dragon2

This your subjective opinion. About incident with the device all is accurately written in the given theme. Please explain????? That we know nothing about it. And that any incident with a cypres (1 or 2) isn't worth discussing in this thread (or elsewhere). It's really really funny how any argument against an Argus is taken as FACT and how in contrast any argument against a Cypres is taken as LIES, or at best as irrelevant, by default. ciel bleu, Saskia

In performance, no, as the above posts point out. But, just a guess, maybe he meant in packing volume? If you buy a ZPX Pilot, it'll pack smaller than a normal ZP canopy. ciel bleu, Saskia

Yup ciel bleu, Saskia

That won't work. On a CX series camera, you record in either mpeg (standard def) or avchd (highdef). You need a fairly recent editing program to work with these files. Pinnacle 14 is the most recent version, so yeah, 10 may well not be up to the job. FWIW, I'd ditch pinnacle if I were you (I did, after version 8), and switch to something else, like adobe premiere elements or similar. There's a whole list of entry-level editors in a post by DSE somewhere, listing advantages and disadvantages to each. ciel bleu, Saskia

I know And I'll be there this weekend hopefully, provided my arm/shoulder is OK by then and I can jump. What's wrong with your 450? In general, you'll want to put more money into glass than into the camera body itself, ie, getting a good lens generally will help you more than getting another camera ciel bleu, Saskia

I know a girl who jumps a go-pro on a belly mount as an AFFI. She gets interesting and helpful footage this way, IMO better than when mounted on a helmet especially for the first few levels. I'm not an AFFI, just a coach, but for those type of jumps I'd strongly prefer the countour as it's the lowest profile of the 2 and easy to sidemount in a box/bracket. ciel bleu, Saskia

If you're starting out, best get a Canon EOS "consumer model" camera. These have the least issues when skydiving and are comparatively neck-friendly. If you already have some (good) lenses, and/or don't mind either tinkering with or special-ordering your remotes, nikon has some good skydiving cameras as well. For starters the (canon or nikon) 18-50mm kit lens will do, but for better pictures you'll probably want a 15 or 16mm f/2.8 lens. Both canon and nikon have excellent versions of these, and sigma makes a decent 15mm too in both versions. For nikon however, for the consumer models, this means you'll have to shoot manual focus, and while not the end of the world this is something you may want to consider if you are leaning towards a consumer-type nikon camera. The pro-sumer models (D90 and up) don't have this problem, but are of course pricier and heavier. I'd stay away from sony for a skydiving DSLR, better stick with canon (or nikon). All cameras with a wired remote port can work with any switch, the issue is more: is my particular plug available ready conected to the switch I prefer, or do I not mind soldering both together myself. Or, another option and one that will allow you to connect any switch with the "canon consumer" type male plug is to use 2 cables, the other with your own plug with a female canon-consumer-type plug on the other end. I jump a Nikon D300, which has the nikon pro-type plug for a remote. I prefer to let Laszlo deliver my switches ready-made ciel bleu, Saskia

Our system is plenty fast, it's been used for a lot of "official" swoop competitions over the years. It probably depends on which swoopers compete, and the aim is to hit the gates highest you can, but during a couple European/Dutch Swoop Tour competitions (and training) we did have a number of confirmed go-lows (confirmed on video) so we changed to sets of 2 sensors. For training a go-low isn't so bad IMO, since you know you hit the gate but during a competition..? ciel bleu, Saskia

bears repeating. +1 And.... I'd like to stress that learning to be a camera flyer should include many training jumps before you ever buy a camera. - learning to fly your camera wings w/no cameras - learning to use your ringsight (just the sight w/no camera) - learning to fly camera slots. Again, w/out a camera. -etc.... And yet the latest 200jump wannabe cameraflyer who came to me for advice went on the next load to film a 4way, on his first ever jump with camera, and first ever jump with camera wings, and without a cutaway on his helmet. [place bangs-head-against-wall-smiley here] "The cutaway comes later, no I don't want to do a wings jump without camera, I want to jump my camera NOW" Then don't ask for advice ciel bleu, Saskia

You do need 2 switches though, because we found a number of people could go underneath the 1.5m poles (ie, not trip the switch) and still not touch the ground (including quite tall jumpers like JC) and canopy lines only do not trip the switch (at least, not ours). And as a sidenote, we had to turn off the beeper in our landing field as the (pretty far away) neighbours started complaining after a while ciel bleu, Saskia

I did my first jumps all by myself, and that was without radio too. As do most if not all Dutch students. Most of us manage just fine on our own, even first timers

With the camera you're using, the cause of any vibrations is probably not the camera, but something else, ie, your helmet or your head, or if under canopy, your slider flapping against the camera. Make sure the helmet fits right, it's supported properly on your head (not just a chinstrap), you're keeping your head still when filming, etc. You can try turning steady shot OFF. You could also post a bit of video on youtube to clarify the problem. ciel bleu, Saskia

