RedKite

Yes...and I do like it. However, I use it with a Sony (HC3) and you cannot use the 'infinity' setting. When I have set the focus using the back screen I have sometimes been slightly out. I therefore have to link the camera up to a TV screen to be sure that the focus is okay. This is a slight PITA! ======================== The probability of being observed is directly proportionate to the stupidity of your actions at the time. ========================

Manual focus will stay set for 12 hours as will white balance and other settings. You cannot use a wide-angle and set focus to infinity - this will result in just a blur. You need to set up your focus manually for the distance you want if you are using a W/a. (The Cookie Lens blurb mentions Sony cameras specifically in this respect) Setting the focus to manual and infinity is great for using the camera as it comes. Regards Red Kite

The Kite's Nest!!!

Is there any easy way to retain and store music which is 'streamed' via the internet? Thanks RK

You have been jumping twice as long as me, but have 1/4th the jumps. Why is that? ------------------------------------------- Because Ron, as the style of your question indicates, you are one cooooool dude! See Ya Red Kite

Hi Everybody - Doctor Nick here! Sorry about that - came in at 0200 this morning from the office party. Amazingly, wife did not wake so I got into mischief. I am guilty of Yuletide Trollism - I plead temporary insanity. You are all wonderful and I am a Muppet - probably 'Waldord' of the two old guys in the box. See y'all next year!!! Red Kite

Hi y'All I only visit the site occasionally. That said, I see the same names on the posts everytime I log on and the same people logged on. Does this mean that a lot of you don't have proper lives and perhaps don't even jump - I'm serious here. If this applies to you then pleases 'Get a Life' - there's more to it than muppetting around on a website. There are some people who have helped me immensely with queries I have raised but there are at least as many self righteous, pompous wallies who seem to live on the site permanently.....to you I say 'Get a Life' and do some actual jumping.....MUPPETS!!!!!! Bye Bye Red Kite

Get a life you muppets.......Dropzone is the grewatest Skydiving Movie. Where else can you find a window cleaner who wears his rig under his T-Shirt....all of the time! We are talking fuckin' class here!!! Red Kite

Ah!!! Have I messed up here? I have just paid for a Cookie Composites Liquid 0.45 with filter kit for my HC3. Come on....I can take it.

Anybody recommend a make of wide angle lens for a Sony HDR HC3? Also a reliable source? I am looking for a 0.5 lens and I would like one of good quality without breaking the bank. Regards Red Kite

I have only recently started to camera fly. I am doing one on ones and following small groups out (for free - they think it's great!) so I'm no expert. However, this thread did make me smile a little. A few months ago I was in a Scrambles (as a four-way jumper) and on the last round the cameraman took out one of my team big time. We were all in the packing shed when the cameraman came in - his nose was the size of a grapefruit!!! He was apparently an experienced cameraman and was very apologetic. The Chief Cameraman at the Club smiled and said......"Don't worry about it. There are only two kinds of cameraman......those who have and those who will". Wise words mate!!! Regards Red Kite

Come on then DSE - get on with it! Full methodology with diagrams, photographs and precise costings by noon tomorrow - if you please Sir!!! Regards Red Kite

A guy I worked with had the surname 'Pawsey' - he was known affectionately as 'Cerebral' -------------------------------------------- Proabability of being observed is proportionate to the stupidity of the action --------------------------------------------

I have been jumping for a few years and have noticed some people who (from their facial expressions) don't ever seem to be really enjoying themselves when they are skydiving. That said, very occasionally and without warning, I find myself feeling anxious in the aircraft in a manner that is completely out of context with my totally relaxed feeling on 99% of jumps. Once the door opens any fear disappears but it still puzzles me why this happens. Anybody else ever experience this? Red Kite PS Hangover jumps are excluded !!! ---------------------------------------------- The probability of being observed is directly proportionate to the stupidity of the act.

