I just started reading this post yesterday, and I'm sure this has coime up before, but I thought I'd throw in my two cents anyway.
All the new guys need to remember this; cameras and camera helmets have become easier in the last few years, but the camera flying is still as tough as ever, maybe even tougher.
For all the 200 jump wonders who strap on a lightweight side mount, and try to shoot video, keep in mind that you have to be the best flyer on each skydive you video. As the camera man, you are not part of the skydive, and need to have the skill to operate on the outside edge of that skydive. The jumpers you are filming are not paying attention to you, and they never will. If you are not capable of doing your job 100%, independent of the jumpers you are sharing the sky with, take the camera off, and focus on your flying.
Additionally, to the guys looking for advice on freeflying with tandems, if you can't freefly on your own, you can't do it with tandems. I saw a post from a guy who was "backsliding all over the place" with a tandem (he was on his back) and couldn't figure out why. If this happens to you, do not come to the internet and ask for advcie; get a freefly coach, and get back up in the air. At a minnimum, get a fellow jumper to lay a base, and practice with him. An actual tandem (paying or not) is not the time to learn anything, for your safety, and the safety of the TM and the student.
Keep in mind, no matter how much you think you can just put on the camera and "not think about it", you are wrong. The camera is a bigger distraction than you know, it will take up 90% of your brainpower, and if you can't skydive with only 10% of your brain, you need more jumps, more time in the air, more exposure to the unusal situations you will encounter while on actual skydives.
I hope people don't take this the wrong way, I just want people to use their heads on the ground, and make good choices for the skydives they are going to make. Once you leave the plane, you are stuck finishing what you started. You can't change the people you are jumping with, the jumpsuit you are wearing, or the gear you have on your head.
Be safe up there, and keep in mind that the manufacturers have the 500 jump minnimum for tandem video guys for a reason. Blue skies...
