Fast

The thing is, you don't! It is possible to progress faster on a larger wing than a smaller wing. You have to learn skills to make it go fast rather than just having a smaller canopy to go faster. You learn more faster on a larger wing. Though at some point you have to downsize to go farther/faster. ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

I don't know what you mean by "zoom set to infinity" cause you can't zoom to infinity (You can focus to infinity though) I just zoom it out all the way if I am doing something that I am holding onto the person and zoom it in a couple taps on the zoom for stuff where I am outside video. ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

Ended up with the sigma 15 which I like, canon 15 would have been nice too, I am getting some really nice pictures, don't know if it would have made the difference. Its hard to keep clean, I have to do a much better job of that. here are a bunch of pictures from this weekend. ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

Most of the results I have seen regarding hard drives and altitude has been that, many iPods/MP3 players seem to work but MicroDrives in digital cameras fail quite a bit. One girl at my DZ had a 2gb microdrive for her Rebel XT and it worked on the way up and crapped out before we got to the ground. There have been many similar reports on here. I wonder if there is a significant difference in quality between what you have been testing and what some other jumpers have been using. edit: To be noted, the microdrive worked fine again once back on the ground. ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

That and when you are doing anything else you can just zoom it in some and it works fine. My frist lens was a Diamond .3 and I am still using it. I shoot everything from RW, FF, and tandems with it. ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

Yeah black is cooler looking!

Thats exactly the conversation that we are having. Great thing about DZ.com is you get to talk to all kinds of skydivers from all over the world. Including those who organize things like WFFC

There are lots of what-ifs. His friends opinions don't mean shit if they don't understand swooping or other things that he wants to get into. His friends opinions don't mean dick if they are 100 jump wonders. Cause they don't know enough to be giving advice in the first place. Now if he is friends with someone on the PD Factory team or some other experienced swoopers then thier opinion might matter. There is one thing about generalizations that you are missing. Sure, it is possible that a guy with 1000 jumps has never learned some skills and lacks experience that most people with 1000 jumps have. Maybe he just doesn't get canopy flight. The problem is, it doesn't work the other way. At 200 jumps you just don't have it no matter what and there is no way that you could. It isn't enough time. You are missing key skills that you can't get without getting out there and jumping. ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

Interesting post resurected from long ago... It's a shame that Dan wasn't around the weekend you were at our DZ Brian. Dan you had any changes to this line of thinking, in the last oh,.. few years? Since you have undoubtedly learned a lot in that time. ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

I have been ready for the weekend since monday!!! LAST MONDAY....!!! Its been crap weather here, I need some skydiving to cheer me up. ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

Depends on who you ask. I've heard many people say this and they said it about Sabre2's as well as Sabres. I dont happen to agree though. I had two of them and neither of them were hard opening canopies. I did have one SERIOUSLY hard opening on a Sabre2 190 that actually grounded me for a couple months but I firmly believe that it was a packing issue and not something specific to Sabre2's Saber 2s are NOT known for hard openings. The people who say they are typically have either, confused them with a saber 1, or are buying into what someones brothers second cousin told them. The saber2 is one of the most popular canopies on the market. ALL canopies can smack you with a hard opening now and then. There are just that many more saber 2s out there that you hear about it a little more. Do a search on this, you will find it has been posted about COUNTLESS times.

It was something like 1.3 or 1.4. Not an unusual wingloading for a Sabre2 jumper. I was taking a sabre 2 170 150 feet at 1.2... And a sabre 2 150 at abotu 1.3-1.4 200 feet Cheers Dave I was regularly getting over 200ft on a saber 1 - 150 on a swoop course with 10ft gates. Close to 300ft with a 3-7mph downwind on a more conservative hook. I am on a smaller higher loaded wing now and getting shorter swoops. I had to tone thing down a bit because I am not anywhere near as comfortable with it as I was the saber after hundres of jumps. ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

