DSE

This is an AFF 7, student's unstable exit. Between his "smile" of terror and his bug eyes in the goggles... No, he's not geeking the camera. He's doing "mental floss" and thinks his thumbs need to go thru his ears.

Post your reel.

You are correct, some are designed to shut down above 10K/3000M. Cheaper designs won't shut down, they'll simply fail/die. The reason is because the disk floats on air, and if the air pressure doesn't fall within specific tolerances, the disk can skip/strike the head causing pitting or scoring. There are specially sealed/pressurized disc systems, but none of them are built for camcorder use. Toshiba has announced a sealed NABS system for GPS, designed for climbers. Maybe we'll one day see this system in camcorders.

Which is why I'll plug my Altitrack and Jumptrack software. I keep my jumps in the Alti, dump them into the Jumptrack at the end of the day or weekend, logging what they're for. Then I store a backup copy of that logbook on a thumbdrive. I can reload the jumps (but not the book data) back to my Altitrack if I need to, but either way I've got a printable logbook, all I need is a copy of Jumptrack. I guess L&B could quit selling it, but I'll likely always have access to a copy somewhere.

HDD cameras will do one of two things in freefall, they'll either simply shut off, or they'll work for a period of time and then die, depending on how they're made. I put 20 jumps on a DR 60 HDD system to see how it would function (I was specifically tasked with killing it), and it died on the 20th jump. I then jumped a JVC HDD Everio, and it shut down the second I jumped out with it. Odd, it worked at altitude on the plane, but shut down the moment I left the door.

Because god wills it? Because W wills it? Because we've allowed the media to become marketing tools of DC and no one gives a crap? Maybe because the American people of today are too comfortable to take to the streets as done in the early 70's? Because he knows where the skeletons are buried? Perhaps he has pictures of W having sex with a sheep? Then there is always the flip side, maybe he's doing a great job and the American people are the ones with the skewed view?? In the end, does it really matter? he's just one more capo in the don's big family. The Bush administration is a hydra.

You should get back to explaining why "artistic license" is a solid rationale for telling lies. Funny, I keep asking the same question about the authors of the "bible."

Did I say it was Republicans that got illegal votes and stole the election? Guilty conscience? Nevermind, don't reply. I understand guilt is an amorphic process that only relates to Sunday. I do sincerely appreciate the reminder of why I quit voting conservatively, however.

Great hijack, but I'll play: One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight Nine Ten If nothing else, your post reminds me of the sort of people I'd be sharing my vote with should I return to conservative voting. Damn, I can't believe I was actually considering going back to my voting record of 25 years. Whew! Thanks for saving me. Believe it or not, there are somewhere in this great land, conservative voters that aren't part of a very fucked up religious agenda. They're actually humans capable of thought without Pat Robertson's input.

I voted liberal last election because of Bush and his cronies. I might well vote conservative again because of Thompson. Dem's got nothing to run this time around but with options like Mitt Romney in the race, the conservative options scare me almost as much. BTW, search my old posts. Like others, I suggested that Thompson will win the primary and quite likely the election. Florida and Ohio were rigged. I think everyone on both sides realizes that. If nothing else, Bush should have demanded an accounting; it would have removed the spectre of his lack of ethics. C'mon...voting twisted up badly in the state where your own brother is governor but everything is above-board? Coincidence? Of course not.

they can at least wait out the current administration, if they were even where we're fighting, but we're not fighting the Taliban in Iraq. The current administration wants you to think we are, however.

Cool. I understand. I responded with "all other points aside..." and specifically addressed one point. I should have stuck with "tandems only." No hurt feelings, still scratching my head on what we disagree over, other than my opinion that in some cases, photographers should be paid more than a TM. Gee whiz Dave...after I traveled all the way to Oz to meet you, you side against me? You probably feel RW should get union wages. See you in a couple months (after it warms up there). I still owe you lotsa

An act of god. or hard-core archeological evidence that Jesus was really just the pre-incarnation of Jim Morrison. I know a Buddhist that swears he met Jim Morrison through Jesus. Or maybe I'm mixing "Wayne's World" with religion.

Panasonic got me a new SD3 yesterday to replace the SD1 that had been sent to me. Thus far, impressive. One jump, belly only, it managed gradients and hard lines just fine (these are the torture tests for highly compressed media. Attached is a screen grab from the camera. Workflow (PITA at this time) is: ~Install stupid-ass Panasonic SDHD card reader software. ~Install Elecard converter software (so that your NLE can read it, Panasonic isn't the same AVCHD as everyone else) ~Transfer AVCHD over to computer ~Convert it to MPEG2/m2t stream. On a Pentium 4, single core, it takes about 1.25 realtime, so not horrible. It would be *much* faster on a faster system. I wish Elecard worked on a Mac. Haven't installed it under Bootcamp yet. ~Edit ~Output The Elecard stream isn't the same HDV that comes from your HDV camera, so your NLE likely isn't optimzed for it, and render time isn't fast. As you can see in the image though, the quality is very good. Not HDV good, but damn good for a 1K investment. The CX7 is better in terms of pic quality. I had to send this one back today, but should have another soon, as I've asked for an extended review sample. I'll also see how the mag editor feels about a "Skydivers only" review.

