Trevor

I had 187 jumps when I did my first camera jump on a stilletto 107. The footage was not great; I would have been better off learning to fly better first. During the landing I was paying attention to how cool the landing was going to look on video and I spiraled too low and sprained my ankle...and I had accidentally turned the video off after opening and didn't even get my crash on video. Flying video has vastly improved my enjoyment of the sport, but I wish I had waited a little longer and gotten a little better. Bill Von's story in the FAQ is dead-on. Camera adds a distraction even when you have thousands of jumps and are flying on a world record. I began flying my 88 sq ft canopy when I had just under 600 jumps. That didn't work out too well for my ankles either. This sport attracts thrill seekers who want to do it all and want to do it now. Thanks to all the people that had the guts to forcefully mentor me at time (Marcus Antebi, Mike Igo, Tony Thacker), I survived those times. Young jumpers should first seek to fly really well while other jumpers are filming. Once you are looking really good in someone else's video, then start thinking about strapping it on yourself. One should not downsize to get better swoops; one should downsize after getting awesome swoops on the current canopy. You can ignore this advice and probably survive, but you are greatly increasing the risk of crutches or ashes in your future.

DSE, Thanks for an excellent post and your work for us at CES. I had waited until CES to pull the trigger on a CX7 setup in case Sony dropped something a little better. Now I can get in gear. Also, It looks like the tinkerers at sonyhdvinfo are on the cusp of having a LANC-type solution for the CX7 that will work for our community and the underwater crowd as well. http://www.sonyhdvinfo.com/showthread.php?t=12100&page=2&pp=10 Thanks, Trevor

Well it looks like Sony has introduced 16 or so handy cams at CES, but none that record to flash. I'm looking to compare the Samsung and Panasonic flash HD cameras to the Sony CX7 for my next camera. I wonder if the CX7 will support Sony's new 16GB memory stick...that'd be two hours of HD recording.... http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/06/sony-cranks-out-too-many-camcorders-to-count/

Been hoping Sony would drop a new HD cam at CES...this $800 Panasonic HDC-SD9 looks promising with 1080p and 3CCDs recording onto a 32GB SD Card (hours of HD footage). It looks smaller than the CX-7 and definitely sidemountable, but the OIS worries me for freefall... http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/06/hands-on-with-panasonics-new-hdc-sd9-1080p-camcorder/ http://www2.panasonic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/prModelDetail?storeId=11301&catalogId=13251&itemId=215166&modelNo=Content01052008070307494&surfModel=Content01052008070307494 This Samsung SC-HMX20C does 1080p at 30fps or 60 fps to 8GB of internal flash and has an SD card slot as well. Also has a 300fps for 10sec feature that could be fun. Pretty tiny CMOS sensor, though (1/8 inch). http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/06/samsung-cranks-out-1080p-flash-camcorders/

Nice press from our friends in Charlotte: http://www.charlotte.com/travel/story/338010.html

I am using Premiere Pro 2.0 and I export to HDV tape to make HD movies to play on the big TV. I have my HC3 turned on, firewire plugged in and I click my cursor on the timeline and I can export to tape via the file menu. I have a pretty fast system, but I still get an enormously long transcoding wait time- almost 10 minutes for every minute of tape to render. That aggravation, plus the fact that Premiere takes 5 minutes just to load my projects and hangs for 3 minutes every time I click outside of my premiere window was too much. Lack of AVCHD support for my next camera was the last straw and inspired me to ditch my 5 year investment in premiere products and training and buy Vegas last week. In my non-expert opinion, I see Blu-Ray winning the 'war' and look forward to burner/player prices plummeting once that happens.

DSE- Thanks much! I've been gunshy after getting burned by the OIS shakety-shake of the HV-10. Have you tried a century .3x fisheye on the CX-7 yet? When I use other low profile wide angle lenses on my HC-3, the left and right thirds of my video are blurry and fringed in either red or blue. I assume it's because the lenses are designed for a 4:3 imager vs. a 16:9 one. I was hoping the more expensive century one might have better results as they claim to be made for HD. Thanks again, Trevor

I've got the same question....does the CX-7 shudder and shake when you sitfly...or is it comparable to an HC-3?

Congrats guys! A new era for Raeford begins

Every time I drive by the tunnel, my eyes are off 401 for that entire quarter mile....I can't wait.

Thanks McLovin, I'll grab mine in person....

I bought my HV10 from B&H....and soon found they only have a 7-day return policy. After jumping it that weekend (w/ optical image stabilization issues galore) it was too late to return it. I order everything expensive from Amazon. I get the lowest price or close to it, and much fewer hassles in general. I got my computer workstation, HDTV, HC-3, RebelXT all through amazon and paid bottom dollar; no issues. -Trevor

So has anyone tried to sitfly with the CX-7 and optical stabilization turned off?

