Grisu

Thanks everyone for the discussion! I bought the Tokina lens but didn't jump it yet, the pictures taken on the ground look great though! Its not as wide as the 10-22, but the overall quality of the images seem a bit better than the ones made with the 10-22 (e.g. barrel distortion, sharpness in the corners). Maybe I can post some aerial shots after the weekend. Cheers, Jan

Until now I mostly used the autofocus during freefall. Worked well, except very few situations, e.g. larger groups seperating a bit on exit etc. Never really tried the manual focus though, but will definitely give it a try. The assumed autofocus problem wouldn't be an issue then... So, nobody jumping the Tokina lens? Cheers, Jan

Hey folks, currently I'm trying to decide which new lens to get for my Canon 400D (Rebel XTi). I jumped the Canon 10-22mm for one season last year and was pretty happy with the results. But now I read about other options in the wide angle sector and stumbled upon the Tokina 11-16mm, which got some pretty nice reviews. The only bad thing I read about this lens seems to be a slow autofocus. So here is my question: does anyone actually jump this lens and can give some advise if the slow (or just "slower" compared to the ultra sonic autofocus of the Canon 10-22mm??) autofocus might be an issue? I would use it mostly for tandems, occasionally on 4way FS, under canopy and of course on the ground. Any advise would be appreciated! Thanks, Jan

Check the audio source setting of your hypeye, maybe you set it to external mic by accident? Grisu

Here is the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piASauECAqw

I recently got my Century Optics 0.55, which I used for the first time last weekend. Shot 3 tandems and a solo, been really happy with the quality. The widening factor seems to be good for a 0.55 lens on the CX 100/105. Here is a frame capture from the video stream (setting: HD HQ (9M)): http://www.myskydive.de/components/com_joomgallery/img_pictures/springer_7/nico_mirror_20100407_1767533485.jpg The picture has been resized and compressed, but you should be able to see the quality. The lens is really small and comes with a nice metal screw-on lens cap. The only thing for me is that I have to adjust my flying according to the new widening factor cause I used to jump a 0.3x lens on my old Sony HC-20. I could probably upload the solo jump from last weekend somewhere if you like. From my first 4 jumps, I would recommend this nice and tiny lens for shooting tandems and RW when it comes to quality and the fact, that the lens comes in a very small form factor. Cheers, Jan

yeah man, what your question? but google is a good helper, or the mathworks website, they have the syntax completely online.

Man, seriously: get out of this forum, turn off your fucking computer and start LIVING!!!! You are just wasting time here, spend it rather on time with her and just talk to her! man, can't believe it... you know that you're acting like a yerk and you keep doing it to her... and then asking people about help on the internet... seriously?!

Thanks for you replies! I appreciate your thoughts! Anyway, I started this thread because I wanted to get opinions on different canopies on the lower end of the high performance area (by the way: doesn't the term "high performance" somehow change with progress in canopy design?) I don't do this, I just use the experience that I have. No doubt that there is a huge difference between parachutes and airplanes But afterall, both are using an airfoil to generate lift. They may behave different due to a different design, but using experience about their behavior (e.g. during a turn and how it affects drag, lift, etc.) should do no harm. I consider this as a prerequisite to learning. Thats why I mentioned that people who know me and saw me jump recommended canopies such as the Crossfire. I am using advice and coaching beside these forums. I just wanted to get some more opinions which later could be discussed with friends/coaches back in Germany. I understand that these forums are not very suitable for getting advice in this stuff. But not everybody who wants to make progress in something is blind for the dangerous parts which come along with progress. And I think this is not related to jump numbers, but to the attitude that someone has towards something. Sure thing, nothing to disagree here. Again, I don't intend to "go in", therefore I use my brain and all that I have to prevent this. This includes that I am not rushing into anything nor rely on the magical powers that Aerospace Engineers sure might have. Ok, thats it for now. Thanks for the replies. Any other opinions on canopies? Cheers, Jan

Thanks for your replies guys! I know that my current canopy may sound a lot for my current jump numbers. But as Ian said, I demoed the Nitro before I bought it and I felt comfortable under it. As for my background: I may only have a few years on my skydiving history, but I started with gilders 11 years ago (age 14) and also got my PPL a few years later. Want I want to say here is, that I just feal very comfortable in the air and that I spend a lot of time with the theoretical backgrounds.... which later let me to studying Aerospace Engineering... what a surprise Anyway, I'm not in a rush at all with this. Also, I'm not talking about downsizing. In fact, I was planning to step up one size, e.g. maybe a Crossfire 109 or something in that area. So, I'm really thankful for opinions and advices! Cheers, Jan

Hey Harry, fine that you think that, seems that this is becoming quite a habit in these forums... Just trying to get more opinions on this, thats all. No trolling, not trying to upset people, just asking for opinions on canopies. But thanks anyway...

Hey guys, I'm recently looking for a new canopy. Currently I jump a Nitro 98, I gave it a try after my Nitro 108. I'm slowly making my progress towards faster landings, did a lot of practice on 90° and 270° turns and they work quite good for me, feeling comfortable with that. The thing that bothers me with my Nitro is the short recovery arc. The canopy tends to plane out really fast or even starts to climb again a little bit if there is a bit of head wind, once I slowly let go of the frontrisers after turning. I tried a lot of things to deal with this: made slower turns (more like a carve), made more rapid turns, etc. But unfortunately nothing really worked. The thing here is that I have to do my turns closer to the ground to get a reasonable plane and swoop, which doesn't feel too good for me. I have talked to some other guys back in Germany, and some recommended me e.g. the Katana or Crossfire. My question is: are there more options for me? I read about the opinions on the Katana and Crossfire in some threads here. The Katana seems to be a little too much from which I've read and the opinions on the Crossfire are various. Are there any other suggestions for the next step for me? Thanks, Jan

Hey, for all you cloud lovers, check this out: http://cloudappreciationsociety.org/ Cheers, Jan

Hey, I'm from Germany, currently in the US. I was reading your thread and wondered where your information comes from? Cause I couldn't see the increase in injuries/fatalities you mentioned... just curious how you come to your conclusion? Jan