How many jumps before camera work?

[groove75 0]

I hope this is in the right forum, but I'm just curious as a new jumper, how many jumps did you guys have before worrying about mounting camera's on your helmet and doing camera work? I'm certainly too new to be worrying about that anytime soon, but I'd like a general opinion so I can have something to look forward to. Thanks.

[jdhill 0]

Do a search... you will find lots of opinions... I started w/ ~400... IMO you need enough to be very comfortable in the air and under canopy, numbers may vary... at least able to get a D license (USPA) (maybe a C under the new requirements).

You may also want to read quade's article on the topic.

J

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

[quade 3]

First and foremost, you should be at least a pretty competant skydiver before strapping a camera on your head. I don't mean that you need to know how to crank 20 points, but you should at least be able to fly your body to anywhere in a formation and HOLD IT without side-sliding or back-sliding around the sky. If you can't control your body in flight, then ---YOU--- are the biggest danger.

You'll also want to be a fairly competant parachutist. If you can't manage consistant, accurate, stand-up landings in no wind conditions, then you sure as heck shouldn't be putting extra gear on your head to snap your neck when you biff in.

I would recommend you hold a USPA D license or your country's equivilent.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[lazyfrog 0]

in many places in europe the "legal" minimum is 200, seen people starting at 60, not a good idea.
The most important IMHO is not to think about the images you'll bring back, but your flying with others outside a formation... and you have to do it safely... Little by little the images will be better
I started at something like 250

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

[Alo1 0]

In Canada the CSPA recommends 500 jumps and a C licence. I believe that recommendation came out the same time the Licensing Structure was modernized (CSPA 2000).
Nowadays 500 jumps for a person serious about getting involved with the commercial side of skydiving seems reasonable(imho).
There are also some restrictions on who can jump with novices...a Coach I is required to observe anyone with less than an A license (C.O.P to any canucks reading this)

[mr2mk1g 10]

england you must have C licence which is 200 jumps and two freefall qualifications (eg an RW qual and an FF qual).

Anything less than that and the camera is simply an in-fligh recorder and snag hazzard (IMO)

[jimmytavino 16]

for me,,,, I had 1700+ jumps,,,, of course
I had most of them,,, way before video cameras were even invented!!!!!!!!! jmy

...." Hey can I get a Dub of That"......
edited to add my favorite dropzone quote.??..

[StefB 0]

I had 380.

Bye
Stefan

[webracer 0]

There are two issues to this question...
1.) How experienced until you can safely and effectively fly a camera. ANSWER: I say around 500 jumps.
2.) How experienced until you will actually get hired (even part time) to fly camera for 4-way, tandem, bigways, etc.... ANSWER: For paid work, such as tandem video, this depends partly on your ability, partly on your seniority. At my DZ, most of the working camera flyers have 4000 plus jumps, of which more than 2000 camera jumps is normal. Getting into 4-way is easier, usually you can get your slot covered, but you better get a camera suit so you have a chance to get close and not end up in the jump. Bigways will require the most experience & seniority. Lots is at stake (alot of jump tickets).
Hope this answers your question.

Troy

I am now free to exercise my downward mobility.

[slayer21016 2]

The earlier you get started the better. i had 100 jumps. and trying to gauge a skydivers ability by jump numbers is a bad way to go about things, if you feel comfortable with the added responsibility get started as soon as you feel ready and don't let others tell you your not ready only you know that. and remember videography/photography is a discipline by it's self.

[indyz 1]

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don't let others tell you your not ready only you know that.

Bullshit. Jumpers who choose ignore the opinions and advice of more experienced jumpers tend to get hurt or worse.

[jimmytavino 16]

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don't let others tell you your not ready only you know that.

Bullshit. Jumpers who choose ignore the opinions and advice of more experienced jumpers tend to get hurt or worse.

........ Yeah......'what HE said'
confidence is one thing,,, but,,,
... Arrogance mixed with " a little experience " can result in never getting the opportunity to gain,,
" a LOT of experience..."........
..

[RevJim 0]

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don't let others tell you your not ready only you know that.

Bullshit. Jumpers who choose ignore the opinions and advice of more experienced jumpers tend to get hurt or worse.

And jumpers that listen to and follow the advice and opinions of more experienced jumpers get hurt or worse.

It's skydiving, shit happens.

No matter what you are thinking about doing, the final decision is up to you.

RW, VRW, CRW, Style, Accuracy, swooping, photography, ect.

They all can hurt you, or worse.

Whatever you choose to do, research it. Ask alot of questions. Take in all opinions. Then, after all that, MAKE YOUR OWN DECISIONS.

I read about all the reccomendations about 200 jumps, and now Quade says he thinks you should have a USPA D lisense or the equivilent. Well, that's 500 jumps. By 500 jumps (hell, by 150) most jumpers have found their niche, and have settled into it. Adding a camera then adds a distraction.

I started at 100 jumps, exactly, after reading everthing I could get my hands on, on the subject. It wasn't a distraction to me, it was a focus point. Something to work on, to excel at. I'm not great, yet, but I made the right decision.

I read, I weighed options, then I made my own decision.

Make your own, but make sure you make it educated.

I, for one, would not change a thing I have done.

