diverds

I looked at one just yesterday. It is considerably smaller and lighter and cheaper than the 10D. Still has that damn 1.6 aspect ratio though. They need to get rid of that in the lower end digital SLR's so us poor folk can afford lenses for them. Skydive Radio

If you plan on getting one of these you should act fast. Bonehead no longer makes them and I would guess that Paragears stock is limited. Skydive Radio

I have both video and stills on mine. I made a bracket that bolts under the d-box and hangs over the front of the helmet. The still camera is mounted inverted on the front. Works just fine. I just shoot everything at zero degrees. It's not that big a deal. If you want to pitch your camera up you can do that by shimming the front of your dbox up with some washers. Skydive Radio

I have had a string of bad tounge switches over the last 5 months. Most have lasted about 5 to 10 jumps, and this is taking good care of them(no twisting or pulling on the wire or biting on the switch). 2 other camera flyers at my dz also use the conceptus switches and they have both had failures as well. That said, I want to say that Conceptus' customer service has been second to none. Any time there has been a problem Ed has sent me out a new switch right away. He has been very helpful and prompt in his replys, and because of this I am going to stick with them. As one of the above posters said, it appears that they are trying out some new designs. I have had at least 2 different types of switchs and maybe 3. Once I get one that has the bugs worked out it will be well worth the hassles I am going through now because when the switches are working properly they are fantastic. Your best bet would be to email Ed directly at switches@conceptusinc.com. He is a great guy and will not let you down. Skydive Radio

My camera is a TRV-30 and there is plenty of room for it on my Optik. As long as you have a camera that was made within the last couple of years it should be no problem. Skydive Radio

I use the Rebel TI and have been happy with it. It is small and light and it takes 2.5 frames per second as compared to the Rebel 2000's or Rebel G's 1 frame per second. That was worth the extra $ to me. I can get several good exit shots with the tandem and airplane still in frame. I think you will be happy with any of the Canon Rebel line though. Skydive Radio

1 days, 23 hours, 36 minutes, 46 seconds left. I feel like a kid the day before Christmas. We will be on the road in about 6 hours to do the bar crawl on the way. Should be a large turn out from Lincoln Sport Parachute Club. Cya at Ft. Dodge. "The Boogie America Depends On!" Skydive Radio

They flew at least a couple loads last year on Wed. I remember cause I was on the first load. Skydive Radio

I jump an Optik with a top mounted video and front mounted stills. I like the helmet. Its light and comfy. I have the video in a bonehead D-box which I highly recomend for ease of mounting and giving the camera some protection. The chin cup is plenty. You do not need to add a second strap. Too much to do if you ever have to ditch the helmet. Skydive Radio

This spring I bought a Conceptus tounge switch from Skydance Photography. When the switch arrived I noticed a tear in the membrane covering the switch. It worked fine but I was worried that over time it might fail so I sent it back to Skydance and they sent me a new switch. I used the new switch for about 10 or 15 jumps and then one day on jump run I turn the camera on and it fires off the whole roll. The switch had failed. This time I contacted Conceptus directly and Ed sent me a new switch out in less than a week. Pretty good service if you ask me. Then last Saturday I am shooting a tandem and when I get on the ground I notice that the still camera did not fire. Again, the switch had failed. This time there was a short in the elbow of the switch. Feeling really frustrated I contacted Conceptus again and left a voicemail. I got a voicemail back from Ed the same night telling me that he would send out 2 new tounge switches. He was very appologetic and explained that the switches have been redesigned to eliminate this problem. So today I go to my mailbox and there is a package from Conceptus(only 4 days after I called them). I open it up and to my surprise I find not only 2 brand new tounge switches, but a brand new bite switch as well, all at no charge! Problems arise with all products from time to time, but when it happens and the company in question follows through with this kind of service it makes it all worth while. Conceptus has earned a customer for life and I will be telling EVERYONE about it. By the way, the new switches have a different tip on them that I really like. You can feel a very distinct "click" against your tounge when you actuate the switch. If you are jumping a still camera you should really check them out. Skydive Radio

jseiverth, The stuff you are looking for is what comes with the Paramount System 3 helmet from Skydance. You can purchase it here: http://www.pia.com/skydance/accessor.htm#5 Skydive Radio

