PharmerPhil

Guerilla net marketing 101. Yes it is rude, but smart companies buy their own misspelled domains. I used to work for Boston Acoustics, and it seemed nobody knew how to spell acoustics,... so we bought a lot of domains. My guess is that Cookie could challenge the ownership of that particular domain, but I don't know how much that would cost....

Plus,... with very wide angle lenses, the hoods are so minimal (so as not to cause vignetting) that they really don't do a lot except for a very precise angle of the subject to the sun. With a very long lens, you can build a hood that helps in all but straight on point at the sun scenarios. Not so for a 10mm lens. Then, there is the aforementioned wind forces...

For freefall? Nothing in my opinion. Unless you just want to use a UV filter for protection and a little help with haze in the background (you're shooting jumpers right in front of you, right?). For ground work, polarizers and graduated neutral density filters can be great. But you have to adjust them based on your angle to the sun/horizon, etc. Kinda' impractical for freefall. Also, any additional elements you add to your lens makes for additional lens flares if the light angle isn't just right.

I'd second what Phreezone said. You need to be able to get wherever you want to be on any dive. Personally, I made a lot of video jumps before ever shooting a tandem. Mostly 4-way and bigger RW stuff. The bad 4-way teams, zoo-loads and AFF courses were actually very good for my flying skills because I had to more around a lot, change fall-rate, etc. Shooting tandems is a different animal, and getting the exits right, staying very close and looking up at the tandems will be valuable skills for getting good shots. Remember who is paying the bill (the customer) and make them look good at all times on the ground and in the air.

Don't you mean skydiving and photography? Seriously, flying skills are just half the equation. If you want to be a competent (correct spelling) camera flyer, you should be working on your flying AND your camera skills. If you don't want to learn about photography or videography, you will never be good enough to get paid IMHO. Plus, you can work on your camera skills on the ground. (I don't know a good camera flyer who isn't also a good camera person on the ground.) If you just want to have fun and get paid, join a carnival.

Do we know that it is as simple as that? I think the original poster was looking to see if the free-floating lens element will cause problems ala OIS in camcorders, or if it would be damaged by hard openings. If turning off IS doesn't lock the element down, a potential problem still exists. I would be curious to hear from someone who has actually jumped one.

Sabre II 150. About 1.35. I'm old, break easy, and heal slowly. Great openings!

Hey Jeff, Thanks for the info and insight into this mishap. (And thanks for posting this on youtube too, I hate sights that require you to sign on just to view stuff.) For what it's worth, I almost always use packers (even Christian ;-)), but I always stow my brakes and excess lines on the landing field as soon as I land so I don't have to count on a packer to do that for me Doing it on the field ensures they get stowed even if someone else shleps my rig into the hanger. It is just too important to leave to chance. How I stow the lines depends on the risers I use. My newer Sunpath risers have a stow that works great, but if I have to jump a rig with a riser that isn't too secure, I can usually fold and stuff the lines into the same pocket that the toggle stow goes in to, actually using the toggle tab to push the lines into the pocket.

How much are 5 months of your time worth??? If you are going to spend that much of your life on a project like this, why do it for a sub-standard camera?

I used a piece of 3/8-inch thick nylon stock I had around (UHMW), but wood should do. You may even find some thick plexiglas to make it out of. Come to think of it, if you could find some thick carbon-fiber sheet stock, that would be very cool. I used a circle cutter to get the part that butts onto the lens, and then tapped the bottom and screwed it to the top plate from below. I have also seen some flyers use round metal stock bent around the top of the lens and then fastened to the top plate on either side. Looked like it worked well too.

Depending on how you mount the Raynox, it will present somewhat of a hazard. But I can't imagine any side-mount not presenting a little hazard unless it is just a single element lens (and even then sometimes). However, the Raynox is smaller than most other multi-element lenses. The safer bet would be to top mount the camera, and fill the area under the lens so lines would just glance off the lens and not be able to loop around the lens. Here is a photo of the Raynox 5050 lens on my top-mount. Notice the block under the front of the lens which I think is critical for safety: http://www.philroberson.com/skydivephotos2007/J2727.htm

My guess (only that) is that they wanted to maintain the same distance to the lens whether you needed to adapt the threads to your camera or not. Can't imagine any other reason for including the adapter, so I have always used mine.

