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Can anyone give me a definitive answer on what is the best HD camera to go for right now? I know the Sony HD3 was well though of but they are now unavailable. Anyone who can help me clear the misty myriad of options out there i would be very much obliged to!

Cheers,

Sam

I have a cx-12 and it seems to top mount pretty nice, though I havent actually jumped my setup yet.

i have jumped with CX6 a bit and it works well...memorycard system is pretty handy :)

FTF !!

I jump a top mount CX7.

Good camera, for wingsuit and slider off, as it is light, and shoots only to memory stick, and has a decent night shot.

Bad points, no viewfinder only LCD screen, lens shakes if you are sit flying.... However, If you are sitflying in BASE, you are either very high, very good, or very scared...

Previous was a pc1000 sidemount. Great camera, little heavier, hurt my neck a little more.

Like my set up, but would take a cx12 if something happened to my current set up....

_justin

I'm waiting for the HXR-MC1 to come out next year.
Full HD bullet-cam...check it. It will probably be pricey, though.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=search&A=search&Q=&shs=hxr-mc-1+hd&ci=0

and it's 2.900 US$. i guess we'll have to call that "juicy".

does anyone have suggestions about fingercams, thumbcams or anything i can use on my regular cam and have the regular cam in a pocket and the fingercam on the helmet / on the bike / ...

or suggestions where i could research myself?

regards,
flummi

Drop Faber a line... he messed around alot with bullet cams and lenses etc

the new hd cam with the most promise is the cx100/105. it uses cards not tape, smallish for the hd line and doesnt have the shake issues of the cx-7/12 and is reasonably priced. there is a lot of discussion on it on the dz site under photography if u want more information not avail on the sony site.

Yep, I bought a HDR-CX100 last month and it's unbelievably small. Haven't jumped it yet, though. Very simple to operate, but you'll have to read the manual to fully understand the capabilities/options. You can save video to 8Gb of internal memory or a memory stick (16Gb for around $90USD). Then dump the video down to your laptop via USB for editing and/or storage. This camera is HD and works great for daylight stuff, however, forget shooting in very low light settings or at night. Based on what I've seen so far (on the ground), I might recommend it for BASE and it's only $599 USD. For the full scoop, definitely read the dz.com thread as mentioned above.

2nd that statement. Own one CX100 and one CX7. CX100 is decent till sunset, and even then it's ok...

For night stuff, the CX7/CX12 has night shot.

Also, get a good lens. I have a cookie and a Raynox. Cookie is good for low profile, but image quality is degraded. Raynox is a big lens, but image quality is much better... Very noticable when shooting HD.

Both have a kick-ass slo-mo mode.

_justin

Hi Everyone! Just curious about a low cost Toshiba full HD camera I’ve seen recently. Camileo S10 at a 130 euros price is maybe the smallest HD camera out there (87g). But yet to find a compatible wide-angle adapter on the net since it has a very small lens (though not an expert on wide-angle adapters). Alternatively the camileo P30 seems to have a more suitable lens diameter but at a higher price (200euros).
S10
P30
…Anyway hope that helps ;-)

PS: Just found a suspiciously similar HD camera made from AIPTEK, saying it has "Gyroscopic Stabilization"(haven't really found what's that yet) link

I just got a cx7 and need to get a wide angle lens for it. I have zero experience with lenses so i have no idea what is good or bad. What model cookie and raynox do you have?
what about these cheapo lenses on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/...?hash=item439b4a8af7

http://cgi.ebay.com/...?hash=item3ef99cc205

thanks!

http://www.royallens.com/

Max Cohn sold me all 3 of my wide
angle lenses: 0.2x for hand-cam, 0.3x
for freeflying or coach jumps, and 0.5x
for when I shoot outside/ground video.

You need an HD lens for an HD camera if you want to get the best footage you can

Thanks, I did not know that.

I want to step up to HD soon but
it is hard when I already have two
video cameras and three lenses.
Plus 2 standard GoPro, oh well.

I have a TG1 setup, whats the best HD lense?

That is another question i have. What is the difference between an "HD lens" and a non-HD lens? I mean, we are talking about chunks of glass here right? Is there HD glass? I must be missing something.
Reminds me of those infomercials for the yellow tinted "HD vision sunglasses"

an HD lens will be milled to a higher standard than a SD lens, so yes, better glass

you will be able to see more sharp detail than an SD lens

'best' depends on what you need

High quality, not so wide angle, low profile: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/..._55x_Wide_Angle.html

High quality, very wide, low profile:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/..._Ultra_Fish_eye.html

High quality, pretty wide, high profile, lower cost:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/...mp;InitialSearch=yes

High quality, not so wide, high profile, lower cost:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/...37mm_0_5x_Super.html

Medium quality, very wide, low profile, low cost:
http://cgi.ebay.com/...3f022#ht_4829wt_1038

I don't own the Century lens so I can't comment on its quality, but I have owned several Raynox HD-3032 and HD-5050 lenses. Neither suffer from vignetting. The image quality is very good, but you have to obsessively clean the lens if you want to keep it that way. Also, because it's a multiple-element lens, you shouldn't have any problems with your videocamera focusing properly.

Unfortunately, both lenses are high-profile and heavy. Because of this, I've lost several due to hard openings and riser slaps. In the BASE environment, on average I lose a Raynox lens every 50-75 jumps. This is not only costly, but also poses a risk that the camera's threads will be stripped when the lens comes off.

The Century lens is much more expensive, but if quality is equivalent to the Raynox lenses and I could find one for $250 or less, I'd go with the Century lens. You'll pay more up front, but you won't have to replace it every 75 jumps, and it won't damage your camera.

Since it's a low-profile design, I suspect the Century lens doesn't provide as high a resolution as the Raynox lenses.

thank you very much for the good info. it's interesting that the lens surface quality can actually be detected in the picture or video.
I'm thinking i will go with a low profile design since weight and size are more important to me than image quality. Plus i will be mostly shooting at night (i use the gopro during the day) so i don't expect the quality to be very good to begin with.
thanks again!

i assume all of these lenses block the IR light? Can i get by at night (with a little moon light) without carrying around additional IR lights?

They need to come out with a wireless version.Who wants a wire coming out of there helmet,not me.

HD camcorder sensors are tuned for well-lit environments...you're not going to get HD quality video in low light under any conditions, so you would be fine with an SD lens for nighttime shots.

Most low-profile lenses shouldn't block the IR light. I have two low-profile liquid lenses from Cookie Composites and neither of them interfere with the IR emitter. However, both are standard definition lenses...if I use them for daytime shooting with an HD camcorder, there's a very noticeable decrease in video quality.

So i have used my cx7 on about 7 jumps now and overall i like it. It works decently well at night assuming there is some ambient light around.
The one problem that i have had twice now is the focus randomly switching from manual back to auto somewhere between leaving for a jump and filming.
This is the procedure i follow:
-At home I verify or set the focus back to manual (around 1m) then mount it to my helmet and turn the camcorder off.
-Travel to jump and begin recording at the exit point (this is the first i've powered up the camcorder since being at home). All i do is turn it on and hit record.
-Get back home to review the video and find that the video is blurry half the time because the focus is set back to auto.
-I say words like shit and fuck loudly.

So far i haven't had time at most of the exit points to verify the focus mode before jumping because it is painfully cold and i can't feel my hands so i'm not sure exactly when this change happens. The rest of the jumps it has remained on manual and performed fine.
Has anyone else experienced this?

the switch from manual to auto focus after power-off is a standard feature of the Sony Handycams