dragon2

Try jumping a/each fullface first to see if you even like them, I bought a Z1 helmet which impeded my vision a good deal plus it flew open in a stand-up so got rid of it after only a few jumps on it. For wingsuiting I prefer an open helmet for my fellow flockmates, too much fun to mouth words etc and I can see the other person better. But a fullface does work. ciel bleu, Saskia

You may want to sell the cypres now and get the vigil now You can get a 2nd hand vigil for about the same price your cypres should get you. ciel bleu, Saskia

My guess would be this canopy: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=3067532;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread ciel bleu, Saskia

If you check the camera forum you'll find canon video cameras have several problems for skydiving, if you want to keep the canon in one piece don't skydive with it, if you want to fly camera for real get a sony. ciel bleu, Saskia

That, and they limit audible cues like shouting under canopy too. "Flare!" "Don't turn!!!" "Hey, look behind you at the pretty cameraflyer!" come to mind ciel bleu, Saskia

Because this exact same question pops up once a month. ciel bleu, Saskia

Get a jack the ripper for your cheststrap. Get another small hookknife (not a zack) for your mudflap. ciel bleu, Saskia

It's just another option. If altitude permits and you're confident about landing on rears, you now have a landable canopy and the cost of replacing some breakline may be worth the risk of loosing main, freebag, risers, pilotchute, bridle. And in fact may be less than a repack ciel bleu, Saskia

Any camera that has a cable remote can be used with a biteswitch, if the biteswitch doesn't come with the plug you need you can buy a regular cable remote (ebay is cheapest) for your camera and solder it to the biteswitch or to a female plug that accepts the biteswitch (useful for quick switching if biteswitch breaks). You don't want to solder the switch to the camera It's even possible to use a camera with an IR remote with a biteswitch, it's just more hassle. If you want to skydive with your stills camera, buy a canon 350d, 400d, 40d, 5d, also older models 2nd hand or buy a nikon d70s (2nd hand), d80, d200, d300. ciel bleu, Saskia

A friend of mine has held a tonfly cx6 box in his hand this Christmas at Empuria. My hc5 box did need some cutting yeah, as the opening for the lens was slightly offset, other than that, a bargain at 63 euros! ciel bleu, Saskia

My guess would be that the raynox hd 3030 lens would come very close. ciel bleu, Saskia

haha, yeah sorry I was just a bit confused,...if the camera has a 30mm thread, and you're attaching a 37mm wide angle lens by using a step ring, then why do you need to zoom in? I would understand if it is the other way around? Sorry, dont know much about this stuff. I've seen lenses where you'd need to zoom in slightly because otherwise the corners get a bit dark due to vignetting, this usually only show on a pc not on a tv screen. Most lenses do not have this problem, but some do, esp if you need to use 2 step-up rings in a pinch because you haven't got the right one, for instance if you use both a 25-30 and 30-37mm ring to go from a 25mm camera to a 37mm lens. Tip: don't do that This is different from the vignetting you get when using a 25mm lens on a 30mm camera. Not sure if I'm explaining this right anyway it's not usually a problem. ciel bleu, Saskia

Thanks for the suggestion. If there's no way of getting around having to buy new lenses, then it looks like going for a 37mm lens will be the best option. Is there any downside to using a 37mm lens on a 30mm camera? Im getting an hc96 btw if that makes any difference. And now that it looks like ill have to buy new lenses, they will most likely be 'way cool'. Besides the 2 points I mentioned? ciel bleu, Saskia

You calculate wingload by dividing your exit weight (=you, clothes, rig, helmet, lead if you wear it, etc) in lbs by the square footage of your canopy. The result is a number like WL 1.0 which is generally recommended for newer jumpers, it tells you something about how fast the canopy will react, however the WL by itself isn't the whole story. The smaller the canopy the faster it will be and the faster it will react to inputs so if you're a very light jumper and a WL of 1.0 would put you under a 135 or 120 that's not a good idea for a first canopy, any canopy 150 or smaller is considered high performance, so for heavier jumpers generally higher wingloads are acceptable than for lighter jumpers. Also of course the type of canopy makes a difference in how it reacts. Also the altitude at which your landing area is makes a difference. There are a few charts with recommended (or in some countries mandatory) rules about canopy size and sometimes currency, canopy type etc, try searching for Brian Germain's canopy chart here that should give you a good idea. ciel bleu, Saskia

All my lenses are 37mm for exactly that reason, I can fit them on most if not all cameras with or without a step-up ring. Adding a step-up ring on some lenses necessitates zooming in slightly to prevent dark corners and a ring lessens the FOV slightly, but it saved me a lot of money ciel bleu, Saskia

New, I'd get a HC5 (eur 700 and up) or a CX6 (more expensive), both are topmount cameras, the CX6 has no lanc and needs a computer, the hc5 has lanc and still uses tape. For sidemount, a 2nd hand pc series is the only option really. ciel bleu, Saskia

Cool avatar, finally a formation that fits in a landscape photo ciel bleu, Saskia

Wingload is total suspended weight (you, clothes, rig, helmet etc) in lbs divided by the square footage, so if 200 lbs then the WL is 1.33 where up to 1.0-1.1 is recommended for your jumpnumbers. So that means a 190 would be a good size for you. ciel bleu, Saskia

"flare when you hear the crickets" ciel bleu, Saskia

As long as you don't go "yeah but the RSL ... " "but the AAD ..." "but the Skydiver's Handbook says ..." etc during your FJC, you'll probably be the better for knowing the stuff, I know I wanted to know all that and read everything before I started too You need to take the FJC all in however and not get hung up on stuff you got from elsewhere, there's time for more details, other methods, etc after you've got a few jumps under your belt. ciel bleu, Saskia

Using windows you have to rotate them twice, using lightroom or similar you can do it in one go. I still use windows explorer myself. ciel bleu, Saskia

Ask your rigger. Some prefer you to pull your handles, usually in front of them, but some like to measure the force required. ciel bleu, Saskia

They're your eyes. My doctor used to fly earobatics, he said to definately wait 2 months before jumping (and longer for aerobatics). If you move the flap at all, like losing your goggle, you're in deep trouble. They're your EYES. ciel bleu, Saskia

It's called a two-stage flare. If you flare in one go you may very well pop up a few meters with a non-student canopy The canopy needs to plane out, let it fly a bit, then land. Go look at non-student non-tandem landings if you have the chance, you'll see what I mean. Try the flare up high a few times to get the hang of this, do that with every new canopy you're jumping. ciel bleu, Saskia

If we don't we don't get to jump for half the year... Some people do hibernate but usually there are enough jumpers around to fill up the caravan Check out this (swoop-less) video from I think the same weekend, very nice photo weather! http://www.paracentrumteuge.nl/component/option,com_weblinks/task,view/catid,56/id,88/ ciel bleu, Saskia