dragon2

Sigh. A cameras weight has very very little to do with it's danger in skydiving. Don't understand that? Then I'm guessing you're a 100 jump wonder yourself (tops) and are mad because you're being held back even though you have mad skillz Either that or you're a troll. ciel bleu, Saskia

Read the FAQ at the top of this forum. ciel bleu, Saskia

One I'd rate as a "real" cameraman, the other more halfway The halfway one has a technical problem with his lens+camera combi like I said, camera says this but lens does that, so either lens (stuck aperture?) or camera has a problem (or maybe the contacts just needs cleaning). The other had a metering problem, which is the top reason for me to shoot Nikon, other than the D80 tendency to overexpose a bit, all my other Nikon cameras can be set to aperture priority and matrix metering for skydiving, while with Canon I had to think much more about exposure and had to use spot metering a lot. This was a few cameras back though so not a 100% fair comparision but in general, matrix lighting on a Nikon works both better and easier than any lighting mode on a Canon, i likes.

Basically, whatever your instructors say you should buy. They are the only ones who can advise you as they know you, your skills, what you've been jumping so far, your jumping environment. A general rule for a rig up to 100-200 jumps is a wingload of 1:1 so in your case that would be a 220 sqft main canopy, of a intermediate type (sabre, sabre 2, fusion, safire, safire 2, spectre, pilot, triathlon, pulse, silhouette, electra). Whatever you do, get a reserve at least 220 sqft, and bigger = better. ciel bleu, Saskia

Have fun, and get video ciel bleu, Saskia

When I did a dragplane I was having concerns about falling into my Lightning, and the CRW jumpers I asked weren't 100% sure one way or the other. My canopy of course was below me, not straight below but below me for sure. Usually you let go of the bottom pair so you get a downplane and hence no problem. But our (eh, my) grip wasn't secure and I was slightly worried while hanging there, although having mucho fun too at the same time of course - not that many people can say they did some freefly (headdown) while under canopy ciel bleu, Saskia

Meh, the other vidiots here have a cd burner or laptop, dvd burners, tv(s), mixing boards, 1 or 2 music sources etc, that's not cheap either. Especially the dvd burners need replacing often it seems... My videos are ~10 mins each, with music, slowmo, short intro and outro. Fluff here is filmed per tandem so not much you can do beforehand. Just about everyone beats me with videos, although some have more equipment failure than others so then I win I can do 20 minute calls, that is drop rig with packers, make the dvd, burn stills cd, hand both to previous passenger and film new passenger's briefing and interview and be in the plane on time. But that's only possible (and relatively stress-free) because by now I can edit pretty damn fast. What would help me/speed me up now is workflow stuff like automating capture etc. I was up till last weekend using Vista/cs4, as win7/cs4 was quicker but the burned dvds had slight stutter in them for some weird reason I couldn't figure out. I'm hoping win7/cs5 will be a bit quicker now though, we'll see this weekend. ciel bleu, Saskia

20 min call I can do, with a pc (I ditched my quidcore laptop for editing a while ago). Core-i7 920 (= better than 860 for video), 12 gb RAM, CS4/CS5 (5 seems to be faster but only switched last weekend, just one vid so far). External hd with e-sata. And that's with near 0 editing time as I got that down pat, just importing, shuffling music around to fit, add slowmo, render, burn. In SD, not HD. HD takes a few mins extra to render. I use my pc for other stuff too (internet) so it is not optimised (it's got antivirus, anti spayware and office), but still lightning fast compared to laptop. Don't forget the dvd burn speed that's important too, my pc beats my laptop here too. A pc is way better than a laptop for video editing, I have both but am glad I don't need the laptop that much anymore for editing. ciel bleu, Saskia

You don't have an option for: up to C license, which is the case in my country. ciel bleu, Saskia

A HC1, nowaydays, is pretty big to jump with for a first camera, I wouldn't put a stills camera on there too anytime soon (you shouldn't anyway for a first camera helmet, get used to video first, but in this case also the weight). Other than that, it's a nice camera and if you break it, not much harm done. It's got a viewfinder which I miss on CX100. You can record in HDV and edit in SD on a pc, something I also miss with CX type cameras. Also important is your workflow. Editing/debriefing on a pc? Switching tapes would become a pain in the &*( soon, also probably not good for both cameras, and transfering video goes faster with a memory card. Editing on a linear system or debreifing on a TV? HC1 will beat the CX100 etc because it has a remote. ciel bleu, Saskia