Are people gasping at your choice of canopy type or size? The canopies that are most often recomended to starting jumpers are, Saber 2, Pilot, Safire 2, spectre. All of them canopys offer flight characteristics that are condusive to a newer jumper just learning about flying a parachute. My first canopy was a saber2 170. I learned on Manta 280s, jumped some rental 210, jumped rental saber2 190, jumped rental saber2 170, then decided I liked that and bought one. I did this with the guidance of the instructor whom I trusted most and it worked out great. The choice of a saber2, or any other canopy that I mentioned isn't bad. Each have things they offer. The pilot opens nicer than a saber2, some say the saber2 flies nicer though. I don't think there is much of a difference. People might be freaking out about your choice of size, if you are an average jumper a 170 is probally going to be ok, but its hard to say that w/o knowing you and seeing you land and all that. Work with someone at your DZ to find out what is going to be a perfect fit for you. Going right from a 280 to a 170 is much to large of a jump. You need to jump some stuff inbetween and learn more about canopy flight. Bottom line, the saber 2 is an ok, and highly recomended canopy for new jumpers. Every new student at my home DZ first jumps on a big Manta 280 then we work them down to an appropriatly sized saber 2. From there they are free to demo and try and buy whatever they want, as soon as they get thier A. ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

That is probally why most of my jumps are at my "home" dz (Sky Knights) because it is a club. The only reason the DZ is there is because of the jumpers that jump there. We don't have a DZO that makes money off our dropzone. Everyone works together to make things happen and its great. ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

Can see how you would want night shot as a BASE person, though, for outside of that... in the time i owned a camera with night shot i used it maybe 1% of the time, haven't missed it at all on the pc1000. ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

My Responses in bold... Like I said the only canopy that I have jumped that you list is the crossfire and I love the canopy. I can't compare it to the ones that you listed. The thing that is odd to me is why you want to go from a 135 back to a 150. If you have been jumping the 135 for 100 jumps or something you're gonna be really bored going back up in size. Do you own the saber135? Is it a saber 1 or 2? Is there a reason that you wanted to get rid of it. Is it borrowed? Do you have to give it back? Does your container not fit a canopy that small? You're saying you have been jumping one of them, I only ask the questions I do because I think you will be bored on the canopies that you have listed if you were already mostly jumping a 135. If you only have a handfull of 135 jumps or want a bigger canopy for some other reason then,.. hey I don't see a reason you would be going wrong with a crossfire. Hell even a 149 might be ok, that depends on a whole lot of stuff that I wouldn't be able to tell unless I was at the DZ with you. I am sorry if I pissed you off with my post, that wasn't my intention. It was to get you to be more open and give some more information. Thats what people want to see, openess and willingness to learn. In your other thread lots of people made suggestions that you seem to not care about. So, give reasons that you think thier suggestions don't work for you or something. In the long run, I just want to see people happy, not hurt, and swooping the shit out of the pond/landing area!!

If you want an honest answer from people on this please answer the following. Current Number of jumps? Number of jumps that were full altitude hop'n'pops? Number of low altitude hop'n'pops? Number of landings with double fronts? Number of landings with speed inducing turns ranging from 0-90 degrees? Number of landings with speed inducing turns ranging from 91-180 degrees? Number of landings with turns greater than 180 degrees (how many as 270s?) What was your canopy progression? In order, with number of jumps on each canopy... Can you do each of the following on the smallest canopy that you wish to count towards your progession? Please answer yes or no? * flat turn 90 degrees at 50 feet * flare turn at least 45 degrees * land crosswind and in no wind * land reliably within a 10 meter circle * land on slight uphills and downhills * land with rear risers Ok maybe thats too much to ask of you, but really what you are asking of us is too much too! We have no way to know what you are capable of unless we see you land. You say you have jumped a saber2 135. That canopy is BY FAR faster in overall speed, faster in turning, and would swoop longer than any canopy you have listed above. That is, if you have the skill to make it happen. Swooping is NOT about the canopy, it is about the pilot in comand of the canopy. I really think you need to learn some more about what makes a canopy fast or swoopy or whatever it is you think you want. Just a little learning will help so much more that a new canopy. I wont go on because you aren't going to listen to me. If I had to pick a canopy from the above list I w/o any info on you I would pick the XF2 169 because its the biggest on that list. Edit: Yep, I don't have that many more jumps that you do, the reason I am asking all these questions is because your coming on the internet to learn this stuff, and you haven't qualified why. When i started to learn swooping I found someone at my DZ who could teach me. I have been doing some kind of speed inducing manuver since jump 150 and make over 300 jumps a year. I am current and jump every weekend. Thats why I am comfortable on a XF2 139 @ 1.5 with 700 jumps. (Just thought I would point that out incase you look at my profile) ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

