lewmonst 0 #1 January 15, 2005 Inspired by another thread, lets start a little (ok, long) list of all the little things you've encountered in flying camera, and, if necessary, how you overcame them... Maybe some non-camera flyers reading this will appreciate us more , and some new camera flyers will think through this more... 1. PAYing for a camera 2. PAYing for a camera helmet 3. PAYing for a mount/box/bracket for the camera 4. Buying a cameye 5. Drilling holes 6. Drilling new holes because after jumping the camera you realize it's at the wrong angle 7. And, now, a third set of holes, because you're freeflying instead of bellyflying (on my first camera helmet - sidemount - I don't have that problem anymore, but I also don't fly inside RW formations with a topmount) 8. Trying to fly without a sight - and sucking. 9. Buying a sight. 10. Drilling more holes to mount the sight. 11. Going to Home Depot for... well, lots of bits and pieces (and we're not talking about stills yet...) 12. Deciding what wide-angle lens to use and buying it 13. Dropping the camera & braking it 14. Sending it to Sony (for the first time) 15. Not having a camera for a week or two while it's at Sony, which isn't a big deal unless you rely on it for tandem videos... 16. Oh, yeah, buying tapes 17. Making sure batteries are charged 18. Carrying an extra battery (if you're smart, and getting paid to video) 19. Oh but first you have to buy and extra battery 20. Forgetting to turn the camera on 21. Cam-eye braking, buying a new one 22. Accidentally leaving the camera zoomed in 23. Accidentally hitting NightShot 24. Leaving it on Autofucus 25. Forgetting to turn it off after a jump and wasting your whole battery while it films the gear rack as you pack. 26. Forgetting to plug in the cam-eye and not figuring it out till greenlight 27. Worrying so much about your camera that you _________ (ooh, lots of possibilities here.... like: forget to turn on your ProTrack, forget your altimeter or gloves or goggles, etc... not to mention what you'll not be focussed on in freefall) 28. That guy who chases you down and asks to firewire the footage from 2 weeks ago of him and his buddies, and he doesn't have a camera or firewire with him, and you have to dig through your footage to find which jump he's talking about. 29. Tracking down your firewire cable (or A/V cables for that matter) after lending them to someone. 30. Dubbing. 31. Finding a VCR and TV to dub for that group who really wants to watch the jump right now, but has no where to go. 32. Forgetting to cue up. 33. Someone borrowing your camera (which was cued) and leaving it not cued. 34. Moisture on the lense 35. Oh, not hard for me, but definitely more difficult for some: Climbing back to that postage stamp camera step... 36. Climbing out and ... the green light goes off and the TM takes a go around. I've hung on, but prefer climbing back in. 37. Everything was going great and then these thick black lines appear in the middle of the PAID video, crap: drop out. So you find a cleaner tape. That works temporarily... 38. No other fixes, so send that camera back to Sony, after digging up your receipt, or worse, it's out of warranty and you have to spend ~$300 to get the heads realigned... 39. How could I have forgotten, buying a camera jacket/suit... and learning to fly it. 40. Completely missing the exit count 41. Dropping on someone -woohoo, congrats you're a real camera flyer now! 42. Bad light, clouds, sunset, whatever 43. The TM who won't face into the sun no matter what you do. 44. The TM who doesn't look down in freefall and hoses you on a long spot :) 45. The TM who changes their exit count, ie, just goes cause .... 46. Oh, should we even open the editting can of worms? 47. Ok, having to redo a Tandem video edit cause someone's waiving their remote around and rewinding everyone's cameras unknowingly... 48. Having to redo the edit because the customer requested the wrong song 49. Having to redo the edit, and pack, and make a <10 minute call 50. hmmm.... the cameye plug breaks off in the camera, and you can't get it out... ok, i'm just getting started, still haven't even gotten into the stills yet... those are just a few of the little things i've dealt with in my experience... what did i leave out? peace lewhttp://www.exitshot.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
freefalle 0 #2 January 15, 2005 having pictures you shot turn up in a magazine or ad with out your knowledege and nver getting paid for your work Having someone who was on a jump ask you for a copy of the photos or video without offering to compensate you for it. ( it never ceases to amaze me why will someone assume they should be entitled to a compy of your video for free because you are "friends",,, there friends with their packer too but they damn sure pay their packer at the end of the day. You'll know when your actually becomming a good camera flyer,,, People will start talking about how bad your work sucks, well maybe that only happens in Deland, Jealous fucks. Having your bite switch take a crap in the middle of the jump Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DaGimp 0 #3 January 15, 2005 thats pretty funny Lew....ive gone through....almost all of them......i havent had to get my heas realigned yet. I think you've covered pretty much everything...a few additions though forgetting to hit record and hanging outside the plane trying to hit the damn little button. planing on a ready-set-go exit count and it ends up being a ready-set-ready-set-go.......thank god for wings"Professor of Pimpology"~~~Bolas Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jb092 0 #4 January 15, 2005 Very nice post, I think I have gone through just about the whole list myself. What could possibly go wrong? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tonyhathaway 0 #5 January 15, 2005 I don't see basically doing everything INSIDE the plane with ONE arm (seatbelts, gear checks, moving around, etc.) because you are busy trying to protect your investment!!!-TonyMy O.C.D. has me chasing a dream my A.D.D. won't let me catch. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DaGimp 0 #6 January 15, 2005 not to mention shielding the helmet from those sitting next to you who like to talk with major arm swinging movements "Professor of Pimpology"~~~Bolas Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jb092 0 #7 January 15, 2005 Quotenot to mention shielding the helmet from those sitting next to you who like to talk with major arm swinging movements Also shielding it while the tandem instructor slams you with his rig while trying to find his seatbeat. What could possibly go wrong? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
