freefallcrab

I have decided to get a Sigma 15mm fisheye lens for my Canon EOS300D (Digital Rebel). The cost of this lens is dollars for pounds - ie 450 dollars in the USA versus 450 pounds in the UK. This would be a saving of a couple of hundred pounds. As I am going to be jumping at a Florida DZ in March (probably Lake Wales) can an American contributor let me know if they think it would be OK to give the shipping address as the DZ and have it delivered there (obviously having let the DZ know in advance). I guess stuff is Fed-Exed to DZs all the time. Use your wings Johnny....

Well it aint a medical condition Use your wings Johnny....

wow - a whole thread developing into a discussion about someones nickname Lets not even go into the Brit versus US pronunciation of Lieutenant never mind the spelling. Must be a quiet news day on the photography and video forum...... Whatver, none of it is bringing the winds into jump limits grrrrrrrr Use your wings Johnny....

Oops sorry ltdiver (as in lieutenant not info technology) and thanks for the tip - I will approach Sigma and see what they say - I cant afford a new lens at the moment. Use your wings Johnny....

I think Itdiver has given you a link to the many other discussions on this in the past but to summarise my experience I got error 99 when I tried to use the Sigma wide angle lens from my wet film EOS 300, I tried the things that the other threads recommended like taping the battery in etc but what it came down to was the Sigma lens was not compatible with the digital camera. I now jump the 300D with the supplied zoom lens and it works fine so in my case the error was nothing to do with the battery, bite switch, vibration or other things that have been discussed elsewhere. I hope this helps..... Use your wings Johnny....

Steve - thanks for that, I will bear it in mind. Just using the external box for storage rather than access during editing sounds like the way ahead. Use your wings Johnny....

Clarkey - have you found any good deals in the UK for those lenses? I too am still using the lens that came in the box with the 300D but dont want it as my long term solution. I priced lenses in the 15mm range in the Oxford area and had to walk away shaking my head Use your wings Johnny....

You might want to think about additional storage space on your computer. I started out editing on my laptop and am now using Premier but very quickly filled the hard drive on the laptop. I am going out this weekend to buy a large external hard drive for all those big AVi files and a plug in DVD writer to burn the discs. I can save small files to CD-ROM for playback on computer but punters will want the DVD format so they can play the movie on thier telly. Use your wings Johnny....

It sounds pretty obvious but then again maybe not to a newbie - dont be fooled into thinking you are steep when you are not because of your head position. You need to be looking down on - not across - the formation. You might find that this means tilting your head down more than you expect - not quite tucking your chin into your chest, but almost! Like quade said, getting your head to a position over the feet of the closest point turner is a good guide, but dont be caught out by the formation moving around - intentionally or otherwise. If time allows I watch the dirt dive so I can anticipate the next point, not only laterally but vertically in the case of fall rate changes during blocks. Use your wings Johnny....

Thanks to everyone for al the suggestions - I did finally get music and transparency working. I was remembering to render - but transparency worked once I played with mattes and alpha channel. I think I have it cracked! Use your wings Johnny....

OK, I finally got the importing music thing figured out. I can play a CD in my laptop through Real Player and there is a format settings option which aloows you to save the tracks as .wav files. These wav files can then be imported into Premiere. My next problem is making transparency work to superimpose my credits over a still. I am using the Video 2 channel just like it says in the Help file and have played with opacity but still no overlaid credits. Ho hum. Use your wings Johnny....

I "aquired" Premiere v 6 LE from a non-skydiving source. I dont think any of my contacts have the Pro version unfortunately - I think most of the other camera dudes at my DZ are on Power Books. As I am going to the Far East on a work trip shortly I might see if I can pick one up there for something less than the UK 1400 pounds asking price. Use your wings Johnny....

Freeflir how did you get on with your music importing? I was about to open a new thread asking exactly the same question as you did back in Feb and did a quick search and came up with this thread. I was getting so p***ed off when I couldnt import music from CDs because the music wasnt recognised by Premiere. The Premiere help files arent very helpful but they do mention third party software that is required to import music - I found it hard to believe that an expensive product like Premiere required additional software to carry out a basic task such as importing music. I would be interested to hear how you got on because the lack of music is holding up production of my CD of the 4-way nationals Use your wings Johnny....

