Anachronist 2 #1 April 12, 2015 Looking to take a step up from action cams to shoot some video. Fun jumping only. Looking for something that is good quality but user friendly. Any suggestions for something that beats a GoPro but won't break the bank? Feel free to impart all of your Sky God Video knowledge, I don't know much about cameras. :) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DSE 3 #2 April 12, 2015 User-friendly...Blackmagic Pocket Cam. For small format profile and quality, ease of use, it cannot be beaten. However...it does require good flying skill, as it's not an autofocus camera. Are you up for that? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Anachronist 2 #3 April 12, 2015 My flying skills are pretty average. I've got about 400 jumps and mostly wingsuit. The lack of autofocus seems a little scary. I would like to have decent image quality on one jump from 5 to 50 feet so that up close shots look good as well a getting the whole flock, deployments, and canopy flight. I checked out the Blackmagic Pocket Cam and it looks nice, especially the display interface screen. At least at this point camera isn't the primary focus of my jumps. I'm still a bit of an action camera style jumper in the sense I just want to turn it on in the plane and if I catch some good shots great, if not, oh well. Maybe something that would fit that bill but give me something to grow into? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zlew 0 #4 April 12, 2015 5 to 50 feet is a big range. Have you thought about 2 cameras? GoPro and similar are great for the 5 foot portion... then something with a longer focal length for the 50 footers? Beauty of the gopro/sony is they are so small it's almost like they aren't there. Wouldn't be hard to do something like DSE suggested plus an action cam. The BOSS sony cams have great quality, and can adjust the focal length to your desire. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Anachronist 2 #5 April 12, 2015 Yeah that makes sense. GoPro footage is great for the up close stuff but drops off quickly at any distance. A two camera setup may be the way to go. For the longer range Sony Handycam or Blackmagic type, what is important regarding being able to use a tongue switch and having an indicator? I get the impression from some other threads that those may become obsolete due to changing cameras. Also I poked around Sony's website and some of the camera's mentioned appear to be obsolete (like within the last year or two) or just not available in the US? i.e. CX410 and CX430, on Sony's website they only mention a 405 and 440. Are they basically the same thing just slightly different model numbers, or are there real differences between them? Like would the same mounting bracket or box work for all of the CX400s or is the outside also different, not just internals? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zlew 0 #6 April 12, 2015 I really like having an indicator of some sort, but there are plenty of people who go without them. It also may depend on what you are shooting. For me shooting team stuff and maybe tandems...it is really important to be 100% sure the cameras are running. For fun jumps...doesn't necessarily matter as much. I am running hypeyes and Turned Ons now. For the sony handi cams- You may need to look at older cameras, as thew newest line is not compatible with the Hypeye indicator. That's why you still see a lot of cx 100/150s out there. The 430s you can still find, and are compatible. DSE- what about a sony handi cam with the IS on? Is that narrow enough of a field of view for what he's looking for? Could run 2 action cameras with the remotes if that was the case. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
