DSE

I did find it, did make some shots, and didn't finish what I'd started. I wanted to do a page with 8 different lenses on this cam. There is no .2 HD lens available, and likely won't be a true HD-capable lens, as it would require some very expensive engineering.... Anyway, I'll post the pix from the DZ tomorrow. Promise.

Some gear will stay with you "forever" (depending on how you care for it and barring anything that may damage it. Helmet and Altimeter can be purchased new or used, but whichever they are...you'll have them for a long time. Jumpsuits wear out, but new is always nice. Goggles/glasses...scratch, crack, grow legs, but I'd recommend new, just cuz it's a low-cost acquisition. Rigs... I'd recommend used for at least your first two mains and container. There will come a time when your transitions from one canopy to another will be few and far between, but some folks go between as many as 3-4 canopy sizes in their first year or two, depending on currency and growth of skills. Save the shiney new rig purchase for when you've got at least a couple hundred jumps under your belt. re; life of your gear... life of a main is counted in part, by the number of jumps on it. Environment in which it is used plays a role, where it's been packed, etc make a difference too. Helmets, altimeters, jumpsuits, etc don't count too much on jump jumpers to determine life remaining. Either they're in good shape or they're not.

The date on that video is obviously faked. What those guys do in wingsuits is amazing.

what is the source codec?

A-quality is higher at 1920 vs SD no matter what monitor you're viewing on, although the tendency for HD to be sharper occasionally causes twitter to be an issue on an SD monitor. B-YouTube/Vimeo/Google don't accept 1920 (rather, they can't reproduce it). 1280 x 720 is best. C-No matter what, you don't have a good encoder for either HD on DVD nor for the web in the NLE/compression toolset you have. My advice; render 1280 x 720 in an MP4 container and forget about it.

Since you're working on a Mac, it's not easy to online SD and offline HD. And like others have said...you don't have the necessary horsepower to manage this process. You bought a Yugo for listening to music and puttering around with email, but you're wanting it to drive like a Humvee... won't happen. HD is like a tractor/trailer. The camera is the trailer, and you can get it as big, sweet, beautiful as you can afford. But without a truck to haul it around (the computer) you got nothing but a block of metal.

A-you're not jumping with a HypEye? B-you're not using extended battery? C-both? With HypEye and extended battery/FP90, the CX100 won't move at all. Otherwise, you might need foam in the back and side.

Since I know there are a number of Vegas Users with iPods here.... Now there is an easier way to do this. After contacting the author of Drax, he has graciously updated his program to work directly with Vegas marker exports, no macros or editing needed. If you get some benefit from this personal service, let the author know you appreciate it! -- Download freeware Drax from www.arlt.eu/blog/projects/drax/ -- If you love it, throw the guy a 10 EU donation. He's a student. IN VEGAS: 1) Render your file, and rename the .mp4 extension to .m4v (important). 2) Open the Vegas project you used, make sure to set your Time Format to "Time", and check View->Show Edit Details. 3) Choose Markers / All Fields. 4) Click the upper left box to select the whole table. Ctrl->C to copy the marker data. 5) Open a new Text file on your desktop. Paste the marker data into the file. Save the file. IN DRAX: 1) Open your renamed .m4v file. 2) Click on the "Chapters" tab at the bottom of the window. 3) Go to File->Import Chapters 4) Click on your newly-created chapters.txt file (you can also edit or add chapters manually if wanted). 5) When the new chapters have imported successfully, click File->Save. That's it! Works with any AVC MP4 file with an .m4v extension, not just iPod / iPhone. Works with Handbrake files. Drax is a very simple, intuitive .mp4 /.m4v tag and metadata editor. Does it very well. Enjoy!

8C doesn't have any HDV issues, and the issues present in 8a and 8b are relevant to specific cameras.

Marios! The Cypriot! You owe me beer too, mate. C'mon over to the States and do a wingsuit jump with Dale and I.

The IRM is not free to download, and required for instructors. The USPA would do much better to encrypt/protect the IRM, sell it as a download, and we'd all be better off. For the most part, the USPA currently isn't embracing the electronic tools available. Hopefully they'll catch up one day.

Infinity focus on my CX105 + Century Baby Death is very blurry. Just let the camera find the best setting in auto (while aiming at something sufficiently far away) and then switch to manual so it won't change in mid-air. With small-format, high resolution sensors, this is about the only way to assure consistent focus from lens to lens.

In our case, it's not to limit commercial uses. It's to limit someone having photos of an incident and putting them out into the world without the DZO's permission.

it is a general release. In other words, if the DZO has a photo he wants to sell as stock, use as a billboard, whatever...he's able to. The student releases all rights. I'm sure that if they wanted to make an issue of something, they could attempt to challenge the waiver, like any other waiver.

Our tandem waiver also includes a photography waiver.

unfortunately, only the Beta unit I had was capable of this. I wasn't given an articulate reason as to why this was removed from the beta unit.

July 10, 11, 12 at Skydive Utah just a few minutes south of SLC International Airport. We've got the Skydive Arizona Otter, our own King 99, special HALO jumps for those qualified, lots of First Flight courses, organized Freeflying, and RW. Wingsuit Competition, prizes, dinner. Sunset Cross Country, too. 435-833-9999 to register. Huge open spaces, great location jumping between the Stansbury and Oquirrh mountains. Camping onsite (no showers), lots of motels w/in 3 miles. Exit over the Great Salt Lake. Ask anyone about our specialty jumps, they're very memorable. this is a qualifying event for the World Record Wingsuit 100 way to be held in November.

it's wide, but IMO, not wide enough to get head to waist if that's what you want. Gimme a few hours (tomorrow morning) and I'll post width comparisons with each various lens. I tink I have a .2 floating around here somewhere, it may be down at the DZ.

With a little practice, you'll become familiar with no-count exits, watching hips instead of heads/lips, etc. Takes time. You should see my first jump with wings. I'm glad I wasn't wearing a camera helmet. BTW, good on ya for waiting!

A Royal, Cookie, or Waycool .2 will give you best width, although they are all SD lenses on an HD camcorder.

Hey Mike! Nice jump for a first! Exit could have been just a tad earlier to better catch them out of the plane. Distance could be made smaller, with a .3 lens it puts em' pretty far away anyway. You could have gotten down to them a bit more, but that comes with a little practice and watching your own vids, getting familiar with your gear. Was good seeing you look around at breakoff, seeing you checking for traffic on all sides after deployment. All in all, a few more jumps, watch your own vid to learn...you'll be driving in there in no time!

I entirely agree, Laszlo! That said, it's up to the DZ, IMO, to specify that the images can't be used for commercial purposes. The WFH our DZ uses is between the DZ and the videographer, not the DZ and the end user. The end user gets no specific rights whatsoever, other than that the DZ can use the images any way they see fit. Therefore, Rachel Ray gets a copy of the images, but she can't do anything with them except look at them on the mantlepiece or something. If she wants to do more with them, then she/her management need to negotiate those rights with the DZ. In that event (at our DZ) the DZ will work with the photographer and share whatever additional revenues are derived.