This is mine! Red Kite

,,,,,and another from the HC3. Red Kite

Dear All Here is a videograb photo from the HC3...... I think the quality is good......imagine it in HD mode!! Regards Red Kite

Dear All Filter fitted over the automatic lense cap on the HC3 and now no end of backlooping and aerial mucking about effects it....... I am one relieved HC3 owner....... Thanks to all who provided input........ Videograhers and Camera Flyers......the people who love you more than your own family!!!!! Regards Red Kite

Hi All (again) Just to clarify my terminology - the 'thing' that's closing is the lens cover (referred to by me as a shutter) - I am now convinced that airflow is the issue here. I believe fitting a lens or filter will protect the lens cover/shutter from relative wind and solve the problem. As stated I will update in due course. For information, in every other respect this is a great camera - colour and general picture quality is exceptional and I haven't even used HD mode yet. The camera is extremely light and has a nice low profile. As long as my hitherto problem can be solved by the remedy outlined, I would suggest that this cam is a great choice. Regards Red Kite.

Hi Everybody (Dr Nick voice) The Sony HDR HC3 problem......see picture earlier in the thread. I jumped the camera again today and repeated the backflip to get the 'Tandem Opening Shot.' I didn't touch the camera until I landed. On inspection I noticed that although the camera was still running, the shutter was closed (The HC3 has an electronic shutter which opens when you switch the camera on and closes when you switch off) When I watched the jump footage all was well until I flipped onto my back....screen goes black and then the white circle appears. I believe that the 'white circle is refracted light entering through the point where the two halves of the shutter meet. The shutter is made of delicate thin metal - I believe that somehow, flipping onto your back creates some sort of vacuum which causes the shutter to close. The irony is that hanging off the video step and facing the propwash of a PAC750 (which is considerable) has no effect. The only other corroborative evidence I have for this suggested explanation is that on deployment (it was brisk) the white spot grew into a large diamond for a second and then returned to its circular shape. What appeared on the video footage was identical to that on my previous jump and at exactly the same point in the backflip manoeuvre. My instinct is to get rid of the camera. However, the footage generally is fantastic in terms of quality. I am hoping that putting a wideangle lense or filter over the shutter will negate the vacuum effect........ .....for all of you who don't care either way I apologise......for HC3 owners or prospective owners I will update in due course. Regards Red Kite

Spot Thanks for the interim. I should receive my editing software, firewire and card throught he post tomorrow. As soon as I have set it up I will download the footage. I can say that at no time was the camera even remotely pointed at the sun or even near it and the footage of the Tandem opening is fine. However, as you say there's nothing like seeing it for yourself. Regards Paul PS Probably a stupid idea but could airflow hitting the camera from the rear be a factor? Could the design of the camera be such that high speed air could somehow access 'its insides' and pressure mess with the works?

Hi All This is the 'apparition' which appeared in the circumstances explained earlier in the thread. This is just a still from the video of a TV screen. As I said this thing was opaque and colour and movement could just about be detected behind it. Sound was unaffected. It remained ther until I switched the camera off and was gone when I switched on again. This thing was there from about 3 seconds after I flipped onto my back to the end of the footage. Any offers? Red Kite

Dear All Having done a few jumps on my HC3 I was really pleased with the results. However, today I did a 2-Way with my brother and got him to dump in front of me so that I could practice getting the 'Tandem deployment' shot. As I did it I thought 'that's bang on'! When I landed and watched the footage sure enough I kept Stu in frame as I rolled backwards to get the shot. However as he deployed above me the picture went totally black for a few seconds and then a small white circle appeared in the centre of the screen. This circle was opaque - like looking through rice paper. I could make out my risers as I looked around under canopy and there was some colour but it was like looking through a mosaic of rice paper. I assumed the camera had broken. However I switched it on again and it was back to normal. Any body know what's going on here??? (Spot, your ccomments would be particularly welcome) Regards Red Kite

Never happened to me but........then I've never been to altitude with Dagny...........

Hi All Jumped my HC3 for the first time yesterday.....absolutely no problems of any description. Great quality picture and colour.....and that wasn't even in High Definition Mode! I don't have a HD TV set so I can't use the HD at present. This is a nice camera. Regards Red Kite PS I'm new to Camera Flying but the experienced Vidiots were also impressed.