission to the general scenery are the Tibetans – I hope they have found a more peaceful place to enjoy their heritage.

The guide was waiting for me at the hotel – apparently the transfer car had been in an accident.  Oh well, at least I wasn’t in it.  We quickly discussed the itinerary for the next few days and received the appropriate warnings about where I could go on my own, i.e nowhere.  My tibetan visa, an elaborate piece of paper, had to stay with the guide which meant I was unable to enter any of the sites of interest on my own.

Potala Palace

The itinerary, down to the minute, was agreed – the Potala Palace and Norbulingka was day one. Also, the time we could spend in each one was also given a time limit – failure to adhere to and the guide will be banned for 4 days (oh, the fun I had dragging my feet…..).  After seeing so many documentaries about Tibet, Lhasa and the Palace it was simply awe inspiring to stand at the foot of the hill on which the palace sits.  Unfortunately, tourism amongst the chinese has picked up so much there is nowhere in the place for a moment of reflection.

Monk repainting the walls of Norbulingka

When Michael Palin visited (perhaps having a BBC film crew with me may have helped instead of a government appointed guide from Shanghai) it looks so serene.  The thing that bothered me the most (and probably my guide given my line of questioning) was that all the guides speak as if the Dalai Lama is still in residence.  Everything was in the present tense – he comes here in the morning, here for meetings with his aides, etc.  A quick trip down the hill and we’re over at the summer palace – Norbulingka.  The chinese tourists obviously don’t have this on their itinerary.  A beautiful palace set amongst an Unesco world heritage site, Norbulingka is very calming place to visit.  With only a handful of tourists, I was happy to see a number of monks going about their business.

Day two saw us head of to Jokhang Temple in the morning, which was just around the corner from the hotel (the Dhood Gu Hotel).  I’d been there in the evening to watch to the coming and goings of the pilgrims walking clockwise around the temple. From there we headed up to the Sera Monastery, famed for the debating monks.  Bang on time, we’re shepherded into the courtyard for todays session of heated discussion and hand slapping.  The hand slapping is there to add emphasis to the argument being made.  All in all it’s quite and amazing scene to watch.

We head back into Lhasa for a traditional meal – for one!  After having the menu explained to me, my guide from Shanghai then disappears to have a chinese meal.  Instead of rice or noodles, I had some very tasty Yak Momo and a cold Lhasa beer!.

Outside and I join the tourist taxi queue – meanwhile the chinese just walk to the front and get in to the next oncoming taxi.  I can only assume that it’s an olympic hangover.  In the cab and off to the Emperor Hotel which is situated on one of the only remaining hutongs in central Beijing.  It’s a quirky modern hotel with a fantastic roof top bar that looks over the forbidden city.

My general itinerary was to check out food street, the forbidden city, Tiananmen square, the great wall and to walk around the hutongs.  For the great wall I decided to arrange a private tour to visit an area of the wall called Mutianya which is further away from the city – hopefully to avoid most of the crowds.  Given the number of people I’ve seen in and around the forbidden city, I think the plan worked out quite well (but at a premium).

The great wall is an amazing feat of engineering, but a great cost to the people who built it. After climbing up and down the wall for about three hours, I had to do the obligatory shopping/food stop.  The meal was included in the excursion as was a walk around a local artisan workshop which produced various paintings and glazed images of the wall.

Back in Beijing I met a few Australian friends I’d met on the train from Mongolia.  Several drinks on the roof terrace overlooking the forbidden city and then off to food street. Food street has been manufactured by the authorities as a safe an fun way for tourists to experience the local delicacies.  As a diver, it was a very sad experience as I was confronted by stall after stall of sea horse and shark fins.

A fresh morning and off to see the forbidden city.  For a look around the forbidden city, have a look at my photo gallery.  It’s an amazing place within a place within a place.  Again, the biggest drawback to China so far is quite simply the number of people!  Perhaps it’s time to head somewhere a little quieter!

There’s nothing worse than after an awful train ride is to be awoken at 5:30am to only look out of the window to see a sprawling mass of smoke belching factories and what looks like very basic housing. Welcome to Ulaanbaatar!

