PharmerPhil

Yes, you can see pics of paratroopers with first aid pouches tied to their helmets. I haven't seen one with two yet, but I wouldn't be surprised.

Tried to find a camera helmet thread, but didn't see it. Anyway, I haven't posted here for many years, but I had to put together a new camera helmet for use on the 75th anniversary of D-day jumps in Normandy in a couple of weeks. You have no idea how hard it is to find a real, WWII-era GoPro.

Love it!

Ditto. I use FCP6 at home, and FCP7 at work (Vegas at the DZ for Tandems only). But I know there will come a day when Apple won't support FCP legacy editions, and/or it won't work in newer computers. We just got the Adobe Suite at work, and it is an easier transition than going to FCPX. I still need to spend some time with it to get up to speed though. They don't have a simple "Share to DVD" function like FCP does (at least not that I have found). But the rest of the suite is very nice to have too (Photoshop, Encore, etc.)!

No, I haven't gotten a shadow line, although my flash coverage isn't as wide a my lens. In freefall though, there often isn't anything at the extreme edges of the frame to be lit by flash. Yes it is mounted with a hot shoe adapter that is bolted to a custom-made quick-release system that matches my camera mounts.

Here are two shots of my current set-up on a SkySystems Wes Pro. Canon DSLR, Sony CX150 or CX100, and Canon 420 Flash with remote flash extender cord. Takes me about a minute to add it to my non-flash set-up.

I don't know. But I'll bet SkySytems could answer that. Good luck.

I have a large head (some would say a fat head): 7-5/8. I use a SkySystems Vapor Wes Pro, and it fits great!

I had a Canon 15mm lens once that stopped taking pics at certain times, and it was hard to determine what was causing it. I finally determined that it was related to the aperture (I think it was at wide aperture settings). I believe the blades were bent or sticking. I temporarily "solved" the problem by shooting at higher ISO (I think) to keep the aperture smaller until I could get a replacement. Note: This was a couple of years ago, and it may have been at smaller apertures, but the problem is probably the same, just the solution was reversed, i.e., lower ISO.

I regularly use a 16GB stick that came with my CX100 on e-bay. No problems at all.

We just bought the whole Adobe Production CS6 suite (including After Effects, Premiere, Encore, Photoshop, etc.) Student/Teacher edition for $380. I think even B&H lists the suite for $400.

A TI at our DZ put a GoPro on his head set to automatically snap stills of videographers. Got this one of me just after exit. Photo by Keith Murray.

It depends to a large degree what the subject matter is. I find noise most objectionable in large areas of the same color such as a big blue sky, or anywhere there is a large amount of dark colors or black. Unfortunately, these things occur a lot in tandem freefall pics.

It sounds like maybe you may be trying to play back in real time over USB? If so, that won't happen (with any computer). USB is used to transfer whole files from the camera to the computer. It is not used in this case to stream videos on playback the way Firewire used to work on cameras.

I've been biting my tongue watching this thread, but the last two pics confirm what I have felt all along. Including the drogue in the shot, particularly from the top, doesn't add anything of value to the customer's product. Maybe people are just trying to impress themselves and other jumpers with their "cool" shots. But you should always keep in mind who is paying for the video and what they want. They want themselves featured first and foremost. Most, if they even see the drogue, are simply confused by it and have to have it explained (how many time have you heard their friends/family ask "the parachute comes out right away?"). Flying up and around the tandem can show varying angles, which I feel can make it interesting and break the monotony of a single angle (ala handcam), but flying so far up that you see the drogue and completely lose the shot of who is jumping doesn't add anything IMHO and wastes valuable shooting time. Flying below to show the drogue is slightly less detracting insofar as you can at least still see the customer's face (given a wide enough angle lens and proper exposure). But shot from the top? Not in my, or most customers' opinions. BTW, that first shot is definitely taken from the death zone.