Check these out, you can get them in H.D. or 170 degree wide angle and they have a remote to turn the on and off.
The thing I like the best is that in 720 Res. they shoot at 60Hz not the standard 30Hz, no more warped propeller images in the video.

http://www.goprocamera.com/index.php?ar ... oductid=30
http://www.goprocamera.com/index.php?area=2&productid=2

I've been looking into a lot of these over the last couple months and the only thing I can find "wrong" with it is the lack of ability for a remote. I guess that's in the works though.

Hopefully I'll have mounted up before the summer.

Buy One.... I wanna see the videos...

I bought one of the Flip video cameras, and was disappointed, went back to my ol cheapo JVC. It's just difficult shooting through props, plexi-windshields and dealing with plane and wind vibration. Not to be negative, but it is a tough environment. What seems beautiful in person, just somehow never looks the same on video. You know.. Ya just had to be there??

Maybe this camera is the answer.. Hope so...

I think myself, that it's gonna take 60 frames/sec., 1080, manually adjustable shutter speed, wide angle lens, polarized filter and multiple imagers, and that combination is just too expensive for my blood, I'd rather buy gas with the money...

Here's a sample video. The prop "flickering" does pose a problem I believe. Maybe 30fps would help.



Considering you get several mounts and a full 1080 HD waterproof camera that's wide angle and lightweight for less than 300 is pretty fair IMO. I'm hoping by summer the price will come down a bit too.

I agree/sympathize with all of you. I am presently using a 7meg Fujifilm digital camers for both my still and video in the airplane. It takes both formats well but I still have some vibration problems at certain RPM. The camera shoots well through the prop, better than most I've seen, and does a fine still picture but during video it seems to want to hunt for the focus. Am presently looking for an HD camera for airplane videos..one that the prop won't interfere with and won't focus hunt and needs to be small enough to work on my mount. Anybody have any suggestions for an HD camera? I am still working on my mount to better isolate it from vibration. HC

Mongo wrote: they shoot at 60Hz not the standard 30Hz, no more warped propeller images in the video.

I have not found a video of a full size a/c, but the RC props still show up as a "warped prop". I doubt that our props would be any different, but hopefully someone can have a better answer. Of all my searching I haven't found on mounted on a reg airplane.

Here's a sample for example.


I'm glad you brought this up cause I really want to shoot some good video in the near future.

mountainmatt wrote:

Mongo wrote: they shoot at 60Hz not the standard 30Hz, no more warped propeller images in the video.

I have not found a video of a full size a/c, but the RC props still show up as a "warped prop". I doubt that our props would be any different, but hopefully someone can have a better answer. Of all my searching I haven't found on mounted on a reg airplane.

Here's a sample for example.

I'm glad you brought this up cause I really want to shoot some good video in the near future.

It has to be in 720 resolution to be shot at 60 frames a second, that video is 1080 resolution so it is only 30 frames per second.

I can tell you honestly that that the GoPro is ok.....however the V.I.O POV 1.5 is hands down the very best!!!

We use these a lot on the outside of helicopters, planes, skydive helmets, moto helmets you name it. They are spendy but you get what you pay for. You can even get a 22ft cord and put it on the tail of your aircraft if you wish. Has a great remote, etc. It is $500 however... like I said...you get what you pay for. The GoPro is ok and does work good but it will be broken in a year and you will be buying another one.

Another really good mini digi cam is the Cannon G11. The entire G series is good but the new G11 is great! Again you get what you pay for. Its around $500 as well. Just think about how many little digi camera's you have gone through. This one will last and has proven to be great. We put our camera's to the test in all conditions.

http://www.vio-pov.com/

How do these new HD cameras do with prop flicker or wavey edges?

I think that if I was going to buy one right now, it would be the Vholdr ContourHD 1080p. It shoots 1080p at 30 fps and 720p at 60 fps, which is decent. I'm sure we'll see 1080p at 60 fps soon. The Vio 1.5 looks bomber, but the video quality doesn't seem as good for some reason. Nitro Circus uses them, so I'm sure they're tough.

