Week of Death + Lightning and Sackboy

I haven’t had a chance to update much recently after a week of death at uni (5 pieces of assessment spaced out over 4 days…), but I have managed to pick up a couple of bits and pieces; Sackboy from Little Big Planet and Lightning from Final Fantasy XIII:

I like the Sackboy Collectable. I think its the first real piece of LittleBigPlanet merch in Canberra (let alone Australia). It was cheap too, but what I really want is a plushie, and I’m guessing I’m not the only one…

My Lightning figure finally arrived from Tamarket on Friday, apparently they had been caught up with moving stuff from the Supanova conventions, which is understandable. It’s a nice figure, of pretty good detail and quality, with my only complaints being with the hair and how some of the joints appear. Aesthetics has been sacrificed for extra movement, but I really do like it nonetheless.

I’m kind of disappointed with the lack of free time I really have at the moment. I’ve started to watch Cowboy Bebop, and am averaging about 1 episode/session a week, which sucks… I’ve also picked up Resonance of Fate for PS3 and the two Otacool books (otaku rooms and world-wide cosplayers) but I guess they will have to wait until either a rainy day, or a uni break for me to enjoy them. Oh wells…

I have fairly decent plans for tomorrow, up early for the ANZAC day Dawn Service here in Canberra and then going to the Raiders match in the afternoon. Hopefully I’ll be able to sneak a bit of photography at each…

Revoltech Alter Saber

Just a quick update with my latest acquisition, the Revoltech Alter Saber.

I’ve been searching for other figures I might want to order, however I am finding that new figures are either too expensive, or just hard to find. Plus I really haven’t watched many anime series, so there are a limited number of figures that I am trying to hunt down. It’s also kinda difficult to find figures locally (Australia), a lot of the figures I am ordering are having to be imported straight from Japan.

I just finished watching the Fullmetal Alchemist series (plus the Conqueror of Shamballa feature). I’m trying to hunt down an Alphonse amour figure, but again, they are either too expensive or just poor quality.

I’m currently watching Cowboy Bebop at the moment and have Chrono Crusade lined up for afterwards.

Anyway, to Saber:

I finally managed to reach my interim goal weight, so the only thing that is standing in-between my ordering of a Welkin Gunther Cosplay is finding a flat to live in. Hopefully, with at least a half-dozen property inspections lined up this week, that shouldn’t be too far away. If I reach my goal of moving out before my birthday, I might even be able to buy it as a birthday present to myself!

How quick thinking and a bowl of rice saved my Lumix GF1

As alluded to an a couple of my earlier posts, I have entered to participate in the Canberra Photo Marathon on the 27^th of March. I had been looking forward to this event, as it would have been my first real experience of competitive photography.

To give some background, the Photo Marathon was a daylong event, where 12 themes are presented (6 at the start, 6 half way through). A photo for each theme must then be presented; with photos [in theory] taken in the order the themes are given, with no Photoshop/Aperture/ whatever editing allowed.

Examples of themes for the Canberra event included “Light”, “Evolution”, Earth Hour (which was that night) and my entry number (70). It was really well organised, with entry into the National Zoo and Aquarium included.

Naturally, I was eager to participate in this event, and it started off well. However, about an hour into the 12-hour event, tragedy struck. Attempting to fulfil the theme “Upside-down” I was taking images of the National Library as reflected in a pool of water. I had my Lumix GF1 sitting on a tripod along the edge of the water….

I turned around for just a second to assist my brother with his tripod, in that time; I heard a splash and turned to see my camera sinking into the water, it was only a few seconds, but it was enough to get water into the body and into the lens (the same lens I’d waited months for Panasonic to supply…).

My gut reactions were to do all of the right things, pull it out, drop the battery and memory card out and then proceed to dry it off as much as I could.

As I had to refrain from turning the camera on, the Photo Marathon was cut short, but that was the least of my concerns (although I was pretty disappointed it happened BEFORE I made it to the Zoo…)

Over the next few days, the camera and lens were alternated between spending time in the sun and in a container of rice. Rice apparently is a natural desiccant (absorbs moisture). After a couple of days doing this to draw the wetness out of the camera, I dared put the battery back in.

It worked…

The lens seems fine, with no noticeable blemishes, the body operates fine and its taking photos just as well as it did before going in the water. There was some condensation on the LCD screen that lasted about a week, but that cleared up gradually and now it’s fine.

A couple of test photos, let me know if you notice anything that doesn’t look right (besides technique issues…):

So… if you ever have a camera end up in the drink to the following:

• If not already, turn it off
• Drop the battery/memory card out
• Get as much water out of it as quickly as you can
• Open all compartments (battery, flash, and connector sockets) and leave it in a warm spot, to help evaporate the water.
• Store the camera in a container with rice, pour rice into the container, place a sheet of plastic (like a bag) onto the rice for the camera to sit and seal well
• DO NOT TURN IT ON FOR AT LEAST 3-4 DAYS, be confident its dry before turning it on again

After having such a good week, there’s nothing worse than wondering if your expensive camera will ever be the same again, but be patient.