Categories
Mostly Everything

Today I found a pressure cylinder in Makati and actually used it

That dear friends is a pressure canister. Look at it. Just look at it! It’s geeky. Although I had taken my new right out for snorkeling, I still needed to take the whole thing down to at least 60 ft to see if the pressure would give way to flooding. While at the Neo event, Ilyong from Intel suggested I drop by Nautilus as they had a small pressure canister used to test for dive gear leaks.

You see, this was my dilemma: it is common practice to take a new underwater casing down for one dive with tissue paper in the stead of an actual camera to test for leaks. I had not the chance to do this in Anilao over the last weekend as I had a bit of work to finish. The catch is, my next dive would be in Apo Reef — one of the gems of biodiversity in the coral triangle of South East Asia and it so happens to be in the Philippines. A failed Apo – Tubbataha transition journey thanks to Expedition Fleet added to the fervor of really wanting to document this next trip to Apo. Bringing down my gear sans camera would waste one dive worth of documentation.

So I looked for options. According to Ilyong, Jerome had his replacement dive computer brought to Nautilus and submerged in water, sealed simulating the pressure increase to several dozens of meters below sea level. The pressure canister is a cylinder about the size of a beer keg with water and a hose for pumping in air to simulate an increase in pressure. I brought in my case, oiled the O ring, and dumped it in. In nearly 10 seconds, my case was subjected to the equivalent pressure of 100 ft underwater. Wow!

Oh and since I found out all about this during the Neo event, here’s a short commercial:

This is the “new” high end Neo B4105. Look at it! Just look at it! This affordable 14 inch lappie includes an Intel Core i5 430M processor at 2.2GHz (1066 MHz), 3MB L3 Cache, hyper threading and turbo boosting technology, 2GB DDR3 RAM, DVDRW drive, 320GB hard disk space and integrated video. It’s got a 1.3MP webcam, Bluetooth 2.1 and HDMI output. It comes with Windows 7 Starter. Buy it now for only 35,999 (PHP 3,000 0% 12 months). Buy it now!

Also, special thanks to Carol of Nautilus for letting me geek out on her cylinder. If you’re ever in need of a pressure chamber for dive gear and resin, here’s the info:

Nautilus Dive and Sports Center
839 A. Arnaiz Ave. (Formerly Pasay Road)
Midland Mansion, Unit 1/GF Makati City.
Tel./Fax
(632) 8177293
(632) 8122848
Cell No.
(63)9209541477
Office Hours
11:00 AM to 7:00 PM
Monday to Friday
11:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Saturday
Email address:
[email protected]
Contact Person:
Solomon Young / Carol Young

Categories
Mostly Everything

Nikon D90 DSLR does Video Recording with D-Movie

The new Nikon D90 is a REMARKABLE product

Why? Because even without the new HD video recording capability, it is still a fantastic camera. The new Nikon D90 hails from the D300’s family of revolutionary low light shooting modes. This means that even at ISO 3200 (HI 6400) you still get low noise photo exhibit quality printable images!

Nikon is throwing in a bonus. The new D90 can now do video. Nikon calls this the D-Movie feature that takes the live view on a DSLR a step further: allowing you to take HD quality videos. Don’t believe me? Here are some samples!

A new idea for D-SLRs, the D90 offers a movie function, allowing you to shoot movies in three different motion JPEG formats: 320 x 216 pixels, 640 x 424 pixels and 1,280 x 720 pixels. Now you can capture life’s moving moments with added drama by using many of Nikon’s NIKKOR lenses, including the AF DX Fisheye 10.5mm f/2.8G ED and the Micro-NIKKOR lenses. The shallow depth of field can give your movies a more creative and emotional impact. An additional benefit is the D90 image sensor, which is much larger than a typical camcorder for higher image quality and exceptional high ISO performance during low-light shooting.

So all in all you’re getting (1) the most affordable high end camera of Nikon, (2) Live View with D-Movie recording (note: HD720), (3) an HDMI terminal for viewing movies on HD television, and many more. The 12MP Nikon D90 costs $999.00 from Amazon without the kit lens (AF-S DX Zoom-NIKKOR 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G). See, very cheap!

The quality of D-Movie technology is stunning and brilliant. I’m not sure how movie makers will react to this – I’m sure it’s still a far shot from the pros – but what a scary thought! The sample movies presented allow for a lot of creative expression by simply playing with the manual focus and high aperture settings. It also adds a new brand of depth to buying lenses because even the worn out ones from moss or grime can still contribute some artistic interpretation of your subjects. Chase Jarvis had this to say:


Trust me, I played with this feature at length…all of us on location did, for that matter. It’s going to be a powerful tool. You can control your own depth of field so beautifully using the manual focus ring, the audio capture is solid, the high ISO capabilities in video?! Way cool… Long lenses, fisheyes, zoom lenses…versatility. I’m a BIG fan of the D-Movie.

I haven’t read through the fine print, but I’m assuming that D-Movie, although it doesn’t do autofocus, will accept legacy lenses. And hey, thanks to Rico for the tip!