Camera stuff

rhkennerly

rhkennerly

Pre-takeoff checklist
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rhkennerly
This could be a forum all it’s own. Particularly as a repository for collected wisdom on this topic.

Still, I would be interested in hearing about (& seeing) folk’s camera set up, settings, filters & lenses, airframe & cockpit mounts, accessories. How many cameras & where.

I find it disappointing, coming from the photography world, there is no off-the-shelf way of triggering several actioncam-type cameras on & off at the same time, even within one brand. That’s pretty easy to do in the big camera world.
 
I have used (3) GP Hero 5 with their smart remote. Although a pain to configure, all 3 start so close together that no track alignment is needed in post. So at least one platform supports uo to several and gets it dead on right...once you get them all configured right. Did I mention the setup has to be just right.
 
I've got a couple of Hero2's that I bought to shoot stereo. I used them once when flying the (water) jet packs down in Key West. I've bolted one to the Navion step for some flights (plus the five mile IAD taxi).

My regular camera is a Canon Rp with an assortment of RF and older EF lenses with adapters.
 
What’s really disappointing is that I bought a Garmin Virb, their last model whatever it is called, because I can control it from my G3X touch and it will record audio from my GMA 245R….and then Garmin exited the action camera market.
 
It's really disappointing I can't mix shooting control of my Insta360, my GoPro, and my Osmo Pocket to keep the On/Off Record functions aligned.

I worry that I'll get so tied up trying to start and stop the three different cameras that I'll stop flying the airplane. What's frustrating is that in the big camera world, this is non-problem.
 
iamtheari said:
What’s really disappointing is that I bought a Garmin Virb, their last model whatever it is called, because I can control it from my G3X touch and it will record audio from my GMA 245R….and then Garmin exited the action camera market.
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Yeah, tell me about it. A few years ago Sony had an action system, those white cameras, that would all key to one shutter/record button. I don't see those around either.
 
GoPro batteries have no legs. If you plug in an external battery the camera stops responding to the software and, as often as not, the physical buttons on the camera stop working. Lots of accessories so you can add filters and stuff. Lots of editing software available from free to insanely expensive and complicated.
Insta360 One X does great videos. But you can't add external sound, no filters or other filming gadgets. Their editing software may be the worst in the world. Other editing software for the One X is crazy expensive if you are just a dilettante, like I am.
DO NOT, EVER glue, suction cup or velcro an external camera to the plane. If you do say your good byes because you are going to lose it. I speak from experience.
I use ram mounts of various types and sizes. Nuts, bolts and safety wire are your friend. If you run an external power cable, tie it down in many regular intervals.
 
gopros suck, flat out. I'm so sick of them. you have ONE JOB to do, RECORD SHT. man I'm so aggravated right now. recorded for about 7 seconds, then apparently stopped. tried to record a nice nite flight, got nothin. so sick of this garbage.
 
The Akaso action cameras have a remote and they're all the same, so one remote will trigger all cameras in range. The downside is there's only one on/off button on the remote and no indicator on the lens side of the camera, so you don't know if the camera got the signal or if you're turning it on or off. They're a lot less expensive than Gopros, too.

I gave up on Gopros, their phone app sucks and it was always hit or miss whether it'd connect without a half hour of fiddling, then when you finally manage to start recording the battery would die. The Akaso phone app works quite well even if it's not as fancy as Gopro's.
 
I use the garmin VIRB XE, with an external battery source for my primary forward view and audio recording. I have one GoPro, for wing view, it seems to work fine, but also needs external battery power. I recently purchased a Ghost Drift X, the baseline $99 model. It has a five and eight hour battery pack and it does a great job for the tail cam.
 
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I used the GoPro roll bar mount to mount mine to the Navion step. I've seen others use the helmet mount and rather than gluing it drill a hole through the middle and then use some random fairing screw to hold that in place.
 
Shepherd said:
Insta360 One X does great videos. But you can't add external sound, no filters or other filming gadgets. Their editing software may be the worst in the world. Other editing software for the One X is crazy expensive if you are just a dilettante, like I am.
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Agree about the Insta360 software. I use it to select the view & adjust tracking & then export the segment to a real film editor.
 
Dana said:
The Akaso action cameras have a remote and they're all the same, so one remote will trigger all cameras in range. The downside is there's only one on/off button on the remote and no indicator on the lens side of the camera, so you don't know if the camera got the signal or if you're turning it on or off. They're a lot less expensive than Gopros, too.

I gave up on Gopros, their phone app sucks and it was always hit or miss whether it'd connect without a half hour of fiddling, then when you finally manage to start recording the battery would die. The Akaso phone app works quite well even if it's not as fancy as Gopro's.
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I”ve thought about the Akaso. Tnx.
 
I have to admit that on more than one occasion I've taken the gopro out and come back to find I have a 90 minute jet-black clip of it being carried around in a bag
 
We use a mix of gopro hero 5, 6, 8 & garmin virb. One on the screen pointing forward. One on the screen pointing towards us, one hanging down pointing to the panel and one random outside. Could be the wing - could be the tail or somewhere else. Still working through that one.

We use all external batteries (1 big battery bank from Anker) for all cameras inside. I also record audio on a separate recorder. Basically on each flight we have at least 5 files (4 video / 1 audio) to match up and mix together. We also have the phone that we go to for fun sometimes.

We use Adobe premier pro. This is A LOT of work. But I enjoy it. And most of the time, no one watches the videos anyways.

I'll be more than happy to help answer questions in any way that I can. Let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks!
 
OH - also... Go pros are terrible. I mean terrible. They fail nearly every flight in the summer. The batteries are terrible for what we do. That's why we take all the jobs away from the Go pro as possible - other than record video.
 
Rgbeard said:
Paging @FlyingMonkey
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Hello! As some of you know I am a cinematographer for a living and have an aviation youtube channel. Ive put lots of work and research into figuring out how to shoot the best images in and on the plane. GoPros DO SUCK! They are unreliable, overheat, battery for ****, and never connect properly via wifi. I can't control my GoPro from 3 feet away but I can control and monitor flawless live video on my sub $1k drone from 3 miles away. Go figure. BUT they currently do provide the best image quality for the size if you know how to use them. I still use the GoPro7 which gets the job done well for me. Happy to answer specific questions about everything here. If you are really into this stuff I do have tutorial videos on my Patreon about filters, batts, mounts, and post production techniques as a bonus to supporters of the project. But I am super happy to share the knowledge and answer questions here on this forum as well. Hope I can be helpful - it's fun to see everyone else's aviation creations!
 
Thx. I guess what I was looking for really doesn’t exist. In pro-vid, universal, with adaptors, radio shutter releases to control all kind of gear are common. I want to mix & match various action-cam/audio equipment with a single record/stop button.

Btw, enjoyed all your passengers fainting at your tour guide speil ;-> you’re got some family. I’d be dragging around 5 empty seats, if that had happened to me.
 
rhkennerly said:
Thx. I guess what I was looking for really doesn’t exist. In pro-vid, universal, with adaptors, radio shutter releases to control all kind of gear are common. I want to mix & match various action-cam/audio equipment with a single record/stop button.

Btw, enjoyed all your passengers fainting at your tour guide speil ;-> you’re got some family. I’d be dragging around 5 empty seats, if that had happened to me.
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I believe the GoPros can be loaded with software that enables GoPro Labs and that has some additional features- there is one that will start recording on movement I think. Also the GoPro 10 may be able to be activated with multiple cameras in a single app button push, and it also has scheduled recordings...so you could set the time to record be when you are mid-flight on a long journey.
 
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