freefallcrab

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Everything posted by freefallcrab

  1. Hey James - since I converted from Windows laptops to my MacBook Pro I have had a LOT of difficulty importing video into iMovie. If I dont hook up and switch on the laptop, camera, open iMovie in exactly the right order I dont get a download. Sometimes it takes a long time for it all to come together and when I started I gave up too quickly - now I just leave it for 30 seconds or so and the camera is eventually recognised. Are you talking about plugging a USB memory stick straight into a USB slot or putting a memory card into a card reader, then plugging the card reader into the Mac? Use your wings Johnny....
  2. Thanks DSE - I have very recently upgraded to Mtn Lion but not had a chance to process any skydiving video through it yet. There are a couple of other threads on this but your last post pretty much covers it. Use your wings Johnny....
  3. Having got my skydiving video into iMovie 11 and able to edit it, I thought I would post how I managed that in case someone else has the same problems and does a search of the forums. This is what works for me with a CX105E and iMovie 11 on a MacBook Pro: Switch the camera on (I called the video up on the camera screen). Open iMovie and start a new project. Connect the camera to the computer using a USB socket on the computer and the output socket on the camera control panel that is available when the screen is open. When prompted on the camera screen, tell it where the 'video' is (memory stick or internal memory). IMovie will then 'read' available files and you can select which one you want to download. And away you go :) Hope this helps someone. Use your wings Johnny....
  4. This has developed in to an interesting and thought provoking thread - keep it coming. Personal experience is 2 precautionary bailouts but from safe altitudes and no dramas. Many many times have I been squashed up so tight on full loads that I have found it difficult to unbuckle under normal conditions never mind a rapid egress. Curious about AFF students (having not done AFF myself). What is the brief for them? Not much discussion so far about the JM role although it has been covered implicitly. There are lots of JMs out there with relatively low jump numbers and the fact that they are JM means they are probably the most experienced on the load - could prove interesting. I think this thread still have life in it - I hope others agree. Use your wings Johnny....
  5. Thanks jumpnRN, I will check it out. Use your wings Johnny....
  6. Do you have it zoomed in - this will make any other issues even worse. Use your wings Johnny....
  7. Got the transfer working, thanks DSE. Man, this version of iMovie is clunky compared to earlier versions - it took me another half hour of forum searching how to do a stills grab (menu item on earlier version, not so in v11). Better get used to it I guess.... Use your wings Johnny....
  8. Thanks guys, and thanks DSE for taking the time to explain in plain understandable English what I think I had read on other forums but not understood. What might have happened is when the camera came out of the box and I first hit record (great video of my knees under the desk) it was in SD and not HD mode. I might try and delete all those files and then try and transfer the remaining HD to iMovie via the USB (thanks for pointing out that it is a file transfer and not data capture, I hadnt appreciated that. Looks like I got myself a little science project for this evening :) Use your wings Johnny....
  9. Feeling very pleased with myself today with a brand new Mac Book Pro, and shiny new-to-me (thanks Adreas) CX105E so I went and jumped my new camera setup (thanks Laszlo for the CamEye adapter - works just as advertised, excellent bit of kit). Got home, played the jumps back on my TV - looked great. Plugged the Sony into my Mac and iMovie doesnt recognise the camera. Now this is probably a DUH moment as I am a bit of a technophobe but I was suspicious that the USB method recommended in the manuals and on the forums would not deliver the data transfer rates necessary (I always used Firewire on the old PC cameras). There must be a ton of camera flyers using CX100-type cameras and iMovie 11 - so any ideas? Surely I dont need extra software to make this work like suggested on some Apple forums. Is it easier to get the video onto the memory card and insert that into the Mac? Silly me for thinking that this would be plug and play (yes, this is a bad workman blaming his tools! ) Use your wings Johnny....
  10. Joleenk02 I dont want to steal your thread but this is useful to me too as I have just got a CX105E and am trying to fit it to my Bonehead FTP. I was just looking at the Para Gear catalogue and saw the Schumacher mounting plate you referred to and some Cookie boxes that looked good but pricey. If anyone has any other good ideas for mounting the camera I would be interested, I am currently working through the long list of items that came up on a search of previous threads. I would ideally like to get this rigged up for the weekend and not wait for something to ship through the mail but I have neither the resources or skills to do much of a 'Do It Yourself' job. Use your wings Johnny....
  11. I agree with Quade, big wings would be my recommendation too. Thats the advice I was given when I started out doing camera and I am glad I took it. You will not need them all the time, you may not even need them some of the time, but when you do you REALLY do. When the exit goes to rats and your air is taken away from you you might just need the extra wing area to avoid hitting the team (just before your instancts bring your arms in when you are about to hit someone!). I am about to replace my camera suit and although I havent decided which company to approach, whatever I buy will be the option with the biggest wings. I didnt get booties first time round but the extra drive back up the hill could be useful - again if an exit goes funky you need instant max performance to get over the team to avoid a camera bust. Use your wings Johnny....
  12. Thanks DSE, very helpful as always. Use your wings Johnny....
  13. I am finally moving out of the stone age and dumping my box full of Sony PC camera and accessories and looking at CX-series cameras. Still looking for a CX150 although the shops here dont seem to stock them any more as they are discontinued. I saw a 130 yesterday and thought about buying it until I remembered the CMOS/stability issues discussed on here a while back so I put my credit card away. To get to the point, I have seen CX150s on sale on line but sourced from the US and therefore using NTSC format. Is this is still an issue for us Europeans or has the age of digital vice analogue recording and transmission rendered this problem irrelevant? All I want to do is record, edit on iMovie and then share with jumpers who may want to play the imagery on their TVs (yeah ok, and some family stuff of my kid growing up in for his grandparents back home). NTSC/Pal was last discussed on here a couple of years ago but with things moving on so quickly I thought I would check with the experts here. Use your wings Johnny....