In 700 jumps I have jumped at... Sky Knights, 550 jumps+ Skydive Chicago 50 Jumps (tops) Chicagoland Skydiving Center (30 tops) Skydive Wissota (50 tops) Rantoul (20-30 jumps ish) Perris (20ish) Thats it, was gonna jump at a DZ in florida when I was down for tunnel time but it was crap weather on our jumping day. Going to a lot of different DZs isn't a bad thing, its a whole lot of fun to visit some place but I have to say, it is nice to have a place that I call home and know everyone. I learn a lot when I go other places and but I am more comfortable jumping at my home DZ because I know the lay of the land and pretty much every person on the load with me. I know who to jump with and who to watch out for. I hope to make at least 300-400 more jumps this year for a total year to date of 400-500. Most of them will probally be at my home dz. I burnt through my whole jump package in a month so... hehe.

You can try taking test shots on the ground or on the climb to altitude with various shutter speeds in Tv mode, you are aiming to have the camera choose f8. No one setup is "the best". If you have no idea about photography and don't want to learn, then Sports mode is probably your safest bet. If you know a little, then experiment with settings similar to what I listed above and see how they work for you in different light conditions. Yeah I agree with that. The thing is I actually know quite a bit about photography. My parents both worked as a professional wedding photographers when I was a kid and my dad still does a lot of photography as a hobby. I learned a bunch from them and from reading books about photography and a few specifically about digital photography. I just don't know a lot about freefall photography. I can take really cool pictures on the ground when I have time to play with the camera. Its getting used to the fire and forget nature of settings and the inability to use a viewfinder that has been harder. My real problems are with spending money, I hate it! ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

Thats the first thing I was thinking... "What on earth is the video guy doing?!?" ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

If this is what you are talking about, then that really doesn't qualify you to say how well it dives. The reason its hard to hold it in a dive is because it has built up so much speed you are no longer able to counteract the new level of lift force with your arm strength. The faster you go the more lift the canopy has and it makes it harder to hold a trim change (pulling risers down) Saying the pilot doesn't dive is a stretch if you having worked up to doing turns yet. Most canopys don't dive that much with double fronts. Some yeah, but not like doing turns. Less than a saber2 is one thing, but to write the canopy off completely is a big step. Pilots open much nicer than saber 2s (I still think its a great canopy). Though, that is just my opinion. I could be wrong. ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

Yes I have jumped stills (my profile is for BASE), what I actually said was "The extra weight over the Fixed 15mm is insignificant" According to the specs is .04lbs that is about 20 grams. If that is significant for you then the Canon 15mm is .08lbs lighter again. At ISO 400, you are likely to get noticeable noise. ISO 100-200 is sufficient for normal daylight conditions. You should be getting a higher shutter speed and smaller aperture than you are getting, something is wrong with those figures (are you using sports mode?). A shutter speed of 1/320 - 1/500 is plenty fast enough to stop motion in normal skydiving, especially when you are sitting in front of a tandem. Increasing the aperture is going to decrease your depth of field, reducing the likelihood of the subject being in focus if you are using manual focus. Anyone can quote an experts option to support their view. If you are happy with the views you have already gotten then why ask here?(Rhetorical question) I still say the Canon lens is worth the extra few bucks. You don’t have to look far to find that the support from Sigma is not very good. I'm not saying you choice isn't the best for you, just giving some feedback on some of your comments, sounds like you had decided on the Sigma 15mm before you first posted and were looking for reassurances. I’m sure you’ll be happy with whatever lens you buy. Your right on the weight thing and in that regard, the canon is better yet. It is definatly something I'm keeping in mind. I don't know if I will feel the difference, but if the overall health impact is better then, thats decent in my book. At ISO 400 I am getting noise and that is frustrating me. I have been using it on the suggestion of another videographer at my DZ. I would rather use 100 in regards to photo quality. As to using a lower f-stop to get more light I do realize that lowers dof and that is why I have let the camera just do its think on "P" mode, I wasn't using sports mode no. As for stoping motion, yeah, I have no problems with tandems, but I take my camera on FF jumps quite a bit and have been having a lot of problems there. As for quoting mcgowan's advice regarding the sigma over the canon, on that issue yeah, what he says supports some of the things I was thinking. I don't take anything that anyone says as gospel though. I knew starting this thread that if I bought a 15mm lens it would probally be the sigma. That doesn't mean its not worth asking and seeing if there is someone who could give me something to think about. In the time since starting this thread some things that I read included a few paragraphs about the loss of extreme detail in highlights due in part to only showing up on a few pixels of the sensor. The higher quality of lens makes less difference on digital than film because of that, which is when I remembered reading the post I quoted. Anyways, I mostly started this thread looking for reasons to buy the 10-22 over the 15 and some people asked questions and I thought about it, and the things stated don't seem worth the extra coin. Thats why I started it. I hope you haven't taken offense to my asking if you have jumped a still camera, I often find its hard to qualify someones experience level on the internet. I'll pick one and if I don't like it I will send it back, I guess thats the only real way to figure it out. ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

