Handy cam (hand mount tandem videos)

[darkvapor 0]

I'm sure the perspective is very cool. I've seen some amazing BASE jump videos with a similar contraption.

However, something like that only adds risks. If it's a smooth jump with a good passenger, then this thing will probably have a good safety record. However, what happens when you have a mal? Or you have to fight your passenger? It's also a huge snag hazard... Lines.. risers.. handles and cords.. I think most TM's would rather have both of their hands completely free when dealing in an emergency situation. It doesn't look like there is a quick release system with it. And anyone who has taken off gloves knows it takes a few seconds, usually with the help of your other hand..

Attached is a picture of this contraption.

[gus 1]

Is this really replacing camera flyers? I can see that it would give a nice angle and getting some footage under canopy is a great idea but there's so much you can't do with it.

Gus

OutpatientsOnline.com

[freeflysurf500 0]

Is anyone doing Handy cam in the states.
In Australia it has become very popular.
(For those who don,t know,a tandem master is wearing a glove that hold a video camera, with a very wide lens.)
The freefall fotage isn,t bad, but under canopy is excellent.
As a tandem Master you are required to have 500 tandems before using this system.
It is great for owners of d.z. 'cause they can fill the plane of tandems and not camera flyers.
Sadly though camera persons are getting axed of there job
Just wanted to know who is using it

edited to clarify the subject of the thread....SM1

[lazyfrog 0]

I've seen people from Skydive Interlaken using that.

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Fumer tue, péter pue
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ourson #10, Mosquito Uno, CBT 579

[skydivejersey 0]

You do get some nice angles and the whole canopy section makes for some nice stuff however you loose the whole bigger picture. Shots of the view / plane etc. Its a selfish video, would be nice in conjunction with a standard vid.

[mccordia 73]

Is there a special lens, or would the video be tilted 90 degrees...the way the camera is setup looks like it would be tilted when shooting....

JC
FlyLikeBrick
I'm an Athlete?

[skydivejersey 0]

I think they have 2 models - the lying down one and then the standing up one but you are supposed to start with the lying down one to practice.

[freeflysurf500 0]

There are a few different ways of setting it up on the glove. I have one that is standing up and is tilted 45% so it is naturally pointing at us, the subjects.
The lens very wide and captures from about our head to the chest.
I have 9000 jumps total, of which6000 are tandem jumps of which 150 are handy cam and I found it very easy, just like flying a big altimeter.(oh and by the way--I am a female tandem master)
We also film the landings as well.
There has already been cutaways with the handy cam and all went as normal so I have heard.

We sell d.v.d to our custmers edited on i MOVIE and at the end is a slide show (stills ) of there jump
They can download from these.
The d.v.d is supreme quaility and lasts forever.
So put away your video tapes, and go d.v.d
I am also a camera flyer and miss not doing this now , however, I get paid for the tandem and the handy cam on one jump.
So on one jums I can make good money.

Go fast and take chances

[SkymonkeyONE 3]

I totally missed this thread because by all rights it ought to be in "photography and video", but I will interject this:

Rob Warner (RiggerRob on here) makes them in Canada if you are not interested in ordering one from Australia. Beezy Shaw at Precision Aerodynamics regularly makes a KILLING using one in his one-man tandem owner/user gig he has at Chris's DZ. I have seen the videos he does and they are brilliant. If you have the right lens (a Diamond .3) and a good technique, then you can do no wrong. Beezy gets everything in his videos and he gets all the money for doing his own stuff. Very, very smart in my opinion.

Rob has patterns for PC-9's and IP-5's.

Chuck

[bunge 0]

one of the jumpmasters at Skydive Jersey Shore was shooting handycam this summer. He spent the winter in New Zeland and got hookd on handy cam there.

this is how the DZ promotes both video products....http://www.skydivejerseyshore.com/video.htm

BUNGE

I don't hate them, I just like us better.

[diablopilot 2]

My take on Hand Cams w/ Tandems:

I've got over 500 Tandem Jumps.

I've Jumped a Hand Cam.

Would I do it every time? No.

Why? Two reasons.

1) We (the industry and instructors) have spent so much time, money, and effort trying to simplify and make safer the act of tandem skydiving I can see no reason to complicate it unnecessarily by putting a big ass hook on my hand. Bill Booth spent a huge amount of money and skull sweat to make the only Tandem rig I will jump anymore. Am I really arrogant enough to then decide I can increase the complexity of the skydive? Nope. Not saying I'll never do it again, but it will never be a "standard" option to my Tandem Jumps.

2) I do video as do many people trying to make a living in the industry. I want them and myself to still have a job. Downsizing affects the rest of the world. Don't let it on your DZ!