  14. Pope - thanks for the comments. If I find any of the cameras you mentioned I will let you know. I will be swinging by the Palm tomorrow so I will look you up. Laszlo - I am going to go for the adapter so look out for my order! This is a really useful thread. No one has said 'this has been covered before, use the search function' (yep, done that) and it is bang up to date with people's latest and current views on new and recent cameras. Thanks for all the input guys and thanks to pope for getting the ball rolling. Use your wings Johnny....
  15. davelepka - thanks I will check it out with the DZ ( I have tor order a bunch of other stuff through them anyway so it wont harm to ask about a Hypeye controller. laslo, thanks - PM on its way. Guys, thanks for all the advice, much appreciated. Use your wings Johnny....
  16. I must admit I was sceptical about hearing a FTP top-mounted camera operating when in record mode. I have had various PC7/9s mounted on the top of my FTP with Cam-Eye to save embarrassment. I cant remember ever hearing one of those cameras through the helmet over the aircraft and wind noise, although in fairness I never actually tried to hear one. One of my concerns with the upgrade to HD is that the Sony CX series is not Cam-Eye compatible (something to do with a lack of a LANC port I believe?) but there is a similar device whose name escapes me available for CX video cameras. This is one more thing I would have to bring in from abroad as they are not available in the UAE so it was something I specifically asked about when I was chatting to one of the local camera guys. I would have thought that the camera would have to be very noisy to hear it recording through an FTP but that is what he said.... Use your wings Johnny....
  17. Hi Pope - this thread comes at a great time for me as I am finally going to come to the 21st century and ditch my old PC7s and 9s and get an HD video camera. In fact I was in Carrefour in Abu Dhabi yesterday (I see you are in Dubai so any local deals you are aware of would be really interesting to me) and saw a CX160 but was not familiar enough with that model to buy one (no thread for my .42 lens??) .A couple of weeks ago they had a CX150 but now they are discontinued I think. So, I am following this thread with great interest and soaking up the good ideas. I was also worried about sourcing the bits for the Cam-eye equivalent for these cameras but Stephan at SD2 assures me he can hear when the camera is running on his Bonehead FTP and does not bother with Cam-eye (or whatever it is called with non-LANC cameras). BTW do you jump at the Palm or SD2? Use your wings Johnny....
  18. Their Facebook page seems pretty active - maybe they will close next week for Ramadan (one month). As its likely to become my home DZ soon (every jump over the Palm - I love being a camerman!) I hope its open again in Septemeber when i am gonna visit :) Use your wings Johnny....
  19. Was it also your first ever night landing? Looks dark up there so ground level must have been darker than a witch's t*t (no offense to witches, or t*ts). Nice photo btw.......... Use your wings Johnny....
  20. Exactly the same problem here. Same camera, same symptom. I need a lot of tape over the plug to keep it under pressure and thats the only way it works. Even then it isnt 100% reliable once it is in terminal airflow. There are some good deals on earlier Canon digital SLRs so I might go for one of those and keep it rigged up for skydiving and use the 300D for ground work/happy snaps of the family etc. Use your wings Johnny....
  21. Not sure what you mean by the PC recognises that the camera is connected but the software does not - how is that evident?. I have had 2 problems like this: one time it was simply a bad firewire lead (eaasily replaced) and the other was a fried Firewire socket in the camera (PC9). In either case the editing software failed to recognise that the camera was connected. Use your wings Johnny....
  22. My PC9 is top mounted on a FTP. It is mounted in a cage, secured by a screw through the top of the FTP into the base of the camera and another one at the flash mounting point. Very secure and steady , all camera controls accesible and the camera is protected (witness all the scratches and damage to the cage!). Major drawback is having to unscrew the wide lens and take the camera out of the cage to replace the tape. At least the battery can be changed in situ. My stills are front mounted - yes there is a lot of free space on the top of a FTP but that means there is room for a spare video camera if required for competitions. Use your wings Johnny....
  23. For what its worth I got about 600 jumps out of my PC9 before the Firewire out port fried for the second time and I couldnt be bothered to replace it. The camera was mounted in a cage - but not a box - on top of a FTP and jumped in all kinds of UK weather. The camera casing was getting very tattty but all the cameras functions worked fine until the DV out quit again. Use your wings Johnny....
  24. Any UK camera people know a good source of accessories (other than Jessops!). I was amazed how few useful hits a Google search threw up for filters. I managed to crack the 58mm clear filter which i had on to protect the lens on my Canon 300d - any tips for a cheap replacement. Second question - does a polarizing filter have any utility for skydiving photography - bright backgrounds on exit for example? Use your wings Johnny....
  25. I deploy when the team break off. I only delay if one of the team is right under me so I wait a beat. I do NOT smoke it down the tube - as I have said in this forum before I had a major collision with a 4 way jumper who had a curving track and off heading opening which put us head to head. He was on a high performance canopy and we hit very fast and VERY hard. IMO by planning to go down the hole you are cutting your safety margins - it is there in case I have a mal, thats all. If I know the guys coming out of the plane behind me I dont bother telling them that I am dumping high - if I dont know them , especially if they look inexperienced, I have a word with them. Often the look in their eyes tells me they have not really thought about seperation or the upper winds so I just let 'em know I am pulling above 3K Use your wings Johnny....