To say the outskirts of Ulaanbaatar are ugly would be quite right. The influence of Soviet architectural and town planning is evident.It seems that very little thought has been given to people and the environment. Factories, probably unregulated, are only srperated by waste ground and opportunistic housing. Even the Mongolian ger makes a sporadic appearance. Whether or not they were here before the factories is doubtful.

They love the Beatles in Ulaanbaatar

Arriving at yet another station, a quick look at the map in the lonely planet it should only be a short walk to peace avenue. As it’s 6am, why not – doubt anything is open and it’s unlikely that my room will be ready. Joined by Camile, Gregoire and Morgan we set off. A few minutes later and it becomes obviously that the cartographer for the lonely planet has never been to Ulaanbaatar or there’s been significant tectonic activity as things are futher away than they seem!

45 mins later, several offers of rides, hostels and we’re at Sukhbaatar sq. Quite impressive given the mainly russian style buildings along the route. The Swiss trio decide to look for a place to stow gear while I try to find some coffee – but before we can go our seperate ways we’re joined by a karate teaching American expat by the name of Thamous (one day he’ll be famous-his line, not mine) who offers some help and whisks the Swiss off!

Most of the places for eating are close to the Sukhbaatar square. Silk road bar and grill- off the main road down from Sukhbaatar sq, serves a variety of euro style food but also have shish kebabs on the menu. Good, but you could probably find better. The view if the “temple” is of a brick wall. Don’t come for the view.

California- good lunchtime spot given the outside gazeebo – very welcome shade when it’s pushing 34. Extensive western menu but the beef steak salads are best. Good sized lunch for around 15,000 mnt. For a great curry I’d recommend trying the Taj Mahal in the Ulaanbaatar Hotel (The only five star hotel in Mongolia – so they say!)

Drinking out is a little bit easier unless it’s the first day of the month as no alcohol can be purchased! So, either buy it the day before or raid the mini bar! In summer there’s quite a few marquees up in the town in an around Sukhbaatar sq and along Seoul st. It seems such a waste to venture into an underground bar given the weather so I stayed outside.

A relaxing in Ulaanbaatar for a couple of days, I headed off to Terelj National Park. There are a number of travel agencies around that can organise anything from a simple walk around Ulaanbaatar or for a full on desert expedition across the Gobi. I opted for a more classical trip into the middle of nowhere and a stay in a traditional mongolian ger. One thing travelling by train that is great is the general feeling of safety – one thing you don’t get in a mongolian transfer! Quite simply, they all have a death wish! On arrival I’m greeted with a traditional airag (fermented horse milk) and shown to my Ger.

Thankfully I’d packed sufficient clothes and gadgets to enable my survival of the grid! Especially the Handpresso Wild Expresso Maker and my folding 12w solar charger. An additional benefit to having the handpresso is that it’s a great ice breaker with the locals whilst travelling. All you need is some hot water (in a flask) and handpresso compatible e.s.e pod. Nearly everyone is familiar with cameras, ipods, eReaders but not with the amazing taste of an espresso in the wild!

The surrounding mountains of the Gorkhi-Terelj National Park are stunning – if not a little cold and on occasion very wet. Most of the other guests elected to be driven around the sites but with my trusty Garmin Colorado GPS and tasted for a little peace and quiet, I just wandered up and down the mountains.

Back in Ulaanbaatar for a day before the the train leaves for Beijing and time to check out some more of the historical sites. While I was there the Nairamdal Park was closed for refurbishment but the Gandan Monastery, Winter Palace of Bogd Khan and Museum of National History were all open and well worth a visit.

Irkutsk……nearly three quarters of the way to Beijing and the largest city in Siberia.  Famous for the many Russian exiles who were sent there for their part in the Decembrist revolt and lake Baikal – the worlds oldest and deepest lake. So what does a diver do with such a tempting dive site so close?