You still don't get it. That's OK, I understand that you don't get it. I hear you 5x5. I'll retract one word I used; "Generally." There are those that are photographers, and those that put cameras on their heads. They aren't "generally" the same. There is artistry and then there is a "set it and forget it" perspective. Yes, I do feel that in some circumstances, camera flyers deserve more than TM's/TI's. You feel that's bullshit, and that's OK too. It's *great* that you have staff editors at your DZ. *Most* DZ's don't. This I know as fact, as it was a part of a research project last fall. The question of packing wasn't part of that project, however. You said: What figures do you disagree with? Additionally, most of the DZ's I've been to are outside the US. Perhaps there is a difference? Dunno. Haven't been a staff photographer on those DZ's. Haven't photographed *tandems* on most of those DZ's. Have had long discussions with photographers on those DZ's as well as folks here, not to mention the number of posts discussing compensation. Perhaps I don't have all the specifics, yet I thought I was pretty clear on the generalities. I don't have seven years in the sport nor 1200 jumps. I'm approximately half that number in a little over a year, so will defer to your obviously superior knowledge and vastly greater experience.

-------------------- In Reply To -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Considering the gear involved...roughly $2000, which doesn't include your rig, isn't it a bit low to get @$30 for a video jump? ------------------------------------------------------------ All other points of your post aside, how do you get into video gear for only 2K?' I guess you missed the above line in my post? Perhaps you edit like many cam flyers, I don't. My vids aren't in-camera edits run off to a mixer where music and maybe a title or two are added. So...not going down that particular argument. I'm very familiar with tandem students being geared up, trained, babysat as any camera flyer ought to be. Debrief? You mean the "thanks for jumping with us, see you in the hangar?" that I've seen at the end of every tandem at every dropzone? Every DZ is different, but of the 40+ DZ's I've visited around the world, this is one consistency found throughout. If it's not a busy day, I've seen instructors walk their students to the hangar/gear area, but it's very rare. The bottom line is that you haven't got a clue what I have or have not considered. Your emotional reaction to a light-hearted post indicates you didn't consider that perhaps...I have other priorities. Being a TI/TM isn't one of them. You take that as a sign of disrespect for TM/TI's, which is in itself, interesting. Considering my passion and daily work take me in one direction doesn't mean I don't have respect for what someone else does. Additionally, apparently you consider video for tandems to be the only point worth discussing. We're of a different thought process there, shooting tandems can be fun, but that's *not* where the real excitement is for me, personally. YMMV. Finally, if you disagree with my figures, please tell me where I'm wrong. Given that I purchase more camera equipment in a month than most folks buy in a lifetime...I'd like to hear where I missed the boat. I feel I'm reasonably conservative in my numbers. For example, the cam I fly *most* of the time is a 5K cam. You don't see my gear in that list, just general gear. Perhaps you jump a modified Pro-tec, that's fine, and a lot less expensive than an FTP, no doubt. I prefer a custom made helmet or an FTP for what I wish to accomplish. Please re-read my post. I'm not complaining about revenue. I won't see financial returns on my investments, ever. The cam I've just ordered that will be heavily used for skydiving is 12K alone. And I bought two. It's not about the money, so long as I'm not too far in the hole as I chase my passion. Please tell me what DZ packs for camera flyers but not for TM's. I'd like to work there.

All other points of your post aside, how do you get into video gear for only 2K?' FTP: 700.00 Quality cam: 1-2K Wide Adapter: 150.00 Extra Batts/etc 125.00 HypEye/Cam-I 50.00-100.00 Ring sight 100.00-300.00 Cam mount 25.00-200.00 Add stills>>>> DSLR (low end) 500.00 Good lens 600.00-800.00 Tongue/Bite 50.00 Card reader 25.00 Extra 1 GB card 50.00 HDD to store work: 200.00 Cam suit? 250.00 Gaff tape 10.00 Lens cloth 5.00 Seems to me the median is closer to 3-4K? I suppos used gear/older gear would keep you closer to cheap. Plus I use my own laptop at the DZ, software, etc. This is directly tied to the "Am I an asshole" thread, IMO. Further, IMO, cam flyers generally should be paid more than TM's, simply because: ~More invested in gear (TM's usually use DZ gear rather than owning their own) ~Much more time invested (cam flyers have to edit, generally) ~At many DZ's, TM's don't pack their own gear, but cam flyers seem to always be packing. ~Finally, I have no interest in being a TM/TI, so I'll just express it as greed.

