fish eye/wide shot lens

[MADPROPS 0]

how much do you really need a fish eye lens or a wide shot lens ??

if i was gong to get a cam that i was planing on using for sky diving later would i really need need it ??

and over all what should i be looking for in a cam

live and let live

[RossDagley 0]

Yes you need a wide lens pretty much.

Presuming your talking about video not stills, generally a .5 or a .3 is the ticket. .5 works well for tandems and allows you to keep some distance - .3 works well for close freefly. A .2 works well for docked freefly and inside VRW. Ge more than 10 ft away and you'll see nothing though. This is all my personal experience = YMMV.

[ArmyMedic 0]

I use a 10mm for stills when flying tandems...adds a GREAT curved earth effect

"This is better than sex, and cheaper too!"

[MADPROPS 0]

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Yes you need a wide lens pretty much.

Presuming your talking about video not stills, generally a .5 or a .3 is the ticket. .5 works well for tandems and allows you to keep some distance - .3 works well for close freefly. A .2 works well for docked freefly and inside VRW. Ge more than 10 ft away and you'll see nothing though. This is all my personal experience = YMMV.

so i know your going to say not to cheap out but what is the cheapest cam i can get new that would work for starting out. that can havea fish eye put on it. and where would i go about getting one???

live and let live

[Jumpah 0]

Check out the Kenko .43. You can find them for like $60 I think.

[RossDagley 0]

Look for an older model Sony - something like a PC109. They're still ideal for most types of general skydiving and are slim enough to sidemount.

I would strongly advise against getting an eBay lens for it - the lens is a large snag factor when it protrudes from the front of the helmet by a few inches - you'll either loose the lens and ruin the thread of the camera if you're lucky or have a linewrap if you're not. If it was me, I'd be looking to remove as many possible snag factors on my head as possible - not add them.

Scrimp a little on the camera if you need to (get a PC109 not a PC1000 for example) - but get a slim lens - a Cookie lens is a fine example (as is Royal etc).

[MacTim 0]

Why would you get a PC109 instead of e PC1000?

//Tim

[RossDagley 0]

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Why would you get a PC109 instead of e PC1000?

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so i know your going to say not to cheap out but what is the cheapest cam i can get new that would work for starting out. that can havea fish eye put on it. and where would i go about getting one???