thatfreaksam

You don't have problems with the autofocus while in freefall with your 600D?

What's your opinion on using a DLSR for video? I'm in the market for a new camera, but I want something that provides crisper video than my CX100. Are there specific models that are better than others? What about lenses? Do you have a preferred lense over another? Why?

I think I'll use this... And possibly some words in the conclusion that are similar to this. Thanks for suggestions guys, I really appreciate it!

When I started jumping it was at a smaller business dropzone, not as small as a skydivers club, but it operated with a Pac 750, which means anywhere from 7-15 skydivers in the air at the same time. After receiving my license, I traveled around, went to some bigger dropzones where there were sometimes multiple planes running throughout the day (i.e. Spaceland, Deland, Z-Hills), and was initially wary about how many people there were in the sky at one time... most of these places operated with one or two Twin Otters, or at times a Twin Otter and another type of plane. That meant that I was in the air with sometimes 20 other people, with another load above us in the air getting ready to jump just minutes after us. My thought is that you might do well with starting out at a moderately sized dropzone... where you can learn to be in the sky with a large group of people, but not be over stimulated with 20+ people at one time. Granted you're a student, so the probability of you being around those other people are slim, but not impossible. So a smaller dropzone might be a better place to start. Not something huge like Eloy or Perris, but maybe Hollister, or Monterey Bay if you're looking for West Coast... I've never been to either dropzone, but from what I hear they're similar sized and operates similarly to my home dropzone. Best of luck in finding a place to start. Blue skies.

Actually, I haven't updated this profile in a few years. I've got around 340 skydives. Not terribly experienced, but enough to know my basics and then some. I think I can put together an adequate presentation about this topic. And also, this is going to be presented to a group of art students. A topic about why I consider video flying an ART, presented to a group of people who are consider themselves ARTISTS. I think that it might go over better than if you're talking to a bunch of random wuffos. Now, having said that, do you have any interesting suggestions as to what I might title this presentation?

Okay, I'm doing a presentation in my English class about Video flying, and why I consider it an art... I need a good title for it though. I know that I'm an art student and everything, and that I should be able to come up with a catchy title myself, but I wanted to see what you crazy hooligans could come up with. Fire away, and remember that it should strictly video flying related.

Thank you Nathan, I really appreciate the depth that you put into your response. I will definitely look into having a demo pilot sent out to me.

I'm not in a hurry to try any sort of canopy and that includes an elliptical one. I'm simply looking to downsize and asking the community what kind of advice they can give me about certain ones that have been offered to me for sale.

I had that problem happen to me when I was on the student goggles.. but now that I purchased my Sorz goggles, I've never had the problem. The only exception to the Sorz goggles is that the foam padding on the rim of the goggles deteoriates pretty quickly. I've been interested in trying Gatorz out, but I'm perturbed by the thought of losing a contact in freefall, and then being blind on landing. (I'm literally as blind as a bat without contacts or glasses).

I was flying a Sabre 2 150 for quite a while, for most of my jumps... but I've recently played around on a Jedi 136, a few Sabre 1 135's, and a Stiletto 135. I've also been advised to try out a Lotus canopy that is currently for sale at my dz. I weigh anywhere from 125- 130 on any given day. With a 135ish canopy, it puts me at roughly a 1.1 wingloading.

The only reason I was looking at these particular canopies, was because these are just a few of the ones offered for sale at this particular time at my local dropzone. If you have a better canopy in mind, please let me know. I'm open to all suggestions and advice.

Well, I'm a roughly anywhere from 125-130 on any given day. For my jump numbers, I'm extremely cautious about landing. I'm always trying to go for a left hand pattern, only right hand if I absolutely have to, and I steer in the harness on my final leg of my pattern. I would never use my toggles on final unless I absolutely had to. I find that I can steer in my harness just fine, and it keeps my canopy level. If I had to use toggles, I'd approach my final in light brakes, so that my canopy isn't dipping forward when I input the toggles. I'm not a crazy flier either. I like to keep it mellow, but I'm interested in trying out something that's a little more... I don't want to use the word aggressive, because I'm not ready for that... but something that is a little faster than a Sabre 1 or 2. I feel like I'm ready to downsize, and that a stiletto 135 would be a decent canopy to start flying, but I'm still curious as to what other people think of how they fly in comparison to my experience level. I'm relatively conservative when it comes to canopy flying... I'm interested in learning more, but slowly.

Well, I'm looking to downsize... And I'm not really sure what I should be looking at to buy for a canopy. I'm a relatively new jumper, I've got around 250 jumps, and I've always considered myself a safe jumper. When I was considering downsizing and told people at my dropzone, a flood of suggestions came in for me, and amongst them was the idea of a Jedi 136. I've researched this particular canopy, and have come back with some info, that it's a highly elliptical canopy, with slow recovery, with fast turns. It's been considered a ground hungry canopy. I've also tried out a Sabre 1 135, as well as a Stiletto. I really enjoy the way the Stiletto flies, as well as the Jedi, but I'd like to get more opinion from Jedi and Stiletto canopy pilots. I've spoken to a few on my own dropzone, and they've told me that the Jedi has a tendency to spin up on opening. I guess the question is, what kind of advice can you give me about flying a Jedi vs. a Stiletto? Or if there is a better canopy out there on the market.

Ah Mike! Nice to see a friendly face on here! And thank you both for the input. I didn't realize that the type of container had no relation to how many jumps you had. Just went by what some higher number jumpers told me. But thank you again.

I'm scouting for the spring season coming around and I'd like to have my own gear by then (borrowing and renting gear is really starting to be a drag), and I can't decide between two different types of containers. I'm stuck between an Infinity and a Javelin. I'm looking for used gear, and I've heard that a Javelin container would be better for a low number jumper, but that an Infinity would last me a larger amount of jumps. At my dropzone, most of the rookies jump Javelins, but a big number of the jumpers with higher jump numbers have been egging on the choice of the Infinity. I'm in no way pressed to get anything super quickly here, but I'd like to know what would be best to look for when I'm actually ready to buy. Just curious on what some more experienced jumpers think.