I had asked Mr. Swingle about his HD setup and the most important thing he pointed out was the editing processing time. You must have a mega dual processor/steam locomotive powered/light saber computer, to effectively deal with all the information stemming from increased screen size and clarity.
The software from Adobe that I purchased for my miniDV set up, was about $700.00, and another $4,200.00 for the computer. "Speed cost money, How fast do you want to go?"
Having said this, my advice is to perfect what you have, as HD may not be the answer. A so, so video of crap, is still crap on HD wide screen. You are never going to produce video like you see on regular TV, as that equipment and personnel cost hundreds of thousands to produce. (and it is uncompressed)
Now that every body is revved up, lets say you spend 15 to 25 thousand on a HD system, produce your award winning video, you are so proud of your erstwhile endeavor, you download it to Vimeo or uTube, they in turn compress it, then it turns to crap anyway. I think Old Coyote'ies got it right, keep it simple, edit it tight, make it interesting.

y4 wrote:I had asked Mr. Swingle about his HD setup and the most important thing he pointed out was the editing processing time. You must have a mega dual processor/steam locomotive powered/light saber computer, to effectively deal with all the information stemming from increased screen size and clarity.
The software from Adobe that I purchased for my miniDV set up, was about $700.00, and another $4,200.00 for the computer. "Speed cost money, How fast do you want to go?"
Having said this, my advice is to perfect what you have, as HD may not be the answer. A so, so video of crap, is still crap on HD wide screen. You are never going to produce video like you see on regular TV, as that equipment and personnel cost hundreds of thousands to produce. (and it is uncompressed)
Now that every body is revved up, lets say you spend 15 to 25 thousand on a HD system, produce your award winning video, you are so proud of your erstwhile endeavor, you download it to Vimeo or uTube, they in turn compress it, then it turns to crap anyway. I think Old Coyote'ies got it right, keep it simple, edit it tight, make it interesting.

Yep.....I think simple is good, too. I'll save all that extra money for go go juice!

Good point on the editing part, so many flying videos I see make me want to shout "Come on, DO something"! Cut to the chase!
I am going to try a trick to eliminate prop flicker: believe it or not the solution (the cheap solution anyway) may be a filter, in particular something called a ND filter, that will fool the camera into changing the way it normally operates, and do away with the flicker. Obviously not a camera geek, I am just reporting what someone who is told me, and for 28 bucks I decided to get the filter, duct tape it to my camera, and see what happens, it should here in a day or so, and then snowstorms allowing I'll try it out.
The whole prop flicker thing goes away of course with a remote controlled camera mounted outside the prop zone, I think the lift strut/jury strut area would be easy (lots of structure to duct tape to, or attach a fancier mount), and clean, being outside the "throw" area of the wheels (cow sh*t), and provide an OK POV.

You can reduce the prop signiture by playing around with the settings on your camera. Mine is a Canon HF 100 set at 24FPS and with the auto focus set on infinity. This movie is shot completly through the prop, with the camera setting on the radio stack doghouse. You can still see the prop, but not terribly. You will notice, however, the vibration the camera pics up with full throttle.

1SeventyZ wrote:I think that if I was going to buy one right now, it would be the Vholdr ContourHD 1080p. It shoots 1080p at 30 fps and 720p at 60 fps, which is decent. I'm sure we'll see 1080p at 60 fps soon. The Vio 1.5 looks bomber, but the video quality doesn't seem as good for some reason. Nitro Circus uses them, so I'm sure they're tough.

Remember, Vimeo and Youtube convert everything to 720p. So you can shoot it in 1080, but you won't see it on the internet. My camera will shoot 1080i, but I only shoot in 720p because I currently don't burn onto a blueray disc, and I like the p(progressive) vs the i(interlaced) better. More info here.

y4 wrote:The software from Adobe that I purchased for my miniDV set up, was about $700.00, and another $4,200.00 for the computer. "Speed cost money, How fast do you want to go?"

