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tigepigeon

student with a GoPro Camera

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first off why did that guy call me a troll?

I didn't mean to come of as a dbag about the whole camera deal. but if you strap a go pro with a chest strap...is it really going to effect free fall or can it distract you that much since you can not aim the thing?



He called you a "troll" because your question was so naive that it looked like someone intentionally pretending to be ridiculous.

At your jump level, you don't need to be distracted by a camera on your chest strap. It could interfere with your concentration on your jump, or with pulling your handles. Save it for later.

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Do you think you can ignore right after opening and not "Geek the Camera"?

That moment in time you need to be doing a bit of air space clearing and Canopy Controlability checking.

Wait till you have 200 jumps, since your in the US.
Build up your over all skills then add this to your kit bag of stuff.

Matt
An Instructors first concern is student safety.
So, start being safe, first!!!

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There you go, tigepigeon - three people with a total of 14,000 jumps just recommended you hold off on that until you have more experience. That sounds like a good reason for someone with six jumps to heed their advice.

I understand where you are because I tried the same thing myself as a student. I hung a camera on my chest strap and stuffed it down inside my jump suit, hoping to get some canopy photos. My instructor quickly discovered it on my gear check, and explained how it could float up out of my jump suit and start smacking me in the face, or tangle with something while it's tethered to me. It was removed, and a hundred jumps later, when I was ready, I got the photos I wanted (attached).

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first off why did that guy call me a troll?

I didn't mean to come of as a dbag about the whole camera deal. but if you strap a go pro with a chest strap...is it really going to effect free fall or can it distract you that much since you can not aim the thing?



Read the top two posts here (they're stickies so they are always the top two)
http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?forum=7;
"Where troubles melt like lemon drops, away above the chimney tops, that's where you'll find me" Dorothy

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In a way you're correct in that a Go Pro mounted (flush) on your chest strap is physically no bigger deal than having a radio mounted in the same place. The thing is, it may distract you, and it's simply not an acceptable practice when it comes to student skydivers. And if, god forbid, anything happened to you (whether camera related or not) the Instructor and the DZO that allowed you to wear the camera would be hung out to dry!

Note to Instructors: Early on in my teaching career I found a small film camera in a student's jumpsuit pocket during a gear check. I asked, "What's that for?" And the answer was, "So once my parachute opens I can take a few snaps on the way down." Needless to say I semi-frisked all my students after that. Students just don't naturally think it's a big deal. Even when you mention in class to remove everything from their pockets. I even found a bag of weed in one student's pocket right before boarding the plane. It was apparent the student wasn't under the influence but, "Here, hold this," is how the conversation at the manifest window began . . .

NickD :)

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... and a hundred jumps later, when I was ready, I got the photos I wanted (attached).



John, you just didn't hide the camera well enough!

Attached are pictures I took when I had something in the range of 15-25 jumps. It was one of those "Disc" cameras that had just been introduced, so it was really flat and easy to hide in my jumpsuit.

I remember one of my instructors raising an eyebrow when I showed him the T-10 picture a week later, but I was good enough at canopy control that he wasn't too worried.

(I know, I'm being a bad influence here, but there is a huge difference between a still camera being pulled out under canopy for 15 seconds versus a video camera being worn during freefall.)

It's kinda scary though isn't it? How we both had the same idea and our pictures look the same?

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It's kinda scary though isn't it? How we both had the same idea and our pictures look the same?



Yes, that's remarkable. I thought for a minute there this was a joke and you had just copied my own photos. Wow.

And the problem we then both discovered is that the lens isn't wide enough to get a shot of the entire canopy over your head, from your viewpoint underneath. Oh well...

It looks like we started jumping around the same time, during the days when student jumps were on T-10's, and then you had a transition period of 75-100 jumps on a Paracommander, before you were trusted on one of them there new-fangled high-performance ram-air thingees.