Quality suffers when you zoom through a wide angle lense. The picture gets grainy. If you want two different FOV's you should really buy 2 different lenses. Skydive Radio

I have a Cannon Rebel TI and really like it. It is a bit more $$$ than the Rebel 2000, but it can shoot 2.5 frames per second vs. the Rebel 2000's 1 frame per second. This gives you several shots of the exit with the airplane still in the frame. It also will work with the tounge/bite switches and is pretty light as well. The only thing I don't like about the Rebel TI is that the shutter speed is limited to 1/2000. If you go to the Canon Elan series you will get 1/4000 shutter speeds. This is not going to matter for freefall photography, but if you are doing other stuff it could be a negitive to you. Skydive Radio

I use a videonics titlemaker 2000 that can do video fades, swipes, and a host of different title options. You can pick them up on ebay in the $100 range. Add an audio mixer and cd player and you can do easy on the fly videos in real time. Skydive Radio

Where are you guys getting your insurance from? My homeowners (State Farm) would not offer me that type of coverage. Skydive Radio

Well now it works. I did not change anything on my pc. Weird. At least it works. Skydive Radio

Same thing applies. If he wants to use a sportscam let him. As for putting cameras on students, he has no say in that. He can offer up the idea, but we all know that no experienced tandem instructor is going to allow it anyway so why argue it? Edit for quote. Skydive Radio

This thread is starting to look like something that belongs in rec.skydiving...let it go. Some people have to learn from their own mistakes. This guy is obviously convinced of his opinions, so let him run with them. With a little bit of time and experience he may very well change his mind, and even if he doesn't...who cares? If he wants to edit tandems on an NLE system let him. It doesn't mean anyone else has to. Just my opinion. Skydive Radio

You can also put your Elan 7 on the front. I have an Optik with video on top and stills in the front and it works just fine. Skydive Radio

Check out the Bonehead Optik for your helmet. It has both side and top mounts so you can put a pc on the side and stills on top or you can put a trv on top and hang a still camera in front. Its very light weight and comfortable. Comes with a chin cup. Skydive Radio

Around 700. Skydive Radio

Maybe you should. I constantly hear people on these forums saying that jump numbers don't mean everything, and in many cases I agree. However, I think if you talked to several seasoned skydivers, instructors, and camera flyers, you would find the general opinion to be that 100 jumps is still well at the beginning of the learning curve for most new skydivers. Adding new elements to a skydive before you are ready is often a contributing link in the dreaded "chain of events" that preceeds many accidents and fatalities. Taking things slowly will help insure a lifetime of fun in the sky. Skydive Radio

As a tandem instructor I can say that I would be very leary of letting someone attempt what you are talking about. Sounds like too great a risk of corking up into the passenger. In fact I can't think of anyone I know personally that I would allow to attempt such a thing on one of my tandems. Then again I come from a small dz. I am sure there are some freeflyers out there who have the ability to do it safely. Skydive Radio

I jump a flightsuit with a large wing and like it okay, but a friend of mine has "The Camera Suit" built by Sky Hi Visual Productions. It is the best camera suit I have flown. Lots of wing, huge range of speed, and much nicer on the pocket-book than some of the others out there. Here is a link to check it out. Sorry, but I can't remember how to make it clicky so you will have to copy and paste into your browser. http://skyhivisuals.tripod.com/The%20Camera%20Suit.htm Skydive Radio

If it's like the Rebel or Elan series you should be able to select which focus point it uses. The Elan 7e actually reads your eye movement and uses the coorisponding focus point. I have a Rebel TI and can manually choose one of the 7 focus points. Otherwise the camera chooses for you. Check your manual. Skydive Radio