Actually it is a movie and it's called "In like Flint" "In like Flint" starred James Coburn who was in " Maverick" with Mel Gibson who was in "Lethal Weapon" with Gary Busey who was in "The Firm" with Tom Cruise" who was in "Risky Business" with Joe Pantoliano who was in "LA BAMBA" with Lou Diamond Phillips

Freefly footage from my HV-10 looked like it was taken by a cellphone during an earthquake after I drank too much soco. I haven't seen a single person say the camera worked for them. If canon fixed the stabilization problem, this would be an ideal freefly camera.

I just bought a huge generic FP-90 battery for my HC3 for $11 bucks on ebay vs $104 from sony. It has worked fine and lasts for 200+ minutes. I don't think I'll ever buy another Sony branded battery when I can buy 10 for the price of one. By the way- that big-ass battery came with a free wall/car charger- can't beat that for $11!

We may have a great camera here: The new Sony CX7 ($1200 msrp) records about an hour of HD (best quality mode) onto an 8GB memory stick. That means no tape mechanism to get dirty, no dvd-r to skip, no hdd to crash at altitude. It is in the AVCHD format, but that should be editable on a few platforms later this summer. This cam is significantly smaller than the HC3 and I dare say it might work as a side mount. I have jumped the HC3 sidemount and it was just too big. This cam is 2.75 inches wide vs. 3.2 for the HC3 and 2.5 inches for my trusty PC100. It weighs 15 ounces vs. 20 ounces for the HC3 and 19 ounces for the PC100. It does not have a firewire, but uses USB for download to computer. It would be nice to be able to download a days worth of my buddy's footage in 5 minutes by plugging the memory stick into my laptop instead of sitting there with two camcorders dubbing at realtime speed. Another nice feature of this cam is the film roll index on the touchscreen, which displays multiple scenes as thumbnails within a single movie file. Instead of ff/rewinding 30 minutes to find the first jump of the day, you just look at the thumbnails as if you were editing on your computer. This is all well and good except for one question...is it jumpable. I bit the bullet and bought the Canon HV-10 right when it came out only to find it's image stabilizer made a stuttering mess in freefall. Any one else want to give this sony a whirl before the rest of us jump on the bandwagon? [edited to add pix]

Hoke board OKs skydiving tunnel Jennifer Calhoun Staff writer RAEFORD — Hoke County will soon be home to the world’s largest wind tunnel, a recreational and training facility for skydiving. The county’s Board of Commissioners on Monday voted 3-0 to approve a conditional-use permit for the multimillion dollar facility. Tim D’Annunzio, former owner of Paraclete Armor and Equipment, will build the wind tunnel on 58 acres at Brock and Fayetteville roads. Commissioners Jean Powell and Tony Hunt recused themselves from the vote. Powell and Hunt visited a similar facility in Lone Tree, Colo., at D’Annunzio’s expense. County Manager Mike Wood, County Planner Heather Brown and two local reporters took the trip as well. D’Annunzio initially requested approval for the wind tunnel during a Dec. 4 board meeting but withdrew the request in frustration when 13 residents from nearby subdivisions protested. Residents said they feared the facility would be loud and would create traffic problems. D’Annunzio countered their concerns Monday night by showing a video of himself at the Colorado facility, where he took decibel readings inside and outside of the wind tunnel. In D’Annunzio’s video, readings inside the facility were at decibels of 79 to 83. Outside the facility, readings ranged from 66 to about 77. According to a decibel chart provided by Brown, a measurement of 60 decibels is similar to conversational speech; a measurement of 70 decibels is equivalent to the sound of a car passing; and a reading of 80 decibels is equivalent to loud music or a vacuum cleaner. D’Annunzio said the readings were higher when he spoke and when an airplane flew overhead. Brown and Wood also recorded decibel readings at the Colorado facility and got decibel readings in the upper 60’s and 70’s. Four people protested at Monday’s meeting. One protester said D’Annunzio’s video was impressive, but he worried the facility would create an undesirable humming noise in the area. Brown said a transportation-impact analysis showed the tunnel will have no negative impact on traffic patterns. Brown said the planning board approved the proposal because it would be built in an area that is zoned for commercial use and because the board did not believe it would cause noise and traffic problems. Don Porter, executive director of Raeford/Hoke Economic Development, spoke in favor of the facility. He said it would bring tourism and jobs to the county. Commissioner Ellen McNeill voted in favor of the permit because she felt the tunnel would be good for the county. “I’m for progress,” she said. Staff writer Jennifer Calhoun can be reached at [email protected] or 486-3595. http://www.fayobserver.com/article?id=252659

