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Cashmanimal

New Camera Set-Up

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Hey everybody, sorry for another, "I need your opinion on stuff I already bought" thread, but, here it is.

I Had many talks with videographer/photographers that new me, and they think I have the abilities to start flying a camera, I wanted to be sure of that. SO, after flying a friends' a couple of times, I ordered my own stuff, so I can start flying a camera from time to time, since I can tell I am going to love it.

After reading (very limited) reviews on the Bonehead Zeus, I decided to go with that. I didn't think it would be secure with just the chin strap, but once i saw a picture of how it sits on the head, it looks like it will be fine for the cameras I will have.

Does anybody have any NEW opinions on the Zeus (Other than it is ugly? Which is your opinion, of course)? I realize there is a dedicated thread for that, so, sorry....

BUT, I also wanted to know how well these components work: The universal mounting plate, from bonehead, as well as the "L-bracket." Being as how all the cameramen at my DZ all fly FTP's and FTN's, I haven't had too many chances to see these in action, and when I did, I didn't really pay attention.

LASTLY, any tips for mounting this stuff? Unfortunately, I am a poor college student, so my only tools will be an electric drill, a handfull of bits, and an assortment of washers I bought from Lowe's, assuming those would make sense in the assembly. Any additional parts you would suggest before all this stuff arrives, so I am ready for it? (I have no car... I can only bum a ride so often!)

Thanks a lot for your help, everybody. I appreciate your patience/suggestions on a thread that has probably been posted thousands of times before. (Especially since I just took three previously existing threads and consolidated them solely for the purpose of my inability to find the other three every time i want them.)
It's all fun and until someone loses an eye... then it's just a game to find the eye

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Please talk to the local mentors about how you want to mount it. Do you want ot go top mount or side mount? What are their arguements on both. Talk to Adam out at SMN since he has a ton of experience with Bonehead gear and can help you set the helmet up correctly the first time with out drilling excess holes in it.
Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

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Yeah, I had a pretty long talk with Adam about it. (As a side note-- i recently moved from NM out to Hollister, CA, but I still talk to him on pretty much a daily basis)

The conclusion we came to would be to just set the helmet up for top mount video AND still, interchangeable. Which in theory should be pretty easy with that top mount... but I just wasn't sure how sturdy that thing will be. I didn't want to compromise the structural integrity of it by adding additional holes, if needed, for both cameras to be able to attach.

Unfortunately, he hasn't used the universal top mount, since he is always flying his FTP all crazy customed-out, in typical Adam style.

Thanks for the input.. another thing to consider doing out here.
It's all fun and until someone loses an eye... then it's just a game to find the eye

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Okay, it came in, and I got it all assembled, got to jump it... I love it! Unfortunately, the universal top mount won't be in til friday... but the bite switch came, so, stills will be a possibility in the future!

A quick review: The helmet is EXTREMELY light. Almost to hte point where the camera seems especially heavy, but the cheek (guards?) help keep the helmet very secure, I don't feel like I am in any danger of losing the helmet on an opening.

The only problem is, if somebody wants to take a picture of ME, it's kinda hard to smile without looking like somebody who just had their wisdom teeth out. Other than that, this is a great helmet as far as I can tell. I am extremely happy with my purchase.

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m41/terminalvelocity120/IMG_9301.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m41/terminalvelocity120/IMG_9308.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m41/terminalvelocity120/IMG_9299.jpg
It's all fun and until someone loses an eye... then it's just a game to find the eye

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yeah... that's a bit of a gamble I took.

Basically, what it came down to was funding. I found this lens on Ebay for $30. I figured i would give it a whirl before committing to something like a Liquid lens, which would cost around $100 more.

As far as cutting it away goes.... well, I just hope that I can grab that buckle, if the need arises, and muster the strength to open/break it... or, possibly it will fail. Once again, another downside to low-budget entry-level stuff?...

