Free Fly Camera Safety

[beatcreation 0]

All

Am I insane to start jumping with a camcorder soon? I'm currently around 130 jumps and I am looking into getting a HC 5 and top mount it to a smooth contoured helmet. I would be closer to 160 by the time I have every thing purchased and ready to go. I don't plan to use a sight. I just want something to record my jumps for now and I don't really care whats in frame at any given moment.

[pilotdave 0]

Probably not insane but uninformed. Read the sticky post at the top of this forum. 130 or 160 jumps is very early to be jumping a camera. 200 is the generally recommended minimum, but I'd consider it a very bare minimum. To me, 500 is a bit more reasonable, but I know that it is physically impossible to wait that long these days. You might not care what's in frame now, but you will after about 2 camera jumps and it will change the way you fly and take your attention. It just happens, whether you want it to or not.

Dave

[DSE 3]

Quote

I just want something to record my jumps for now and I don't really care whats in frame at any given moment.

Ironic...I heard a guy say this exact thing yesterday, when he was assembling his first camera helmet and I'd asked him about jump #'s. He has 162....He was only interested in seeing how it felt and what he might capture, but the camera was "just on my head, I'm not worrying about where I look."

Well, on jump 163, he was following his friend, who was on a perfect course for a nasty downwinder. Both of them turned 180's at around 150', one of them pulled it off, but the guy with the camera didn't. He landed on his knees (wearing shorts) in gravel/dirt, had enough momentum to fly back up after hitting/bouncing, and landed flat on his back. We thought for sure we were gonna be calling a lil red truck with flashy lites. His camera got dirt in it, rig is filthy/filled with dirt, he's got bloody legs and probably a sprained ankle.
But he wasn't going to be looking anywhere for the camera either.

I've come to the conclusion that most of us started wearing a camera way too early, and learned a lot of things along the way that cause us to look back and wonder how we got out of it OK. IMO, wearing a camera is the most dangerous thing you'll ever do in skydiving, as it alters your mental, physical, and emotional self during the jump.
Be careful out there, get some coaching from someone who has been flying a camera for a while.

[Trevor 0]

I started jumping camera on my 187th jump. I was current, well trained, and wasn't jumping a ring-sight. Wearing that camera made that skydive much more fun. Our 3-way jumped out of a UH-1 Huey over cosmopolitan Fort Polk, Louisiana.

We did some great RW for the camera, all within frame. As I set up for landing I thought the video would really be better with a few spirals at altitude- nothing crazy- but part of my attention was on my video, and I turned too low and had to save my life with my toggles. I pounded into the ground and rolled my ankle pretty badly. I was lucky I only got to limp around for a week instead of worse- and that happened more than a few times on the road to 500 jumps.

Cameras, Wingsuits, Spaceballs, Skyboards, and other objects add distraction to jumps. Cameras in particular can really steal you attention when one is fiddling with it before exit instead of dirt diving or rehearsing emergency procedures.

I always told myself that wearing a camera and getting feedback as a newbie jumper would make me a better skydiver sooner...in reality I needed to become a better skydiver to wear a camera sooner.

[beowulf 1]

I started jumping with a camera at jump 435. I think that was a reasonable number to start with, 500 would have been better. On my first jump I realized right away how much of a distraction having a camera on my head was. The video sucked and I was too busy dealing with the camera to even pay much attention to my flying. The more jumps you have with out a camera the easier it will be for you to deal with the added distraction of a camera and the better your footage will be. Cameras don't lie they tell you just how much you suck or how good you are. It's much better to wait and work on you skills.

[Foster 0]

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All

Am I insane to start jumping with a camcorder soon? I'm currently around 130 jumps and I am looking into getting a HC 5 and top mount it to a smooth contoured helmet. I would be closer to 160 by the time I have every thing purchased and ready to go. I don't plan to use a sight. I just want something to record my jumps for now and I don't really care whats in frame at any given moment.

I'll post because I just started flying camera and have low numbers unlike all the other repliers to your thread.

Wait until next season to mount a camera on yer head, dude. I know its just a small little piece of gear and it really doesnt seem like it will add much to the skydive but it really does. 19 jumps at summerfest over a two weekend time period I forgot to hit record until I was in freefall for 3 maybe 4 jumps. And I have at least 50 video jumps now.

It really does change your skydives and I'm not just talking about the first 10 or so with the camera. Expect to be treated differently on your skydive as well... some people wont jump with you, some people will jump ALL over you because of it. Get video of someone that they like... expect them to beg you for it until you dont want to see that person anymore.

It really isnt just the addition of the camera that makes it more dangerous, there are also a lot of other little things that you just cant anticipate and that I'd not considered until I encountered them with a camera on my own head.

[VideoFly 0]

In spite of the many words of warning, cameras seem to be becoming standard equipment on the helmets of young skydivers. Looking at this from another perspective, it seems like some of those skydivers are thrilled to get video memories of their jump and their friends are also thrilled to see themselves on film. These are normal reactions. With a fair number of video jumps behind me, it is rare that I see myself on film, and when I do, it’s really cool to me too. In respect to flying skills, my concern is that while for young jumpers mediocre video is still really cool documentation of their jumps, as the camera becomes standard on all jumps, flying skills may fail to improve. In other words, when one becomes satisfied with focusing on haphazard photography, the improvement of flying skills seems to become delayed. In those cases, young jumpers wearing cameras may actually slow their progression toward masterful flying. In turn, later in their jumping careers, when skydivers could have had opportunities to become great flyers, they may still be floundering, thus, cheating themselves out of the rewards of ever making great videos. Ultimately, this trend can easily lead to more overconfident, but unprepared flyers in the air.

Concerning your personal safety and the safety of those around you, read the threads, take the advice of more advanced flyers, and be careful. When the unexpected occurs with an inexperienced camera flyer on a jump, life gets real interesting fast. When the expected occurs with experienced camera flyers life too, gets real interesting real fast. The difference is, experienced video people have a greater chance of safely overcoming such hurdles.