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Check this out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNagyr19c44. it is a BASE jump but distraction still applies. These guys are very experienced.
Target jumper over-rotated and camera dude got it all in frame.
So let us do some math here. about 3000 jumps betwixt them (BASE and Skydiving). Target jumper made a mistake by over-rotating, just for the sake clarity we value him at 1500 jumps. Camera dude 1500 jumps freaks out on target jumpers mistake and almost forgets to pull. So take your amount of jumps as a percentage of 1500 jumps. So let us say that you have 150 jumps. that would equate to 10% of those guys in the vid. Cam dude opened at 15ft let us say. So, lets convert this to skydiving. 100%-10% = 90%. and we throw 10factor in. Ahhh screw it we do a 20. So 20 times 15ft times 90% =270skydiving-ft. and if you notice on the vid, the guy does have a radio. But he got everything in frame and did not let the radio distract him.
Not meaning to be a jerk, but I have been distracted doing video also. Being distracted for a few seconds is all that it takes.
Strapping on that cam can make you feel like Stanley Kubrik and make you think that you can get the uktimate shot framed (all the way to impact), oh, you probably have an AAD so you should be ok with landing a 2 out downplane situation, in the forest at sunset, next to a brothel.
Take care,
space

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Ok I do admit I should have searched ‘students with cameras’ before posting.

I tried to search how many jumps are recommended before jumping with a wakeboard to swoop a lake and catch up with a boat in tow with a rider holding onto an extra handle to pass after a cut away. Then a couple inverts to calm the stress, and then release the board bindings and increase boat speed to 46 mph to jump off the board for a 100’ bare foot pass then hook into my boat towline and pull my reserve for a relaxing para-sailing
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cruise around the lake.

I tried keywords: lake, wakeboard, dumba$$, ‘please kick this guy off’, ‘he wont last for long’ ‘why am I reading this tread’

But nothing came up

I joke I joke….but I know you guys with hundreds + jumps felt about the same when you first got addicted and keep getting blown out each weekend. Its hard withdraws when you cant stop thinking about jumping again!!!

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... and a hundred jumps later, when I was ready, I got the photos I wanted (attached).



John, you just didn't hide the camera well enough!

Attached are pictures I took when I had something in the range of 15-25 jumps. It was one of those "Disc" cameras that had just been introduced, so it was really flat and easy to hide in my jumpsuit.

I remember one of my instructors raising an eyebrow when I showed him the T-10 picture a week later, but I was good enough at canopy control that he wasn't too worried.

(I know, I'm being a bad influence here, but there is a huge difference between a still camera being pulled out under canopy for 15 seconds versus a video camera being worn during freefall.)

It's kinda scary though isn't it? How we both had the same idea and our pictures look the same?



Hell I was taking some great shots of a C-9 opening with my Nikonis on a military helicopter static line water jump.. I think I had about 9 jumps total.

It was proof that the C-9 opened from the top down:)

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And the problem we then both discovered is that the lens isn't wide enough to get a shot of the entire canopy over your head, from your viewpoint underneath. Oh well...



And thats when it started.
Get a smaler canopy or wider lens?
Smaler canopy :P

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I have no idea why you (you know who you are) all feel the need to be a bunch of dinks and shit all over a new student who's curious and excited for the sport. Way to support the growth of the sport...morons.

There...I said what the rest of DZ.com has been thinking for eons. I know none of you would say the same things to someone's face, so why be an asshole hiding behind your computer screen?

Have some f-ing respect...
"When once you have tasted flight..."

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Since I use my name in my user/screen name, no hiding needed.

I am an Asshole, certified, ask around.

I have said similar words in my post to peoples face sand would tell you the same if the situation applied (in this case it does not).

I take my signature line very seriously. Again ask around.

Matt
An Instructors first concern is student safety.
So, start being safe, first!!!

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Your post was one of the more informative ones posted...far from the worst. I just don't understand why people need to call troll, need to be smart asses, jerks etc... A NEW jumper asked a question, for which he had no better idea on if it was possible or a stupid question or who knows.

A simple, "sorry dude, as per the USPA, you must have 200 jumps to jump a camera. I know the GoPro is bit different, but it can actually cause many problems. It could snag a line on your canopy, you could be distracted with it and lose track of altitude....etc etc..."

I don't know this person from a hole in the ground, but this is a daily occurrence on DZ.com. If you're tired of people asking "troll like" questions, fucking ignore them...don't shit on someone who has no idea why you're pissed off, calling them a troll, making smart assed comments.

I'm just tired of people needing to express how much of an asshole they can be. I guarantee...that if a student walked up to any person who commented in this thread in person and asked if they can help him mount a go pro to his helmet, their approach would be horribly different.
"When once you have tasted flight..."

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