docjohn 0 #8 January 15, 2005 Excellent list. All too true Don't forget these: Looking at your camera helmet at altitude and finding 1). no battery 2). no tape 3). no camera Doc http://www.manifestmaster.com/video Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
videointhesky 0 #9 January 15, 2005 Video Camera: Lens cap left on , zoom is at 100% Still Camera: One minute out , wake up Canon 20D nothing Camera will not work grrrrrrrr, get on the ground remove the lens put it back camera works for the rest of the day http://www.freefall-video.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jb092 0 #10 January 15, 2005 During the ride to alti with a tandem I noticed that the roll of film in the camera was burned up already. I thought to myself if I gave the last student their film,....didn't I?!?!. I found that the bite switch was broke and would fire the camera none stop. Figures too since I am on a back2back. I spent the next 2 jumps firing the camera by hand. One of the students was acting like they were taking pictures of me to. Pretty funny What could possibly go wrong? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
freefalle 0 #11 January 15, 2005 Im so glad to hear this stuff has happened to other people! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mccordia 74 #12 January 15, 2005 Thinking hard about where you put the small lens-cap that's normaly on your Wide Angle lens as you put it away. Seeing it shoot by, as it comes out of you pocket on the next freefly jump you make....never to be found again Thinking you've just filmed the greatest jump of you life...then realising your camera was zoomed in to the max after you view the actual footageJC FlyLikeBrick I'm an Athlete? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jb092 0 #13 January 15, 2005 QuoteIm so glad to hear this stuff has happened to other people! It's not a matter of "if" these things will happen, it is a matter of when. Mr. Murphy loves camera flyers What could possibly go wrong? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mixoligist 0 #14 January 15, 2005 Quote You'll know when your actually becomming a good camera flyer,,, People will start talking about how bad your work sucks, well maybe that only happens in Deland, Jealous fucks. Yikes.................................. Better you than me .................................. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kwoo 0 #15 January 15, 2005 Trying to protect your lenses from Crewdogs blowing bubbles on the way to altitude. karen Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ffejdraga 0 #16 January 15, 2005 Awesome list man! Yep been there. I didnt see getting a lens ripped off by a riser. and then you realize the lens will still work, because it was just dangling from your camera, so you somehow find time to gaffers tape it back on, because of course you are back to back. jeff D-16906 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pope 0 #17 January 15, 2005 how about turning that switch past "camera" to "memory?" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ChangoLanzao 0 #18 January 16, 2005 1 ... you take a few seconds too much of the antics in the plane on the way to altitude ... then the video tape runs out during the first point of the dive ...you discover this while viewing the footage with everyone at the DZ gathered around the monitor 2 after a great jump and landing you discover that the wide-angle lens is missing from your camcorder ... ... while reviewing the jump, you notice that the lens was knocked off by a fellow jumper's arm during the exit ... 3 on exit, you realize that your chin strap isn't fastened ... *********************** Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Snowflake 0 #19 January 16, 2005 All that plus learning to fly the camera instead of letting it fly you!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jimoke 0 #20 January 16, 2005 this was one of the funniest posts in a long time......bravo. ALL TRUE. you should finish it sometime.....there must be another 100 or so. it would be great to see this list in a video format. it would be a scream! jimokeThe ground always, remembers where you are! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DaGimp 0 #21 January 16, 2005 Quote Awesome list man! ummmm Lew is a woman "Professor of Pimpology"~~~Bolas Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ffejdraga 0 #22 January 16, 2005 I say man in the most general sense of the word, you know,..... jeff Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LouDiamond 1 #23 January 16, 2005 QuoteQuote Awesome list man! ummmm Lew is a woman haven't you heard? the terms "MAN" and "DUDE" are no longer gender specific. It is not uncommon to hear one female refer to another as man or dude now a days."It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required" Some people dream about flying, I live my dream SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
piisfish 140 #24 January 16, 2005 letting someone plug in his firewire cable to copy some footage and ruining the entry in the (brand new) camera. after opening wanting to switch the camera off noticing you don't have a camera anymore. having the "picture" button pressing in the d-box and loosing 3x5 seconds of a jump. having the focus on manual, and quickly change lense before getting on teh plane and not change the focus.scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pcalandra 0 #25 January 17, 2005 Great list How about getting your ring site kicked off your helmet along with your wide angle lens? Getting taken out on an RW jump, not once, but twice in the same skydive? Nothing says "Bulls Eye" or "Target" like having a camera on your head Having what appeared to be a perfectly good battery die in the middle of a skydive. I always love having to tell them their video didn't turn out Luckily it's only happened a couple of times. Oh, and my personal favorite is having a problem on jump run and having to ask for a go around to try and fix the problem. I think my all time stupid move was forgetting to change an almost full tape and then running out right as I finished interviewing the student on the way to altitude, luckily I was able to rewind the tape and not blow the video Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
