pilotdave

I suggest looking up the list of cameras that will fit in an FF2 and do some research on them. I'd say PC1000 if you can find one at a reasonable price. Your options for new cameras are limited, so see what fits and see what you can actually find. Dave

I know a skydiver with a huge laserdisc collection. Real movies, not the stuff we watched on them in school. I didn't know anybody had laserdiscs at home until I saw his collection a few years ago. Dave

No, you said "I would say flare more aggressively (faster closer to the ground)." That's advice. Maybe it's good advice, maybe it's horrible advice. No way of knowing because it's a random guess at what's causing his landing trouble. And yes, I saw that you suggested talking to his instructors. Probably because you knew you shouldn't be giving advice?

Great info. This is the type of stuff i was looking for. No offense to millertime, but it's really not great info. He doesn't know if you are flaring too slowly or too high, so he really can't know that flaring faster or closer to the ground will help. Please listen to your instructors and nobody else. Advice like pulling front risers could seriously get you hurt. Dave

I don't understand how anybody can give advice without seeing what he is or isn't doing wrong. Maybe the canopy just sucks? The original poster really needs to be getting advice from his instructors that actually see his landings. Anybody on here is just guessing, which is a pretty bad idea. Go ahead and guess what color helmet he should buy, but not on how to improve his landings. Dave

It's not true HDR, but sometimes I'll play with Photoshop's "Highlights/Shadows" feature and overdo it a bit to make for an interesting effect. Attached an example... you can see that a lot more detail is visible in dark areas. A little too much to be natural. Also used "lens correction" to add some distortion/vignette that the canon 10-22 doesn't do on it's own. Dave

Interesting. I just switched to shooting in 16:9 mode this winter (figured it was time). I'll have to look up what sony says about 16:9 on the PC1000 that made me thing it was different than just cropping the 4:3 picture. I did the pan and scan thing to put this one into movie theater proportions: http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=6641. Dave

Z1s work great for tiny heads: http://www.skydivingstills.com/gallery/4277516_Jzi4K/4/250615510_kEEMM/Medium Dave

Maybe you can explain something about widescreen on the PC1000 that I have never really understood. I know that some cameras crop the image to get widescreen, but the PC1000 supposedly doesn't... But the field of view in widescreen mode isn't any wider than in 4:3. So what's it doing to make a widescreen image? Dave

At some DZs, all the packers get chest ratings (since it's quick) so they can pack mains without a supervising rigger. Dave

Once you have a "robotic" cutter (which they do), you still have to sew all the pieces together. Think about the ribs of an elliptical canopy. The airfoil changes all the way down the span, so each rib has to be different. The sides are mirrored, so you'll have two of each, but there's a good chance that they need different colors anyway. So they can't just make 1000 ribs and pull them off the rack as they need em. Each canopy has to get all its parts cut from the right color roll of fabric. Then each size canopy needs completely different ribs. I'm sure "robotic" cutting machines made a giant difference in canopy manufacturing. Can't imagine if they had a physical template for each piece they need to cut. It'd be crazy. Wouldn't be possible to produce so many different models and sizes. People would then take the hundreds of parts that the robotic cutter cut and sew them together. Can't just make "variations." We're not making pants that can be tailored. Especially when it comes to reserves. Every model and every size of each model has to go through the same testing. That would still happen if all the parts that came off the cutting table could be used to make reserves or mains. Just wouldn't cut costs because thousands of different parts would still need to be made and sewn together to get every type and size of canopy. Dave

Well, I just don't think having multiple types of canopies that share the same planform would help at all with manufacturing costs. You're talking about canopies that would have completely different parts (cross bracing) and different materials. I'm sure the costs of a canopy come from R&D (which wouldn't chage because every size and every type would need just as much testing) and labor (which wouldn't change because they still have to sew all the parts together). The planform really doesn't matter much as far as cost goes (though I bet a perfectly rectangular canopy is cheaper to manufacture than a fancy elliptical). Things like welded seams instead of sewn seams might make real differences in manufacturing cost. Dave

Both the XT and XTi have metal lens mounts. Not a concern. Dave

Don't ya think there might be some reasons why cross braced swoop canopies and reserves look a little different? If canopy manufacturers could figure out how to get every type of performance out of the same canopy design, they would. But what would the advantage be of having a bunch of different canopies with different construction and different parts that all share the same planform? They'd still be all different canopies (but with the same name to confuse everyone?). Dave

Look for IAD too... very similar to static line and you're more likely to find it in the civilized world . Our DZ has a couple of IAD instructors and can teach it, but it's not something we normally offer. We're probably 2 hours from Boston... I'm sure a closer DZ can accomodate you too. Dave

I never experienced that problem until the other day when I added a big flash to mine. Holy crap, it suddenly feels like a miniature camera. Gives my hand a cramp to hold it for a few minutes. Wonder what it'll do to my neck when I get the flash mounted to my helmet somehow.

I got these at the DZ a while ago. Any idea how much I need to piss off a cat to get pics like these? Dave

40D has better autofocus, much better high-ISO performance (for low light), and a bunch of other stuff you won't need. It's definitely a better camera, but I personally don't think the extra features are worth the increased size and weight... at least not until I figure out what the limitations of the XTi are that the 40D overcomes. Dave

Gotta give more info.... wing loading doesnt tell the whole story. How about the size and type of canopy you want? Dave

I'm not an experienced camera flyer so maybe you are right, but I'd love something that did that. I'd use it for taking inside pictures when doing RW or when I'm doing video for my 4-way team. I used to shoot stills when filming 4-way a lot, but as I got closer and closer to the team, I found that I'm concentrating so hard on staying with the team that I can't concentrate on taking pictures. Since the team doesn't care about stills, I just don't bring the camera. I'd love to just make it click away and see what I get. Give my tongue a rest... Dave

I've owned both the XT and XTi. Overall, don't spend too much time on the decision, it's just not worth it because they are so similar. The XTi has a few advantages...better autofocus (if you plan to use it) and supposedly slightly better high-ISO performance. But in reality, I can't tell which camera took which pictures. Picture quality is basically identical. XTi has some downsides. Bigger files take up more hard drive space, transfer slower, and fewer fit on a memory card. Battery life isn't as good either. I like the big screen on the back with all the settings, but it does use more battery power. Two extra megapixels isn't an advantage, in my opinion, because the pictures look the same from either camera. Can't really use those extra megapixels very effectively. Both are great cameras though. XT is probably a better value, but the XTi is nice too. I'm guessing the XT will be going out of production real soon if it hasn't already, since the XSi is coming out. Might drop the price... Dave

Geez reading this thread makes it sound like there are tons of planes out there for lease. Try to actually lease one and see how many are out there. A lot of the owners mentioned here would rather let their planes sit as backups for the summer than fly on weekends at another DZ. Dave

If it had slightly better performance, a bridle attachment point, a known lifespan (when used as a main), and came in more colors, I probably would.

Actually, now that I'm thinking about it, the optimum reserve comes pretty close to what I'd want. Hey PD, howsabout an Optimum Main? Dave

http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=6738 Dave