A quick phone call to Gennady Misan and all was set for a dive in the worlds largest fresh water lake. Picked up at 9am and off to the dive shop – hidden nicely away in an industrial estate in the south west of Irkutsk (Krasnokazachja 85). Fitted out with full 8mm wetsuit with additional shorty on top.

Simeoni returns from Lake Baikal

Driving in russia is extreemly similar to Bali. The roads switch from a nice dual carridge way to a pot hole ridden nightmare. Travelling in a unmodified suzuki minivan(I.e. Driver on the wrong side) we duck and dive through the traffic in Irkutsk(past a very nasty looking pileup) and on to the long winding road to lake baikal. The view is slightly reminicent of the train journey. Tree, tree,  tree – you get the picture.

After rounding a bend slightly to fast, we’re at the lake – although it looks more like the coast of a sea and looks quietly serene – few ripples but nothing major.

Good news – visibility(normally 40m+) might be as good as 2m today as the water is a bit too warm  and therefore a big algae bloom (- 12′c) yippeee!!!!

Kit up and we’re instruction time. Shore dive with a 50m swim out to the drop off. I’m buddied with Simeoni (a doctor living in Moscow but originally from Irkutsk) Katia, the dive lead, is with some chap whose turned up in a pick up lorry and has a very useful scuba knife. Long story short – no visibilty, lost a diver, saw a sponge and then surfaced 35 mins later. Upon the offer of a second dive, I’ll decide to sit it out as I’m off to the Caribbean in a months time. Take me back to Irkutsk please – never thought I’d say that so soon! If your thinking of diving in lake baikal, do it in the winter and you’ll get a full drysuit and see something.

Back in Irkutsk and it’s time for a wander around town.  Walking around town during the summer is quite a pleasant experience with a number of outdoor bars and streets lined with wooden buildings.  In the more central area you’ll find the usual western brands taking over the place.

Following what looks like most people, through the underpass full of tiny shops offering knickers, wigs, jewelry and pies (didn’t buy any pies) i pop up in what looks like a ticket hall but who knows. While sweating with my camera gear round my neck I use the good old 5 fingers in the air- apparently that’s the metro card minimum. And hey presto, a piece of cardboard is thrust my way with a host of verbal instruction(could have been abuse but the Russian facial expressionis are hard to decipher)

Now metro lines are coloured but unfortunately the red line has faded a little and looks a lot like the orange – and a key part of the journey is to change from the orange line to the red line. Down the escalators, which remind me of st johns wood tube station, and onto the platform and a decision to take the train on the left or right! 50/50 odds – unfortunately it’s the wrong choice!  A quick change and off in the right direction.  A positive so far is that the platforms and trains are excellent in comparison to the ticket halls.  A quick change and catch the train the right way and I’m at the kremlin – now where’s the hotel!

On arrival at the hotel, I head out in search of food and possibly a drink.  The restaurants in and around the tourist centres are mostly western except for a few where the popular dish is pelemki – which is served with almost anything including bear meat.Bars are either in the hotels (nice shiny and expensive) or down in cellar bars – hardly inviting but a necessity due to the generally bad winters. The beer is awfull – most bars offer all the usual European largers including newcastle brown ale.

The women all tend to be very very girly – high heels, short skirts and lots of make up. Not exactly sophisticated but it works in mockba. The younger generation appear to be anorexic compared to uk standards- not a bad thing if you’re in advertising (or a Russian speaking single bloke)

Toilets are odd too – while walking around you’ll spot 3 or 4 portaloos randomly placed. Yet some enterprising babushka will have set up home in one of the end ones and charges 20 r for the pleasure of using one. Not sure if she cleans them or not but going by the smell probably not.

One of the worst tourist things I have ever done is to search out the first McDonalds to open in Moscow!  I suppose it has a little bit of capitalist history attached to it, but the food is still awful.

Time to leave Mockba, so it’s a quick car to Yaroslasky station – and I mean quick. The driver thinks he’s protecting some UK government official (me!) so it’s extreeme acceleration, breaking, cornering and use of the horn! A quick tumble roll out of the car and he’s off again.

