Reasons not to bring a camera on a Tandem skydive…

...as told by various tandem instructors. (Don't even THINK of trying to bring it on any other kind of student skydive when you are supposed to be SKYDIVING and not fiddling with a camera!) Some of our instructors have complied with their request in the past. We asked our staff for their input on this frequent request, and here’s what they said:

_____________________
There's too much to do, buy the video.

Honestly 75% of the ones that go to the effort to put on a suit so they can have a pocket to carry it -FORGET they even have it. Buy the video and get stills!

By the time we go through landing practices and all that, we're too close to the ground for them to take their hands out of the toggles. I’ve suggested we could shorten the freefall and pull high to do this, and they've all declined. (there would be an additional charge for this except on busy days when the instructor does not have any additional students waiting for him.
_____________________
From a Tandem instructor who brought along a camera for his students a few times:

It’s VERY distracting and easy to lose track of altitude while winding, etc. And you have to remember to pitch the drogue and do all the handle checks first. I also tell them I may drop or pitch the camera. (Definitely don't use one
with a wrist strap.) When the canopy's open, I take a few shots and stuff it down the student's shirt for landing (not between us). That might not be the best idea in a face-plant situation, come to think of it.

_____________________
Gets in the way...some jackass may drop it and cause a pile-up on Route 20. It's hard to have both hands in their harness if they're holding a camera....I vote "no".

________________________
"disposal" might come earlier than they expected

________________________
No, it would get in the way. And if you drop it, it would likely bonk your instructor in freefall, or hurt someone on the ground. Or it might get tangled up with a really important parachute part...