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ahod28

Dslr with tonfly helmet.

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If you can pick up any of the Sony Alpha mirrorless range in the "inexpensive" bracket, then they are good ones to go for. Small, compact, great quality. Otherwise, any Canon dslr from the last quite a few years will likely do the trick.

Switches - choose your preferred type: tongue, bite or blow.

Several brands to choose from, the very common and well known Conceptus ones (tongue or bite), or you can get other ones from other people like Sky Switches (tongue), or Exit Equipment, or Ultimate Blow Switch, to name but a few. Prices I'm sure will differ between each brand/type.

If you go with a non-Canon camera, and a Conceptus switch, then you'll need an adapter to convert the switch's connector to your camera's connector, as Conceptus ones only come in 2.5mm. Again, the likes of Sky Switches make those adaptors.

Can't comment on lens, other than I know a lot of people use a 15 or 16mm "pancake" lens with the Sony alphas range...
Sky Switches - Affordable stills camera tongue switches and conversion adaptors, supporting various brands of camera (Canon, Sony, Nikon, Panasonic).

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I shoot with a Nikon D7000, Nikon D810, and Nikon D4 depending on what I am shooting. I love my wide angle lens 10-24 for the D7000 and my 12-24mm for my full frames. I also own primes. What will you be shooting? I own the Tonfly 3x and the Tonfly CC2.

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I've got a Tonfly 2.5x. If you don't want to go the mirrorless route (if you do, Sony's NEX-series, a6000 and a6300 are excellent), I'd suggest a Nikon D5300 with 18-55mm lens. This setup served me well before I moved on to a D7200 and D750 with more expensive lenses.

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ahod28

Currently own a nikon d70 but it's a little heavy and I heard that you have to splice some wires in order to attach a tongue switch for nikons. Looking to get a 2x with a Canon sl1. Just gonna shoot for fun right now.



If the Nikon camera in question uses the MC-DC2 connector then I know some of the brands above make switches directly for that camera, so no splicing cables required on your part. I know first hand that Sky Switches (i.e. me) make switches using the Nikon MC-DC2 connector, or adaptors for using the MC-DC2 connector with a 2.5mm switch.
Sky Switches - Affordable stills camera tongue switches and conversion adaptors, supporting various brands of camera (Canon, Sony, Nikon, Panasonic).

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What sort of mount do you use to get the a6000 far forward enough on your cc 2.5 so that you don't get the helmet in the shot? Are you top mounting it? I had to switch from a heavier canon because of a neck injury and haven't mounted my a6000 yet. Thanks!

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I'll talk a little about Sony lenses, I'm not an expert by any means but I've done my homework and have some relevant experience with the Sony6000 and 6300.

You can think of a lens and camera as equal partners. Put a shoddy lens on a $2K camera and you get crap pics, put a $1k lens on a shoddy camera and you get crap pics.

If you are going to get a $1k camera, you should be expecting to be in the $500+ range of lenses to do it justice. Otherwise, get a cheaper camera.

The Sony NEX/A5000 and 6000+ range of cameras are great for serious hobbyist or entry (NEX/5000) or mid/high (6000/6300/6500) level real camera flyer. Very high end start using things like Black Magic Designs micro cinema and whatnot. I know this isn't lenses but it puts you in the price range.

As for lenses, the GoPro equivalent is going to be about 17mm, with these small mm sizes, a couple mm makes a big difference. I use a 19mm lens and it is considerably narrower FOV than a 17. 10mm is "ultra wide/fisheye."

Now there are some differences between APS-C sensors (all the cameras I mentioned) and full frame, but since you are asking this question I'm assuming you aren't going to be into full frame cameras ($$$). So everything I'm talking about relates to APS-C. It is also relevant for video and stills.

If you go the Sony mirrorless route (mirrorless really is nicer for almost everyone) then the 16mm pancake lens is pretty popular. You basically end up with a bad ass GoPro. If you aren't flying super tight, 19mm might be good for you.

This 16mm Pancake is pretty popular and produces some nice images. It is appropriate for the NEX and about the cheapest lens you should consider putting on a A6000/6300/6500.

If you are going to get a A6000/6300/6500, to really get the bang for your buck this 10-18mm lens makes some amazing photos.

If you don't want to spend that kind of money on a lens, and like the idea of the 16mm pancake, you should probably mate it with a NEX/A5000 camera, then you get the camera and lens for about the same price as a A6000.

Kit lenses generally suck, just buy a camera without a lens, then get the lens you want.

In summary, good mates:

Sony NEX/A5000 and the 16mm pancake.

Sony A6000+ and the 10-18mm.