Thanks, I got my cookie last week and jumped it this past weekend. It is a great box. I drilled an extra hole for my cam-eye cable, but otherwise it was ready to fly right out of the box. It protects the easily bumped on/off dial much better than the bonehead box and still allows me to stick my finger in there to manipulate it. The box does have a hole that lines up with the tripod screw so you can screw from the helmet through the bottom of the box and into the camera for a snug fit that keeps your sight-ring/camera alignment intact. (I can't do that since I dropped my HC3 on the garage floor and smashed the viewfinder. The cam still works, but I have to lift it out to use the LCD for everything.) -Trevor

DSE, That is promising news....I think I'll try to exchange for a new one...I can't return mine for a refund anyway (B + H only gives 7 days to do so). Aside from the lack of a Lanc, I really liked the HV-10. Trevor

I have uploaded an example of the HC-3 and an example of the HV-10 to skydivingmovies.com. I will edit this post with a clicky when the movies are approved and posted. Until then, take my word for it- the HV-10 produced the worst skydiving images I have ever seen (and I have seen Terminal Velocity, Dropzone, and Cutaway) the links: HC-3: http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=4915 HV-10: http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=4916

DSE, I shot in Manual Focus all day. I had the stabilizer engaged for the first jump and disabled for the next 5. The image was horribly jittery either way. The problem did not look electronic (no macroblocking, no digital noise) it looked mechanical, like the lens elements were freely bouncing around inside of the lens assembly. HC3 is my skydiving cam for the foreseeable future. Trevor

Don’t jump an HV-10: I jumped a PC-100 for 2k jumps and have jumped the HC-3 since May. I love the HD video of the HC-3, but really don't like the top mount that its size requires. -I don't like the extra leverage a top mount exerts on my neck during deployment -it is easier to get good inside freefly video when the lens is at eye level vs. teetering on top -since there is no 'd-box for the HC-3 yet, I have banged it against the ceiling of our spacious PAC-750 several times causing the unfortunately located power switch to turn off; -I also dropped it on my garage floor and broke the viewfinder- but I think that was my fault. I longed for a 'PC-Style' HD camera, but Sony seems to be moving away from them. The Sanyo XACTI cam turned out to be a turkey, but the Canon HV-10 looked like it was going to be the answer. Its reviews described an image quality similar to the HC-3, in an upright package almost half as bulky. I have had the HV-10 for a week now and quickly found that it was better than the HC-3 for skydiving in every single area...until I jumped it. 1. It does not have a LANC and it does not have a little red REC light. The only way to know that you are recording is to look in the view finder and then put your helmet on. I wasted a lot of tape today waiting for greenlight. 2. It cannot handle freefall. Bottom line. Unless I have a defective model; it just cannot handle free fall. I had it setup on a sidemount L-Bracket with a camera condom. After the 1st jump, an 4 RW jump, the jumpers in the video looked like they were standing in an earthquake. Not digital noise, not macroblocking, simply blurry vibration. I thought Canon’s Optical Image Stabilization might be the culprit, so I turned it off. On the second jump, a 4 way freefly, the video was just as bad. For some reason the headdown portion of the jump was almost passable, but the standing, sitfly, and kneefly portions were unwatchable bad, worse than regular DV, worse than a webcam, worse than a cell phone. For the last jump of the day, the superb staff at Skycat set me up with a Bonehead D-Box to try. I padded the HV-10 and gaffer taped most of the cracks where air could flow. After a great 2-way freefly jump, the results were the same, jittery all over. I am not a camera expert but I believe it is a fundamental problem with the Optical Image Stabilization. Sony uses electronic image stabilization (Steadyshot) meaning the optics are solidly built and a computer figures out how to stabilize the video with software. In Optical Image Stabilization, the Canon lens system is mobile within the camera and little motors or something physically move the lens assemblies to compensate for shaking. Whether this feature is turned on or off, the optics are simply less sturdy and subject to the greater vibration of freefall. OIS is supposed to be better than EIS on the ground, but the reverse appears to be true in the sky. Maybe one of the pros in this forum may get their hands on an HV-10 to confirm its freefall performance. Until then, I would not recommend anyone buy this cam for jumping. I am returning the QuakeV-10 and will go back to the HC-3. I have had no vibration problems even though I’m jumping it with no box or camera condom. I would really love for someone to finally bake a d-box for it, or make a ‘magnum’ camera condom for it. -Trevor

http://www.uspa.org/publications/manuals.pdf/SCM.6-13_May2003.pdf Check out page 13 of this pdf (pg 75 of the manual)

that was a sweet jump...my only regret for the weekend was having to leave right before the green slime jump! We were going about 189 mph. It took most of the dive to get relative and then about 5 seconds to move in and touch feet.