This made me think about some other things. I have been shooting iso400 on my camera because the pictures were blurry and not crisp. If a f2.8 lets me go back down to iso100 then that is worth it to me. I also have found by looking through a few picture folders that a lot of my pictures are being taken at the 1/400 range. I left the camera pick the f-stop and shutter speed and it has been picking from f7.1-11 with shutter speeds from 1/125-1/500. This is at iso400. That gives me more depth of field in regards to the fact that I have the focus taped down, but it also is slowing the shutter down and I get a lot of motion blurred pictures. If I could take every picture at 1/2000-1/4000 it would probally be good. The faster the shutter the more motion stop I will get. I don't want to see motion in my skydiving pictures really. At least I don't think I do. Maybe I am wrong. Maybe I will be pigeon holeing myself at a higher shutter speed and that will cause other problems. Looking at it more, the 10-22 is 3.5 inches long, and the sigma & canon 15 are both 2.5 inches long which is closer to the kit lense and I don't think I want much bigger than that. I guess it also comes down to price, the sigma is $200 cheaper and no one has given compelling reasons to buy the canon lens over the sigma. I also read in another thread, posted by mcgowan: That leads me to belive its not worth the extra $70 to get the canon and well, I trust his advice. I think I want a 10-22 but I also think I want a 15mm fisheye. I can't buy both though. I have a .3 on my camera that I zoom in for tandem video so I am not worried about having to fly close, I can deal with that. What your getting in this post is about an hours worth of me thinking on the topic and writing it down because I hate spending this much cash on something w/o being able to try it out. No one at my DZ has either lens so I am pretty much screwed in that regards. I think I will get the sigma 15. A lot of people seem to be happy with it and I can't argue with it being the cheapest lens. If it doesn't work out for me for all the applications I want, I guess I will have to save up and buy the 10-22 as well. I know there are uses for the 15 and what photographer doesn't like having more lens options in his camera bag? (Besides ones that don't like to carry a bunch of crap) Thanks anyone who posted. Price and size win in the end for now I guess. Also, it weighs less and you say it doesn't make a big difference, but have you jumped stills yet? Every bit of weight makes a difference, my helmet already weighs more than my partially screwed up neck would like) edit2: the only thing i'm really afraid of with the 15mm is that my flying isn't good enough yet to stay close enough the whole time. oh well, I will make that happen. ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

I got this one as well, exact same text. ~D Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me. Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

I thought it was bad form to try to dig on rears, due in part to the much greater chance of inducing a high speed stall. Thought the recomended practice on diging out from a low hook was to abandon the rears (since they are just for getting longer swoops) and use the toggles. Clarity: I am not talking about the basic coaxing you have to do on a canopy like a velocity to get it out of a dive, I am talking, "oh shit im gonna pound in,..!! pull up!!!" type of digging out. If there is anyone that could enlighten me on this topic it would be great. That emphasis was mine, not the original posters'. I slipped my rears and had to bail to toggles, that is what i was talking about. Just when you think you are coaxing a canopy out of a dive and then having your hands slip, that sucks. Yeah, I know. I liked where you put your emphasis and wanted to continue on that trend.