How do you record video?

[Gazoo]

My videos look pretty bad. I usually set my phone on something and then fly around a bit. It's pretty horrible.

What do you recommend to record a maiden? Is it a cam that you attach to your head?
I only fly the typical FT planes so I'd like to have a camera that I can mount on my head or something and also mount to a standard size plane. I'm not really interested in FPV.

If the camera is mounted to a hat or something, how do you keep the plane in the frame? Or rather, how do you know it's in the frame? Is there some type of alignment method? Maybe there is a post about this but I could not find it.

I'd also not like to spend a lot of money on it but don't want to buy junk either.

Thanks for your input in advance. There are a lot of really nice videos out there.

Gazoo

 

[rockyboy]

I recommend a young bystander - I try to find one that's interested in what's going on and ask them to use my phone to run the video.

I've thought about mounting a camera on a helmet and trying to line up a targeting sight for it, but haven't gotten around to it yet

 

[sprzout]

When I bought my Monster action cam (a GoPro knockoff, for something like $40 or $50 at Fry's), one of the things it came with was a visor clip. The visor clip simply slides onto the brim of my baseball cap, and it allows me to put the camera directly above the brim of the hat. I put it so the camera's basically sticking straight up from the edge of the visor, right at the peak, which puts it almost dead center on my forehead when I'm wearing the cap.

It's not 100% perfect, but it's as close as I can get for recording, because as I turn my head, the camera tracks to see pretty much where I'm seeing.

 

[basslord1124]

I've been playing around with the idea too. Some of the ones I have filmed myself aren't too bad but the best ones were when someone was holding the camera. I have a Polaroid action cam that is attached a headstrap that I wear on my head. The action cam has a wifi app for my phone so I can sort of adjust and preview the camera angle before I record. Sometimes it does good, but sometimes it does miss too. I'd actually like to move on up and run the action cam on the plane instead of on me, of course then I'd have to try a different camera to wear on my head.

 

[thenated0g]

I either use a goppro3 with a head mount or i have an old stonebluearilines baseball cap with velcro on the bill and just put a runcam HD on it. You should check out 7demo7's youtube channel, he has switched to a headmount for his cell phone and doing live videos. works pretty well.

 

[nhk750]

For the planes, I use a 808 keyfob cameras. They are cheap and film in 1080 so pretty good quality and they are also very light. I spent $30-40 on one.

 

[Fluburtur]

I usually have a friend filming for me, I have a pretty decent camera and microphone so my video quality is good but my cameraman is a bit shaky sometimes. I like to stick small cameras to my planes too, that's always fun

 

[Forster]

I usually have a friend filming for me, I have a pretty decent camera and microphone so my video quality is good but my cameraman is a bit shaky sometimes. I like to stick small cameras to my planes too, that's always fun

What small camera(s) do you use on your planes?

 

[PsyBorg]

The hat camera option is Ok. Just test a few videos to get the camera aligned so where ever your head looks the camera is as centered or slightly higher then what you are looking at. then its a matter of putting the hat on the same way every time.

What ever you decide to use get in the habit of standing still and not looking around all over the place as you fly. People walking around holding a phone and bobbing all over the place make some of THE worst videos on your tube other then my own. Second worst is someone with a high resolution action camera on a hat that whip their heads all over the place from the radio to the plane to all over the field.

Best for planes is a dedicated and reasonably skilled camera man who knows how to focus a camera. Second is a stationary camera on a tripod showing about 15 -20% of the lower video for the ground the rest in the air covering as much of the flying area as possible.

What ever you do don't let someone have a zoom function with a camera set to auto focus. If you MUST use a cell phone for ANY video turn it on its side. Vertical videos are totally useless unless you are being stupid and pestering a cop into throwing you a beat down for your 10 seconds of you tube fame.

 

[Namactual]

What small camera(s) do you use on your planes?

I use and old Vivitar Action camera I picked up locally dirt cheap on sale. It's only good for 720p, but it weighs next to nothing. Unfortunately, it has been discontinued and is no longer available.

Here is a good option though...
Mobius @ Amazon
This only weighs about 39grams.

The lighter the better. Especially when they are usually mounted so far off of the CG.

The new micro cams made for the quads are also a good buy. Those are usually tiny as well.

