They are Sanyo units, Panasonic acquired them.
Doesn't say standard Micro USB, but looks like it?
http://www.ixbt.com/divideo/panasonic-hx-wa30/06big.jpg
I used to shoot the blog with a HD-1010, and I liked the gun form factor.
It seems you can charge it with USB and the the battery is the exact form factor as my Pentax WS80, so in the worst case, i'll only need one charger for the two.
The exchange rate is really good at the moment, so yes stuff is very cheap. It's been a rollercoaster. Back in 2007 it was 225 yen/£, so I was a globe trotting playboy snorting wasabi out of 10,000 yen notes. Then around 2011 it was down 125 yen/£ so I was a poor binbonen living in a tent city and eating only Yoshinoa beef bowl. Now it's back up to 170 yen/£ I'm fairly affluent again.
As for waterproof... Try asking "bousui desu ka". I can't post the kanji for it on this forum but they usually use fairly obvious icons on the box for that kind of thing.
When are you going? I'll be there next month if you a hand.
I'll be there in 1 week for 3 weeks with wife and baby... So if I start meeting/talking to another geek about the merits of 60/40 solder, I might not make it back alive... But thanks for the offer!
Is there a good place to get a soldering station? Or is that not a good idea with the 100V standard?
Here is a list of stuff i plan/hope to get (as an excuse to wander about):
- Video cam.
- Second hand Canon 5D Mk2 (long time dream).
- Micrometer and Calipers (Mitutoyo or similar - second hand)
- Compact soldering station (even crappy ones are expensive in Belgium).
- One of those small signing stick things. This is really useful because I sometimes have to sign 200+ pages of homework...
- A English/Japanese dictionary (big one to take home - I'm a sucker for paper).
- Books that show step by stem wood construction methods (furniture, small architecture).
- High end drafting pencils (again, non existent in Belgium, my main Staedler is more than 15 years old and needs replacing)
- Kitchen stuff...
- Etc.
I 'll go with a partly empty bag, and try to bring back nice stuff that's hard to get elsewhere. Mostly non touristy stuff.
But it's an excuse to wander about, not an objective (apart from the Video cam)