Idgy

gowlerk

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I said "potential .... given its form factor."

I would say the form factor makes it all wrong. Wide and thin making it only suitable for top mounting and very poor for side mounting. Not very flexible at all. Except possibly a handcam?
Ken

Yeah. I was thinking on a flat top helmet, like a 2K Composites or something. I'd be interested to see how it might work out.

DSE

Other than Canon not building this themselves, what gives the impression it's the "best skydiving action-vid camera?"

I said "potential .... given its form factor."

This came out recently, potential to be the best skydiving action-vid camera, given its small, flat form factor:

http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/consumer/standard_display/minicam/

.. it doesnt have the functionality of the GoProBlack, but Canon generally know what they are doing :-)

Can you confirm if that is using the 0.5 and 1 second time lapse, on your GP Hero3 Silver?

I made the mistake of getting measured for my wingsuit (P2) right after christmas when I was probably about 5 pounds more than normal ... when the suit arrived in March, I had been running and dropped prob the weight, possibly more. The suit felt a little too big - a bit baggy however the arm and leg measurements were still spot on, so I can stretch out the arm and leg wings.

I actually think I got lucky with this fit - that it turned out this way - as I can easily wear a few layers under it when its cold out and in the summer it feels nice and cool, not too sticky. Fly's like a dream.

For my next suit order, I will prob mark up the measurements a little, to try to acheive the same fit.

Beccles, outside Lowestoft - great DZ, they jump all year round.

http://www.ukparachuting.co.uk

http://goo.gl/maps/OeSrs

Cant wait to see the pictures - please can you post a couple of ground shots as well, for context. Also interested to see a pic of it mounted on your helmet.

Thanks for the update, looking forward to hearing more. What is your current up, with the Canon you mention? - be really helpful to know how you feel the Olympus stands up against a conventional DSLR set up.

Very keen to hear what you think of it, and how you get on with it - please do share! I am hoping that with the new camera's coming out of CES this week we might see a couple of strong mirrorless options.

do you guys have a picture of the correct/best way to hold the toggles? I just want to be sure I am understanding how you mean.

Its pretty much shut down here for the winter, apart from an occasional load, but most NYC jumpers put it on hold for the winter, or head to a boogie to get a fill.

Nice piece on Dick Winters in the NY Times this week:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/11/us/11winters.html


We owe Dick and many others so much.

Rest in peace.

Interesting post, I have been wondering the same thing - about using snowboard helmets. I know some of the wingsuit base guys use them, but I havent actually seen anyone skydiving with one.

I would think that the testing and quality that goes into the ski helmets surpasses that of the sky dive helmet manufacturers.

This one looks great for jumping:

http://www.giro.com/us_en/products/snow-helmets/snowboard/omen.html

Thats a great pic. Can you post a picture of the camera mounted on the helmet please? Would like to see how much smaller it sits than the Rebel. Also which bite switch are you using with it?

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My question for the experienced flyers here, is what about cutting away the wings in a flat spin.

Why would you think that help you? Some flapping material? Closing your leg wing would serve you better.

I am asking if it might be easier to come out of the ball with your arms free. I understand that the leg wing needs to be closed, I am just asking if use of the arms would make it easier to return to a stable position for deployment.

Thanks for and sharing. Glad you landed that one alright.

My question for the experienced flyers here, is what about cutting away the wings in a flat spin. If you could free your arms, would that be a first step in regaining stability? I imagine you would still need to ball up, but coming out of the ball with arms would help a lot I think.

Has anyone here cut their arm wings before?

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I jumped the pistol shaped version a few times, and I thought the quality was pretty crappy especially when using the 60 fps mode. The footage had all sorts of rolling stutter when I watched it back on my PC, and just to make sure it wasn't a playback issue, I stepped frame by frame through it. I'd avoid it and go with the CX100, CX110, etc.

@Soulbabel - Are you sure this wasnt your PC's video card not being able to handle that amount of video data? I cant replay the HD at full quality on my (older) macbook, the poor mac just cant handle the rendering and it looks really stuttered, but my works computer (new iMac) does just fine.

Now I just watch the footage via HDMI connection from the camera straight into my TV and its stunningly good quality.

I jump with the Sanyo Xacti HD1010, not quite the same camera but very similar - pretty sure they share most of the same components just a different form factor.

It is superb, very high quality. The fact that it doesnt fit the cam eye is no problem at all, I just turn it on before I gear up on the way up and crop off anything I dont need later. Its really not a problem at all. with digital.

As for the screen opening out, I made my own bracket which has a plate to protect the screen, but for the top mount you could easily fashion a cover from a neoprene beer cooler or laptop bag etc. which would give it enough cover.

Impressive stuff. Lazlo, do you have any instructions/details on the modification of the FP8 for the bite switch? Or where I could get the mod done.

Lazlo, how do you modify to add the remote shutter/bite switch? This looks like a great camera, if that isnt too difficult to crack.

The CHDK looks interesting, thanks for sharing. Which USB blow switch are you using in your testing?

The Canon S90 is a great new point and shoot - it has the same sensor as the G11, in a small compact body. I think it pretty much meets all your points. Only thing is that I dont think it has a 'finger off' continuos shoot mode, so you couldnt really use it for actual freefall pics.

I would like to hear more from anyone using the G11. My friend (non jumping) has the G9 which is fantastic, although it has no remote shutter port so its no good for jumping.

I know the G10 and G11 both have the remote shutter, so I am wondering how they stack up against a Canon Rebel for stills - would love to see some more examples, esp. in freefall.

I know the G11 shoots great HD video as well, so could this be a great all rounder?

The Old Buckingham Parachute Club/DZ has just (Jan 2010) relocated to Beccles in Suffolk. Depending on where you are in Essex, its about 1-2 hours away. Its smaller than Langar but thats gonna be your nearest DZ, easily.

http://www.ukparachuting.co.uk/

You can take a train from Ipswich to Beccles and a quick cab ride from the station to the DZ.

Alterntatively a couple of hours across London (perhaps more like 3) you have Skydive Southcoast - which isnt actually anywhere near the south coast, but it is right near Stone Henge! Good DZ on an old WWII airbase.

Which lens is your friend using? I have the Xacti HD1010 as well and just made my own mount. I was about to buy a Royal, until I read that a true 'HD' lens would be better.

The Raynox HD3032 looks like it is the lead contender at the moment.

@Janusz - Yeah Sanyo make their own wide angle and fish eye lens for the Xacti's so these could be the way to go, but there are little details of them and they seem to be hard to get hold of, most of the web sites have them out of stock.

Would also welcome any details (and example videos) from anyone else jumping this camera.