Sin

N/A

Some great stuff here! Thanks to everybody for the ideas! Got me crackin' up. Keep 'em comin' if ya got 'em! Thanks! Sin Seriously, Sin I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy! PMS Groupie, Hispa #34

That's a good one. I've not heard our tandem masters use that one. Thanks! Sin Seriously, Sin I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy! PMS Groupie, Hispa #34

I'm posting this for a non-dropzone.com/non-internet savvy, veteran tandem instructor buddy of mine. I am a videographer and I jump with him all the time and he has asked me for ideas for some fresh material to use with the tandem students. Any suggestions for some jokes, lines, etc. for him to use with his tandem passengers to relax them and lighten up the mood. He's got a bunch of good ones but he needs something fresh. If you respond please indicate if you minded if someone else used your material. I'm sure there are some good ones out there. Thanks in advance. Sin Seriously, Sin I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy! PMS Groupie, Hispa #34

I'm not sure if this is what you are referring to but the 2kComposites helmets have a ringsight like this. Check out www.2kcomposites or specifically http://www.2kcomposites.com/html/ffx-kitted_leftview.html for a photo. Sin Seriously, Sin I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy! PMS Groupie, Hispa #34

Yep, $860 is correct - I just saw that CDW was now charging $999. I think I enjoyed the benefit of someone's mistake at CDW! I found the CDW price by using www.nextag.com (a pricing web page). It found the link on CDW's site but I did notice that I, at the time, could not go directly to the site and search for that camera. I ordered it before it was available so I guess I just got lucky. Sin Seriously, Sin I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy! PMS Groupie, Hispa #34

I recently received my PC105, which I bought from www.cdw.com for $860 (just a little more than a PC101 would have cost new). You can probably find one a little cheaper now that they are out - I ordered mine before it was available. So far I love the camera. It is slightly smaller and lighter than the PC101 (every bit helps!). I have yet to fly it - waiting for a 2KComposites helmet to come in - although, I have played with it and read through the manual. I wanted to find the best & smallest camera I could and it seems to fit the bill. It's nice and small and has all the bells and whistles to boot! Not that you will use a lot of the bells and whistles for skydive video but I figure if I'm going to buy one I might as well get all the fun stuff too. The PC105 has a 30mm lens thread (Royal-Lenses sells the low profile "Max Cohn" wide angle lenses in this size - I ordered the 0.3x and the 0.5x). The Lanc port is on the right side of the camera just like the PC101 so make sure to allow room in your helmet/enclosure to allow space for the plug - some people that did not do this experienced problems with the plug or the jack itself due to it getting pushed on (with the 2KComposites FFX helmet the camera loads from inside the helmet and there is just enough of a gap to allow the necessary space for the plug. PC105 bells & whistles include Memory Stick Pro slot (up to a Gig of storage), still camera flash (very low profile when not being used), red eye reduction for stills, frame by frame record (for stop animation), & bunch of other stuff. Also, the new remote is soooo small - you could keep in your jump suit pocket if you wanted to and you wouldn't even know it was there. The remote from my PC110 works with the PC105 and vice versa too. Hope this info helps. Sin Seriously, Sin I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy! PMS Groupie, Hispa #34

I totally agree - I, too, keep my head straight looking at the horizon when opening...didn't always, though. Unfortunately, I learned the hard way. I previously used to fly a setup with a PC10 and a Sidewinder and I had gotten riser slaps that knocked off my wide-angle lens twice. So I got into the bad habit of slightly turning my head right and down to get the camera out of the way of the risers. Then I started flying a new setup - a heavier side-mount setup (PC-110 with huge battery side-mounted to a BatRak). I still used my bad habit to try to prevent riser slap damage and that worked fine for a while until that one day that I got that über hard opening and it whipped my head even further forward and slightly to the side. I ruptured a disc in my neck, which required surgery (not fun!). All better now but after that experience and further research (and common sense if you think about it) I have definitely modified my setup. After the surgery recovery period (six months without jumping!) I started flying an external lens mounted system with my camera in a bag around my waist. Pain in the ass to use and lesser quality but it has sufficed for the time. Now going back to helmet mounted system. Going for as light as possible - bought a PC105 which is just slightly lighter and smaller than the PC101, looking at the 2KComposites FFX because the camera installs from the inside which allows it to be more flush to the head (further away from risers and slightly better for weight distribution). FFX is supposed to be pretty light too (I'm sure it's lighter than a BatRak - it was kind of heavy - relatively speaking). Also, going with the new Diamond 0.3x and 0.5x low profile lenses (less likely to be hit and definitely lighter than standard lenses). A couple other things to help are lens coverage protection so even if the riser do hit it, it should be alright. Also, I have always tended to wear my chest strap really tight - I liked a snug rig. Although, this brought the shoulder straps of the harness closer together and closer to my head. Slightly loosening the chest strap gives it a bit better spread giving your head and camera a little more room. Haven't fully put the new system together yet but it's looking good here in the planning stages!! Sin Seriously, Sin I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy! PMS Groupie, Hispa #34

Ok, how about a nice warm case of Milwaukee's Best Ice Light for ya?!? Sin Seriously, Sin Sin Seriously, Sin I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy! PMS Groupie, Hispa #34

I believe I have answered my question. I found a press release (dated May 6, 2003) on the Sony web site for the PC105 and on it was the following contact information: Contact Info: Rosemary Flynn Sony Electronics Inc. Sherrie Weldon The Hoffman Agency (408) 975-3068 Rosemary was out of town and her auto-email-reply indicated to contact Sherrie. Sherrie replied to my email and said that, "Yes, it does have a Lanc port". Cool - so the CamEye II will be able to be used with the PC105...at least according to Sherrie. I would still be more comfortable if I can hold one and see the Lanc port or at least find an image of the PC105 that showed the Lanc port. Of all the images I've seen of this camera it does not clearly show the right side of the camera, which is where I assume the jack is (as with the PC101). Sin Seriously, Sin Sin Seriously, Sin I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy! PMS Groupie, Hispa #34

Does anybody out there know if the new Sony PC105 camera has a Lanc port for use with the CamEye II? Thanks! Sin Sin Seriously, Sin I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy! PMS Groupie, Hispa #34