Now it’s Friday night at a station in a capital city! How bad could the station be? Believe me, bad. I’m standing surrounded by people having fun(drunk and in need of a shower) staring at a bank of train departures all in cyrilic – and none of the departure times match mine! 30 mins later I work out where the “harry potter” platform is next to 1a and 3 but unlabelled – times match though. Time to blend in – need to get a can of beer and some random snack…

I stumbled across this post the other day, Modding the bloggie panoramic lens, about hacking the bloggie to enable it to record 360° movies in 1080p and not the standard 720.

The initial problem the leaves you with (apart from a hacked bloggie) is how to transform your polar movie to an equirectangular format.  The software that ships with the bloggie will only recognise the 720 footage. So, I’ve attached so test to show the difference between the Pano Pro video publisher and the open framework processing script.

Test footage from the Sony Bloggie using Sony PMB software (don’t forget to switch to 720p HD!).

The same footage from the Sony Bloggie processed using the Pano Pro video publisher (don’t forget to switch to 720p HD!). (unprocessed footage here)

Here’s the 1080p footage from the Sony Bloggie processed using the Pano Pro video publisher. As you can see, the quality is greatly improved and you only loose around 6% of the viewable image (due to the distance from the lens to the 360° attachment)

And finally, here’s the Canon 7D footage processed with the Pano Pro video publisher.

Finally, here’s the output from the unmodified processing script (need to play around with the OPTICAL_CENTER_X params etc)

And finally – really, here’s the Sony Bloggie’s 1080p output passed through the BloggieVideoUnwarp processing file with modified params.

If you just want to playback the output straight from the camera, just follow the instructions here from Ryubin’s website!

Recreational Diving!

Most recreational dive plans and dive guides follow the same simple guideline – start at your deepest planned depth and shallow up throughout the dive. (I won’t refer to it as a rule as information and guidance varies across certification authorities) Again, as divers learn throughout their education, you should have planned the dive taking into consideration your surface time and residual N2.  Now, I’ve been diving for some time now and have never seen a recreational diver calculating their dive plan (unless they’re on a course).  Therefore, anyone jumping into the water for a dive (or repetitive dive) is basically going in blind.  Also, having observed countless recreational divers performing a yo-yo profile and ascending too rapidly (there’s not very much you can do while preforming) having a mechanism which warns you of such activities can only be a good thing.

John Mason Technical Diving with VR3 and Suunto D6

Finally, recreational diving has embraced the use of Nitrox all over the world for mostly the right reasons.  However, changing the diving gas and associated dive profiles (staying down longer, deeper, within O2 toxicity limits, etc) significantly changes your exposure to N2 and O2.

I bought a Suunto years ago – a D6. It’s performed in all situations, and doubles as a nice dual timezone travel watch and dive log.  The only minor drawback is the log book memory size and battery changing process.  The log book details are limited to around 36hrs of data – once you go over that it’ll start over writing from the beginning. Not good if you haven’t downloaded your dive profiles!

What would I buy now for recreational diving? Well, there are loads out there so you just need to balance the key features – some of which are  (1) the algorithm, (2) ease of use, (3) mixed gas support, (4) connectivity to download your dives and (5) battery changing.  My Suunto D6 manages very well in each of these (except the battery changing as the unit has to be opened and pressure tested) – So it would still be the Suunto D6.

Technical Diving!

I still use my Suunto D6 while technical diving.  It serves as my back up bottom timer and depth gauge – and logs the usual depth, time temperature for downloading to my dive log.  My primary dive computer is the VR3 by technology in depth and was purchased at a dive show.  I’d seen it in use, read loads of reviews and given the low price point at the dive show bought it.  With only two buttons for input, it’s relatively easy to use underwater.    The big screen (with the additional colour option) with the Trimix Open Circuit/CCR functionality allows for 10 Gas switches (Air and 0-99% 02), has dive planning options and allows you to change the plan while diving makes it a very powerful piece of equipment.  The dive logs can be downloaded using (yes, another additional optional cable and software purchase) to their bundled software.  A small bonus here is that you can use their software on a desktop to plan and set up the gasses you’ll use for the dive without having to do the two finger shuffle on the computer.