 

[JasonEricAnderson]

I got a GoPro knockoff that has worked really well. The current version even has the Wifi features someone else mentioned.

Lightdow Action cam with Wifi

The kit comes with plenty of mounting options. I've used a hat both with a phone holder (not great) and with the action cam (Much better).

The thing to remember when filming from your hat is to use your eyes to look around more than you normally do. Your head is your cameraman and if you need to keep glancing at controls or around the field it will make for bad video.

If you practice keeping your face pointed at what you want to film you can 'cheat' a glance with your eyes without taking the camera away from your subject.

Oh, and fly an aircraft the whole time you're remembering to do this.

Short of getting a friend who can be a good camera operator that's the only way I've found to do it.

 

[Namactual]

I forgot the OP...
I use a Canon Powershot Elph along with one of these...
USA Gear Universal Head Strap @ Amazon

Plan on recording a few practice flights to get the angle right. Also, like Psyborg stated, make sure you set the focus to infinity when filming if you have the option.

 

[kilroy07]

I've had good luck strapping my gopro to my head if I'm alone (although, I do have a few videos where you can hear the plane but all you see is blue sky... so alignment is tricky.)
Most of my better footage my wife is holding the camera (iPhone)

I've recently had really good luck with mounting a SQ12 (NOT 11) to my planes.
I'm tinkering for a suitable mount to 3D print now (being a cube they are rather awkward to mount)
They come with a clip you could attach to a visor on a hat (might have to try that myself in fact.)

You can check out some of my recent videos to see the quality;
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAwI01d4fSzZXjfdEdWGR_Q?view_as=subscriber
Some of the earlier ones might be the Eflite 721 (which I don't recommend.)

 

[Forster]

I've had good luck strapping my gopro to my head if I'm alone (although, I do have a few videos where you can hear the plane but all you see is blue sky... so alignment is tricky.)
Most of my better footage my wife is holding the camera (iPhone)

I've recently had really good luck with mounting a SQ12 (NOT 11) to my planes.
I'm tinkering for a suitable mount to 3D print now (being a cube they are rather awkward to mount)
They come with a clip you could attach to a visor on a hat (might have to try that myself in fact.)

You can check out some of my recent videos to see the quality;
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAwI01d4fSzZXjfdEdWGR_Q?view_as=subscriber
Some of the earlier ones might be the Eflite 721 (which I don't recommend.)

I see a lot of "SQ12" cameras on Amazon made by different companies (apparently). What brand did you buy?

 

[kilroy07]

What brand did you buy?

Quelima

 

[rockyboy]

My best videos have all been shot by a random kid or visitor that I invite in to help out - much better than having them awkwardly stare at the back of my head while I make a fool out of myself with crappy flying

 

[PsyBorg]

Quelima

View attachment 108430

I also got one of these to try out I have recorded 4 videos with it now and two of them have desynced audio half way thru the recording even with class 10 SD card. I have not tried the U3 card I have in my split as that is a royal pain to get at yet to see if its the card or the camera. Have you had issues with audio sync with yours?

I don't care for flight footage but if I want to do something else like maybe a quick vlog or talk with people who come up and ask about the quads I want to know I can rely on it for getting both audio and video properly.

 

[kilroy07]

Have you had issues with audio sync with yours?

Yes, I have. Hummm... Guess I should have mentioned that, but for what I use them for (onboard flight recording) they work fine...

I might be the card (as you suggested) however as I used one with a verified SanDisk Ultra yesterday and didn't notice any lag... the other one has a Transcend I might have to do a test side by side and see if the card does make a difference.

I also found a utility (trying to get the E-flite 721s to work) that "supposedly" formats SD cards for these cheaper cameras.

I'll come back to this in a bit, as I mentioned, they work fine for me I typically mute the motor noise in my videos anyway. But if you are using it for some other purpose, it would be a real pain!

 

[nhk750]

What small camera(s) do you use on your planes?

808 keyfobs

 

[foamtest]

The best way to get good footage is to get someone to hold the camera for you, my girlfriend in my case. The second best is to put some sort of action cam on your head and try to set the fov to the narrowest possible to get the plane as large as you can. You can also mount a camera to the plane as well. What I like to do when I’m filming by myself is to have my GoPro on my head, or chest mounted. And have another camera on the plane.