I don't ever really plan on flying still and video at the same time with this helmet, so hopefully that will minimize the snag risks and such.
It's all fun and until someone loses an eye... then it's just a game to find the eye

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As far as cutting it away goes.... well, I just hope that I can grab that buckle, if the need arises, and muster the strength to open/break it... or, possibly it will fail..

don't count on it. check my video on Skydivingmovies called : Helmet entanglement. HERE
I had :
-snagpoints (which succesfully snagged)
-no cutaway on the helmet
scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM

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To be honest you have some dangerous thinking going on. Shit happens all the time.

Having snag points, no cutaway, large lens, low experience, I can't die attitude etc, individually wouldn't be much but together add up to a potential pyramid of disaster.

I don't usually reply to these type of post but you need to wake up and smell the coffee.

Camera flying should never be on the cheap. I have lost 2 lenses which also happened to take of the front housing of my camera. The cost of repair far outweighed my "cheap" lens.

The list goes on and on............ take a step back, seek advice, review what your doing and then if you still think "it's all good" then carry on, after we are all adults and your decision is just that....yours.

Safe jumping.

Bryn
Journey not destination.....

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I can't die attitude etc, individually wouldn't be much but together add up to a potential pyramid of disaster.

I don't usually reply to these type of post but you need to wake up and smell the coffee.



Whoah... I never at any point had that attitude. Not since I got serious about doing this. I DID have that attitude when I first got into the sport. I didn't think a camera would be anything more than a slightly heavier helmet.

Fortunately, most of the people I jump with are extremely experienced camera fliers. I had many, many long talks with them about my abilities, the dangers, changes, etc. It's hard to convey through a forum, but I am not a person to just grab some shotty equipment and go start using it. I am fully aware that my jump number and time in the sport doesn't seem like enough to some to start doing this, which is why posting here is a risk. But I have had many people guide me through this process, all of them very knowledgeable, and very straight-forward.

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Close the gaps around the L-bracket. Take a line and drag it all over the helmet, anywhere that it snags you need to eliminate that snag point. Gaffers tape works great for closing the holes.



It's funny that you posted that... right before I hopped on to check this forum, I had JUST finished doing that, literally, my fingers are still a little sticky. Thanks for the pointer though, I hadn't thought of dragging a line over it... just figure all the fun, jutting, pointy-edged should probably be a little smoother... look like it will work great now!

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Why did you go for the zeus?



Originally, I was going to go with the Optik Illusion. However, after seeing a picture of how the Zeus sat on the head, I decided I really like it. It looked a little less cumbersome, and also looked like it would work just as well for single camera-flying as the Illusion, since I don't plan on flying both at the same time. SO, yes, it came down to $$ again. My mentality as a college student is, I can accomplish the same goal with the Zeus as the Optik Illusion, but for $100 less. (And yes, I have been shopping used set-ups for a long time, nothing ever came along that worked for me) (I consider shopping for a long time about 6 weeks... sorry if that doesn't meet other people's standards)



LASTLY... as far as cutting it away goes, I obviously can't give a much better answer than I already did. I am fully aware of that risk, and it is one that I am accepting. I am not the only person in the sport using a helmet with no cutaway system, so perhaps there will be more developments towards this. Like I said... all I can do is hope if I have to get rid of it, something plays in my favor. There is about a 1-inch gap of strap of strap, if it came to it and I (Hopefully) had time, I would go to town on it with a hook knife. I don't know. I am trying to play worst case scenario/best case solution here. Obviously, the bottom line is, I have no cutaway system, and am assuming that risk.


Side Note: I called Bonehead and they said it would be possible to add one of their chin cups to this helmet, and further mods. That is definitely and option down the road, when I have the time to invest in making it all operate correctly.
It's all fun and until someone loses an eye... then it's just a game to find the eye

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... all I can do is hope if I have to get rid of it, something plays in my favor.



Well, you did ask for advice. My first advice would be to re-read what you just wrote very carefuly. To say you "hope something plays in your favor" is a pretty cavalier way to address emergency situations. Particularly with multiple new things to deal with (new to skydiving, new to camera flying, a new helmet set-up). Others have mentioned (repeatedly) that you have a set-up that has snag points on it. Dragging a line over your helmet is good advice, but it doesn't guarantee that your helmet and lines can't tangle (make a simple loop over your lens and you could pick your whole helmet assembly up. What if your head is still in the helmet?)

