309 wrote:


I was referrring to the focusing mechanism, nowadays it's usually an
infrared beam that the camera uses to measure distance. If you fail to
disable this "feature," the camera will detect the INSIDE of your
canopy, and focus on that, rather than the other glider 75 feet away
(effectively infinity).

You'll be pleased to know that most cameras now look at scene features,
rather than use infrared, so they no longer focus on transparent
objects. Big improvement!

By setting the focus on "infinity," (or sometimes referred to as
"landscape mode"), you tell the camera to look through the
(plexi)glass. Practice this by taking pictures through a window or
screen door. You'll notice the difference (not that I have a screen
door on my 1-26 Sports Canopy...).

For example, my 4 year old Minolta Dimage X has no trouble with canopies
and windows (haven't tried screen doors - not good for the image
either). It can still mis-focus if something nearby is in the focus
field, so being able to manually set the focus can occasionally be useful.


A camera with programmable custom modes (like the Canon G6, which C1
and C2 modes that be programmed virtually any way you want), you can
set speed, aperture, focus, etc., in advance so you don't need to mess
with that while trying to remember how to fly.

This feature was on several of the cameras I looked, including the Canon
S80 that seems the best match for my criteria (so far). Sounds useful.

snip

Be careful when doing this...flying formation can get
dangerous...especially when one (or both) of you is looking through a
viewfinder

This is why I want a large LCD monitor, visible in sunlight, that I can
use instead of a viewfinder. Don't know how well it will work, but I
really hope it does.

...nevermind flying left handed.

No problem here - I'm left-handed and fly almost as well with it.

Talking to one another is
very wise.

That's what prompted my mostly unsuccessful posting about a wireless,
ear mounted microphone. I'll probably go back to my sunglasses mounted
Plantronics mike, wired though it is, until I come up with something better.

--
Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly

Eric Greenwell
Washington State
USA