ffejdraga

I have been jumping two Xaos 21 120s for the last 700 jumps or so. So far, this is the best canopy I have ever flown. I am constantly doing camera, and NEVER ONCE have I had a hard opening. Last year I was getting line twists all the time, and the canopy would just sit there straight and level while I got out of them. (Happily this year no line twists...thanks to other people who pack for me that are better at it ). Half my birdman jumps are on this canopy (Ok, so that is only four jumps...) but no problems there either. All around I love it, couldn't be better. hope this helps you. jeff D-16906

Here you go. photo by Dave Bryce. Over jumptown, Orange MA jeff D-16906

Yeah man, nice pics from skyfest. Congrats. Btw, did you check me out...upper right shot in the pictorial yahoo. jeff D-16906

If the tandem is climbing out on the step and faces forward, I like to climb out so that I am hanging underneath the strut. I put my feet on the wheel or the step (frontside of it), and I am basically back to earth. You can get really good face shots of them leaving this way, and it is easy to stay in a sit the whole time. Try it, it is fun. jeff D-16906

Any chance that NightShot came on somehow..?? that is the only thing i could really think of...strange. good luck. jeff D-16906

Damn, I am glad I was able to see the preview before it just changed to the titles. I cannot wait. jeff D-16906

yeah I saw that shot, Nice expression on the girl Nice shot. Check mine out on page 30 jeff D-16906

One pic of the record has been published in the August issue of Skydiving Magazine. sweet! jeff D-16906

Dude, wait............... sorry, i think i had my facts incorrect. the wide angle lens i have is 37mm,but the thread size (what the WA screws into ) is 33mm. I have a step down ring of 37 to 33mm. sorry man. hope i didnt mess you up too much jeff D-16906

it is 37mm. fact. jeff D-16906

here are my thoughts: I have been shooting tandem video for about 8 years. In that time I have amassed 3 35mmfilm cameras (2 N70s and one F100 ). Just a few weeks ago, I picked up A D70, and I also bought one of those standalone cdburners from Alera. This past weekend was the test for me, and once I knew everything worked perfectly, I began offering digital to the tandem students. Now, mind you, i am currently the only one at our DZ with this capability, so I had to handle it delicately. When I was assigned a student, I would ask them what they wanted, either 35mm film or a cd with digital pics, one or the other, not both, no extra cost. I told them it wasnt an option for their friends, since I was the only one... out of 4 out of 5 opted for it on saturday (slowday). The only one I had that wanted film was a mother who said that her kids would scan in the pics for her. (which her kids are probably going to be annoyed that she didnt just pick digital in the first place.) But hey whatever, I switched cameras for her and shot 35mm. As I am editing the video, I put the mem card in the burner, hit copy, and all the pics from that jump go on the cd. Then i make two copies for myself, and it is done. The burner has multisession capability, so one cd lasted the whole day for me. When you get digital, you need more other stuff too. Very soon, digital will be close to 100% accepted, but until that time, film cameras will still be needed. When you can afford it, get both. But for now, since nobody on the dz is giving digital, the customers aren't really missing out. btw, I pay $1.20 for a roll of film, 24 exposures. Cds cost about 29cents each. Also, another thing I loved about shooting with the D70, is I dont have to worry about how many pics I take. I was taking lots of pics I can't take with film simply because there arent enough pics. So I was taking pics on the ground with the entire group, pictures inside the airplane, more ground shots after, etc. A couple of Cds I gave out had 40 pics on there....I know it can be a little much, but what is the difference? All the customers left extrrmely happy, and that is the only key. jeff D-16906

That is your call to make. All I am saying is that you are already at a pretty extreme wing loading for your experience level, and you need to be careful if you want to keep your habits of jumping and breathing. I have no idea of your abilities, judgement, etc. so I can't judge either way. All I am saying is that 700 jumps is only a few for a wingloading of2.0 or so. All I am saying is be careful bro, dont hurt yourself, live a long time, and think on every jump. jeff

Hey, be careful. At 700 jumps, 1.97 is enough for you. Gain some more experience (lots more) before you downsize or add weight. Stay alive. jeff D-16906

yeah jumptown rules, and Amy brings really good vibes, to an already good vibe place!! jeff D-16906

yes i do, and that plug is smaller than the d70 mod. On a regular pair of headphones for a walkman is the exact connector i used... I don't know what size that is. I am still trying to figure out the remote wiring deal. It appears that I have to turn the camera on, and then push the buton on the camera itself either halfway or all the way to take a shot, and then the tongue switch (which is homemade) will work. New routine I will have to remember.... it seems weird, but maybe if I wire the remote release differntly it will work without that little trick... time will tell jeff D-16906

Kevin, It is a homemade switch, radio shack submini lever. I have a 16mm lens from Nikon, and so now it is a 24mm. I am working on picking up the new 10.5mm so i can have 15.75mm fullframe fisheye. I also have an 8mm lens from MCPeleng that I will be using, which is a full frame 12mm i guess. But the mod works sweet, but i gotta check and see if there is a way to make the standby deal not happen. It could be the way the switch is wired, but not sure...the mod accepts a stereo plug, but i have it going to a mono connection (two conductor ) it bybasses the auto focus and auto metering. gotta do some experimenting with the plug. I will wire another one in a different way, or get a multimeter to see what is happening. jeff D-16906

Yep. I jsut bought one the other week, sent it to harbortronics, and got the mod done. The mod is $225 ytotal (195+30 shipping ) but it works flawlessly. However, it is not the same plug that comes with the conceptus tongue switch, it is bigger. It is the same type of plug for a pair of headphones that fit in a walkman. Harbortronics was great (even though it is a very high price...IMHO) they turned my camera around the same day they got it, and now I am all set. I flew it this weekend, and got some great pics. There seems to be an issue with the remote release and the camera going into some type of standby mode. Not sure if it is the way we wired up the remote or if it is inherent in the camera, and needs to be adjusted. Kevin, jump in anytime if you know about this. But I found myself having to 'refresh' the camera every once in a while. So to make sure, i turned it on as i climbed out and took a shot right away...that kept it going for all of freefall. the pics are sweet. very hi quality. attached is one that i took, but is very much 'dumbed down' to fit here. jeff D-16906

To all the skydiving world: Ed from Conceptus has contacted me about my switch, and has graciously offered to send me one to replace the broken one i have. I am not angry anymore So, thanks Ed! jeff D-16906

Hey Tom, yeah only three (less) weeks away...yeah man!!! One more New England record in the Jumptown skies... freekin' awesome, can't wait jeff D-16906

yeah, what Joe said! it was good seeing you at Jumptown Joe. I hope you had as much fun as always!! jeff D-16906

see, once again, conceptus never fails to disappoint. jeff D-16906

there is some really good info (and non-skydiving pics ) here about raw vs jpeg vs tiff http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/raw.htm jeff D-16906

Ok they are up. http://www.jumptown.com/crwgallery/crwgallery.shtml enjoy. jeff D-16906

I have a bunch of photos that will be up soon, stay tuned to this forum, and you will have the link. jeff D-16906

I would agree. 500th can come in handy for stuff though. but i am a big fan of 250th most of the time (95% of my shots in the air) jeff D-16906