There are several negative points to the VR3 (and to the same or slightly lesser extent other computers).  The biggest is the battery.  Although it’s designed to allow the user to replace the battery themselves, the units power consumption is verging on the excessive.  For a two hour technical dive you really need to change the battery before you dive and remember to turn off the back light!.   The battery has gone on me several times during a dive. The next problem is that if it goes during a dive you’ll miss the window to change the battery and therefore preserve the settings in the computer.

So, what would I buy for technical diving?  On the occasions that the VR3 failed, it had no impact on my dive.  The majority of good technical divers firstly plan their dive and then dive their plan.  Apart from a potentially shorter decompression obligation (But as I plan using both V-Planner and Baltic Dive Planner) the difference to the plan is generally nothing.  In the event of loss gas and deeper longer scenarios – all the details are in my plan and back up wet-book. So, my advice is to stick to diving the plan and investing your money in a couple of bottom timers.  The UWATEC depth timer is robust, functional, has a 12 year battery and below £100.  Spend the money you save on V-Planner or Helium….  A quick note on the Suunto HelO2 – I performed a number of technical dives while in Indonesia with a guy using the HelO2.  We planned all the dives using V-Planner and double checked with both my Baltic Dive Planner and someone else’s LiquidVision X1.  Enough to say that the deco profile for the HelO2 was way off the plan and VR3.  However, the algorithm that ships with the HelO2 is a little odd (And I’m no expert in the finer details).  This introduced the age old conundrum – dive the plan, dive the computer or do something else.  In my opinion, and that of some of my friends, the answer is to dive the plan.

The basic process involves selecting a reasonably interesting photo – panoramas are generally best but with a bit of cropping you can use any land/sky image.  Then change the size of the image so that it’s equi-rectangular and then rotate the image 180 degrees and apply the polar filter.

Planets from Dirk Paessler, is another method by which you can take a panoramic (or at least a landscape-ish) photo and uses the Polar Coordinates filter of Photoshop or The Gimp to create a circular image that seems to wrap the panorama around a planet.

Once I’d passed my advanced open water course I bought an underwater housing for my Canon A620.  As a beginners camera (7.1 MP & 4x optical zoom) it performed pretty well as it had the all important “custom white balance” mode. For all those divers out there who’ve completed the PADI underwater – white balance is the most important feature when looking for a good camera.

Canon G10 Case

A natural upgrade was to the Canon G10 (now superseded by the G12 which is in many ways not as good).  As the G10 introduced a SD video mode, I began to experiment with shooting video.  Early tests were relatively successful – Canon G10 Sample Video.  The image quality on the G10 is excellent.  Out of water, the 28mm lens is great but underwater it’s just not wide enough.  Most of the wide lens manufacturers do not support the G10 – only the FIX Big Fish Eye.  Most reviews say that with the FIX Fish Eye vignetting becomes a big problem.  If you watched the video above, you’d have noticed that my buddy (Cath Bates) and I are approaching 55m on a technical dive.

The task loading of tech diving associated with the many buttons, white balance settings and exposure/aperture settings of the camera is too much when at depth (especially on deep air dives).  Add to this the recommended allowable depth for the underwater housing (40m for the Canon housings) and things become not just difficult but impossible as the buttons become unresponsive due to the pressure being exerted on the case.  In fact, the only problem I’ve had with the G10 (which remains my backup camera on all my trips – near and far) is that the button caved in (You have to use the afore mentioned button to change the aperture settings when underwater as you don’t have access to the scroll wheel – another pain in the ass as far as the case design goes).

So, with technical diving foremost in my mind I decided to look at the many new compact HD video cameras on the market.  The most popular camera at the time was the Flip HD – but with a little more research I stumbled on the Kodak Zi8.  Encouraged by the reviews and most importantly by the cost of both the camera and Ikelite Housing (60m rated) Amazon made a little more money.  What the Kodak lacks in features (most notably a custom white balance) it makes up for in low light quality and usability.

