StefB

"Best program..." I don't know that. But converting DVD material to AVI for further processing... there is a tool DVD2AVI (http://arbor.ee.ntu.edu.tw/~jackei/dvd2avi/) Stefan

"Don't do it" is wrong. Do it safe! Today you can get advices/informations from many places e.g. from your local camera guys and S&TAs, Mr. Waldons book, camera work instruction courses, helmet manufacturers, tandem rig manufacturers, national skydiving organisations (FYI: mine has detailed restrictions for equipment and experience going up to some sort of 'video licence') and - last but not least - our community here. Safe equipment (helmet)... Hard helmet. Camerabox moulded in the helmet shell. No snagpoints such as screws for the box or ring sights (test it!). Hard chin cup. Emergency release system with proper training. Reliable helmet closure system. No full visor system. 1-2 Audible altimeters. Edit: But remember - a knife can be a very safe tool in your hands but is very dangerous in the hands of your small children. Our community... People show pictures from their video helmet setups and write details about their camera model or their NLE solution,... and ask for comments. People write about their intention to do camera work now and their skydiving qualifications (often their jump numbers only) and ...hmm... ask for comments? Why do most people listen to "hard/technical" answers only and "soft/emotional" answers/advices are bullshit? Stefan

Thank you for the details. Changed 'All' to 'Most'. Stefan

The Handycam Station on the PC109 (PC109E for EU countries) has additional connection ports. Most ports are on the camera itself too. The only "advantage" of the Handycam Station is: You don't have to search the ports all over the camera under these little rubber plugs... And you have to demount the camera from your helmet, when you dub with the Handycam Station because the camera is standing in the Handycam Station and the connection is on the camera bottom. Edit: At least the HC40 has a special A/V cable and this might led to stress on multiperson edit stations e.g. on competitions. The plug on the camera end is multipurpose for A/V and S-Video. You have to use your own HC40 A/V cable between camera and dubbing VCR or video mixer. It seems the PC109 A/V outlet is for a conventional 3.5mm A/V connector. I couldn't find a S-Video outlet on the PC109 body in the manual. Seems S-Video is on the Handycam Station only. Stefan

Smaller cams and video helmets bring up other safety issues. E.g. one FF jump with camera, then another without but with the same helmet but without cam... And there is a lot more filming in formation loads now ("the flight recorder mentality"). And AFF instructors with helmet cam and tandem pilots with handycam. Remember the incident when the empty cam bracket smashed a fellow freeflyers face? Light video equipment doesn't mean no problems there. Stefan

I don't agree with that. There is a constant need for camera flyers. But straping cameras to 100-jump wonders doesn't help. I observe: "Often they do camera for some funjumps but they disappear when the hard work calls". This is OK for me, but please do not pick the cherries from our cake. But this is not specific to 100 jumps or 1000 jumps. "The video quality from upstarters sucks". This is natural. Camera flying requires both flying and camera skills. Maybe your regular camera guy thought bad quality videos from a newbie give bad reputation to the DZ camera business? Stefan

Hi Caren New processor technologies reduce shutter release lags now. There is a big improvement in digital camera technology. But you should check the time between each shot, too. Some cameras spend quite a long time to store a picture. The Sony DSC-V3 has manual focus in 13 steps. I think this is from some near distance to infinity (what you need for CF). http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Sony/sony_dscv3.asp The auto power-off function (90s/3min) of the previous model DSC-V1 is explained in the english manual on page 14. http://www.sonydigital-link.com/DIME/manuals/manuals.asp?l=de&sc=&m=DSC-V1 I think, you can disable this function when you put a plug in the A/V Out (MONO) jack - easy! I hope the DSC-V3 manual and more reviews/tests/sample images will be online soon. Stefan

FYI: Sony has introduced the DSC-V3 camera with 7.2 megapixel effective: http://www.steves-digicams.com/2004_reviews/v3.html#specs RM-VD1 Multi-Function Wired Remote Control is an option. Waiting for sample images... Stefan

A third-party liability property damage and bodily injury skydiving insurance is included in USPA membership. But since mid of 2002 third-party liability skydiving insurance in Germany must cover for a minimum of 1500000 EUR for each occurrence of property damage AND a minimum of 600000 EUR for each occurrence of bodily injury (Luftverkehrsgesetz). I couldn't find exact USPA insurance data to compare with. But i think the coverage is much less. So it would be wise to get some german third-party liability insurance. Stefan

How about the camflyers at your local DZ? Stefan

I'm looking for a digital photo camera too... I have seen several wired remote, non-SLR cameras on www.dpreview.com: Not-so-wide-angle (

