MichaelBess

Do yourself a favor and look at the i-960 for a few bucks more. I just got one and it appears to be working great. It prints almost twice as fast (I believe it has more print heads).

Any of the Sony PC series are very good cameras for most skydiving preferences. I have a PC-100 for every day and a VX-2000 for my more critical stuff. Be sure to get a good mount for your camera, as well as a good fitting helmet. To shoot good video (without annoying camera shake) you must have a good fitting helmet. The other things I would look into are: A Lanc switch to turn on your camera and to tell you it's on, a good quality ring site such as the ones Brent sells at: http://www.brentfinley.com/store.htm, and a good quality wide angle (I use a .5) lens. Remember before you expect to sell a video to someone the quality has to be there. Seek out a video mentor at or near you home DZ to give you some pointers. Have them review your videos. Read everything you can get your hands on. Be SAFE! Then have fun! Practice! practice! practice!

You are not far off. When you are at altitude your head actually does expand slightly. If you have a very tight fitting helmet on the ground, it will be tighter at altitude every time. I am not sure how temperature affects size as much as altitude. The video helmets I manufacture have a chin latch mechanism that I have to make sure to leave a bit of extra room to allow for expansion. Otherwise it will not latch at altitude. You could try re-fitting your helmet while wearing a very thin hat. Something like a T-shirt thin firesuit mask. Make sure there are no seams in your hat. It really wont take much, just remember if it ends up too loose you run the risk of losing it in freefall. Just a few thoughts...

You must have received yours today? I am so glad you like it! I hope Fred allows me to do next years as well! Let me know how they like it up in Snohomish.

Absolutely! The trick is is get them out of "Output" mode and shift them to "Input" mode so they actually LISTEN in class because this class IS actually important!

No problem, I am glad to help

One way I tell my students to remember their PLFs is this: Picture a $100 bill between your knees and another $100 dollar bill between your ankles. If you allow one of them to slip durring your PLF you will be spending that $200 (or more) on your insurance deductible for that nice new broken ankle! They seem to listen more carefully and pay more attention after that...

For those interested I just completed the 2003 Lost Prairie video. If you ordered a copy it was shipped out and should arrive shortly. I hope you all enjoy it

I use a protec. laugh if you want but its cheap, fits tight on my head and is easily ejected. I have cut off the chin strap and sewn that to the two straps near the snaps. one tug and bye bye system. *** There is nothing wrong with wanting to get by with what your budget allows. If your budget allows only a Protec then that is what you will have, at least you are doing video. As for your statement about fits tightly... Not so. It may fit well, but low-density foam will not allow you to lock the cameras to your head no matter how tight you have your helmet and chin cup. You need (at minimum) high-density foam to fully isolate the cameras to your head. Protec by design has a medium density outer liner (the white part) with a low-density inner liner (the yellow-ish part). If you have a very large head the yellow is much thinner and will work better but in my opinion not good enough to end up with professional results. As the air hits the cameras (especially when filming 4 way with a steep angle) it has leverage against that low-density foam and it WILL compress thusly camera movement / shake will occur. This is the main reason that most folks that have a Protec will eventually dump them. There are other reasons like a better engineered system will have the cameras mounted much closer to your head (both front and top) and thereby reducing leverage. Enjoy your Protec but I guarantee if you continue doing lots of videos it will eventually be replaced. *** this setup shoots excellent quality film. suitable for television. the rebel shoots film suitable for magazines. i would like to know what a more expensive setup would do for me.... no really. am i missing something? *** Yes, if your requirements are low end video (less lines of resolution) processed through a single CCD chip then the end quality of your video will be less. If however you wish to shoot better video you could step up to a "Magapixel" CCD chip camera (such as the PC series) or go all the way to a three chip (3 CCD chips) to process the colors much better. If you do a simple test you will see it. Shoot the following cameras on the same settings, at the same time, at the same subject, side by side: 1) your TRV-11, 2) A PC 100 or 120, 3) A PD-150 or VX-2000. Then Display all three videos on a quality monitor (something capable of showing you what you are missing). The increased quality of the video will be obvious to see. As for your Rebel, better optics produce better photographs period. Your Rebel is a fine camera but no where near "Professional" quality. It's all about the lenses and quality therein. If you want the next upgrade (I'm still talking film and have not even mentioned digital stills) read up on Medium format cameras (such as the Pentax 645), look at the size of the negative. This will answer your own question. Yes the better the camera the better the potential is for a better photograph. Michael

I use a hand switch, the convenience factor of a bite or blow switch is nice (not having to route the chord through your jumpsuit every time you add stills), on the other hand every type of hand or blow switch goes through more abuse (saliva teeth etc.). For me the hand switch lasts longer and has proven more reliable. Besides when using two stills it's relatively easy to add another hand switch (two switches side by side). Just some thoughts, Michael

If it gets the job done, great! Save the cash for more boogies! Speaking of the D-60, how happy are you with it? I have seriously considered one for the mere fact of quick turn-around printing for my customers. I would love to save the hassle of the going to the photo labs, shipping headaches, blow-up costs, etc. I have an RV that I travel with and it would not take too much to bring my printer... Michael

You know what's funny under Photography and Video? : Michael Bess-newbie Bwahaha! *** Thanks John!

