PharmerPhil

Ditto. Same for the HC-5 and TRV EIS models.

It shouldn't matter but,... I agree. The Mantle is butt-ugly.

Yes, I'm using a blow switch inside the helmet. (One nice thing about blow switches is they don't break all the time.) Although underneath, I have a female 3/32-inch jack so you could just plug in any pre-made mouth switch if you wanted. I'll be posting pictures of the whole helmet as soon as it is done (soon?). But I had the identical wiring set up on my previous helmet.

I must have misread your original post (I thought you wanted to use both stills at the same time). Lou's solution is the way to go. I am doing the same thing on my new helmet so that I can switch out various still cameras (see image). I just have a separate jumper for each camera that goes to the jack on my helmet.

I have always wanted that. Seriously though, why would you want to take stills with a video camera if you have a DSLR on your head? Assuming you have your reasons, the DPDT really doesn't sound too hard, but here's another thought. if you used blow switches, couldn't you just "Y" off of the blow tube itself into two separate switches? P.S. Paralleling the leads sounds dangerous. I wouldn't do it...not with my own gear at least.

You mean the girlfriend?

It's just another toy but... Get an Apple TV (or some other media server) and connect it to your HDTV. Then you can send HD video files straight from your computer to that. Compressor and Quicktime (at least QT Pro) have presets that write HD QT files for the AppleTV. They are 720P, but they look great on an HDTV. It's so quick and simple that I gave up on writing disks of any type for my own viewing use.

They may wanna look over your jumpsuit real good to make sure any wing clips can't come loose. They're kinda particular about things hitting their fans. Beyond that it is a great idea. For RW, pick spots in the screen to dive down to and/or slide sideways and down to and practice getting there very quickly and precisely (think of stopping with your nose a few inches away from your target). Or have someone fly under you so you can practice actually flying in the burble rather than just getting out of a burble whenever you feel yourself in one.

Well... Depending on what you are replacing, you might end up with a better image, and you will undoubtedly end up with less weight on your head. BTW, at my home DZ we're required to archive for at least one year, and I think it is just a good business practice anyway. I have archived everything I have ever shot, and occasionally had to go back to retrieve footage.

Or you can do it in the audio tabs in the viewer window while viewing the clip you are editing (see attached). I find I can get a little more precise edit points and levels this way. Edited to add: I just realized you were asking about FC Express. The above works on Final Cut Pro 6, but I haven't really worked with the Express version.

FYI, the CX100 is now in stock at B&H. All flavors. I'm not ready to get one immediately, but I would love to hear any additional field reports.

Not that this answers your question but,... If the flash is not mounted on the camera, you will need Canon's flash extension cord. That does have a 1/4-20 mounting screw hole in the bottom center. Maybe you could just use that? Otherwise, find a local hardware store (not a big home improvement center). Most have a great selection of standard and metric machine screws, and you can just bring your flash in and match it up. I just got back from my locally-owned True Value franchise and picked up all sorts of stainless machine screws/washers/etc. for a helmet project. Reason enough to patronize this place for paint and other stuff so they're still around when I need them.

That's what I started doing last fall. I hate doing it, and even after doing this, people still rip the images to their facebook or other pages. Funny how FB will take off videos with copyrighted content, but the let people post a completely copyrighted image with a blatant copyright notice (I know they do the former with automatic tools, but still...). The problem is that most of these people I consider friends. So I just say something like, "Hey, didn't I take that photo?" Done this several times, but I have only received one apology.

Ditto. I have only posted one skydive photo on facebook, but tons of my photos have been ripped from my web site and posted on other's facebook accounts, usually without even photo credit! When I find them I usually put a shaming comment on the photo, and then tag myself somewhere on the image just so it links back to me somehow. But in these cases I certainly didn't authorize either the poster or facebook to use, or distribute my images. I didn't previously watermark my low-res images on my web site, but now have been forced to. I don't want to be a dick on my own web site and say in bold letters, "HEY, DON"T POST THIS S$%# ON FACEBOOK!" But how else will people even know it's not cool?

It looks sweet. I like the uncompressed PCM audio. I assume that is a removable audio module like the A1U? Any reason other than OIS you think it isn't optimal for skydiving?