They are practising intercepting slow movers, thought that was clear... ciel bleu, Saskia

Don't agree about that one. In general I'd rather have the 500 jumps guy with me, as they've seen more, and 500 jumps in 3-5 years isn't that uncurrent anyway. ciel bleu, Saskia

Not photoshopped, that's part of a military excersize held at Texel here. They needed a "slow mover" (less than 150 knots) and DZ Texel volunteerd their Caravan and of course the skydivers in that plane shot photos click ciel bleu, Saskia

Put your camera helmet on and have someone pull on your helmet, hard and at an angle. May surprise you how hard it is to get it off... ciel bleu, Saskia

Me? CX105. ciel bleu, Saskia

Lily Allen - Fuck You Esmee Denters - Outta Here ciel bleu, Saskia

Hah hah, thought someone might appreciate it It's 2 songs though, mixed up to fit the video ciel bleu, Saskia

Out of interest, what type of HMA was it and how many jumps on it?? Paul The yellow HMA that's on a Fusion, and the number of jumps was probably fudged by the first owner Should have been ~700 jumps but probably were more like 1000 jumps on the canopy (and first lineset). I was just thinking about ordering a lineset last year, when this happened It's got nice black HMA lines now... ciel bleu, Saskia

Jump numbers depend on the materials, jumping/packing conditions and a bit on the brand. Generally speaking: For a ZP canopy with microlines you generally reline about every 600 jumps (generally with an extra replacement of the steering lines about every 300 jumps). The fabric of a ZP canopy will last you at least 2 linesets, some can go a couple thousand jumps. Often older models end up in the closet before being "used up". If jumped in the desert or gotten wet alot, jump numbers go down. For a F111 canopy, generally you don't reline as it will only last 600 jumps or so anyway. Most hybrid canopies will last you 2 or more relines as well. Other types of lines have other reline numbers, some competition lines only go 150 jumps or so, some claim their HMA lasts 1000 jumps. Microline can last you longer than 600 jumps but will go out of trim so you want a reline before lines start breaking. HMA will just break without warning if you jump it too long (I know, happened to me). Vectran is in the middle. Dacron is found on student type canopies, CRW canopies and special order for slow opening canopies, so not something you often come across on a sports canopy. All in all, feel free to buy a ZP canopy from a grassy area with up to 1000 jumps, but have it looked at by a rigger before you buy, as people will "fudge" numbers or aren't sure themselves how many are on the canopy/lineset. ciel bleu, Saskia

Heh heh a mount like that would probably have helped our friend here @ 4:16 (no idea if he lost the camera or not, I only noticed this AFTER editing the vid LOL) ciel bleu, Saskia

Ditto on the "less time between jumps" thing. If you only jump once a month it is very unlikely you will pass all levels at first try, so with repeats this can get (way) more expensive than if you can save up and try to do the levels closer together. If money is that tight, why not do staticline instead? That would save you a lot of money plus it isn't so bad (nor so expensive) if you go a few weeks between SL jumps as it is for AFF. ciel bleu, Saskia

Don't tell students that, they may have learned differently, or not. Leave emergency procedures to their own instructors. Also, I happen to know a girl who is alive because she DIDN'T cutaway her main when she didn't have to: stuck pilotchute followed by reserve pull but due to a rigging error no reserve either, she got the main out eventually, she had no other option. ciel bleu, Saskia

Method of deploymeny: Main: most sport mains are deployed with a hand-held pilotchute. Reserve: deployed by a spring-loaded pilotchute. Due to this difference, a main is best deployed belly-to-earth, a reserve is best deployed slightly head-high (ie, straight after a cutaway) but the springloaded pilotchute will work often in just about any position, giving you a better chance of a clean deployment than with a main pilotchute. Also a reserve had a freebag so if you are unstable you have a better chance of not getting a horseshoe than with a main as the bridle/pilotchute is not attached to the reserve canopy. Main: usually you want and get slow openings. Reserve: usually you want and get speedy openings. This you should ask your instructor. Also, there is a difference between nothing out and a pilotchute-in-tow, your instructors may want you to handle this differently, or not. But ask them. ciel bleu, Saskia

We catch our tandems whenever the wind picks up and they can use a hand. ciel bleu, Saskia

We had a katana 150 here and most of the people who jumped it were ~175 exit weight. Openings were SLOW and due to that prone to being "interesting". Once it was open, no problem. Just one canopy, but it seems it didn't like that low WL very much. ciel bleu, Saskia