I think I have something similar... I can only get my 300D to operate via bite switch in Manual Focus... Use your wings Johnny....

Thanks for that Rylord - all suggestions gratefully received! I was able to check that within Premiere; like you said, the PC9 wasnt listed but the PC7, PC10 and many others were and I tried several of them with no luck. Thanks again though

I recently bought a Canon EOS 300D (Digital Rebel). I have looked around for a fixed lens compatible with the camera but havent found anything second hand and the new lenses are big $ that I cant afford at the moment (the old Sigma I used with my wet film EOS doesnt work on the 300D). I have bitten the bullet and jumped the camera with the zoom lens that came in the box - yes it's extra weight especially on a front mount, but I dont carry it on every lift. The only issue I have with it is that I keep forgetting it's there when I am under canopy so I keep knocking it on the risers. Basically, not an ideal set up but it takes great pictures and will do until I can aford a fixed lens. Use your wings Johnny....

Jarno - thanks for the suggestion. Yes it is in VCR mode and I have DV IN displated on the screen ( I had to have a new firewire socket fitted to the camera earlier this year and the camera end plus the firewire itself work OK through my own laptop). Use your wings Johnny....

Nacmacfeegle - thanks for the quick reply, I will try that when I get home. The project wasnt dumped as an AVI (and that might be part of the problem) - the footage was downloaded into MS Movie Maker, edited with music, stills, transitions etc and then saved: however, with Microsoft Movie Maker when you save the finished movie it is stored in a bespoke Movie Maker format (.wmv I think) and I am guessing that this format isnt recognised by DVD/TV players. Use your wings Johnny....

If you have seen the thread I just opened asking for help with Movie Maker you will see I am not having a great time here! My work laptop (Sony Viao) has Premiere v 6 pre-loaded so I thought it would be good to have a look at it and if I liked it I could buy the software for my PC at home and move on from MS Movie Maker which is pretty limited Trouble is, when I hook my Sony PC9 up to the Viao with a firewire and try to capture video I get a 'the DV device is unavailable for DV control' message. I have looked at the Help files and settings but am way out of my depth - can anyone suggest things I should look at to overcome this problem? Use your wings Johnny....

Can anyone help with what is probably a really basic problem. I have compiled a movie of the UK 4-way Nationals and burnt it to CD. As I am fairly new to the editing game I have been using MS Movie Maker (coz its free prior to buying a more advanced editor such as Premiere but more on that in my next thread). I have edited the movie and burnt it to CD and it plays back fine through Media Player. The problem I am having is that the CD does not play back through a DVD player?TV combination. Can anyone think of a way I can cheat Movie Maker into saving the movie as something which is compatible with a UK DVD player/TV combination? Use your wings Johnny....

Betcha didnt think your post would turn into a physics lesson Jon ;-) Use your wings Johnny....

First 13-way? BEER! You want to get yourself a decent camera suit if you are going to film big ways John ;-) Use your wings Johnny....

Interesting thread - should be some good anecdotes out there. I have had a couple of near misses over the last few weeks; I had a near miss with a knife when filming 4-way and had a wide angle lens off a side mount go past me while filming WARP. People keep telling me I need to get stepper - hmmm, well maybe! Use your wings Johnny....

Quade - I had a canopy collision a couple of years ago when I was filming 4-way. The other dude was on a high performance canopy so the closure rate was QUICK! Maybe that is the main point that comes out of the vid. The quality isnt great - if I remember right (it isn't a video I watch very often!) I picked up some moisture on the lens at the bottom of the dive . If you think it might be useful let me know. Use your wings Johnny....

I think I cured the Err 99 problem on my 300D although I didnt get to test fly it this weekend. When I first tried it I had the Sigma wide angle lens from my old non-gigital Canon - yesterday I fitted the zoom lens that came with the camera and no Err99 at all. the Bite switch works and there is no shut down. This is pointing towards a camera body/Sigma lens compatabiluty issue ( there was something about sigma lenses in a reply to my first post). I am not too sure I want to jump a long lens with a front mount on my FlatTop - extra weight, easier to knock on exit etc etc. Can anyone offer any thoughts on 300D/Sigma lens compatabilty? Use your wings Johnny....