BMFin

Forgot to add that IMO stereo plug works as well with a lens that has fast AF. For example the USM motor in the 10-22 is fast enough to focus before the shutter opens even when I use AI servo with the stero plug. There is a short delay between the time when you press the switch and when the shutter opens even with a stereo plug + AI servo. The shutter doesnt open immedietly so if the AF is fast it has time to focus even for the 1st shot of the series. However a lens like 50mm 1.8 has such a slow AF motor that it does benefit from the mono plug in together with AI servo The time between pressing the switch and when the shutter opens isnt enough for this lens to focus correctly for the 1st shot. By the time of second shot it should have already had enough time to focus.

Theres a few things I dont quite agree with.1st off using the so called "one shot plug" with one shot mode will actually focus 1st and then lock there and fire only after that. Not focus and fire at the same time. Second thing is that using the "one shot plug" with AI servo isnt the same as using one shot mode, since the camera does continue tracking the AF during the burst of shots in AI servo but not in one shot where it locks on the 1st focus point. Anyways, why make it so complicated ? IMO its pretty simple. 1.In general there are two type of switches. Mono and stereo. Mono swich will cause the camera to focus constantly when the camera is on. (works only in AI servo mode) This is very basic stuff. IE conceptus offers both mono and stereo plugs to suit everyones needs. See here 2.Other thing is that the canon lineup has different AF modes. One shot focuses 1st, locks this focus point and after that fires the shutter. (keeping the same focus point) AI servo lets the focus keep tracking with the subject through out the series of shots. Simple.

Most likely its an act. Sure is funny as Hell !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXa4w4aYKEk Try to watch this without laughing. Im pretty sure its an act, but still they have a pretty fu*king long jump run..

I think it looks like what Im having also. It seems to be quite common for an XF2 that the slider comes down fast in the end. If you have your hands in the risers it may hurt your fingers. Other than that, I dont find it really that annoying at all, since the canopy never spanks me at all. Its just the slider coming down fast in the end. On another note, I dont recommend looking at your canopy during opening even if it opens as soft as an XF2 EDIT: forgot to add that Im almost positive that packing has nothing to do with how fast the slider comes down in the end. However the condition of your lineset has a lot to do with it. Worn out lines offer more friction and the slider comes down slower.

Actually I dont mind the slider coming down fast in the end. The opinings are very soft and that is all I care about with camera equipment. Im not very big fan of giving input to the canopy during opening. Instead I keep the risers free and try to be symmetric in the harness. I also think a lot of people induce linetwists themself when trying to "steer" the opening.

I also jump XF2 I have never had BAD openings. In fact I love the openings Im getting. However, I recently had the canopy relined and now the slider tends to come down quicker at the very end. The snivel part of the opening however is still as nice as it was before. I dont think rolling the nose or any of those tricks will help if the problem is in the very last sequence of the opening and not the snivel part. I never do anything else then just flake the canopy and bag it. It opens beautifull everytime.

The best solution is to use an escrow service. Second to none.. If you dont know what it is, use google

AFIK there is only one tandemfactory in thailand. The other one is not opened yet. So no AFF in thailand at the moment..

Which DZ in thailand are you talking about ?

You are welcome !

IMO the most important factor influencing the outcome in photography is the light. Second thing is perhaps the settings. Next thing that has influence is the lens. After that comes the utilization of the dark room and post processing phase. Only after these more important factors mentioned are in order, you start noticing some difference with different camera bodies. Sure there are differences, but the body is not nearly the most important thing. The reason im saying this is because, quite often you see people investing a lot of money to the camera body but using poor optics, pop-up flash, not taking any effort to post process the picture etc... So unless you have a BIG budjet, I wouldnt recommend spending money to the body. Instead spend money to optics, Flash, photoshop etc.. and ofcourse spend time shooting on the ground and learning. Just my two cents..

IMO a Lens with good USM will focus very well on the subject and almost never focuses on the background. Use all the focus points and you are good to go. Manual focus is almost always a little soft, which isnt what I want from my photos. Personally for an allaround lens I would go for a tokina 11-16 or a Canon 10-22.

I think skymonkeyone has a sabre 97 loaded quite heavy. IIRC he has been giving positive feedback here on DZ.com I wonder why is it that every time these threads turn into experience level debate how the "old timers" tell the newbies over internet how they are not ready for canopyX. By looking at someones jump numbers you dont know how competent he is to fly canopyX. Hell I know people with 600 jumps competing at the CP world champs, and I know people with 5000+ jumps and they still cant handle basic entry level canopy loaded less than 1.4

This thread brought my mind another setup at our DZ, which I actually think is a really nice setup.. He wears a speed recycler under his jumpsuit also.

Flash doesnt help much when shooting video.. Plus the pros prefer off camera flash anyway..

The pond looks really nice.. Now Im jealous ..

Sometimes I wish there was a way to filter away these "less constructive" replys

No, he is talking about light entering the exposure metering sensor through the viewfinder and causing "wrong" exposure metering. It has nothing to do with "edges of the shutter" or anything like that. Canon offers a viewfinder cover to solve this problem when shooting from a tripod for example and not covering the viewfinder by eye. However, I think this is only one of the reasons for "wrong" exposures. Like mentioned there are other things also, like exposure metering modes.

Manual focus is only reasonably sharp. If you have a good AF lens, I would suggest using AF. When the AF works the pics will be a bit sharper. The manual is always "around there". I have never jumped with the 18-55, so I cant tell you how well it performs in terms of the AF, but most canon lenses with USM are better in AF IMO. Like it was already mentioned, the problem in this case was the slow shutter speed. With the light availeable in the photos you could easilly use 1/800 with f/5.0 and ISO 200

Anyone had HMA on their XF2 ? I load my 109 @ 1.8+ Im wondering wether to have 550 vectran or HMA

Some nice photos on the tunnel set. #3 on the ZeroG set was exellent. Really well lit.

Cool, What exactly is a DPDT switch ? Im sorry, I didnt quite understand this. You say it focuses in one position but after that it focuses on something else by the bite ? BTW. check this thread in case you havent seen it

Please dont teach this to anyone else at your DZ. It applies to every canopy/style. Wind does not affect the initiation altitude..

Wind does not affect the initiation altitude. Your canopy doesnt know if there is wind or not. It flies same way in the surrounding air mass anyway. Sure the wind does make the planeout squence look different in different wind conditions. However the canopy will loose as much altitude regardless of the wind.