first camera jumps

[pal 0]

I Did my first camera jumps this weekend with my side mounted JVC on a invertigo x helmet. I have not swapped my ditter from my other helmet although i will before i jump again. On most of the jumps i tried to film everyone opening while tracking away on my back and being so engrossed in trying to get a good shot i lost height awareness and ended up low. On the last jump i deployed at 1500ft hanging in my harness at 1000ft (oh shit) wont do that again.
Anyway to the point I will be mainly using it for freeflying and would like to get a few opinions on ringsights.
Should i be using one ?
Or should i just get use to the helmet without it ? Most the freeflyers at my dz don't use one.
Also i do not have a chin cup and would like to know a couple of things about them. Are they just for security (to hold helmet on) or do they stop camera shake (from helmet moving)as well. I know this has been brought up before but i cant seem to get my answer through searching the forum.
Any opinions appreciated.

[Deuce 1]

The first thing the pro camera flyers at my DZ told me was NOT TO ACCEPT INVITATIONS TO FILM OTHER JUMPERS OPENINGS.

Clearly, you are not the first to skate by an cypress fire doing this.

The ringsight trains you to frame. Lots of the really good flyers started with ringsights and now have the habits that allow them to not use one. The ring sight is teaching me to move my eyeballs and not my head when I'm doing an area check while filming.

The chincup really reduces helmet shake, but makes it harder to smile.

I've got an articulated ringsight and a ratcheting chin cup. There's pictures of my setup further down the forum.

[PhreeZone 20]

For doing most freeflying, a ring site is'nt needed as long as you have a general idea of where its aimed. For shooting RW/Tandems... after trying to avoid it for the last 3 months it looks like after WFFC I'm getting a ring site. You don't have to get a polerized glass site either. The little orange one with the black dot will teach you many things with out costing much money. Ring sites are snag hazards so make sure you have a cutaway system rigged up before you add one.

The only way I film openings is Tandems. Every thing else is getting too low for my tastes. After being on my back spinning to film a tandem opening I needed about 3 seconds to pull out of the spin and toss. Thats a long time to be recovering after a low break and pull from a friend.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[quade 4]

Quote

Any opinions appreciated.

Congratulations on living.

If you'd like to continue to live, be certain you put an audible altimeter in your helmet before making too many more camera jumps. Losing altitude awareness is a very real potential problem with camera flying because you can't always take your eye off your subject to look at your altimeter and, well, you're just too damn focused on the shot anyway.

The whole ring sight thing is a personal preference thing when it comes to freefly. You're slightly safer without it, but the framing of your images will not be as precise.

Chin cups should serve two purposes; help protect your face (just a tiny bit) and help hold the helmet more steady. Do they stop camera shake? No. Do they help? Yes, provided you're willing to snug them down tight enough. This -could- also be a safety issue if you need to get rid of your helmet for any reason, so you might want to think about that as well.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[AndyMan 7]

I did my first camera jump on saturday. I filmed a three-way RW jump. We were jumping a caravan without a camera step. I missed the exit because I couldn't see the count. The film sucked, as I expected. I was WAY high, even despite this they were out of frame for a good half of the skydive.

With the nervousness of gear... I forgot my altimeter. Which wasn't too bad, because i had two audibles. I dumped at 5, which was the stated break off.

My second camera jump was a 4-way. I got lower, and the framing was somewhat better but I was still too high, and the framing was still an issue. I do not have a wide angle lense, simply had the pc-120 zoomed all the way wide. I saw the count, and got the exit shot, but left early. Again, I dumped at 5, as previously stated.

My pc120 is attached to my velocity with the velocity swivel side-mount. I haven't decided if I want a chin-cup, or not.

I have SO much to learn.

_Am

__

You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

[Deuce 1]

I've been told that under pressure you will eventually know that you have your helmet, your camera, there's a cassette in the camera, the battery is charged, you have a spare battery, the Cameye is plugged in, the lights are working, the sight is still aligned, your customer is ready, you're ready.

And you walk to the plane without your rig.

I've also been told to "dump in place" when the 4 way or whatever turns and burns.

Adding the camera stuff in is stressfull, and now there's expectations of others to meet as well. I have memorized my checklist, my preflight, and the last stuff on it is the camera stuff.

Mine starts "Pilot-chute cocked rig, happy face, handles, Goggles, Altimeters 1-2-3 (hand, audible, audible)".... yada yada. I make sure I do this before taking a step towards the plane.

I like my Kenko .5, but the .6 is a better match for a 28mm SLR camera, if you plan on doing a film camera later.

Blues!

[CameraGeek 0]

First, congratulations on surviving. Second That's Robbie knocking you upside the noggin' because I hate cleaning up messes.

PLEASE don't do that again! Take all the advice you get here - but especially go slowly my friend! If you just began flying a camera I do not care how many jumps you have - you don't have many with a camera.

Flying on your back at breakoff...?? Um, don't take this the wrong way my friend, but WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?

Okay. Sorry.

Your post implied this was not a one-time thing. If it was not, don't forget the lessons - and don't repeat the errors. You don't want to be upside down, low, wearing a camera helmet you don't feel used to yet.

As for the ring sight and chin cup - you probably do not need a ring sight at first, but the chin cup is a good idea. Several reasons - you name them. Security, stability, and actually its more comfortable.

Please - find a camera flyer with some experience and have him look over your stuff with you for snag points or problems. Even if they charge you - I hope they don't - but it may save you money, or quite possibly your life.

Camera flying is a lot to do in an already fast-paced environment. Don't be in a hurry to make it more complex than it already is - but welcome to the flock! Its fun..when it goes well. :-)

Robbie



I Did my first camera jumps this weekend with my side mounted JVC on a invertigo x helmet. I have not swapped my ditter from my other helmet although i will before i jump again. On most of the jumps i tried to film everyone opening while tracking away on my back and being so engrossed in trying to get a good shot i lost height awareness and ended up low. On the last jump i deployed at 1500ft hanging in my harness at 1000ft (oh shit) wont do that again.
Anyway to the point I will be mainly using it for freeflying and would like to get a few opinions on ringsights.
Should i be using one ?
Or should i just get use to the helmet without it ? Most the freeflyers at my dz don't use one.
Also i do not have a chin cup and would like to know a couple of things about them. Are they just for security (to hold helmet on) or do they stop camera shake (from helmet moving)as well. I know this has been brought up before but i cant seem to get my answer through searching the forum.
Any opinions appreciated.