Newbie video setup

[nite97m 0]

Howdy,

I'm looking to get into flying camera's before too long. I'm working with a couple local jumpers on a plan to use with some portion of my jumps to prepare for my first jumps with camera & wings.

Initially I'm looking to fly FS video, starting with 4-way. I'm looking for a setup that will have flexibility for other disciplines in the future as well, but also something that is relatively simple to start with.

I already picked up a CX150 for primary video so that I can start getting a feel for it and start learning how to use it.

With all that as background, I could use some pointers on what to look for in helmets.

I'm told that side vs. top is mostly a matter of personal preference. Around my DZ, there seems to be a fairly even mix between top & side for the 4-way video setups. I am leaning towards a side-mount setup and preserving top-mount space for taking a stills camera or second video camera on an as-needed basis.

I'm leaning towards the Bonehead "Hells Halo" right now, as what appears to be a good feature to price balance. There does not appear to be a cutaway option on it, however, with just the chinstrap clip, I don't think it would be difficult to get rid of, even under load. Any thoughts?

Thank's in advance for any help!

[OG-Tahiti 0]

Just a newbie myself but from talking with different camera flyers at the DZ you must have a proper cutaway chin cup.

Counting on removing that chinstrap clip during a mal is a no no.

I have also seen a good mix of top / side mount around as well.

As for helmet options I am looking into the Cookie Atomic with their new CX150 cage. Looks like the lowest side profile possible. Anyone knows of something slimmer for a CX150 side mounted?

"Common sense is not so common" - Voltaire
Dudeist Skydiver #9

[nite97m 0]

With a bit more digging, I did find a cutaway option that can be setup with that helmet.

Cookie helmets do look nice, but they also appear to me to have a pretty price tag to them as well - though with the options, and stuff, the bonehead helmet isn't much less...

[DSE 3]

There is no "cheap" when it comes to getting into flying video, not if you want to have quality and be safe.
When you need to cutaway that helmet, how much money do you want to have left in the bank as you find yourself struggling to get rid of the thing connecting your canopy to your head?

The more solid your helmet is, the more solid your video shall be.

[nite97m 0]

I'm not looking specifically for "cheap", however, spending a ton of money on a top end system before I know how I'd be using it doesn't particularly make sense.

Given that there is a cutaway option for the hells halo, are there any other comments on it? I'm operating under the assumption that its would be a stable camera platform, but I don't know enough by far to be able to tell just by looking at it.

Any other suggestions on a good "starter" platform?

[Brains 2]

DSE is certainly the man when it comes to video flying so i would go with whatever he says. I started out trying to find a helmet "to start with" also, i then decided that it wasn't working like i thought so i bought another one. That didn't work like I thought either so i finally went with a Flat Top Pro from bonehead and bought a couple extra top plates in case i wanted to change configurations/camera locations or camera models. I flew tandem vids, FS 4-20 ways, skysurf, freestyle, tracking dives, freefly (head up and HD) and just about anything else you could think of. Except CRW, those people are nuts! Is it more expensive to go that route? No. Only costs more to get started, cheaper overall. I had three helmets when i could have only bought one to start with. There is a reason that all the top video flyers in our sport use large top mount helmets, they WORK

Never look down on someone, unless they are going down on you.