pcalandra

I'm waiting patiently for a Sony HDV cam that records to compact flash! God I hope they don't try to stay with the Memory Stick format.

To be clear, is what you are asking for a single channel video/stereo audio mixer with at least 2 addtional stereo audio inputs?

Thanks for the advice and opinions!

What do think about Parachutist "exclusive first run only" policy for accepting pictures for publication? Unfortunately I didn't realize this until after I submitted a photo I took of a POPS NY State, United States & World Record RW Night jump that was recently completed to both Parachutist and Skydiving Magazine. I was blown away when I was told by our USPA magazine that they wouldn't publish this if Skydiving did too! I don't really care personally about my picture not being in there but the fact that this group won't get recognized properly by USPA really leaves a bad taste in my mouth Any opinions or advice?

I'm pleased with my 10-22mm and with it top mounted the weight is hardly noticable, I don't have a cradle for the lens and haven't had any issues. although that sounds like a good recomendation. By the way I had the Sigma 18mm and this lens is far better in my humple opinion and I really like the ability to have some zoom range. Just started messing with manual focus and it seems like it's going to work out pretty well, although I've had really good results with auto. Pat

We are paying 1.34 for a Maxell DVD, high quality full color ink jet printing and a full sleeve black album in quantities of 100 or less from a local company in the Buffalo area called DPS video. We are also getting CD's with printing for under .50 each I forget the exact cost. Pat

I thought you might be interested in seeing that this has been published in several places. I received the article via an industry news letter called KNews from Digitalmediaonlineinc.com Pat

My recomendation is to buy the Canon 10-22m lens.

Amen, get your shit together, be humble and listen to the advice given.................. It's all fun & games until someone gets hurt! Pat

The moral of this story is? Always carry a spare switch in your jumpsuit pocket. Conceptus is a good company and they make a decent product. Most if us aren't willing or capable of building our own and as far as I'm concerned we are lucky ot have someone interested in providing a lifetime warranty on a fairly small volume item. Stop your whining and buy a spare switch you cheap bastards

It's a shame they quit making that helmet, it was a good value and the full rack has a large amount of real estate to mount stuff. Maybe if enough people ask, they will bring it back into production?????

I'm very happy with my HC-42, although I'd like to upgarde to an HC-90 that has an external mic input so I can use a wirleless mic.

Hey packerboy, I jumped a Canon for about 2 seasons and can tell you it just didn't cut it in the long run............. Intially the video quality was good, I actually thought it produced better color for a while, but it just couldnt'take the abuse we give camcorders. I can buy anything I want at cost (I'm in the Pro AV business) and have no loyalities to any "one" manufacturer. Sont consumer camcorders (to date) are simply the most reliable and cost effective soltuion we have. Maybe that will change someday, but for now I'll keep my Sony thank you

Try Buydig.com, I've had good experiences with them. They may not be the absolute cheapest but if it sounds too good to be true, it almost always is. They are almost always competitive. Pat

Here's one taken from the door of the Otter of me photogaphing my 16 year old son's AFF level4.

I hate to be the one to say this, but if I'm not mistaken you need to finalize it on the same model it was recorded on and because of all the idiosyncrasies of DVD formats you may need the actual DVD recorder that it was originally recorded on. Pat

Nice job! Haveing made my own helmet before I know how much work you must have put into this. Your paint finish and lining look very professional. About how many hours do you think you have into it? Pat

Thanks for the clarification, I was beginning to wonder if I sucked

Chirs, I don't think I've ever seen a ringsite mounted "internally" can you post a picture? Thanks, Pat

I agree, there is no right or wrong suit, it depends on your personal preference, flying abilities and discipline that you are photographing. Obliviously booties won't do much for you if you are free flying. The bottom line for me like most is several suits, then you dress for success based on the skydive. Pat

Thanks of the invight Mike your an awesome photgrapher! Pat

I like mine with booties, mostly the increase in forward speed for me not only on RW but Tandem and AFF as well. I never jumped booties for about 2400 jumps, now I'll never go bootieless if I can avoid it. One issue to consider is that if you sit, roll over, stand up or otherwise fly on moe than your belly pay the extra bucks for the full zippers and ask to have a strap added to around the bottom of your foot. I had several "boottie blow outs" where one would come off and they were not fun! Pat

Don't break the rubber completely off, if it proves to be cumbersome to your mounting just either a drill a hole though it large enough for your plug, or cut just the end with the remote off with a sharp razor blade. That's what I did with my first Digital Rebel and I could even out it back on if needed. On the lens, the kit lens is OK for now. Just make sure that you "DO NOT" set the camera down with any pressure on the lens, even sideways laying your helmet dwon in the plane or wherever. As you have already noticed the lens barrel moves in and out and YOU WILL damage it, take it from experience I gaffer taped for a while then realized all I need was a rubber band around the lens, it works great! Have fun and save your cash for a new lens, I like the Canon 10-22mm. The only down side I can see is if you want to upgrade to a "full" sensor camera later. Personally I can't see the benefit vs. cost of a full sensor in the near future for the average freefall photographer. Pat

I agree Steve, I'm also looking forward to chrissay suggestions and workflow if you could share that it would be greatly appreciated! Pat

Steve, we are not a totally Cesna DZ, we have an Otter BUT all out camera people are expected to do their own edinting however they wish and deliver typically before they get on their next load in the rotation. You'll never edit non-linear faster than linear until they day we are recording to some sort of flash drive or memory and can skip the import. Then the next most important thing for me is exporting in real-time, not having to rely on the computers software codec taking the time to encode then burn to DVD. Linear can look as good or better than non-linear. My personal opinion is (I used to be a video editor) is that all too often most people abuse the "F" out of the effects and it really detracts fromt he actual skydive. How many effects do you see in a movie? Usually none other than fade to/from black and a dissolve or 2. Effects are over rated, give me some quality and creative photography any day. Sorry for the rant, but I had to get it out a slong as we got off topic a little. Lastly, if you take S-video out of your camcorder through a digital mixer or even straight into a DVD recorder, the quality is fine at least until we get into the HD world Pat