Get a mentor. You can read lots of excellent articles and books, but a regular videojumper can help you a lot. Perhaps he can borrow you an old jumpsuit with wings. He can check your new toys for safety and usefulness. And he can give you first hand training advices to improve your flying skills and you have a person to give you qualified feedback. Stefan

This one is really good. I must try this position too! Stefan

Hi Klaus there are several designs available: Site from Gary Peek http://www.pcprg.com/camlight.htm Site from Jason Bell http://www.vertical-visions.com/08tally.html Site from Marco Scheibe (with microcontroller for LANC!, german) http://www.exit-exit.de/electron/cameye.html My own site (german) http://www.skydiver.de/stef/bastel.htm Good Luck Stefan

I use a blow switch. It's not perfect - you are able to blow with about 70 mbar air pressure and since your lungs are compressed in the opening sequence too, you might trigger the camera... Stefan

Thanks a lot for fast delivery! You shipped the book 08/23 from US and i got the book yesterday 08/27 in Germany. And Paypal order/payment worked fine too. Now i'm reading... Stefan

Stefan, Easy solution: make two versions for this poor guy. Then he can select what he want to show. To edit the accident clip is no real solution. And otherwise the story will grow each time he tells the story... I would add something nice to the bad landing tape (or the other tape as well) e.g. record best wishes from all people of your dropzone. Cheers from the whole bunch or individuals at least from the staff TM, Videot, Manifestors... but pretty girls or boys will do also ;-) Blue Skies Stefan

FYI: Samsung Duocam Series http://www.dcviews.com/press/Samsung-VP-D6050i.htm Drawback: "You can switch between a 5 Mp, 3x zoom camera and a Camcorder at the push of a button." Stefan

Sorry if "hassle" is the wrong word or expression. MicroMV is not compatible with the most NLE software tools used today. You get a lot of tools for MiniDV NLE, even free ones. But there are rather few tools for MicroMV (Sonys product, Pinnacle Studeio 8, Ulead Video Studio 7) and these three are -hmm- "entry level". Stefan

PC8, because it is MiniDV and i want no hassle when doing nonlinear video edits. Stefan

I don't think you can use the small record sign on the LCD display for a external record display. But i have seen viewfinders with seperate LED (old Hi8 and VX1000E). And i have seen one camera where the current leads to this LED were cut and redirected to an external LED. But this requires to open+modify the cameras viewfinder. Another way might be monitoring the current from the battery. In recording mode the tape transport is running and the power consumption should be greater than in power-off/standby mode. I think it's easy to make a interface between camera and battery. Maybe you find e.g. a student at a local college department or a radio amateur in your local radio club who can test this assumption and can design an external recording device. Good luck Stefan

Most european PAL DVD players can play NTSC DVDs too. And most european PAL TVs can display NTSC video as Pseudo-PAL (PAL60) too. When people can not view commercial NTSC DVDs on PAL equipment there is often a problem with the region code. But your won't author your DVDs with region code... Or there is something wrong with the DVD player setup/cable connection which can be solved with careful manual reading. There is a good chance that your sister can view your NTSC authored DVD on her DVD player /TV. A test is much easier than a correct NTSC to PAL conversion. Or try to get DVD player model name and TV model name and check NTSC playback capability in the net. Good luck Stefan

Yep. That was one error, there are more. If you have time (i had) and when you know that you have time (i didn't)... But i think passive "waiting" is not enough or even dangerous. I will learn fast, active recovery from instability too. The risks as different on each kind of skydive. And the risks should be minimized. The best emergency procedure would cover all risks and is still so easy that you can do it even in the highest stress situation. But we learn our basic (read nothing with cameras, wingsuits...) emergency procedure as students. This drill forms a "habit pattern". Under stress this habit pattern will come up. Therefore it is difficult to handle a new emergency procedure under stress. But it is good to have one option more (helmet away). There was no other solution in that situation at all. Something catched the helmet and the opening reverve canopy pulled my head very hard. I was happy to get rid of the helmet as soon as possible. Stay safe Stefan

Yes, i did. Stefan

I have my second Sony TRV110E (PAL), which i bought second-hand for 400€ after the first one didn't survived in a rather wet cloud... It's first generation D8, but good for skydiving and tandems. It has Fade-in and Fade-out in Record-Mode, but the switch is clumsy. Fade-in is rather easy, but with fade-out you will shake the image when you record your target and search the knob... I do fade-in and fade-out with a simple (10€ from Ebay) videomixer when recording the pax tape. Bye Stefan