livendive 8 #1 September 11, 2005 I just bought a PC350 off of Ebay. The price was right (I hope!) for a "factory refurbished" sealed box from Sony with all the accessories and a 90 day parts/labor warranty. Tomorrow I get to order a bigger memory stick, a longer life battery, a diamond 0.3 lens, a D-Box to put it in on my Rat-Hat, a Cam-Eye, and some tapes. Not being completely familiar (or the least bit familiar) with D-Box mounting, am I going to need an L-bracket in addition to the box? A strap of some sort? What else am I forgetting? Blues, Dave"I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PhreeZone 20 #2 September 12, 2005 Why a memory stick? Unless you want to capture stills of the tape (crap quality) or use it as a digital camera (large, bulky and still only like 3mpx) the memory stick is useless for skydiving. No need for an L bracket. You can either go L bracket or Dbox for your mounting options. Issue with a longer life battery is that it will stick out mode on the side as a potential riser strike object. A larger batery is great for ground stuff but I'd stick to a regular battery for freefall.Yesterday is history And tomorrow is a mystery Parachutemanuals.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
livendive 8 #3 September 12, 2005 QuoteWhy a memory stick? Unless you want to capture stills of the tape (crap quality) or use it as a digital camera (large, bulky and still only like 3mpx) the memory stick is useless for skydiving. My current digital camera is 0.786 mpx, so 3 mpx is a marked improvement. QuoteNo need for an L bracket. You can either go L bracket or Dbox for your mounting options. Issue with a longer life battery is that it will stick out mode on the side as a potential riser strike object. A larger batery is great for ground stuff but I'd stick to a regular battery for freefall. Thanks. I'd forgotten to even check whether a larger battery would fit in the Dbox. I think I read that the batteries for the PC-330/350 were different than those used for the other PC series, but I don't know how different size-wize. I'm assuming I can buy a rapid charger of some sort so I can charge a battery while it's not in the camera, in which case two original batteries would probably make more sense than one larger battery. Blues, Dave"I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dragon2 2 #4 September 12, 2005 Another use for a memory stick I've seen in skydiving is to export video with a logo on it. Marking your footage as yours, like some people do with photo's as well. ciel bleu, Saskia Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
StevePhelps 0 #5 September 12, 2005 Buy several batteries (I suggest 3-4) off ebay. Keep one of them charging as you swap batteries on every load. That way you will never have a battery go dead on a jump. I assume these will be lithium batteries that do not have a memory. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
livendive 8 #6 September 13, 2005 QuoteBuy several batteries (I suggest 3-4) off ebay. Keep one of them charging as you swap batteries on every load. That way you will never have a battery go dead on a jump. I assume these will be lithium batteries that do not have a memory. I'm assuming that since I'm putting the camera in a DBox, I can only use an original size battery (not an extended life that's 0.5" wider). They are lithium ion (NP-FF51 is standard, the extended life would be NP-FF71), and I've found generic versions of the battery and 1 hour chargers on Ebay. Are there any issues with using non-Sony batteries/chargers? Blues, Dave"I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!" (drink Mountain Dew) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vdschoor 0 #7 September 13, 2005 Quote Are there any issues with using non-Sony batteries/chargers? Blues, Dave Stay away from non-sony batteries, but non-sony chargers are just fine. But that's my experience with them.. I've had aftermarket batteries all of a sudden die on me, when I thought I had 1 hr+ left on it.. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PhreeZone 20 #8 September 13, 2005 Some of the newer Sony cameras require correctly chipped batteries and some aftermarket makers don't have the right chips on their batteries.Yesterday is history And tomorrow is a mystery Parachutemanuals.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vdschoor 0 #9 September 13, 2005 QuoteSome of the newer Sony cameras require correctly chipped batteries and some aftermarket makers don't have the right chips on their batteries. That just confirms my post Stay away from aftermarket batteries.. Go Sony or Go home!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AndyMan 7 #10 September 13, 2005 I do know a few people using Duracell brand batteries, and they seem to work well. They seem to last a lot longer than the original Sony ones, too. Something like this: http://www.tapeandmedia.com/detail.asp?product_id=DR10, but make sure to order the correct one. _Am__ You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
piercewhat 0 #11 September 14, 2005 You actually need to get the miniDV video's with memory built in. That will allow you to logo the necessary films. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PhreeZone 20 #12 September 14, 2005 Not always, you can logo them off the memory stick just fine. Personally I don't see any reason to logo DV footage on the camera, if its so important that it is being watermarked its better to edit it on a computer and apply the overlayed logo that way.Yesterday is history And tomorrow is a mystery Parachutemanuals.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