A suit with booties isn't really suitable for freefly. It's fine for front/backloops, barrelrolls, trackingdives and such but for backfly, sit/stand and headdown you'll want something else. In fact you could freefly in streetclothes better than in a RW suit. I wouldn't buy a RW suit without booties either. But all in all, if you haven't started skydiving yet, it's way too early to think about a suit (any suit) just yet. You'll get a suit with your course, and provided you like jumping, you're better off buying some used suits after that. No sense in paying a lot of money for a suit you'll have a good number of bad landings with, IMO. Plus if you buy used, you'll have the budget to buy a suit for each discipline, which will make your life a lot easier. But first, just start skydiving, and see if it's even the sport for you before spending a lot of money ciel bleu, Saskia

Well a safire 1 119 would fit yeah, but only because a safire 1 is about 8% smaller than the label says. Mine packed fine in an atom 000 (up to 110 sqft canopy). A safire 2 119 would be another animal tho. That's why I said fusion 120, as mine fits great in my Atom as well. A pulse 120 would also fit however I didn't like the pulse over 1:1.4. Canopies that did NOT fit were pilot 117, diablo 120, triathlon 120, springo 120 (well I did cram that one in for a season... not good for rig). ciel bleu, Saskia

If I'm not sure about the spot while in freefall (because of ahem a bit of haze) I'll point down and "ask". TM checks spot and pulls high or nods for spot OK. I often ask the TM do do a 360 while I go back&up, giving me a nice visual + a good oppertunity to check the spot should I feel the need ciel bleu, Saskia

1 protec, 1 fraphat, 1 fullface, 1 freefly style camera helmet, 2 FTP style camera helmets. Slightly over 1000 bucks ciel bleu, Saskia

Do you have any links to these activations? Where or when? Are these activations something you have first hand knowledge of? Sparky JayMo in Canada, another of the PD team in France, and I think I remember there being at least a third cypres activation before Adrian but cant put a name or place to that one so not 100% sure. Edited to add: this was the first time a swoop competition in France allowed for turned-off AADs (presumably after signing something), and that only AFTER the cypres fire, not before when PD team and others argued, so the problem was already known by swoopers back then and even the French were forced to acknowledge the issue, when otherwise an AAD is mandatory there. ciel bleu, Saskia

Yes, get a good jumping lens instead of wasting money on not-so-good ones; the canon or sigma 15mm f/2.8 are both excellent lenses for skydiving. ciel bleu, Saskia

Probably because of the smart 135, not the main. I have a smart 120 in my I3 and just replaced my pilot 124 with a vengeance 135, an older canopy though, otherwise it'd be a pain to pack but packing it while a tightish fit is actually doable even by me ciel bleu, Saskia

You might be able to fit an old sabre 120 in there, or an older fusion 120, those pack smallish and are fine for wingsuiting. And I'd opt for an optimum reserve ciel bleu, Saskia

Both my spectres (150 new @ 1:1 and 135 3rd hand @ 1.15) definitely didn't have as flat a glide as most of the other canopies I've had (safire 1, fusion, pilot). I'm pretty sure my venceance flies steeper, as did my lightnings, but IMO a (same-size/same-loaded) spectre needs way more work to make it back from a long spot than all my other sport canopies. Which is why I sold my 135: I was having too much trouble making it back when flying video sometimes (longish tandem spots). For wingsuiting, filming CRW, filming bellyfly and whatnot it's an excellent canopy though. ciel bleu, Saskia

OK if they were THAt long ago then they were Cypres ONES and probably 1st generation. They have made quite a few changes since then. Yes, like now for instance they actually want the unit shipped to them so they can do the readout, instead of using their old crystal ball where they performed a "verdict" of "you pulled too low, not our fault" about a unit when it was still inside the rig and at the DZ. Good trick, that. ciel bleu, Saskia

As a sidenote, I've seent that happen a couple times and it's no joke. If people start pulling on frontrisers of canopies that were not made to handle that, yep the nose can fold under and if that happens during your swoop, you hit hard - I have had to dive away from head-high flying gravel and another such landing left divots in the grass in front of our terrace. Case in point are the conquest and the heatwave. If you happen to own one of these, best sew a "do not touch" label on your frontrisers ciel bleu, Saskia

+1 ciel bleu, Saskia

First, by ready to downsize, what do you mean exactly? How many jumps do you have total, how many on the sabre 2 170, what's your exit weight, what do your instructors say about you downsizing? Because while a spectre can be a good beginner/intermediate canopy, a 150 sqft canopy is not a beginner canopy. And if a switch is ok or not depends on what you like in a parachute and what your plans are, as these are 2 fairly different canopies. Anyway a spectre is a 7cell, it flies steeper than the sabre2, in the right size it makes for an excellent beginner/easygoing/wingsuit/camera canopy, you'll have to work it a bit more to get back from a long spot, openings are great, flare is a bit less than on a sabre2, if you plan on swooping now or later stay with a sabre2. Try a search on here for more info, take a look at the review section as well. And try before you buy. ciel bleu, Saskia