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DSE

Camcorder protection

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I've always jumped top mounts and never have used any cover or protection other then a type of retaining strap should the mounting screw bust free, after many years of doing it this way, once the hard boxes came around I could never see a need to cover it that justified the expense. That is once we got into the cameras that were free of tape flutter. Those early 8mm & hi 8 cams were covered in gaffers tape to keep the air out of the seams of the doors and camera body.

With all that said my sonys have had the shit beat out of them and been exposed to all kinds of weather and have always keep on going, only once or twice I have had to dry them out after getting wet, this is one reason I keep using that brand.
you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

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I jump a top mounted still and flash with the pc120 side mounted .I'll have an hc1 top mounted without box as soon as someone can get me some carbon fiber for my top plate? hint hint! :)


A friend will bail you out of jail , a REAL friend will be sitting next to you in the cell slapping your hand saying "DUDE THAT WAS AWSUM " ................

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aw dude, I shoulda read the whole thing first!

I voted the first option only, but after doing that I noticed many others apply to me...

So here it is:

for B.A.S.E. jumping I jump a topmount and a Cookie Box.

Why?
Because it's super clean, sometimes we land in sub-optimal places, sometimes you bump your head on the antenna structure while climbing etc.
It offers protection from that and also enables me to quickly whip the camera out after landing to do better ground video of the next person jumping.

For skydiving I currently jump a sidemount with protection (2KC FF2 Carbon - most probably the best sidemount helmet made yet), altough my 20D sits on top and only sometimes wears a neoprene cover for when there's moisture in the air.

I will change to a top mount however, to allow a wider selection of cameras. (at that point I will be selling one PC330 and one PC1000, so pm me now to get on the waiting list for the PC1000:P)
I won't buy another Cookie box for a camera I'll only skydive with, but since I have an HC5 in a Cookie Box on a flatlock for B.A.S.E., when I move to non-linear editing for tandem videos (then I will sell my other PC1000, so pm me now to get on the waiting list for that one:P:P), I will put a flatlock on a topmount so I can use the HC5 for tandem video.
Since I already have the box and the HC5's off-centre thread makes nice mounting directly on a flatlock a real pain-in-the-ass, I will use the Cookie Box because it makes my life easier.

The DZ I jump at flies a Twin Otter and C182, with 23 and 4 jumper carrying capacity respectively.

Most of our B.A.S.E. exits only have a 2-6 jumper carrying capacity.

Now I'm hijacking this thread to say how awesome Cookie's products are and how great their customer support is....

I had a recent experience with their customer support and they went out of their way to accomodate me.

I will buy more of their products with no hesitation whatsoever!:D:D:D

cya
sam

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I used to jump a topmounted trv25 without protection, tried a cameracondom for a while but hated it so stuck with a L-bracket thingy for my lens and 2 extra velcro straps. It handles jumping, weather, a few not so graceful landings etc just fine, until someone sat on my helmet and trashed the camera >:( The pc2 I jumped after that for a little while had no bracket just the straps.

My sidemounted pc106 has a neoprene jacket, mostly because that camera is way more fragile, plasticky, and also because I got it for free ;)

My topmounted hc5 does have a box, because I could get one for eur 63 (instead of the usual eur 150-200).

My nikon d80 has the rubber camera armor.


ciel bleu,
Saskia

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Top-mount, no protection. Not only do I not see any need for a box, but I find them incredibly limiting. I often need to access a lot of controls that would be covered by a box such as focus, LCD screen, zoom, etc.

On a typical tandem, I use auto focus on the ground, and often use the zoom depending on the shot. On the plane, I often compose shots using the LCD screen because of tight quarters. After my last shot on the plane, I set the focus to manual. Before exiting, I turn the camera on to record using the button on the camera, and turn it to standby after opening. On the ground, I switch the camera to auto-focus, and usually zoom in on the tandem pair in the air. All this would be a PITA if I had a box covering all those controls.

FYI, I usually jump Otters with occasional Casas, and rarely a 206. I have used this set-up with a TRV-900, a TRV-38, and an HVR-A1U.

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I mostly jump from 206 cargo door, sometimes otter, porter whatever.
Started with Topmount a year ago. No protection for the camcorder (pc330/pc1000) and for the still-cam eos20 now eos40.
Flash mounted on the front of ftp no protection either.

I thought about protection, but no problems so far, just be aware of the sutff on your head and you will not hit it.
Only concern is extremely wet conditions, i.e. rain or ice (which never occurs, because we do not jump in these conditions!!)

alex

--
www.tandemmaster.net
www.skydivegear.de

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I think the investment of a hardbox will extend your camera's lifetime a good amount. No matter what plane you exit from. I know that riser slaps can take out sidemounted camera's anytime (it even cracked my helmet's fibreglass open once). Another time someone knocked the helmet out of my hands by accident and I was lucky to have a hardbox. Now I'm going for topmount HC5 with a fully closed box to minimize humidity exposure. Padding on the inside of the box is not a bad idea either.
I think every good cameraflyer tries to treat his equipement like a fragile lady (but prepares her for a hard bangin' once and a while).
B|

All speeding past collide and crashing, I'm in paradise.

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Get head out over the strut till after you get out of the airflow and the door starts to fly again, your getting bashed by the door dropping when you block the airflow over the door, with head out in front of the strut your rig will take the hit and not your helmet and cameras.
you can't pay for kids schoolin' with love of skydiving! ~ Airtwardo

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I jump a side mount and have hard protection for my camcorder.

My motivation for this setup though was not in the least bit related to protecting the camera. I jump an FF2 which at the time of purchase I considered to offer the best snag protection of any camera helmet on the market. That's why I went for a helmet setup with hard camera protection... the protection that hard shell offers however was simply ancillary to the fact it also protects me from line-snags.

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See here:

It works well but you need a slow opening canopy which does not suprise you!

Problems I see:

1. Too much wight in the front, but with the flash attached like this the cams need to be that much to the front because otherwise I would see the flash in every picture.

2. Flash mounted vertically vs. still-cam mounted horizontally. But this f*** Flash can not be twisted in this position :-(

3. A little unflexible. I would like to have a setup where I could use 2 or 3 quick-release adaptors which could move all around the base-plate without tools required.


Regarding protection:
Every housing would make it difficult to access still/video/flash settings. I find it important to being able to reach every control if it is needed....
Again, it surprises me every time, but even in wet conditions I did not have problems

alex

--
www.tandemmaster.net
www.skydivegear.de

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My Pc1000 has a dbox, my HC5 has nothing. Both get top-mounted on an FTP. Sometimes I fly both at the same time, side by side.

When I find that I'm flying the HC5 more often, I'll put it in a box, but right now I don't see a big market for HD video on the DZ. Nobody's got BlueRay players, there's no HD YouTube, etc.

_Am
__

You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

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