With just a stop/start button it doesn’t get much more simpler.  The only problem you’re left with is the depth at which you can use it.  Ikelite rate their case to 60m.  I’ve used it down to 80m but the buttons become slightly un-responsive – no surprise there. So, make sure you start it rolling before you pass 60m!  On the upside the battery life is amazing (the Canon G10 would normally last 1 and 1/2 dives – pain in the ass when it goes) but the Kodak will run continually for over 100 mins – Here’s a video to show you what the Kodak can do (110 min dive edited down to 20mins)

Would I still buy the Kodak?  Maybe not, but things have moved on and hindsight is a powerful tool (only after the event though!).  The Kodak is great, especially with the Inon UWL 100 Lens.  It’s light, easy to use, quick to charge and fits in your pocket when you’re out and about.  The key point here is light.  When you start to consider the cost, weight and logistics required to transport a DSLR underwater housing along with your dive gear (mine is in excess of 35Kgs already) it becomes silly.  Consider the cheaper Ikelite housing for the 7D.  The case will set you back (I’ll use Cameras Underwater in the UK for sterling and B&H in the US for Dollars) £1,279 ($1,499), dome port £454 ($524), peli case to transport £150 ($200) the camera and lens £1,500 ($1,500) and then the excess luggage fee and insurance.  I’ll not go into the cost of transport as it varies wildly between airlines.  The same issues exist for the fans of the more conventional video camera. For a quality HD camera and housing that will go to depth, your still looking at shelling out a small fortune and increasing you bag allowance.

So, what’s the alternatives on the market these days? Canon have updated the Powershot and Ixus range with varying HD modes with the all important white balance feature.  The Go Pro HD has popped up in a number of reviews but the image quality suffers (due to the current design of the housing).  A potentially interesting introduction to the market are the micro four thirds cameras.  Given their size and image quality (Philip Bloom highly rates the GH2) they may take over from the DSLRs – but only when the housing manufacturers start to produce the goods!

In summary, I’m going to stick with the Kodak for the time being but keep an eye on Go Pros – they’re just to small and good to be ignored (especially if they sort out the housing!)

Nine times out of ten, while setting up my technical gear on the boat I’m asked “How deep are you going?”. When diving the Thistlegorm the answer is 31m. Now, most people immediately respond with “what’s the point of 4 tanks and all that extra gear?”

45 minute Thistlegorm recreational dive prof

Normally the Thistlegorm can be a bit of a divers nightmare – you arrive after a particularly early start to discover a large number of dive boats with exactly the same agenda. The recreational timetable for the Thistlegorm is the briefing, external orientation dive (no penetration), surface interval and then finally the penetration dive. One difference to the normal day dives is the number of 15L tanks on board. For some reason (it’s not like they’ll be diving at 7ATM) most peoples air consumption goes off the chart. Most people manage a bottom time of around 35-40 mins (waiting for people to join you on the line to descend, people to take photos, people getting lost,etc) with some finding their computers giving them an additional deco warning. Experienced divers can normally stretch the time out considerably with less faffing to and from the line and minimal finning.

For the second dive you have to add in the issues associated with the penetration – it’s dark, disorientating and full of people reenacting a scene from star wars (very powerfull torch beams swinging wildly from jeep to wheel to boot!). Add in groups from other boats following different routes and you have a mildly chaotic scenario. From personal experience – I’ve had to abort two recreational dives due to people loosing the main group and freezing (perceptual narrowing ) and a low air scenario.

This is where technical diving enters the scene! Tech diving is not primarily about “Deep Diving” – indeed the first several courses focus on the concept of Decompression procedures and Extended Range. One of the key review questions during the TDI courses is

“What effects decompression obligations more (a) depth or (b) time?”

The answer is time – staying 3 minutes longer has significantly more decompression obligation that going 3 metres deeper.