It's your life, live it!
Karma
RB#684 "Corcho", ASK#60, Muff#3520, NCB#398, NHDZ#4, C-33989, DG#1

[ltdiver 3]

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It's skydiving, shit happens.

While I agree that unfortunate things -do- happen in this sport (and stick around for many more years and you'll see more than you ever want to), being prepared in both education on the ground -and- in the air, is of -primary- importance.

The risk here is that young "teenage" skydivers think that they 'know it all' and put themselves at risk, and in places that they never should be. We've all done it in our growing up years (look back at some of the shit we did as teenagers in high school and I think you'll remember).

We thought our parents were morons and that we knew what life was all about. Well, looking back (now) we realize that perhaps 'dad' wasn't all that stupid. He actually HAD lived life and figured it out. We would have been much wiser young adults if we had sat down at his knee and learned what he already knew. Instead of running off and getting into a shit load of trouble on our own.

While, this probably didn't get us killed (this running off 1/2 cocked in our youth), it COULD get you killed in this sport.

PLEASE be patient with adding camera to your set-up. There is MUCHO time to do this in the future. What is the need to rush it?! Develop yourself. Enjoy the learning curve. Don't box yourself in and perhaps put yourself in a corner that you can't dig yourself out of. Putting others at risk, not only yourself.

ltdiver

Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon

[slayer21016 2]

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Jumpers who choose to ignore the opinions and advice of more experienced jumpers tend to get hurt or worse.

And the number of posts you've made on this forum doesn't mean you know how to skydive or that you should be giving advice to others. i have over 2000 video jumps and i feel that gives me more of a right to dish out what i think is good advise. you talk about skydiving on the ground and learn in the air. Ok lets just say that from now on you do 500 solo jumps before you start any skydiving discipline or you need 500 jumps to post here. like that would fly very far with anybody. every body has a learning curve some a lot faster than others and there are DZ's out there that have no videographers and need them so should they suffer with a "you need a 100, 300 or 500 jump number" it's just a number and means nothing in the real world of skydiving, hands on experience does. if you want to play with numbers become a mathematician if you want to become a good videographer skydive hard.

Get well soon
Scott

[brenthutch 388]

Develop your flying skills first. I had over 1500 jumps before I started flying camera. While I agree that most of the photography aspects can be learned on the ground by reading and talking to others, you cannot read about how to fly your body. If that were true I would have skipped those hours in the wind tunnel and the skills camps to curl up with a good book on 4 way.
BTW, I have to take exception to the comment “By 500 jumps (hell, by 150) most jumpers have found their niche” How does being able to fly your body without thinking about it somehow create a distraction? When I shoot video all I think about is the shot I don’t have to think about how to get there. I agree that some, maybe even most skydivers do settle in to a favorite discipline, but they can change at any time. It just takes some humility. And the skills they have developed in the mean time can hardly be considered a distraction. That is one of the beauties of our sport.

[jimmytavino 16]

[quade 3]

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I read about all the recommendations about 200 jumps, and now Quade says he thinks you should have a USPA D license or the equivalent. Well, that's 500 jumps.

Let me clarify a couple of points.

When I wrote my recommendations a couple of years ago the minimum jump numbers for a USPA D license were 200.

In responding to the original post in this thread I foolishly copied and pasted from my on-line recommendation without checking the calendar.

The USPA SIM Section 6-8: Camera flying recommendations reflects my current feelings of a minimum of 200 jumps and a USPA C License.

I will change my on-line recommedations to reflect this as quickly as I can get home tonight and do it.

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By 500 jumps (hell, by 150) most jumpers have found their niche, and have settled into it. Adding a camera then adds a distraction.

That's kind of the entire point.

When a jumper adds camera it's a huge distraction. It really doesn't matter if it's a simple side-mount or "bullet" camera. It's a distraction. The jumper had better be well versed in the techniques and procedures regarding the type of flying involved because otherwise the jumper is dangerous not only to himself, but to others around him.

Jump numbers and licenses in and of themselves do not tell the entire story, but should be looked upon as a minimum requirement.

There are people with far more jumping experience than these minimal requirements that I would never recommend jumping camera.

Edited to add . . .

One final thing I think is sort of worth mentioning here -- maturity -- both in the sport and in life.

Flying camera can be a lot of fun. It can be playful and joyful. It can be mean, hurtful and humiliating.

Yesterday I saw some video of a friend of mine. He had been singled out on a big-way for going low. The video had to be shot and it had to be shown, but I felt pretty bad about it because it just looked mean and humiliating. I'm not saying that the shooter that took the video did anything all that wrong, but damn that had to hurt.

A couple of weekends ago I was unfortunately reminded that this is a very serious sport. This was the second time in my short camera flying career that I took the last photograph of someone alive.

Think about the reasons you want to fly camera and do it for the joy.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[Chivo 0]

As many ppl recomend here, I had about 180 jumps when I purchased my camera and about 220 when I ordered my helmet. I started jumping it last weekend, at 240 jumps.

I wanted to video for fun. I was in no hurry to do it, so, even if I felt I had the skill to do it earlier, I also believed that this recomendations were there for my safety - and those jumping with me.

~Chivo

[riggerrob 558]

Maybe the key point in this thread is "concentrate on one new skill at a time."