newbie camera setup

[jeremy_o 0]

Hey,
I'm having a real hard time with searching the forum here.

I'm wondering if anyone can recommend some good suggestions for me. There are only 3 camera flyers at my DZ and 2 of them use Oxygen helmets and one uses a FF2 but isn't out that often..

Here are my requirements:
-open face helmet
-camera less than $400 (if possible)
-LANC would be nice but maybe if I'm not use to it, I won't need it?
-side mount (I imagine it is harder to exit a cessna with a top mount)
-no interest in stills (yet)

I am thinking about getting a RAWA, I have tried one on and I like how light they are. A HC52 looks pretty good price-wise and I have seen DSE recommend them..

Any help?

http://planetskydive.net/ - An online aggregation of skydiver's blogs.

[sinjin 0]

Rawa, bonehead, cookie are fine for sidemounting. the rawa does have the best snagless setup imo.. the hc series are ok to side mount but if you not going to use a still , then you may want to top mount it for now until you do.. climbing out of the cessna is fine top or side or both, just takes some practice. you can definately get a used sony hc series (20's, 30's ,40, no idea on 50's) the ones that are 40,42..eg have the lanc port.. the 46,48 do not.. i love the cam eye but that is just me.. you should be able to get a used one for 2-300. i just got one (hc-40) about two months ago for 200.. you are going to need a wide angle lens and do some searches on those,,, kenko .45 is the best value if you dont want to spend the 120 on the nice ones. watch craigslist, dropzone and ebay....good luck

dont let life pass you by

[everymansaved 0]

The helmets that sinjin suggested are all great, but I differ slightly in my opinion for a camera. I am a ver big fan of the PC series for side mounting. I find that the HC's are just too wide and long, making side mounting them with few snag points very dificult. If you're looking for an inexpensive PC camera, check sources other than DZ.com. I recently bought a PC120 which had barely been taken out of the box for just over $200 on eBay. The PC series are worth a lot more to skydivers than they are to the average whuffo just because of their size/shape and the fact that they're no longer produced.

Just my opinion, and you know what everyone says about opinions...

God made firefighters so paramedics would have heroes...and someone can put out the trailer fires.

[diablopilot 2]

Stay aways from mounting the HC series of cameras, they really are too wide and long for that.

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You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

[ROK 0]

Quote

Hey,
I'm having a real hard time with searching the forum here.

I'm wondering if anyone can recommend some good suggestions for me. There are only 3 camera flyers at my DZ and 2 of them use Oxygen helmets and one uses a FF2 but isn't out that often..

Here are my requirements:
-open face helmet
-camera less than $400 (if possible)
-LANC would be nice but maybe if I'm not use to it, I won't need it?
-side mount (I imagine it is harder to exit a cessna with a top mount)
-no interest in stills (yet)

I am thinking about getting a RAWA, I have tried one on and I like how light they are. A HC52 looks pretty good price-wise and I have seen DSE recommend them..

Any help?

I just bought a brand new Sony HC96 on the web for $420.00 bucks (plus shipping). It's a little wide to side mount, so I paid $90 and top mounted it to my old open face Ion helmet. I also paid $40 for the chin cup conversion.

The camera is awesome.

PS- The lens set me back $160 too...

[jeremy_o 0]

Thanks for the advice all. I'm not afraid of buying something used off ebay but in my case I don't know what to get. Too many choices and I don't know enough about them..I'll keep researching.

http://planetskydive.net/ - An online aggregation of skydiver's blogs.

[monkycndo 0]

Quote

Stay aways from mounting the HC series of cameras, they really are too wide and long for that.

The HC20/30/40 and HC32/42 are just fine for side mounting. Only 2 or 2.5" wide. I bought a HC40 because it was about the narrowest and lightest camera out there.

50 donations so far. Give it a try.

You know you want to spank it
Jump an Infinity

[jeremy_o 0]

What would you think of my first camera setup being:

-RAWA helmet
-Sony PC330

I found a good deal on a PC330 on craigslist. 2 people at my DZ use this camera for video so they should be a good resource for me. Any other thoughts?

http://planetskydive.net/ - An online aggregation of skydiver's blogs.

[FreeflyChile 0]

Don't know about that camera, as i am not familiar with it, but I have a rawa and love it.