Can I take a Leica skydiving?

[Ron F]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. My plan is to do the tandem/buddy thing and I had no intentions of taking pictures during the free fall - just the glide back down. I'll definitely be asking the jump place what their policy is about cameras and tandem jumpers and any suggestions they might have if they allow it.

So why would I want to jump out of a perfectly good airplane with a perfectly good camera attached to me? My whole reason for wanting to try the Leica-skydive thing is a) I want to try skydiving and b) I saw a picture on page 10 of my May/June 2005 American Photo magazine of Catherine Leroy, a photographer during the Vietnam war, getting ready to jump out of a perfectly good airplane with some perfectly good M2/M3's around her neck. I realize that the cameras were likely meant to be used once she hit the ground and not necessarily in midair, but it's still fascinating that the cameras survived (at least I suppose).

Granted, any picture I could take while gliding down would probably be pretty lame, but it would still be a fun thing to do (if possible) and would keep with my "try [almost] anything once" mentality 🙂 If nothing else, I could get some confirmation that my camera is robust enough to survive a skydive from x-thousand feet 🙂

 

[VinceC]

If the tandem jump instructor says it's okay, the best picture is going to be a super wide angle self portrait of yourself under canopy.

 

[Ron F]

Ahhhh, good thing I sold my 12mm Heliar earlier this year....

 

[planetjoe]

...or you'll be tumbling ass over teakettle.

Sorry to be OT, but I had to spend at least ten minutes laughing over this turn-of-phrase. Not because I'd never heard it before; in fact, until just now, I'd thought it was simply another element in my family's somewhat uniquely dysfunctional lexicon.

Thanks, mc_vancouver. (and have a great jump, Ron F)


Cheers,
--joe.

 

[VinceC]

Good luck on the jump! There aren't many experiences comparable with the serenity of the first time you're safely under canopy and slowly floating down toward the earth.

 

[giellaleafapmu]

Way OT.. what kind of name is that? 🙂

It is not a name, it is just a nickname I put when I registered. It is Sami (formerly known as Lappish, but now you cannot use this term because it is considered not politically correct) and it means: "The language is power". It used to be a slogan used in the '70, when Sami language was not official in any of the Sami countries (the northest part of Sweden, Norway and Finland and Kola peninsula in the former Soviet Union) and there were activists who fighted to have it become official. Most varieties of Sami are now an official language in the first three country of the list (no idea of what happened to Russian Confederation, I went ones to Lovozero and not a single person spoke Sami), however many others are slowly (sometimes not so slowly) disappering (e.g. Inari Sami or all the varieties spoken in the Kola peninsula). Satisfied?

Giella lea Fapmu!

PS
No, I am not a Sami, if there is anyone here who wants to rectify/correct what I wrote I shall be more than happy to hear from her/him...

 

[Kim Coxon]

Sorry but why jump out of a perfectly serviceable aircraft at all! 😱

Sheer madness. So far I have managed to bring every aircraft back in one piece. 😉

Kim

why would you jump out of a perfictly good airplane? with a Leica. Is that not what FSU cameras are for.

 

[VinceC]

"I believe parachute jumping had an effect on my dreams as well as on my sleep. At infrequent intervals through life, I had dreamt of falling off some high roof or precipice. I'd felt terror and a sickening fear as my body sank helplessly toward the ground. It wasn't like that in a real parachute jump, I discovered. Real falling didn't bring horror to your mind or sickness to your belly. Such sensations stayed behind with the plane, as though they were too cowardly to make the final plunge. Strangely enough, I've never fallen in my dreams since I actually fell through the air. That factual experience seems to have removed some completely illogical subconscious dread."
Charles Lindbergh, "The Spirit of St. Louis" (from Part II, New York to Paris, "the 9th hour")

 

[Kim Coxon]

I still ain't goin to do it unless I have too!

Kim

 

[jscolman@scolma]

...If you must.

...If you must.

If you must throw a Leica out of a perfectly functioning airplane, make sure it has its own "widdle biddy parachute!"

 

[mc_vancouver]

...a photographer during the Vietnam war, getting ready to jump out of a perfectly good airplane with some perfectly good M2/M3's around her neck...

Well, that adds another dimension to jumping, having people shoot AT YOU. And she was probably flying low, so it would be a fast and hard landing. The Leica's would do fine; I doubt she took pictures on the way down. I'm not sure I'd want them hanging around my neck...

 

[E_Aiken]

I'm skeptical as to whether they'll let you take a non-mounted camera out of the plane, particularly as an inexperienced jumper. The second it leaves your hand, it's a deadly airborne object to yourself, other jumpers, and anyone on the ground below, and I'd assume most agencies aren't going to take on that sort of liability.

If they do let you, though, I envy you. Choose those shots wisely.

 

[jaapv]

I still ain't goin to do it unless I have too!

Kim

You sound like the guy I would like to have in the drivers seat....