Camera recomendations

[OutcastZeroOne]

Hey guys. I've been fiarly good about getting video of my flights, however my video hasnt been the greatest. My GF got me a Midland XTC for Christmas and it works, but the image quality is very low. On most of my videos I lose the plane even when its not very far away. The quality is also very grainy and, but the audio comes out ok.

example:

So I am in need of a few sugestions for a beter camera.Sadly a GoPro is a bit out of my reach money wise. Im not looking for "stunning hd quality", just something a bit better then what Ive got now. $100,range (i know its very limited there) $200 is pushing it for me.

 

[CrashRecovery]

Have you looked on Craigslist or eBay for used ones?

 

[OutcastZeroOne]

my experiance with second hand electronics is that they are getting rid of them for a reason, useually because they no longer work. Right now I am looking into simply seeing if I can just change the lense on the camera and make it less wide angle.

 

[Carbon]

I believe the cost of a GoPro hero 1 is about $150 right now. It takes great video and you can put it on your plane!

 

[OutcastZeroOne]

not on my planes, they are too light to carry a big heavy go pro. most of my planes have a FLYING weight of 8-9oz. The one in my video was 8.5oz

 

[FlyingMonkey]

808 keychain camera...

http://www.dhgate.com/p-ff808081384...ore88|US||c|&gclid=CP2F3rPNwrcCFZBj7AodwmcAMw

 

[xXolzXx]

you could try a used contour ?? try the contour roam 1 it shud be roughly $170 ish and shiits very high quality for the money !

 

[Forklift]

I second the 808 #16 v2 keychain cameras. Lots of options from live video out to different field of view lens angles. D is wide, b is medium, a is narrow. It is true 720 hd (30 fps) for around $40.

This site is overkill on tech info: www.chucklohr.com/808/C16/

The top trusted ebay seller according to rcgroups.com in china is http://myworld.ebay.com/eletoponline365
US seller is http://stores.ebay.com/novotm

 

[aiidanwings]

Other than the frame rate option, I see no advantage the GoPro has over an authentic #16 808.

 

[colorex]

Other than the frame rate option, I see no advantage the GoPro has over an authentic #16 808.

Bigger lens, more exposure and therefore better frame rate in low light.

 

[Tritium]

Other than the frame rate option, I see no advantage the GoPro has over an authentic #16 808.

Your just not looking at this from GoPro's perspective; $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ !

Thurmond

 

[aiidanwings]

For me, and for how I use the camera... the extra $$$$$ for the GoPro is a waste.

And I've never had an 808 fail.

 

[OutcastZeroOne]

I might get 2 808's. One with the narrow angle lense to film from the ground and one with the wider angle to film from the plane. thanks guys.

 

[earthsciteach]

For me, and for how I use the camera... the extra $$$$$ for the GoPro is a waste.

And I've never had an 808 fail.

Evidently, you haven't landed in the ocean.

 

[JasonEricAnderson]

I plan to get an 808 for onboard and I'm making an iPhone hat (or as my wife calls it the iDork-o-matic).

 

[zev]

boscam hd19 (aka explorerHD). it is AWESOME. and only about $98 bucks from hobby king (with buddy code)

 

[oatman]

Please excuse the mild hijak ...

looking for camera advice and just got an 808 camera from HK and it is a #9 I think. Quality is crap, but I can live with it. My bigger problem is that I can't seem to figure out how to get the frame positioned correctly on a consistent basis. I just slapped some velcro on the bill of my hat and the back of the camera and took some test vidz... But I'm finding that it is all over the place in the field. Fairly useless if I can't figure out how to sort it.

How do people do the 'hat cam' with these to get the subject in the frame consistently? It has a pretty narrow field of view... I'd guess equivalent to about an 80mm - 100mm equivalent in the 35mm camera world. Seems good in terms of magnification, but a real bear to line up in the frame.

Thanks!

I'm also intruiged with the "iPhone" hat cam ... though since I gave my wife the iPhone 5 mine would be a galaxy note 2 hat phone... please share details JEA ...

 

[Craftydan]

I've used a pair of clothespins glued together to make a platform, then clipped it to a ball cap with a strongly curved brim.

Put it on then pointed my hat so the corner of the brim and top of the brim pointed at various landmarks then went back and checked the video. quickly showed where the frame of the video was in relation to the brim, and the clip helped keep the position consistent.

One word of warning on pretty much any hatcam: We wear hats for a reason and surprisingly our heads aren't always as level as you'd expect. I've found facing into the sun the video tends to be tilted as I use the brim to block the sun. video is still watchable, and acceptably framed, but really weird.

 

[oatman]

Thanks, I'll try that. I was pretty much doing the same except with just industrial strength velcro which does not give a consistent position from outing to outing ... so pretty much was just leading to frustration. The clothespin platform idea sounds like an easy improvement. thanks.

I've used a pair of clothespins glued together to make a platform, then clipped it to a ball cap with a strongly curved brim.

Put it on then pointed my hat so the corner of the brim and top of the brim pointed at various landmarks then went back and checked the video. quickly showed where the frame of the video was in relation to the brim, and the clip helped keep the position consistent.

One word of warning on pretty much any hatcam: We wear hats for a reason and surprisingly our heads aren't always as level as you'd expect. I've found facing into the sun the video tends to be tilted as I use the brim to block the sun. video is still watchable, and acceptably framed, but really weird.