Any inputs as to brand, type, price, etc. in connection with using in the aircraft, through the prop, outside the aircraft? Wish list OK, but would like to hear about video cameras in use and ease of use, download, upload, edit and other functions.

You probably need to make two decisions then figure out what bells and whistles you want.

Do you want a digital tape or a DVD recording medium? The DVD is very handy but the digital tape records more and offers some format advantages. Flash memory is now becoming available.

Do you want regular or HD quality. I find the standard quality on my Panasonic is more than adequate, but HD is very nice, but the file sizes are really big.

I would think that Optical Image Stabilization would be a biggie in an airplane.

Have a look here:

http://www.camcorderinfo.com more information than you will ever need.

http://www.digitalcamera-hq.com/camcorders/

I went w/ the Panasonic PV-GS300 for a number of reasons which may or may not be things you want in a camera.

TD

Just like airplanes. The most important overiding important question is: How much money you got?

The oregon scientific ATC2K is capable and "inexpensive",
640 x 480 , 1 1/2 hour in 2 files on a 2 GB (max size) card.

I find the controls hard to use and the display hard to see
which means that I screw up 1/2 the time.

There is a new model ATC3k for $170 that takes bigger
cards.

I'm having fun with the ATC2k and recommend it. The files
are huge, you will need lots of disk space, it takes time
to "muck" with the video files and I use the freely available
avi2vcd and virtualdubmod.

-Dick

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

High $ but one of the best you can buy... if you are looking for this type don't settle for the "Cheep" route

HD is simply awesome to look at. There's no way I would buy a standard definition camcorder today. And don't judge it by my crappy little one I use in my videos, that thing is disposable.

Just surf around vimeo.com and see the difference.

If you can find a good deal on a Canon HV10, I'd grab that. I think the model just got superseded, but they get good reviews.

The big question is the lens. Wide angle is nice for cockpit, and that VIO ^^ has a decent wide angle: 2.97mm vs the 6,1mm on the HV10. But, it's also built for extreme sports like mountain biking and skiing, meant to be bashed around in a backpack and crashed on. I think part of the price is the premium for the "overbuiltness." I'd rather spend the extra money on HD.

I've been experimenting with a GoPro video camera. I'll have to find some more info and post it. It's a really cool camera that comes with many differant mounting brackets that you can mount either inside the plane or out. Just doesn't have a remote start button. But works really well. I'll have to figure out how to upload a video clip soon. The following is a link to the web site for the GoPro camera.

http://www.goprocamera.com/

I think another good option is an externally mounted 'lipstick/bullet/helmet' camera that can be used with any old camcorder that accepts video inputs. You can buy them online (ebay) for about $100-200.

I haven't tried it yet, but I like the otpion because it:
1. makes use of the old camcorder with a high recording capacity.
2. put the camera outside the windscreen.
3. is really small and has many mounting options.
4. since the camcorder is in the cockpit (while the bullet camera is outside) you can easily control it without remotes, etc.
5. cheap

The only snag is that your old camcorder has to accept video INPUT and many of the entry-level models don't.

Does anyone have any experience with this kind of setup?

Here are some examples (including a tail mounted perspective):
RV6 Video
Mounting Examples, etc.

Any more info on this subj? I tried mounting my Handicam on the suction cup mount that I mount handhelds with and take some video, but apparently it won't accept the G's that a crop duster will pull. Kept getting disk errors, and it got so bad that the camcorder won't even access the disk, so DVD camcorders are out, and I have heard that while tape is a little more G tolerant, that tape doesn't like it either.
About ready to pull the trigger on the Vio POV, but would like some feedback from somebody that has used one. The Oregon Scientific ATCK's look interesting, but have heard that you basically get what you pay for with one. The ATCK2 can be had for $87 now.
While I don't want to spend $700, I don't want to buy two other cameras before I find one that will work.
From what I read the "bullet" cameras are analog, so you essentially have an analog to digital conversion going on with them so even though your camcorder may be high def, your signal source isn't.

I will be going with a lipstick camera mounted externally at some point. One downside is it's not legal. I'd like to mount it on the belly on an inspection plate so you can see the wheels go up and down. Another downside is exhaust and oil residue. I have in the past used a standard Sony Handycam in the cockpit. You set it on an unused sponge and use elastic cords anchored to convenient screws on the top of the glare shield.. That eliminates all vibration. Flip out the screen and the videos are great. You can either plumb in the audio from the intercom/comm radio or just let the external mic pic up the engine noise. My camera is not HD but will record in wide screen. It is the equal in video quality to those little handheld video cameras for $199 that record to an SD card. Got one of those for my kid. You would never pick those videos out of a lineup and say they're HD.

