Sony HDR-SR87

[Psychonaut 0]

Search came up with nothing..

It has 'SteadyShot Image Stabilization' but I'm not sure whether that's optical or not..

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/597133-REG/Sony_DCRSR87_DCR_SR87_80GB_Handycam_Camcorder.html

Anyone jump one or familiar with it?

Stay high pull low

[monkycndo 0]

Hard disk drives don't like high altitude. Unless you can park the head, expect the camera to have a short life.

From the FAQ sticky:

Q:Can I use a hard drive-type or DVD-based camcorders?
A: No, unless you're only doing hop n' pops from low altitudes. Hard drives require air pressure in order to function properly. DVD drives cannot manage the stress and bounce of freefall.
Stick with memory card or tape-based camcorders.

50 donations so far. Give it a try.

You know you want to spank it
Jump an Infinity

[Psychonaut 0]

It can take a pro duo, but not sure about being able to park the heads.

Stay high pull low

[DSE 5]

It'll park the heads. Are you sure that's enough to stand up to the rigors of skydiving, however?

[Psychonaut 0]

Quote

It'll park the heads. Are you sure that's enough to stand up to the rigors of skydiving, however?

You're the expert not me!?

Stay high pull low

[DSE 5]

I don't know the answer. I know that parked things move. I know skydiving is pretty hard on cameras that are built tough.
I don't know how many licks it takes to get to the middle of a Tootsie Pop any more than I know how many jumps it might take to damage an internal hard drive, and I'd just as soon not chase that answer down.
Seems easier to go with a camera that is a known performer.

[Psychonaut 0]

I'll agree

Was just curious cause we had one laying around the shop and I had never read anything on that particular model.

Thanks DSE

Stay high pull low

[mnskydiver688 0]

Your my boy BLUE!!!

Sky Canyon Wingsuiters

[Tink1717 2]

Spend the extra money and get a CX100. It's proven to handle jumping and gives a good image quality. Only downside IMNSHO is that it lacks a fire wire connection. USB is fine for SD, but for HD, it is painfully slow to transfer to the computer.

Skydivers don't knock on Death's door. They ring the bell and runaway... It really pisses him off.
-The World Famous Tink. (I never heard of you either!!)
AA #2069 ASA#33 POPS#8808 Swooo 1717

[mnskydiver688 0]

One thing on the transfer speed. The internal memory is very fast when transferring. However if you have a cheap MS Pro stick then the speeds drop dramatically so keep that in mind. But USB 3.0 will be out soon anyway so all is lost...

Sky Canyon Wingsuiters

[Harmless 0]

Get a second memory card and swap them out when you need to dump a jump... so much faster that way.

"Damn you Gravity, you win again"

[DSE 5]

Quote

Spend the extra money and get a CX100. It's proven to handle jumping and gives a good image quality. Only downside IMNSHO is that it lacks a fire wire connection. USB is fine for SD, but for HD, it is painfully slow to transfer to the computer.

That statement confuses me.
Firewire Xfer can only be streaming video, therefore it's linear 1:1. USB card, even a crappy, slow card, will still be at least 8:1.
You'd rather have slower firewire Xfer but you're not happy with USB speed?

FWIW, speed of USB is dependent on a coupla things. If you've got an older USB1 card reader, if your computer is set up for USB 1, if you're using a cheapo/slow card...these things can all have an impact on Xfer times.

[pilotdave 0]

Quote

Firewire Xfer can only be streaming video

On a tape camera, sure. But there's no particular reason (that I know of) why a memory card camera couldn't use firewire to transfer files at high speed. I think firewire is just falling out of favor and is being replaced by USB2, USB3, eSATA, etc. I don't remember the theoretical speed difference between firewire 800 and USB2, but I don't think any of the memory cards support transfer rates that are close to those limits anyway.

Dave

[DSE 5]

it's not a theory, and in theory it could be done.
But, it's a limited license issue. Sony licensed their own iLink technology to their BPSD division, and that took forever to navigate the waters.

Yes, if they wanted to spend the money on a more expensive license for 1394 as an Xfer protocol, they could, but why? Finicky connector, costly license which results in a costly piece of metal, etc....

[pilotdave 0]

Don't know anything about that aspect, but I have a firewire external hard drive sitting right here. I don't know why there's a difference.

Dave

[mnskydiver688 0]

Most cards support transfer rates way above both USB and Firewire even e-sata in most cases. Keep in mind the difference between Mbps and MBps. Very different. The problem with USB is one second you are getting ~480Mbps and the next you are getting 5Mbps. The problem with Firewire is it is too good for it's own good. It has a constant transfer rate of 400Mbps or 800, but there is a lot more work on the back end to get that.

Invest in a good card or use the internal memory. Or do the have multiple cards and just swap them out. If you need to have your footage turned over quickly invest in 4 2gb cards instead of one 8 gb card.

Sky Canyon Wingsuiters