Zlew

+1

I assume he means wingloading. I've jumped Stilettos from 150 to 97 (all sizes in-between) and the only difference I noticed would be as expected from higher wingloadings. In general, they all pull pull out of a dive pretty quickly, and will totally plain out if there is enough speed without any control inputs.

Just know that it is more than doing the maneuvers and being able to fly it. Most people can land any given canopy in the best conditions. You have to have the mindset and attitude to go along with the skills to not only keep you out of a bad situation...but more importantly when you find yourself in a bad situation and the shit hits the fan with seconds to act... are you going to become a grease spot, or are you going to keep it together and do the best with a bad situation? When you find yourself thinking "no way around it... this is about to suck." Do you panic and turn yourself into the ground, or do you take a deep breath and do everything you can to make it suck as little as possible and hope to walk away?

Also keep in mind that you can't compare how another jumper does under a given wing to how you might do. You have to use your own judgment and skills, and those don't really translate from person to person. I know people with 1000 jumps who probably will never jump anything more aggressive than 1.1:1, and others that load double that just fine. Similar differences can be found across the jump number range, and wingloading range. I know several folks who have been hurt because they downsized because their buddy who has similar experience downsized and "they did just fine".

I've never used the 10-22 for jumping, but I have used it on the ground. I like the the lens quite a bit, one thing to consider : The build quality seems light for how expensive the lens is. You can't even compare it to something like the 17-40 L (about the same price). It feels more like a slight build upgrade from the kit lens. Which makes it lighter too...but still something to consider. Image quality was fantastic and there is a real difference in those 7MM between it and something like the 17-40.and it is nice to have something that wide for a 1.6 sensor.

Use the spot focus feature on your CX. If you need help, send me a note.

Interesting point about the wingloading comment you made: When Stiletto's first came out, the max wing loading from PD was 1.3-1. My first stiletto (around 97, and about as many jumps as you have) was still a rec. max of 1.3:1. I don't remember when it was, but the max loading was updated at some point after the high wingloading craze started to take off. :) Amazing how times change. It's an old wing that was revolutionary when it came out, and is still sold today..twenty something years later. It has some really good stuff about it, and some things that are not in line with the current high performance flight styles/techniques. Yes, it will absolutely kill you if you are stupid, but so will the sabe2 or any other wing. The more taperd the wing, and the higher the wingloading, the lower your margin of error is and things happen that much faster. Things that might not be an emergency under another wing, can become an emergency in these situations (line twist for example). If you are going to fly it, know your risks, be careful, and respect the wing. I believe this is a big boy sport, and you should be able to make your own decisions. It looks like you know the risks and what the general tribal advice is for downsizing and elliptical wings.

from this week: http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=4164014;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread

You can usually find an appliance/tv/electronic repair place that might be able to help. That, or send it back to Sony. I'm not sure what the cost would be either way. I saw CX150's on sale at SAM's last week for 360bucks... edit *just saw you were in the UK...all that info might not help you :(

andi think you can use movie maker to create subclips (not just start/end trimming). I haven't used it in a while, but I was able to do so when I did use it.

Are you willing to move beyond "free" at all? There are some good products out there for under 100 bucks that will probably give you the flexibility you are looking for. You don't have to spend 600 bucks to get pretty decent software.

A lot of it depends on the type of video you shoot. Both cameras have strong advantages and some drawbacks too. If you just want something to record funjumps, I think the GoPro is fantastic. If you are shooting tandems or outside video, it isn't the right tool for the job.

+1 on dorpbox if you actually need the file. If they just need to see it, youtube is a good option. You can set it up as private and send the direct link if you don't want others to see it. Also allows you to keep much higher quality than rendering down to email size.

He may need to see if he can borrow someone's 190 or 210 and try it out to see if it fits. That seems like a huge difference (240 in it now, designed for a 170), that just ZP material wouldn't account for. If he can find someone who will let them hook up a 290 or 210 and pack it up to see how it fits...that might be the best way to go.

Great info (maybe one of the best replies I have ever seen on DZ.com)! Not that I would recommend it... but if pack volume is the main issue... and he is already jumping a main that is also a reserve (Raven), He could get an Optimum. It wouldn't be cheap, but they pack a size or so smaller.

I don't think there is anything wrong with F-111...I just think think that modern canopy fabrics and designs have come so far that there really aren't many strong arguments to prefer something like a PD9 over a ZP wing. Once upon a time they would open better than ZP, were more simple to pack etc. , but I don't think those arguments are as strong today. I don't think there is anything "wrong" with them, but I can't think of a reason to seek one out. There are several hybrid wings out there that have ZP and non ZP that offer some benefits in pack volume and fly great. I'd be interested to hear why the OP was specifically looking for ZP.

And not many have "high speed" cameras. I'm not sure 60FPS is really considered high speed for super slow mo. I have plenty of video of my canopy opening, but nothing in super slow mo or anything special.

I was visiting the PD factory last month, and they told me that they still make the PD9 for the military. I"m not sure if they sell it to the public..but might be worth the call if you really wanted one (I"m not sure I can imagine why...but to each his own I guess).

Hey Chef Mike! The larger sensor looks nice. I haven't seen one in person yet or seen the footage. Cameras that would probably need a cable running from the lens to another point on your body always make me a little nervous (hard to get rid of). Zach

A friend of mine uses the gopro "bra" mount, and gets some really good results with it. I think it is like 40 bucks. I mixed in some of his footage on the tx 40 way from a few weeks ago: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5gupIPWMgw edit- fwd to about 4:45 if you don't want to watch all of the outside vid

We used to call it "seeking" and I'm not sure what the current term is. There can be 3 (or more) possible points of focus that can be available in different combinations at any given time. The camera can have trouble figuring out which one is correct (your subjects, the ground, the sky). I have seen it on modern cameras recently, but have not tried it on my own. I use the spot focus setting at the beginning of each jump day. I may test out auto focus this weekend on some fun jumps to see how it works.

In many ways, being out this long you will be getting back in almost from scratch. Take your time, start on the student gear, and work your way into a wing that is suitable for you. The modern wings are pretty amazing (at all ends of the performance spectrum), and I'm sure you will find a design and size that will make you happy.

I agree. I'm not sure what the price of an upgraded Otter goes for these days, but a super otter (-34's or similar) is a sweet machine and the gold standard for a reason. There are other planes that are a lot of fun (tailgates etc) but for every day jumping... I think an under 15 min to altitude Twotter beats them all.

I got back in after 5 years or so of being out, and have been amazed at the progress. My CX150 compared to the PC-9 and PC-5= Half the weight half the overall size (it's a horizontal layout camera that is as narrow as the vertical PC cameras) half the price double the image quality double the reliability (no moving parts, motors, not as sensitive to humidity/moisture)

I shoot a lot of inside video as well, so for me I like the versatility of having a side mount vid, with stills on top. If I were just outside video, I think large top mounted setups would be the best. I have my stills on a quick release on top, and that allows me to very easily remove the SLR, crank my ring sight out of the way, and go shoot inside/POV without much thought. I guess it just depends on exactly what type of footage you are looking for.