Camera setup: a few questions

[georgerussia 0]

Just hit my 200 jumps milestone, and preparing to jump with camera. Checking the forum, got (probably) the right equipment - rawa helmet, sony DCR HC30, wide angle lens, obviously no stills yet. Have some questions setting everything up (tried search with no luck).

1. I've got a Rawa Imagem camera helmet with Rawa d-box. Looks like the camera is not attached to d-box itself, you just put it there, and close it with the provided screw. Is it correct, or did I miss anything?

2. What camera settings need to be changed? I have set white balance to "outdoors", focus to "manual - infinite", remote to "off". Anything else I miss?

3. Anybody has experience to install Bonehead helmet cutaway system on Rawa? I saw somebody in review mentioned that you have to drill the rivet, but it would be nice to ask someone who did it for details. BTW, is it necessary for a new camera flyer, or would it be better to wait until I have more jumps?

Thank you in advance.

* Don't pray for me if you wanna help - just send me a check. *

[Mostly_Harmless 0]

1. Yes I believe the camera just sits in there, the box should hold it pretty well.

2. For setup on my camera I did the following:
-With wide angle lens installed I let the camera focus on something about 3 feet away and turned off auto focus.
-There is a program menu that I set to sports.
-I set the white balance to outdoor.

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[Cacophony 0]

I have 1900 camera jumps and have always left my white balance on "Auto". Works just fine.

Yes, with RAWA boxes the camera just sits in the box. As long as the box is built for the camera it will fit nice and snug. A cutaway system is not essential so long as you can get the helmet off your head really fast under tension. For example, some of the slightly older helmet manufacturers thought it was a good idea to use a chin cup and another strap below that. That makes it virtually impossible to get off quickly. You should be able to undo one side of the chincup quickly as long as you practice it. Do it as much as your cutaway and reserve handles. Cutting away your helmet should now be thought of as part of your emergency procedures. Obviously if you can get a cutaway system installed, that will always be the better option.

Just set your focus to infinity. It will work fine in just about all situations.

[PhreeZone 15]

Using single element glass like the Diamond, Liquid, etc type lens will not correctly focus while on infinity. You will need to dial those lenses in on manual focus.

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[georgerussia 0]

Thank you everybody. The only question left is how to find a spot on my googles to put a dot, so I can see what I'm shooting? If the camera box is closed, you cannot see where it points. And if the box is open, the camera is not fixed...

* Don't pray for me if you wanna help - just send me a check. *

[Cacophony 0]

Quote

Thank you everybody. The only question left is how to find a spot on my googles to put a dot, so I can see what I'm shooting? If the camera box is closed, you cannot see where it points. And if the box is open, the camera is not fixed...

That is the tough question. I usually just open the box and hold the camera tight against the inside. That way I can look through the viewfinder and help them get it centered. Its not rocket surgery, but its a brain.

[PhreeZone 15]

Depending on the location of the plugs I've had great success in just outputting to a TV and using that to center things. Also using Quades memory overlay JPG will save you a TON of effort.

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And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[masher 1]

Quote

Depending on the location of the plugs I've had great success in just outputting to a TV and using that to center things. Also using Quades memory overlay JPG will save you a TON of effort.

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=658350

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