Basejumper.com - archive

I have Jason Bell's Dual Raptor Belly Mount (it's an awesome set-up) and was looking to see what size lens other folks are using?

I'm thinking .3

Anyone got any hot-tips on which manufacturer to go with for a .3 and the best places to shop?

I'm also going to cross-post this in the Video Forum, but thought I would hit up some of my fellow BASE mates out there to see what they're shooting video with on belly-mounts...

C-ya,

Bryan

try the UK board mate - I know someone there that uses a belly mount with some nice footage!

http://www.basejumper.org

...........of course you could always ask Jason!!

Be Safe Always.......

Michael

Although I have never used a belly mount, I do have a diamond 0.3 lense on my sony trv 18 and it works awesome. You get a little bit of fish-eye, but theres no way around that with a .3, and no shadowing in the corners.
You can contact Max Cohn at the ranch in NY and he will set you up.

Thanks Bryan.

I use a 0.42X for most of my jumps with the bellymount. You can always go wider, but anything larger than a 0.50X might not give you what you want. It really depends on what you're shooting...feet, face, canopy, etc.

Hope that helps.....cya.

Bryan,

I also use a .42 Macro for belly mount footage, it works great for face shots especially.
hhhmm
check this out
http://www.blincmagazine.com/...g&img=64&tt=
That's the .42 in action. Its cropped a bit from the original version, but perhaps it'll give you a reference. I bet the .3 would be nice too.
C-ya
Blair

ha ha nice text on the helmet

Funny, that's what Mick said

Hands down..... the slickest peice of glass I own, and have used for some really nice video is a .3 Century Optics.They are a little pricey(about 300). but light years ahead of any other lens. I own tons of other lenses, and would trade them all for a second C.O. lens.

Jay

p.s. call me about the 4th......

I use a bullet cam for my belly/leg/arm mount footage. The hi resolution CCD is (supposedly) the same as in the Sony PC9. The cost was about £170 all in so compares quite well to a belly mount plate as I put mine on a bumbag (fanny pack?) The actual camera is the size of a lipstick so mounts anywhere real easy. It has a 120 degree wide angle lens which is very wide and gives excellent results

A clip can be seen here http://www.blincmagazine.com/...&img=&tt=mpg

Stay safe

Neil

I use a 0.42 om my belly mount set-up. It captures a pretty wide field of view if you zoom it all the way out. As you can see from these pictures though, the vignetting (sp?) or round border around the outside is pretty apparant. You can zoom it in a little, but you lose some field of view. I almost got a 0.3 but was afraid the distortion would be too great.

The 0.42 also works well for rear facing helmet cam shots as you can see from the last picture.

Hope that helps
Chris
Team Donk anD Bone'Z

Thank you everyone for all of the replies!

I researched everyone's advice heavily and just settled with the .3 Diamond. I like the fact that it is super-low profile and light, making it less likely to snap off the camera during slider-down openings. It also gets good reviews on the quality for the price. ($175 + $10 shipping)

I looked at Century Optics, and as Jay said, their quality is absolutely top-notch, but decided to go with the slightly less expensive Diamond, and will shoot with that one while I dial in what this thing we call video. Then I'll look into higher quality optics and as I expand into more lenses.

Thanks again for all the advice and I'll be sure to post any sweet footage that I get in the days to come.

C-ya!

Bryan