Video without relevant AUDIO does not do a lot for me personally.

I have found it hard to find a camera with an EXTERNAL audio jack so can tie it into the head set to get cockpit dialogue.

Sony has one, forget the model, but is about $1,000.
I already have a commercial cable that is supposed do the interface between the cockpit audio and the video camera.

Just need to quit stallin, and spend the bucks i guess.

A friend had a ATCK2 on one of our river trips. Thing about it was you couldn't tell exactly where it was pointed...just had to guess.

To me the engine noise is the relevant audio...I could care less about the jabber on the radio.

It's nice to have a camera with a good automatic mic gain. My crappy Aiptek is set at a static gain, and the engine/prop noise in the cockpit completely blows it out and it sounds very clipped and distorted. Running audio from the intercom into the camera only half solves the problem, as you'll only get engine noise when the mic is opened on the headsets.

That little camera that Royce shot the Powers trip with had a good enough auto gain that it would pick up the engine/prop noise, as well as our voices in the open cockpit.

I use a sony camcorder with the steady shot feature. It works for me. Bob

Zane,
Do you have any experience with that Cannon? I'm leaning towards a 1080i camera with the http://xtremerecall.com/ camera system, but don't know if that is connecting a 3/4 hose to a fire hydrant.
Then there is these guy's, but I'm suspicious of the DVR. http://www.helmetcamera.com/acart/agora ... e_Packages
Then of course this one http://www.vio-pov.com/
This guy seems non biased? http://www.helmetcamreview.com/ , but noncommitted?
I'm travelling to Amman Jordon, so it may be a day or so before I can check back.
Thanks guy's

I've been happy with most of the Canon products I've bought, but I haven't personally used the HV10, so I can't tell you for sure. I've only seen the footage they generate, which seems really nice.

I'm not sure that the XtremeRecall can interface with a 1080i camera or not. Did you read that somewhere? Actually it probably can. I think the HD cameras are capable of stepping their recording resolution down (you can select resolution on the camera) so it probably would work. Would be nice to have the HD quality and just run the standard def lipstick when you need it. The POV1 looks cool, but I think it's just too much to pay for a standard def camera system.

Use a SONY Digital 8, DCR-TRV280 that uses HI-8 tapes with Steady Shot.
Bought it a couple of years ago.
Takes nice videos and still pics.
The only trouble is the storage media...HI-8 tapess are on their way out and I have not been able to find a stand-alone player to play the tapes. If I want to view tapes, I must run the camera.
What ever you buy research what the storage media is...nothing seems to be the "in" storage source for very long before it's superceeded by something else.
HC

Funny thing is, I have a very high end Sony HI-8 VCR gathering dust in tbe closet. Back in the Army days, I took a lot of footage of Bosnia, Kuwait, Korea etc.

1SeventyZ wrote: If you can find a good deal on a Canon HV10, I'd grab that. I think the model just got superseded, but they get good reviews.

Any thoughts on the Canon VIXIA HF10?

It is $50 less than the Sony HDR CX12 which came out later and has "better" specifications.

I chose the Sony despite the higher media costs because of its picture taking specificiations.

The Sony can take 10 megapixel pictures while filming and if you are filming parties, supposedly can automatically take pictures of people smiling (something I don't care about).

I've had the Sony less than a week and have only taken it in the plane once so I don't know much. What I do know is:

1 Reading the tiny symbols on the camcorder, the manual of the camcorder, the tiny print of the Pinnacle movie editing software is a strain.

2 Filming distance at max zoom in the plane on landing yields a very ugly movie.

3 The pictures are pretty neat, but the 10 megapixel picture spec seems like EPA mileage estimates.

4 Movie editing requires software (I chose Pinnacle - you need at least Plus for HD, lots of disk space, lots of CPU horespower- my 4 year old 3 GHZ CPU 4 gigabyte ram 500 MB hard disk machine is marginal).

4 Being satisfied with where a camcorder is in the cockpit may be impossible compared to the simplicity of putting a bullet camera on a strut.