There are two spellings; apparently both are correct, I had this same question a long time back; I looked it up. In the USA, "Drogue" is the most common. In other languages, "Drouge" is very common but more often refers to the sea-anchor vs a parachute "drouge." FWIW, the military uses "drogue" in their flight refueling handbook when spelling the hose point that connects a fuel receiver to a tanker hose. Bill usually is speaking a different language than I understand, so it's probably perfectly fine that he uses the more obscure spelling.

Sigh...wish I'd known/thought of this earlier. Lotsa sand out our way, got a head full of it when cleaning debris out of a canopy after Moab.

Studio Monthly. It won't say much about Skydiving, just the camera. I submitted a couple shots from a belly mount, however. I doubt they'll use them.

Elitist condescencion noted. And how many times have you witnessed the same in an American hospital? Typical word-twisting by a master of twisted thinking. "I've" seen this situation on the news, as have millions of people the world over. It was a broad topic of discussion in Singapore a couple weeks ago, and that's about as far away from LA as you can get. No, I didn't witness it in the hospital myself (could this conversation become anymore stupid?) but rather heard several recordings of the 911 phone calls, saw interviews with the hospital spokesperson, and LA County officials. Maybe CNN, MSNBC, and Fox faked those? How many times have *I* seen people die in hospitals because of shitty healthcare? Several. Visit Shiprock, NM some time....it's a regular occurence there. Visit any reservation hospital. It happens consistently. No "elitist" position from me, that class belongs exclusively to the ruling Christians me-is'ts and god-ists. Condescending? You bet your ass. A discussion at this level is contemptible.

How many medical advances are made in the USA and used in Cuba? How many medical advances are made in Cuba and used in the USA? What type of government does the USA have? How much taxes do USA citizens pays? What type of government does Cuba have? How much taxes do Cuba citizens pay? What type of economy does the USA have? What type of economy does Cuba have? ... You're kidding, yes? No. I'm pointing out a few of the differences between the USA and Cuba which make comparing the healthcare system of the USA and Cuba like comparing apples and orangutan. I know it's hard for the average American to grasp, particularly in these times of religious 'me-ism' driving our social system, but... People die in Cuba, Canada, Australia, Sweden, and other managed health care societies. But I'll bet you've not seen a situation in those places where someone has visited the ER three times in two days, that died on the floor of the ER waiting room after several people begged Dr's/nurses to care for her, and at least five un-related people called 911 from the hospital waiting area. I know....hard to accept in the delusion of a superior America...but people really do die young here, too. Moore's point is primarily "Why?" BTW, I don't have a dog in this hunt; my healthcare is managed quite nicely by the US government in addition to an employee health care plan. For myself, unless something drastically changes, I really don't care. But I do feel people are entitled to be cared for if their health is challenged through circumstances they cannot control or are basic social needs.

Guys, I've promised the magazine that I won't say anythign til they have the opportunity to post/publish my review (they paid for it, so...) I'll say this though, the camera does not disappoint in freefall. I'd hoped to get at least a sitfly out of it over the weekend, but all my jumps were working jumps, and busy. I've got another 3 days with the cam, I'll try to get something in.

How many medical advances are made in the USA and used in Cuba? How many medical advances are made in Cuba and used in the USA? What type of government does the USA have? How much taxes do USA citizens pays? What type of government does Cuba have? How much taxes do Cuba citizens pay? What type of economy does the USA have? What type of economy does Cuba have? ... You're kidding, yes?

Therein lies the problem; "from what you hear." As said *several* times, I don't agree with some of what Moore does. But he's doing something. He takes his art to a new level. Some of it a lower level, some of it higher. But I digress. One scene ONE, demonstrates that the people made ill from byproducts of the 9/11 attacks could get (and did receive) better health care from a virtual third-world country than their own country was providing. By going to an extreme in that one case, he gets your attention right off. >Using 9/11 (easy topic to elicit a visceral response >Going to Cuba (the evil empire we're not allowed to mention in the US) >Showing US citizens receiving better attention in the evil empire.... Moore immediately grabs us by the emotional gonads and squeezes. He makes the audience quit thinking about the bullshit review they read, the tall guy sitting in front of them, the ridiculous cost of a Coke in the lobby, or the jerk in the parking lot. He forces you to focus on the message. But it's one scene in the movie that critics seem to grab on to, because it is exceptionally emotional, seeing American heros receiving better health care in Cuba than they could obtain here. At no time does he intimate that Cuba, Canada, or anywhere else in the world is a better place to live. He merely points out how pathetic our healthcare system is. A woman died on a hospital floor last week in LA after going to the hospital three times, even after people in the hospital called 911 to get her help. How more pathetic that that does it get? Moore might use extremes to illustrate his position, but so did Dante, Freud, Love American Style, and Osama bin Laden. All have gotten our attentions, and all resulted in social change, for the better.