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You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

[freeflysurf500 0]

Well, here's the deal.
I am pleased to hear from people who have tried it rather than people who have not, let alone peolple who are NOT even Tandem masters.
However, Your point is how unsafe it is and next minute you are going to do it again in the future but not everytime, ssoooooo , now you are going to be uncurrent at handy cam when you do it , huh. well I,ll be damned.
I think of it this way.
When doing traditional video, you wear cameras on your helmet, THIS is a snag risk.

There is risk, that I agree, however for my experience level (6000) tandem jumps I fell comfortable with it.
Blue skies

[diablopilot 2]

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However, Your point is how unsafe it is and next minute you are going to do it again in the future but not everytime, ssoooooo , now you are going to be uncurrent at handy cam when you do it , huh. well I,ll be damned.

I supose that did sound wishy-washy even though it's sound logic in my mind.

I may or may not jump it again in the future, depending on student, weather, objective of the jump, if I've jumped with that student before, why I want the shot, the color of rain in Spain.......

but what I do not want to see is me being forced into jumping with one becaus of DZ profit motives.

I would like to keep all the videographers working, and don't want to be passed over becuse the DZ will use someone willing to sacrafice saftey to make an extra buck.

If you feel safe jumping one, who am I to say you shouldn't (you have far more tandems than I). In another 1000 tandems I may feel differently.

I have another beef. When you get that unpredictable, flailing, fetal, grabby, puke prone, student that takes all you've got to keep flying on heading and deploy without too many line twists, what happens to your framing? When the product does not turn out, then what?

I like the angle and shot, just not the risk. I've always thought a belly cam mounted on the student would be cool, but I don't think I'd be able to get many DZO's to go along with that.

As for my camera helmet being a snag risk I've got two points to make:

1) it's my problem when I'm doing video. It never involves the student. I won't be compemising their saftey if I have an entanglement.

2) If I have an entanglement (knock on wood) I have my full abilities to deal with it, unencumbered by 200lbs of stupid on the front, 50lbs of shit on the back, a P/C in tow, and 5 or 6 handles.

Have fun, see you out there sometime!

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You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

[riggerrob 561]

Bill Booth spent a huge amount of money and skull sweat to make the only Tandem rig I will jump anymore. Am I really arrogant enough to then decide I can increase the complexity of the skydive? Nope.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Funny, when I showed a hand-mount to Bill Booth, he said "Cool!"
Ted Strong called a couple of months later to buy a hand mount from me.
Beezy Shaw is making sizeable piles of cash with the hand-mount I sewed for him.
Now the Golden Knights tandem section is bugging me to send them a hand-mount, etc.

I had 2,500 tandem jumps before I ever tried jumping with a camera strapped to my hand and was amazed at how quick the learning curve was, far quicker than learning to fly a helmet-mounted camera.
My fifth and seventh students surprised me when they INSISTED on purchasing the video.

Jumping with a hand-mounted camera is the same as jumping with any other camera: saving your own life has got to be second nature.
Hee! Hee!

Maybe hand-mounted cameras are really toys for multi-thousand jump TIs who are bored with the basics. Rather than scaring us with front-loops out the door, we can shift their focus to a camera ...

As for the flailing student: he is going to get shoddy video and it will be his fault, just be sure to include a few seconds of his flailing legs.

In the long run, I see hand-mounted video primarily as a week-day tool on Cessna DZs, when we are chronically short of staff. As soon as we crank up the King Air on weekends, we have plenty of part-time outside videographers.

[diablopilot 2]

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Funny, when I showed a hand-mount to Bill Booth, he said "Cool!"

And did Bill (or the USPA) then come up with any requirements about experience level needed to use one? If there are none in place what is to stop a overly profit eager DZO from "requiring" even the greenest TM from using one?

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Now the Golden Knights tandem section is bugging me to send them a hand-mount, etc.

And while I apreciate the skill these guys have, they are most definately not an example our civilian counterparts should follow.

I've not had any problem with one when I've jumped it.

I also have not had a malfunction that resulted in a cutaway in more than 2300 jumps.

When everything goes right it's all good.

When the shit hits the fan, I don't want the added issue of having a camera on my hand combined with an out of control student, and a wildly spinning malfunction.

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Beezy Shaw is making sizeable piles of cash with the hand-mount I sewed for him.

Beezy is a friend of mine, but profit should never be a factor in a decision that involves saftey. Maybe he does not see it as a saftey issue the same way I do. He probably has a hell of a lot more tandems than I do.

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In the long run, I see hand-mounted video primarily as a week-day tool on Cessna DZs, when we are chronically short of staff. As soon as we crank up the King Air on weekends, we have plenty of part-time outside videographers.

I just hope this remains true. I'd hate to see less work out there for Videographers (who are often instructors themselves rotating into another slot).

Again, don't let the "downsizing" phenomena on your DZ.

BTW what do you charge for the ones you make? I may want one.

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You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

[riggerrob 561]

BTW what do you charge for the ones you make? I may want one.