Gopro Lighting

ebykowsky

ebykowsky

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So I've used the GoPro on the windshield and it works great, but putting it behind me so that it sees the panel does not work so well... in sunlight (even on cloudy days), the contrast between inside and outside is so great that the panel just looks black and you can only see what's going on outside the plane. Do you guys have a solution for this?

Also, when flying at night, does the lit-up panel have the reverse effect on the view outside of the aircraft?

Thanks!
 
ebykowsky said:
So I've used the GoPro on the windshield and it works great, but putting it behind me so that it sees the panel does not work so well... in sunlight (even on cloudy days), the contrast between inside and outside is so great that the panel just looks black and you can only see what's going on outside the plane. Do you guys have a solution for this?

Also, when flying at night, does the lit-up panel have the reverse effect on the view outside of the aircraft?

Thanks!
Click to expand...


My gopro 1 did not work well at night. I can barely see anything, even out the window at night without the panel light interference.


https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150330202133218&l=5477631769316035242


It's possible I goofed up rendering the video tho :dunno:
 
^^thats the go pro I have as well. I'll see how it goes next time. The major problem is seeing the panel in the day though. Some people's are so darn clear.
 
I had to set the exposure manually using the RTFM method to fix that. Then it worked GREAT!

CHOOSING EXPOSURE SETTING
Choose between Spot Meter and Center Weighted Average Meter exposure settings depending on the
lighting of your environment:
Symbol on LCD Screen Function
Cnt
(default setting)
Center weighted average meter is best for normal outdoor and indoor
lighting conditions.
SPt
This icon
appears on LCD when spot
meter is active
Spot meter is primarily for shooting from inside of a car or other dark space
looking out into a brighter outside setting. Spot meter adjusts the exposure
for the absolute center of the scene, for example the road ahead instead of
the interior of the car.
If you are wanting optimum exposure of the inside of the car, filming mainly
the driver for example, choose Cnt center weighted average to expose for
the inside of the car.
Press the SHUTTER button to toggle between choices.
Press the POWER/MODE button to save whichever setting is showing on the screen and continue to the
next feature option.

http://gopro.com/files/English-HD-HERO-Instructions-100903.pdf

Page 1, bottom right. :)
 
^^Thanks I'll try that. Does the spot meter take into account the inside of the car/plane at all or just that center pixel? Because that doesn't seem it would have any different effect.
 
ebykowsky said:
^^Thanks I'll try that. Does the spot meter take into account the inside of the car/plane at all or just that center pixel? Because that doesn't seem it would have any different effect.
Click to expand...

It will look beautiful. The night is still a difficult thing to get right, but it will definitely be better with the exposure correction.

These are some great reference videos with GoPro setup

JustFly HD

Guido Warnecke
 
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Hey don't forget to come back here and let us know how it turned out. Hopefully it'll be some links to some good flight vids so we can all feed our addiction. :)
 
Oh yeah sorry bout that... It turned out OK. My mount was on the back window of a 152 with a horribly lit cockpit. You can see some lights whirring by the side windows and final looks pretty good (flew into KYNG on my first night solo ever) but there's really not much perspective. I do think the spot view does much better both day and night though.
 
Archammer said:
Great! Can't wait to see some vids :)
Click to expand...

Well, my computer has been without internet for the past month, and my video editing software got buggy, and the producer refused to do anything about it (I have to pay $40 just to call them) so no videos for awhile. I'm working on getting the computer fixed now though. I'll try to post a couple stills when I get the chance.
 
For comparison, this is my gopro3 mounted to the glare shield pointed down. This is not optimal but it was my first attempt at getting the panel in the shot. I'm going to try mounting it via a sticky mount further back next.

http://toph.net/gopro3-pointeddown.jpg
 
ChrisK said:
For comparison, this is my gopro3 mounted to the glare shield pointed down. This is not optimal but it was my first attempt at getting the panel in the shot. I'm going to try mounting it via a sticky mount further back next.

http://toph.net/gopro3-pointeddown.jpg
Click to expand...

The sticky mount a little further back, even behind the shoulder straps - if they're center mounted will give you a great view. You won't be able to read instrumentation in windowed mode, but full screen HD should prove very detailed and easily readable gauges.
 
Looks like an older airplane. Perhaps shoulder belts aren't required but I agree they should be worn. Bumping your head isn't fun, especially in IMC!
Bill D.
 
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