If you think you might upgrade to the 10-18mm lens at some point you can save some cash by getting a A6000 rather than a 6300 or 6500 and I've seen photos from that combo, 100% professional magazine cover quality.

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Just to add a little clarification on the lens focal length of a GoPro versus a Mirrorless camera...

As you mentioned, the GoPro 35mm equivalent (the standard to compare focal lengths against) is about 16mm, however the 35mm equivalent of a 16mm lens for the cameras you have listed is 24mm (with an APS-C sensor crop factor of 1.5). To be closer in range of the GoPro FOV you would actually need about a 10mm lens... That being said, I like the FOV of the 16mm on the Sony mirrorless cameras.

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If you want to match the gopro focal length without buying the 10-18mm, you could get the ultra wide converter for the 16mm. If you want to shoot video, the a6300 with the 16/20mm pancake lens and the uwc is an awesome combination. Keith Creedy shoots that combination (I believe 16mm with the uwc) and loves the extra glass causing lens flares for video. I believe he used it almost exclusively in his video San Andreas.

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Thank you. This is what I was after. I have been filming tandems for several years with a canon t40 and 10-20mm f28 lense that I loved, but had a motorcycle accident and spine surgery, so downsizing my video setup under duress. I usually am in the 12-14mm range unless I am filming inexperienced 4 way where I prefer to back off enough to keep everyone in my peripheral vision.I definitely have had my eye on the 10-18 sony, but will pick up the 16mm pancake until I know how my neck handles this setup. The10-18 was heavy, but I am with you in that if I buy a good camera I shouldn't use a shitty lens. Thanks again.

Have you seen any creative ways to mount those a6000's far forward enough to not pick up the helmet in the photo with a pancake lense?

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I haven't done exhaustive testing, but I find the Sony 16 2.8 to be a little sharper than the much more expensive, much heavier 10-18. I have both and they're both great lenses, but at least in the center, my 16 is noticeably (although slightly) sharper. I like having the 10-18 for occasional very wide shooting, but the 16 is my choice for just about everything. It's a little disappointing considering the price of the 10-18. I have an a5100 and an a6500.

Dave

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So if you are shooting video you can get away with a cheaper lens and it isn't very noticeable unless you are recording above 1080. The 16mm pancake is pretty good for that. For stills it is decent, but there is a lot of room for improvement, at least in my experience.

As for the mount, I haven't tried it but I remember seeing on here somewhere that someone basically put shims (plastic I think) under their mount to raise the front a cm or so. If you just have a little bit of helmet in your shot that might do it without moving the center of your frame too much out of what you are use to. How bad is it?

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pilotdave

I haven't done exhaustive testing, but I find the Sony 16 2.8 to be a little sharper than the much more expensive, much heavier 10-18. I have both and they're both great lenses, but at least in the center, my 16 is noticeably (although slightly) sharper. I like having the 10-18 for occasional very wide shooting, but the 16 is my choice for just about everything. It's a little disappointing considering the price of the 10-18. I have an a5100 and an a6500.

Dave



I'd be interested to see some of your best 16mm shots, it is a nice lens but I'd be surprised to see it beat the 10-18mm just from my own experience, but I'm a amature so it could my own deficiency and the 10-18 is just a crutch. Also I think I must have an iron neck, I don't even really notice my camera during deployment, but I also don't have a high top mount style helmet so that might be making a big difference.

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Examples (with varying degrees of editing)...

16mm:

[inline 2016-06-04_skydive_cpi_0420-X2.jpg]

[inline 2016-07-02_skydive_jumptown_0712-X2.jpg]

[inline 2016-10-16_skydive_cpi_0039-X2.jpg]

[inline 2016-08-13_skydive_cpi_0389-X2.jpg]

[inline 2017-02-18_skydive_cpi_0468-X3.jpg]

10-18:

[inline 2016-09-17_skydive_cpi_0154-X2.jpg]

[inline 2016-05-22_skydive_cpi_0462-X2.jpg]

[inline 2016-05-28_skydive_cpi_0239-X2.jpg]

Dave

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Oh yeah, the color quality is really nice, even considering editing, and on a 5100 it looks like. Hard to tell a difference at 1280x854 in sharpness between the 16 and 10-18. Do you notice a difference between them at 6000x4000?

(I guess I should mention I have a 27" (5120 x 2880) Retina display so that could skew my perception some).

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Anachronist

You can think of a lens and camera as equal partners. Put a shoddy lens on a $2K camera and you get crap pics, put a $1k lens on a shoddy camera and you get crap pics.



Give me a shoddy camera and a $1k lens that fits, and I'll show you the best pic you've ever saw. . .

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