IT'S not often ExecTech dons a wetsuit and plunges off a boat into the cruel, deep ocean to test a consumer-oriented, waterproof camcorder.
But to film wild dolphins with Panasonic's rather unusual offering, the HX-WA30 full HD camcorder, we braved the waters in Gulf St Vincent off the Adelaide coast.
After gulping litres of cold, salty South Australian seawater, I can testify that the WA30 is a hardy $399 consumer camcorder that's probably hardier than me.
It's simple to operate with one hand, even when you are desperately trying to keep the other hand firmly holding a line attached to a speeding tourist boat chasing dolphin pods.
I was sceptical about the WA30 - why bother in the water with a camcorder that you hold when there are wearable hands-free alternatives such as the GoPro, Contour or Looxcie?
You hold the WA30 like a police speed gun; it even looks a bit like one. It's this style of operation that makes it useful for shooting your own Jacques Cousteau-style underwater adventures.
The WA30 has an unusual combination of features: it's waterproof to 10m and shockproof - you can drop it from a height of 1.5m - and it's freeze-proof to minus 10C, and dustproof. It's also WiFi capable. That lets you do several things.
First, you can remotely control the camera from a nearby smartphone through a direct WiFi link. You need to install the Panasonic Image app for iPhone and Android devices for this to happen. The camera becomes a WiFi hotspot that the phone joins. You also can stream media from the camera to a smartphone and tablet.
Joining the camcorder to your home network lets you stream video directly to a network-connected television or display using a DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) connection. Unfortunately, high-resolution video wouldn't play smoothly and kept buffering on our TV.
Generally, the WA30 is easy to operate. Pressing buttons to shoot video, stills and to zoom can be done easily with your thumb while gripping it in one hand. Your thumb also can just reach another set of buttons that switches it on and off, chooses record or play mode, and triggers "intelligent auto" shooting - a preprogrammed mode.
My only gripe in the ocean was having to open the viewfinder to start shooting. You can close it once filming is under way.
The camcorder shoots full HD 1920x1080 video and if you want slow motion it can shoot up to 480 frames per second in lower 320x180 pixel resolution. It takes 16 megapixel stills and can capture bursts of 12 separate 3 megapixel stills in 1.2 seconds.
Access to the battery, SD card slot, microUSB and mini HDMI is through a single waterproof sealed door protected by a dual lock system. You need to open both locks to access these ports and conspicuous red strips appear as a safety measure if either is unlocked.
When buying a waterproof-shockproof camera, you need to read the manual to learn how to care for it. In the WA30's case, you must soak the camcorder in fresh water for up to 10 minutes within an hour of underwater use and the camera's seal should be changed annually.
You don't dry it with a hot-air blow dryer and you can't film in water over 35C, so forget about using it in the spa or the bath.
There's also the curious issue of copyright. Page 50 of the manual says you are licensed to record and create media with the camera "for personal entertainment only" and non-commercial activity.
This is despite you owning the camera and shooting the vision. This is not Panasonic's doing; rather, it's a copyright limitation imposed by the licensing of CODECS used during recording and playback. So you can't sell your footage to the National Geographic channel, it seems. Otherwise you'll probably be up for royalties.