This is the way I usually focus on an HC-5. I pick a spot on the plane 6-7 feet away (for tandems), and lock focus on that spot using the spot focus touch screen shortly before exit (I put this button on the first page of my custom menus). I use auto focus on the plane before that, and then I go back to auto focus after I land. I've never had my HC-5 or A1U drift doing it this way. Changing light shouldn't change the focus point, but it could change your depth of field somewhat. Are you sure you are setting the focus correctly before exiting the spot focus menu? Are you sure you are picking a good distance for the type of jumping/videoing you are doing? Are you sure your "blurriness" is a focus issue? If yes to all, I would suspect the camera, but that sounds bizarre.

No. I know for Final Cut Studio, conversion is built in and happens automatically. You don't need to buy any other software, and you won't even notice it happening except for the speed of the conversion during ingest. Instead of "Log and Capture," you use "Log and Transfer." It may take a little longer than a native AVCHD program, but it edits it just fine without additional or third party software. Other than input speed, you won't even notice. As far as memory cards versus cameras, I have been able to download files off of memory cards (or off of CD-ROMs that people have sent me) without a problem. The only thing is that you have to maintain the original file structure off of the card/camera. You can't go grab individual video clips from the card. (It's just some arcane PC formatting thing where it has to see specific paths to get the files.) Again, AVCHD works on Macs fine. Just a little slower for ingest. Keep in mind that Sony sells PCs and PC software, so they don't have a vested interest in making it easier to edit on other platforms.

I may be wrong but,... I was under the impression that 2nd Turn Electronics is owned and operated by Circuit City, who uses this outlet to get rid of stuff they can't really sell in their stores. I would guess most of this stuff was either returned for service under replacement warrantee, or was an in-store demo (i.e. lots of fingers pulling and prodding). Additionally, if I am correct, their parent company recently declared bankruptcy, which could complicate or compromise their policies. I know their prices look low, but personally I would rather buy used from an original owner who bought a product for one vacation, or for their precious child's performance in the school play, and is now selling a barely used item (much different than used pro stuff which is usually well-worn, and definitely better than buying from someone who strapped the camera to their head and jumped repeatedly from an aircraft with it...).

Good Stuff

Man, that's like asking what is the best car to buy. You'll need to give lots more info as to what you want to shoot, what your audio needs are, what your lighting is like, what your budget is, etc., etc., etc. I have a Sony HVR-V1U and an HVR-A1U. I love the V1U for my uses. I video long stuff (mostly event videos), and like the recording time and instant archive of tape. Plus I need XLR audio inputs. I love being able to store given shot profiles, and the big batteries last a long time. My biggest complaint is that the low light performance isn't that great (it's worse on the A1U). Sometimes that's an issue, sometimes it isn't. Your needs may vary... If you were doing lots of short video blogs, you may not need the recording time of tape, and the real-time capturing could be a PITA. Maybe a built-in, or cheap hi-Z mic is all you need. Give us some more info.

Sometimes (not always) that is caused by humid air inside your camera body (or between the camcorder and the lens) condensing on the rear element when it hits the warmer air. I have had the best luck if I only change lenses in dry air. In Florida that means waiting for an air-conditioned hotel room. If it is on the outside element, it is just condensing there due to the lens again being colder than the surrounding moist air (think of ice-cold bottles of beer on a hot summer day,...mmmm,...beer). Keeping the lens warm on the plane (hands, crotch, whatever) can help a lot, particularly when sitting in the back by the door where it is more apt to cool down on the climb to altitude. One last thing, don't put your helmet right on the grass where there is even more moisture. If I have to put my helmet down, I try to put it on my canopy

For fun jumps, and RW, I fit even more jumps on one tape than for tandems (no ground or plane footage, mostly just freefall). So it is even cheaper to use a new tape for these jumps. We're now talking five to ten cents per jump to use fresh tape stock (WTF, it's less than half a percent of a jump ticket). I do have some old tapes that I have no further use for, and I do use them on the ground for dubs and utility work. But never for original content.

Although I like the idea of moisture protection, I've never had a problem with incidental moisture on my video or still cameras, even after jumping through rain, with landing with lots of water on my gear. When it is actually raining when a load is about to go up (it happens), I and the other camera flyers at my DZ usually refuse to jump with our cameras out of caution.

The quality should be exactly the same,...until you get drop-outs. Then it is a major, major problem. But why risk that in the first place? B&H sells Mini-DV tapes for $2.20/each before shipping. On average, I can fit 10 tandems on one tape. Isn't it worth a measly 25 cents to lower the risk of ruining your customers' "once-in-a-lifetime" experience?

The HDR-CX105 camera is called the HDR-CX100 in the U.S.