Geek alert!
Not sure when you bought your system, but in the PC world you can probobly pick up a Intel i7 quad core, hyper threading with 64 bit Vista or Windows 7 so your effectivly using 8 prossesors. 8GB of DDR 3 Ram for better throughput, 1TB of raid 0 hard drive for storage and Nvidia Quadro GPU for quite less $. But that is not counting a monitor or 2. I have no idea about the Apple world, except that they work great and create a great video's.
IMHO

Dokmow, you call THAT prop flicker? Ha, ha, THIS is prop flicker. http://www.youtube.com/user/portnueffly ... ia-HI9yR40
I'd be real happy with your setup, I'll have to check and see if mine has the settings you mentioned, I'm afraid it's so basic (cheap) its pretty much point and shoot, maybe not. You get what you pay for:$187.92 delivered for a Sony HD Snap camera. The airframe tube reflected in the windshield can be fixed with a hacksaw. I'm with Coyote Ugly, overall, I'm always a little disappointed when I screen video I just shot, technical issues aside, its never as cool as being there.

Yep, it's usually a compromise. Most of my video is shot from the tail or wing, or whatever so not right through the prop, but....I really want to start shooting POV (just not my head). If you want to do this in HD, and not have the prop strobe, you got to go to a proper camcorder - Swingle recommends the Canon VIXIA. The HF 200 records to SD card which is super convenient and scalable http://www.google.com/products/catalog?rlz=1C1CHNG_enUS355US357&sourceid=chrome&q=canon+vixia&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=7118077781613005412&ei=_dFDS_-yE5PkswPR9MjHBA&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CDEQ8wIwBA#ps-sellers

But, it's $550. Not bad, but aint cheap. And its not exactly big, but it's more bulk to put on a wing or tail.

I think that's my next camera purchace. I like the ContourHD, but you still have the strobe (bad for through the prop), and you can't control remotely

I shoot currently with a http://www.sportzshot.com/index.php set up recording to an Archos 405 digital media plaer. It is 4:3, no HD, and as with all the lipstick/bullet cams, they kinda suck in anything but perfect lighting. But, I have two cameras I can put almost anywhere, I can see what they are filming and start/stop record form the cockpit, and the battery life (which I can also change at the cockpit while flying) is really good. And they don't strobe the prop quite as bad as some of the cheaper HD cams.

Here are some examples:
Behind me in the cockpit. Also some from the tail in the later part. Hit the HQ button to watch in HQ. It would look better with Vimeo's compression I am sure:

Suction cupped to the cowl:

On the tail - I've since fixed the shaking:

Out on the wing:

Under the tail:

And of my Young Eagle Passenger, William :

I like best when the camera view makes me feel like I am at the controls. It puts you in the cockpit. I want the most realistic view through the prop. Just my preference.

Actually, I agree dirstrip. The more I watch Coyotes and Courierguys vids, the more I need that Canon VIXIA HD

Unfortunately, my wife does not understand why I need a 5th video camera. She doesn't even always understand why I need an airplane.

Here's the same video side by side shot two ways. Dead stick emergency landing on the way to Sun n Fun on a city street.
http://ifrpilot.blogspot.com/2009/04/of ... video.html

Good one Emmett! I liked seeing the inertia seat belt thingie in action. That's on my wish list, right after, or before maybe, a better video camera. So.... with that you can reach down to deploy flaps, and sit back up again and it all stays like it should? Kinda like my Toyota should belt when I reach over to check my mailbox? Simple, only problem I may have is the mounting bolt method may have to be modifed as I currently use that bolt for a custom bracket that engages my folding Montague bike frame. Good flying, and no snow!

emflys wrote:Actually, I agree dirstrip. The more I watch Coyotes and Courierguys vids, the more I need that Canon VIXIA HD

Unfortunately, my wife does not understand why I need a 5th video camera. She doesn't even always understand why I need an airplane.