mhofstra

Great list!!! Been there, done that :-) Just compiled all of them in an Excel-file. Easy to print and put up in the edit room... Let's see who's the most experienced cameraflyer on your DZ. Blue ones, Mats play it safe... wear a chute

I've been jumping with a video/photo setup for a couple of years now, and had some problems with the tongue switch that triggers the release of the SLR. Most of the times during the end of freefall (filming a tandem) the switch would trigger continiously. Almost got used to the problem and switched off the camera directly after opening. With this I wasted between 5-10 shots, but most of the time I managed to save a few for the landing. A couple of weeks ago I checked out the dropzone forum to see if anyone else had this problem (should have done much sooner). Found quite a few postings of people having trouble with their tongue switches. Even though my switch was three years old now I decided to sent an e-mail to Conceptus (http://www.conceptusinc.com) and explained the problem. I was very surprised when Dick at Conceptus offered to replace it for FREE!! I just had to send in the old one, and a new switch would be sent out to me a.s.a.p. When he figured out we were like 8 timezones apart, he even sent the new switch to me right away. Received in the mail early this week, and just installed it. Looks good, and works like a charm. Can't wait to test it out this weekend. There going to be 10 SL student who are going to be very happy with their 8 MP pictures of their first jump Saturday. So if any of you have similar problems with their switches, drop Conceptus a line and be impressed like I was. No..., I don't have shares in the company :-) Blue ones, Mats play it safe... wear a chute

I'm just using the standard 1 Gigabyte memory card (http://www.sandisk.com/retail/cf.asp), which works just fine. The camera shoots 3 frames a second, and can do a burst of 14 without delay. More that enough for the tandem pictures I'm shooting (http://tandem.hofstra.nl). With a quicker card you can just hold down the release and shoot 250 pictures (if you have the 1 gig card). That gives you about 83 seconds of 8 MegaPixel crisp clear quality :-). Blue ones, Mats play it safe... wear a chute

As a student I jumped Mantas, Fury's and Sabres. I Always liked the 7-cell fury as I could land it anywhere I liked. This put my focus on a more performing 7-cell: Spectre! Before ordering my Specte I made about 200 jumps on a Triathlon. Very nice canopy as well, but I like the opening and performance of the Specte a bit better. Got about 300 jumps on my Spectre right now and love every single one of it! Openings are on heading and nice and smooth. My last 200 jumps been camarajumps and I love these openings. Not those slam-bam-Sabre-opening that surface once in a while and crack your neck (especially with camera equipment). Right now I jump a Spectre 170 (loaded 1.4) and absolutely love it! Got a second prize in a accuracy contest, great toggle input, landing in brakes no problem, super flare. Love it!!! Last year I went traveling for a year and couldn't jump for 13 months. After this long break my first jump on my own canopy felt like coming home. Total reliability and predictable flying. If you are looking for an all-round canopy that gives you best of all worlds choose Spectre, you won't regret it!!

Thanks for the advice! I'm doing my exercises everyday and feel that it is going in the right direction. Mats play it safe... wear a chute

Anybody any suggestions on exercises you can do to strengthen your neck? I had a really hard opening a while ago and my neck is still making 'cracking-noises' when I turn my head to the right and back forward. I talked to my physiotherapist and he said that this indicates a bit of loss in the stability of my neck, because my neck is stretched with the hard opening, which give the joints the freedom to move around a bit resulting in the cracking noises. I'm doing exercises to gain stability again (lying flat on my back on the ground and lift up my head, only using the muscles in my neck, keeping my shoulders on the ground for 50 times, 2 times a day) and feel that that is working. I was wondering if anyone has similar experiences and any ideas on exercises I could do to keep everything in shape. I only have one neck, so I want to make sure that it stays working just fine... Some stats: I'm 1,80m (5'10"), 90 kg (200 lb), jumping a Spectre 170, Bonehead Millenium Mindwarp, Sony PC-100, sidemounted in box, Canon EOS 50 with Voigtlander 19-28 mm lens topmounted. Blue skies, Mats play it safe... wear a chute

Here in The Netherlands you have to have a mininum of 200 Formation Skydives. Most of the time peopel will have around 350/400 jumps. I believe this is a realistic number. The good thing is that the combination with formation jumps is made. When video-ing you have to be two steps ahead of what the formation does. Mats play it safe... wear a chute

I just put a still camera on my bonehead and had the same question. I asked around a lot with camera jumpers on different DZ. This helps a lot and you get lots of input. You definitely want a wide angle lens if you're just beginning shooting stills. Probably something like a 28 to 24 mm. If you go wider this will have the disadvantage that you have be pretty close to the formation to fill the whole picture. You don't have to buy a very expensive lens, make sure that it is pretty solid, so it can withstand a couple shocks here and there. You always have sufficient light when you're shooting your pictures, so that should not be a problem. On my camera (Canon EOS 50) I am working with a 19-28 Voigtlander lens. Most of the times I have it set to 24 mm. By the way if you need to secure your lens setting a tandem rubber band around the lens works great.