Articles

Equipment

Helmets:
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There are a number of options available and this is determined by the type of camera work you want to do and your finances. There are two main types of camera helmet on the market specifically designed for skydiving, Side mounts and top mounts.

Side mounts such as those manufactured by 2K composites or Bonehead helmets are designed specifically for the light weight palm held recorders and have the advantage of placing the camera in line with your eye. They are predominantly used by Freeflyer's but are also used by AFF and WARP instructors as a training tool. The disadvantage with the side mount is camera shake caused by the movement of the helmet on the wearers head but this can be reduced or eliminated by the use of a rigid chin cup. Due to its position on the helmet side mounts are prone to riser strikes therefore, it is important to maintain visual reference with the horizon during deployment to minimise the risk of riser strikes.

Competition and professional camera people predominately use full face top mount camera helmets such as the Bonehead flat top pro or the Wez helmets. The advantage of a top mounts is that they can take a combination of cameras and equipment so you are not restricted to a specific design or model of camera. A good quality full face helmet is custom designed for the individual and therefore, the possibility of camera shake caused by an ill fitting helmet is reduced.

Specifically designed top mounting helmets have clean lines so the risk of riser strikes is minimal because cameras are mounted on a top plate or to the front. The mounting of the cameras and ancillary equipment such as flash guns in the majority of cases puts the load in line with your spine.

Sights:
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Sights on camera helmets have only one purpose, remotely framing the subject. The sight is only effective at the pre set distance you have used to target the sight of your camera. If you adjust the sight so that the subject is centre frame at a distance of eight feet then this is the distance you should be from the formation in freefall. Increase this distance and the centre of your frame will be higher in the viewer finder or on the screen when played back on a TV and vice versa if you decrease this distance. As you become experienced at framing your subject in freefall you will not be as reliant on your sight and will be able to compensate for any changes in focal length during freefall.

Choose your sight carefully, I use sight designed and manufactured in the United Kingdom by Tony Silman which has a very clean profile when mounted to my helmet therefore, limiting the snag potential. I still continue to see a variety of camera sights that look as if they are designed for the sole purpose of snagging lines or rises rather than remotely sighting the camera.

A top tip to assist with framing the skydive is visualisation. Walk through the skydive with the team so that you know the sequence of blocks and random's. When using the mock up visualise where the centre of the launch should be in the door and where it will be on exit. By doing this you will be able to frame the team properly during the exit.

By knowing the skydive you can anticipate the fall rate of the formations and adjust your position accordingly, open formations like a star have the tendency to fall faster when compared with a closed formation such as a meeker.

Canopy selection:
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The additional weight and location of the equipment on your helmet should be taken into consideration when jumping a camera together with choosing the type of canopy you jump and how you pack that canopy.

The type of jumping you do will determine the type of canopy you jump. If you intend to specialise in CF (Canopy Formations) DO NOT jump an elliptical, they are not suited to sub terminal openings and flying slow in turbulence behind a canopy formation.

I predominantly jump team camera for 4 / 8 way FS so I want a canopy that has a smooth, slow and consistent deployment therefore, I have chosen a Performance Designs Stiletto. I also have a second rig equipped with an Aerodyne Triathlon. Although the Triathlon files like a truck compared to the Stiletto I can pack it to give me a slow smooth opening for FS but I can quickly modify it with a mesh slider, deployment retraction etc to give me a quick on heading yet smooth sub terminal deployment and the canopy provides a stable platform when flying in the turbulence behind a canopy formation.

Jumpsuit selection:
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The discipline you film will dictate your choice of jumpsuit. For example, filming AFF isn't going to require a winged camera suit, with Level one and two students you are in fact flying in a 4 way formation. As the AFF students progress to Level eight their ability to maintain a constant fall rate and positional attitude will be determined by their skill level rather than the accompanying instructor(s) and I personally have never found it necessary to wear a camera suit filming AFF.

Your skill level will also be a factor and a skilled Freeflyer can film FS without the use of a wing suit however, they will not be able to achieve the steep angle above the formation that is possible using a specifically designed winged camera suit.

Winged suits give you the extra surface area you require when flying steep and close to a formation. Without that extra surface area created by the wings that enable you to fly in the turbulence behind the formation you would not be able to stay above the formation.

If you wear a winged suit be aware of the routing of your harness and wings, people have died because they have routed their wings incorrectly. Ensure that your wing does not cover your deployment pad or toggle and be aware of the altered airflow over your body when using a winged camera suit. When it's time to deploy don't be lethargic, make sure the pilot chute is at full arms length!

Digital video cameras:
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This is an enormous topic and camera technology is evolving rapidly, anything I write now about camera technology will be out of date within six months. Sony cameras are used predominantly throughout the sport because of the LANC facility which accepts a device known as a Cam Eye that is used to remotely operate the camera.