YOU NEED A PLAN TO DEAL WITH THIS!!! It is just like any other emergency procedure. You have a plan, and you practice the plan. Can you take your helmet off in a hurry? If you can't, I'd leave it on the ground. It may suck to throw a couple thousand dollars worth of equipment away, but it sucks worse to die. I do not have a cutaway system on my camera helmet, but I do practice releasing it and jettisoning it every day I jump.

Here is my abbreviated emergency procedure:

1. Cutaway.

2. Look and/or sweep over my head to ensure nothing is attached.

3. If something is attached, release the helmet.

4. Pull my reserve ripcord.

Note that there are two additional steps, and that these things take more time than a non-camera person's emergency procedures. This is one reason camera flyers often open higher. Note also that they require that you do not have an RSL connected.

PLEASE, for your sake and the sake of our sport, you must have a plan, and you must practice it. People have died because of camera entanglements.

My too sense.

P.S. Hot glue can work well to fill in depressions and snag points.

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Yeah, that's a good point that was brought up yesterday when a student at the DZ asked me why I didn't jump with and RSL, and it was for that reason that I had just disconnected it.

I did in fact practice taking the helmet off, just to see if it was possible. I had my roommate pull up as hard as he could on the helmet and then i tried to take it off. I could, but just as predicted, it was very hard, and nowhere near te force that a tangled canopy would be putting on it.

I have full intentions of ordering a chin cup as well as a cutaway for this system in the near futures.
It's all fun and until someone loses an eye... then it's just a game to find the eye

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JC Colclasure, arguably one of the best camera flyers in the world, had a serious entanglement not long ago that before he could complete his cutaway sequence (Wes Rich helmet), his camera had been completely ripped off the helmet and spun him around very, very hard. He's a huge monster of a guy, weighing around 240 or so, and strong as an ox. He's also got thousands and thousands of jumps.
Point is, if he struggled with an entanglement on a helmet made for safety, what makes you think you could manage one without a cutaway system? Add to the "very very hard" with spinning and earth approaching...I'd be cautious about jumping it, myself.
All it takes is once, and if you're not completely sure of a stable deployment each and every time... At 3 times the jump numbers of you, I'm not sure of a stable deployment every time, and once in a while get a bit of a slap on my FTP.

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Saw J.C. today at Perris. He's going strong and doing great. :)
Had a bit of a scare today, myself. No, no entanglement, but it -could- have developed that way if I hadn't been able to read (through my body) what was going on and take -immediate- action to correct it (and know what to do if it didn't clear).

Today was our annual "James Martin Memorial Rumbleseat Meet" at Perris. 4 jumps (10-way speed star). 2 out of the Otter, 1 out of the SkyVan, and 1 out of the JET!

On load 4 I was very happy to have a bit of extra cushion of time for deployment (team broke early because we'd build the formation in great time and had some time to play). I pulled about 1,000' higher than normal just 'cause I could...

I felt my canopy launch and then spin up. I was immediately on my risers to counter (without having to look up). It was an aggressive spin (with line twists) but because of quick timing it rotated out fairly fast (with me facing the ground, horizontal).

Then the canopy started to spin up the -other- way! Again, launching me horizontal. WTF? I again countered, knowing it wasn't a tension knot if it went both ways. Once I had the line twists out (again) I countered with one riser to keep it from twisting (though it was still turning with me close to horizontal) and released -both- toggles. The canopy shuttered. The spin stopped.

I inspected my main, both visually and with a canopy control check. Everything fine.

However, if it wouldn't have panned out with a straight flying canopy, I would have had to make an -instant- decision. Were the risers crossed close enough to my camera helmet to cause an entanglement when I cutaway, or would the risers clear? Which to do first? Helmet or canopy?

Only experience (and I admit that 2,000 camera jumps may not have been enough to deduce it correctly, were it to keep line-twisting up) saved everything today. I was very glad to have had an extra cushion of air while everything transpired.

Not saying they don't, but IMHO most new jumpers just may not have the instant needed response to a cutaway situation when a camera helmet is involved. Time in the air is the best teacher, without adding another step to the puzzle.

Just a little story about today.... Thought I'd share.

ltdiver

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

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