Extended range introduces the skills associated with staying underwater for longer periods (irrespective of depth – that’s gas choice)

140min Thistlegorm technical dive profile

So, what’s this got to do with the Thistlegorm? Consider the scenario where you can spend 1hr 40mins (more than the recreational divers get with two dives) and that the recreational divers have to spend at least an hour surface interval which leaves the Thistlegorm empty! The standard tech dive plan is to start the dive 15 mins after the recreational divers and explore the area around the anchor and railway engine.  Then it’s a high speed fly by of the external hull structure (on X-Scooters as the current can be especially strong) before shallowing up to the mid level and penetration.  The recreational divers should be long gone by now so no torches are required inside the wreck – 30 mins of gliding over the trucks, bikes and boots.  30 mins later it’s time to shallow up and explore the upper decks and captain cabin and radio office (last time the radio was still there!).  Once that’s done and we haven’t messed up the dive plan it’s a short deco stop on the line and it’s up for lunch and a nap.

SS Thistlegorm on tech scooters from John Mason on Vimeo.

Other videos on the site include videos shot with both my Canon 7D and Kodak Zi8.

Over the years I’ve collected a number of gadgets to simplify and/or automate the acquisition of large panoramic and 360 degree photos – to varying degrees of success!  They range from the cheap to the silly…. and we start with the iPhone 4.  Excluding the cost of the iPhone – the 360 apps (£0.59 – £1.19) are by far the cheapest way to capture reasonable panoramas.

The two apps that I use are 360 Panorama – Occipitaland Panoramatic 360 – floaty have two different approaches and quality. 360 Panorama has a more conventional approach of panning slowly to capture the panorama (or 360 if you spin all the way around). It will only capture a single row of images (portrait or landscape) which limits the inclination of the final image. At the time of writing, Occipital have introduced a 3D option that is a little experimental.  Here’s a sample of what it can do :

Panoramatic 360 – floaty takes the quick route – literally! Built with speed in mind and assuming you’re in a well lit area, Panoramic 360 builds the immersive image as you scan around the location using the iPhones gyroscope. Results vary according to the lighting, background movement of people and objects and the method of capture (up/down or spining). Here is and example taken on Narrow St, Limehouse.

One issue with Panoramic 360 is that the images are stored on the Occipital servers and are not in an easily exportable format. You can hack around in the source that’s generated by their online viewer (4 images) which you download (along with the .js files, css, supporting images) to host externally.

Moving away from the apps brings me to the Sony MHS-PM5KV Bloggie High Definition Handycam Camcorder with 360 degree lens.  The innovative 360 lens miniaturises what is normally a large and delicate mirror that you have to attach to your camera (see info about the Pano-Pro system later). It’s a little clip on accessory that’s only sold with the camera (unless you go through the Sony Spare parts system – it’ll cost you the same, if not a little more that an entire camera package!  - so don’t loose or scratch it!)  When you attach the lens, the camera switches into 360 mode (there’s a little magnet in the lens package).  When in 360 mode you can either record 360 video (720p) or take a 360 degree still image.  Sony bundle some windows software which will allow you to convert to a watchable (windows) format or you can use the free Ryubin’s Panorama.  No conversion is required as it accepts the raw output from the camera. Here’s an example of the cameras doughnut output – not that easy to watch! The bloggie is small enough to fit in you pocket and is even better when attached to your bike!

Last but not least – the Pano-Pro with it’s supposedly “largest in the market” panoramic lens.  Primarily targeted at the property market (estate agents etc.) it can be attached to a number of cameras – compacts and DSLRs. I’ve used it with the Canon 7D and Canon G10. Both require an adapter to attach the Pano-Pro lens with the 7D needing a supporting brace (otherwise you’ll either ruin your lens or have out of focus shots!) Although the quality generated using the Pano-Pro and 7D is far greater than the bloggie, the software (at additional cost) lets the whole package down. Updates are less than frequent (only on Windows at the moment) and the package is especially obtuse to use. Oh, and it’s huge!

To build the slider you’ll need :

Cordless Drill
WK10-80 system plus carriage
Giottos MH7000-652 Series 1 Ball Head With Quick Release