It would be helpful if you posted your equipment. But let me guess,...single element wide angle lens. Right?

No. Hard drive and DVD camcorder don't work in freefall. (Info in the sticky.)

Check out her web site. I think she has the "features and settings" things worked out on the ground.

I have an NvertigoX that I jumped for a long time with stills on top. Worked great. I did rig a Bonehead chin-cup to it (I think Skysystems makes one as well), and I recommend you do something similar. It keeps the helmet from shifting on your head as much. It will make a bite switch more difficult to activate though. I'd recommend a tongue switch or blow switch. Mine has a blow switch, but I had to mount the mechanism externally for it. I always use a sight when flying a camera, and the articulated sight brackets make life in this style of helmet much easier. (You back your head into this type of helmet as opposed to going face first in a flat top style helmet. If you don't have an articulated bracket, it forces you to mount your sight dangerously far in front of your helmet for clearance, making it a bigger hook for line snags.) Make sure you work out and practice a method to jettison the helmet as part of your EPs.

Both? Seriously, for inside you need very, very wide (i.e. 0.3x). For outside slightly less wide is usually better. I don't like really wide for 4-way, as it forces you to fly very close where burbles are present and you can't always see the grips as well as if you were slightly further away. My too sense...

I use a UV filter on my SLR camera lenses primarily to protect the front element of the lens from damage. It is insurance. And it has saved one $400 lens (I think) from a cracked front element so far. HOWEVER,... Any additional glass you put in front of your lens potentially compromises your resolution and contributes to lens flare. SO,... With w/a adapters for video cameras being relatively cheap, spending $16 on protection for a $64 lens is not a real good insurance bargain, and you end up with the aforementioned lens flare when the light isn't right. CONCLUSION,... I wouldn't bother with a UV filter for your video camera if you are using w/a lens on it (God I can get long-winded...).

I'm all ears. If it costs significantly less than the repair, it could keep me in business. (Or I could use this as an excuse to get a V1U...) BTW, what do cameras like the PMW-EX1 use for zoom/focus control?

I have to disagree. Most jumpers I know leave EIS on for smoother footage. Particularly with HD on a big screen where every little bit of movement is noticeable. OIS on the other hand makes for less smooth footage in freefall. IMHO, I rank smoothness from best to worst as EIS (on), no IS, and OIS. It is the one reason I went with an HC5 rather than an HC7 or 9.

Well this bites. Apparently, the death of LANC came earlier than expected for me. The LANC port on my A1U died, with an estimated repair cost of $500-600 (if you look at the exploded diagram, you can see why,...EVERYTHING has to come off the chassis to access this port). I don't use it for skydiving anymore, but I do (did?) use it with a tripod-mounted zoom/record controller. Any idea if there is one of these available using the D-port? A good, variable-speed zoom controller is kinda important for other stuff I do.

Pictures AND video? Of a live act??? Not advisable. I would pick one or the other,...not both.

As far as quick-release, here is my opinion. The HC-5 uses side-mounted tapes, so I wouldn't bother with a quick release. A screw through the bottom should do fine. The only time you would need to take it off would be to change the battery, but if you get a decent battery (not the stock one), that shouldn't be often at all. The power supply port can be accessed on the rear with the camera mounted, and that will allow you to charge the battery while it is on the camera. P.S. The word is "whether." "Weather" is the stuff that keep you from skydiving. And when I "advise" you (verb), I am giving you "advice" (noun). But hell, your English is still better than my Danish :-)

Amen. You have to reach up to push a switch anyways, why not just push the switch on the camcorder?

Ahmed from the 2006 Z-Team dives at Z-hills, bottom of photo.