Pretty simple really. My comments were directed at a guy that was just starting out and would more than likely be just flying a single video camera for awhile. As a matter of fact, this guy isn't even completely certain he's going to jump camera yet. *** OK I can see that, I just took a bit of offense as to your choice of wording "Top mount stuff is less expensive". The TRV18 would never even be considered in my collection Speaking of PC series, that 120 is coming down in price and may have to replace my 100 pretty soon. What cameras do you currently jump? Michael

For the most part, people have two basic choices as far as basic styles go; top mount or side mount. It's debatable what is "better" but there is no doubt that the top mount stuff is less expensive. *** I agree completely with the exception of that "Less Expensive" statement. I design and build my own high-end helmets. I have made side mount brackets, belly mounts, airplane mounts (just to name a few) and have a few different video helmet setups but by no means are my top mounts the "less expensive" versions, my side mounts are by far. My 3 chip VX-2000 comes in at around $2900 ea and is way to big to side mount, the only cameras I consider side mounting are the PC series (PC-100, 101, 5 etc.) Sony cameras (I too am a Sony fan) but they come in around $900-$1800 ea. (I personally have a PC-100 for side or top). In my opinion for the average side mount system most folks have invested around $2000 (helmet, sight, video, and 35mm still), while the average top mount system is going to be well over $6000 (helmet, sight, video, 35mm still, + medium format or...). The top mount systems offer more mounting room and you can use much higher end cameras and more of them. What are you getting at with that statement, I am curious as to your viewpoint? Michael

Steve, You will learn very quickly that using just the camera's wide-angle settings your video will not be wide enough. You could always fly farther back but then you will introduce camera shake into the mix. It's always better to fly closer to your subject and use a wide-angle adapter, wide video is smooth video! Spend the cash (they are really not very expensive) and get yourself a wide-angle lens. As a footnote, do yourself a favor and ditch the Hi-8 as soon as you can (unless you are just planning on using it to learn with). The video you get with your finished product (with even the best Hi-8s) is nowhere near the quality of digital. Michael

Excellent point but this is a great forum to discuss the bare minimums. Let's face it, every DZ will shoot and edit differently. Some will use a titler, throw in some video stills, use some cool fades and A/B rolls etc. all edited to music (royalty free of course ). But the bottom line is the videos that get out there advertise for that video concession and DZ. For future business it's in the best interest for the video concession as well as the DZ to do it right and use some sort of minimum standards. I say as a minimum: Show the student gearing up (or geared up) kind of a "Pre jump" interview (what are you thinking stuff), a few shots in the plane during the climb, the entire freefall from exit to (and including) the opening, The videographers landing, and most importantly the tandem landing and post jump interview. (No you can not fit that into 3 1/2 minutes). Michael

USPA BSRs do state 14 mph being the limit for jumping in winds (for a non licensed skydiver with a square reserve), however the wind limit for a student jumping with a round reserve canopy (some DZs still have rounds in their student gear) is 10 MPH. Don't forget to think about what kind of reserve you have when making a determination about jumping or not. This philosophy goes for experienced jumpers as well. Hope this helps

Hey Jeff, Yup, my buddy Brent sent me an E-mail to clue me in as to the thread (what a great guy). Of course she did and I am still going to have you send me the proper video!! She will understand ... Love that Pez move! Yes I do make a stand alone "L" bracket with wide angle support. In my opinion the most important thing about the "L" bracket is to support the wide angle lens. There is nothing more frustrating than losing your new .5 (or what ever you are using) from a riser slap and since they are plastic threads (on most of them) it is pretty easy to do. Let me know what you need and I can custom make anything! It may take me some time as I am pretty BZ but it WILL be done right and bullet proof (as well as a minimum distance out the side).

Awwwwww Thanks Guys, I am always glad to help out where I can. The Byron Boogie was an absolute blast, Clay put me to work doing tandem videos and the rest of the time I was just having fun and skydiving hard! Eric, Lots of improvements since then huh