The established format is mini DV with cameras using two technologies to convert the captured light to tape.

CCD (Charge Coupled Device) and CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) image sensors are two differing technologies for capturing images digitally. Both types of imagers convert light and process it into an electronic signal. Each technology has its unique strengths and weaknesses giving advantages in different applications with neither being superior to the other.

CCDs are the mature technology and historically were used in cameras that focused on high-quality images with lots of pixels and excellent light sensitivity. CMOS sensors traditionally had lower quality, lower resolution and lower light sensitivity. However, CMOS technology has now advanced to reach a parity with CCD devices and are now used in mobile phones, digital SLR cameras notebook computers etc. because they are cheaper to produce and consume less power than a CCD sensor.

Stills format:
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There are two formats of still imagery used by skydivers, digital and wet film. Digital imagery has now superseded the standard 35mm film camera however, there are a number of people who still use wet film for tandem photography so that rather than downloading images to a CD they can simply hand over a roll of film to the client.

The most frequently asked question I get is "What setting do you use on your camera?" There is no simple answer to this question because in photography there are so many variables that no one can recommend a setting that suits all the conditions you'll encounter.

You have to consider what you want the image to portray and then consider the lighting conditions, background lighting, subject, the list is endless. The more that you understand your equipment then the easier it will be to master the techniques to achieve the desired image, the perfect shot does not happen by accident.

I NEVER use my camera on auto or program mode, I use manual which gives me the opportunity to set exposure and aperture. I also use aperture priority or shutter priority combined with exposure compensation in good light stopping the camera down one or two stops to prevent over exposure.

I normally film 4 / 8 way training or competition teams therefore, the images I normally have the opportunity to capture are recorded images of the event rather than a composed image. To obtain that WOW factor with in an image you have to pre plan what you are doing, I probably have about five or six skydiving images out of the hundreds that I have taken which I think ‘That's OK' and these photographs have been taken when I have planned the shot.

Make use of the technology that digital offers, understand the information that is displayed by the histogram, the effect that shutter speed has on movement and how aperture affects the depth of field, the list is endless. Don't be afraid to experiment and get used to handling your cameras on the ground.

Camera lenses:
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Most digital cameras will come with a lens option, i.e. 18-55mm and this offers a degree of versatility which is suitable for general photography and with the focal length set at 18mm the lens can be used for general skydiving imagery. The build quality and elements within bundle supplied lenses is mediocre so if you if you can afford the investment, buy a decent wide angle lens.

The focal length of lenses is universally designated in 35mm terms however, digital SLRs that are used in the skydiving environment have a sensor that is smaller than a 35mm frame. How the sensor size impacts on the focal length of a digital camera is covered in Focal length multiplication at the end of this article.

If possible try to match the focal length of your cameras, video with stills so that what you see on video is duplicated by your stills.

Use a filter. This not only protect your lens from damage that could occur in the confines of the aircraft but also the rigours of freefall. The type of filter used can change the appearance of an image i.e. a yellow filter (81A, 85A) is classed as a warm filter and as the definition suggests gives the image a warming effect. The two filters predominately used for skydiving photography are UV filters and Skylight filters.

UV filters allow visible light to pass but filter out ultraviolet light at a specific range and reduce the blue tinge in the image caused by solar UV energy which the human eye does not detect but will be visible in an image.

Skylight or warming filters (81A, etc) have a slight yellow tinge that warms the image but they may not necessarily reduce the UV light.

Focal length multiplication:
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Those new to digital photography need to consider the terminology referred to as focal length multiplier but a true definition would be digital crop factor. This refers to focal length differential between cameras when using the same lens, the smaller the sensor the more magnified the image will appear.

Digital SLR sensors come in three sizes, Full frame, APS-H and APS-C. Digital SLR's used for skydiving tend to use the smaller APS-C sensors which give the image an effective increase in the focal length of x 1.6. The larger and more expensive models of digital SLR use the larger APS-H sensors which gives a focal length of x 1.3 and Full frame sensors are used in cameras like the Canon EOS 5D which are used by professional photographers and the sensor is identical in size to a 35mm film frame (36mm x 24mm).

It is essential that you understand the relationship between sensor size and lens coverage as it will have an impact on your photography, a smaller sensor size is beneficial if you want to magnify a distant subject however, you want your subject to be in frame and not cropped from the image.

Focal length multiplication
(Digital crop)

























My Canon 350D uses a APS-C sensor with the magnification of 1.6 therefore, with any lens that I attach the my the camera I must multiply the focal length of the lens by 1.6 to give me the true focal length of that lens when compared to the 35mm format. Using this formula (15mm x 1.6 = 24mm) the true focal length of my 15mm lens will be 24mm.

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To be continued

Created March 2005 updated November 2006