How to rig a camera

Snaggletooth

Snaggletooth

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Dustin
I've been looking for ways to mount my Video Camera, while I am flying. I can only get videos of take off and landing when I have a passenger, and I would like to find a way to mount my Camera.

I would like a head mounted rig, if possible.
 
Snaggletooth said:
I've been looking for ways to mount my Video Camera, while I am flying. I can only get videos of take off and landing when I have a passenger, and I would like to find a way to mount my Camera.

I would like a head mounted rig, if possible.
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What kind of airplane, and what kind of camera?
 
Check out http://160knots.com/making_video.htm
and look at some of Frank's videos.

they are very good quality IMHO and this seems like a safe easy way to do it.

If you think about putting the camera outside in the wind be sure to use a filter or other relatively cheap piece of optically acceptable protection for your lens.

Joe
 
Snaggletooth said:
Cessna 172, Kodak M530.
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Okay.

The easy way to mount a camera in a Cessna: Take an ordinary tripod, put one leg into each of the front seat-back pockets, and then put the third leg onto the rear seat (or between them if it's not a bench seat). That's what I did for this video:


I'm not sure of the weight of that camera, but it's probably not going to be very good on a headset mount - It'll stick out far enough that you'll be whacking things with it, and it'll be very uncomfortable after a while.

If you want to mount something on your headset, I have friends who speak VERY highly of the GoPro Hero HD cams: http://www.goprocamera.com/
 
I've had really good luck with Go Pro Be a Hero cameras. Kindof a cheesy name, but they work really well. Compact and the mount is very well made. Get the "Motorsports Hero" version.

I have mine suction cupped to the side window.
 
I'm really considering buying a GoPro camera. I'm about to start my flight training, and would love to be able to go back and review my lessons.

I wonder the best way to go about mounting a GoPro in a Schweizer 300C. And how do you record the sound?
 
I'm really considering buying a GoPro camera. I've heard great things about them. I'm about to start my flight training, and would love to be able to go back and review my lessons.

I wonder the best way to go about mounting a GoPro in a Schweizer 300C. And how do you record the sound?
 
bqmassey said:
I'm really considering buying a GoPro camera. I'm about to start my flight training, and would love to be able to go back and review my lessons.

I wonder the best way to go about mounting a GoPro in a Schweizer 300C. And how do you record the sound?
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After looking at these online for the better part of an hour now, I've gotta say it looks like the Drift Innovation HD170 is the way to go. It has an LCD screen on it so you can actually see the videos before you offload them onto a computer (and thus you can check your mounting, too), and it's the only one that I've found with an option for an external mic.

So, the best and easiest way to do it would be to buy an HD170 (It looks like $289 from buy.com is the best price from a reputable seller) and the external mic ($19.99 from a few places).

Then, just put the external mic inside one of the ear cups on your headset, and let 'er rip. You'll get exactly what you hear in the airplane - Mostly what comes through the audio panel, but with a little bit of engine noise in the background. I think the people that go to great lengths to do the fancy-schmancy setups that plug directly into the airplane suck, because you get no engine noise at all, so the realism just doesn't come through.

Your only other option for getting the audio is to use a completely separate device, and then try to sync them up later, which can be a pain. The easiest way to do it is to get both recordings going, and then say "Three, two, one," and then clap loudly with your hands in view of the video camera. But, it's just extra work - Using the external-mic-in-the-headset trick so that you get good video AND good audio on the same recording is by far the best way to do it.

Have fun, and post videos here! :yes:
 
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flyingcheesehead said:
After looking at these online for the better part of an hour now, I've gotta say it looks like the Drift Innovation HD170 is the way to go.
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Well, I've done quite a bit more than look on the internet at them. I've been using the VHoldr Contour and Drift cameras for several months or more on my Pitts both mounted inside, outside, and on my hat.

The Drift cameras look good on paper but I would say that the only use for them is in applications where you really need the extreme fish eye wide angle that they use. That's great for a few applications but the wide angle distortion is quite bad. The Drift cameras are all 170 degree field of view. The built in display is not really as useful as you might think either. I've found it really no more useful in pointing the cameras than the laser system on the VHoldr Contours.

Also the video quality of the HD170 isn't as good as the Contour HD. I'd go so far as to say the color and light is poor in the recordings I've made. The Contour is again, way better quality recording. I'll post some videos later with both and you can see for yourself.
 
PittsDriver said:
Well, I've done quite a bit more than look on the internet at them. I've been using the VHoldr Contour and Drift cameras for several months or more on my Pitts both mounted inside, outside, and on my hat.

The Drift cameras look good on paper but I would say that the only use for them is in applications where you really need the extreme fish eye wide angle that they use. That's great for a few applications but the wide angle distortion is quite bad. The Drift cameras are all 170 degree field of view. The built in display is not really as useful as you might think either. I've found it really no more useful in pointing the cameras than the laser system on the VHoldr Contours.

Also the video quality of the HD170 isn't as good as the Contour HD. I'd go so far as to say the color and light is poor in the recordings I've made. The Contour is again, way better quality recording. I'll post some videos later with both and you can see for yourself.
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On the comparison video I saw, the Oregon Scientific camera had WAY better color than either the GoPro or the Drift - But I didn't notice anything wide-angle looking about the Drift, maybe they edited out the edges on that one.

I really like the Contour cameras, especially the GPS one, but they don't have an external mic input. That is the essential thing here.
 
Like this!

2uj084i.jpg


Yeah, looks really stupid, and I don't feel that flying a 172 is exciting enough to be helmet cam worthy so I'll probably never do it again, but it did take a decent video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KgKo-9CySw
 
Snaggletooth said:
That's kinda the rig I was thinking about making. Only I thought about putting it on top of the headset.
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I think, if it's on the top of the headset, you may get a great view of the sun visors. At least in my 172 you would. If I lowered the seat maybe not, but then it would alter my normal perspective out of the windshield, there by giving me an excuse for any errant landings. Hmmm... maybe I'm on to something here..:goofy:
 
Keith Lane said:
I think, if it's on the top of the headset, you may get a great view of the sun visors. At least in my 172 you would. If I lowered the seat maybe not, but then it would alter my normal perspective out of the windshield, there by giving me an excuse for any errant landings. Hmmm... maybe I'm on to something here..:goofy:
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Yup, have to agree there. If you can get your hands on one of those flip mini cameras, they're only a little bigger than my blackberry, I'm sure you could somehow rig that onto your headset.
 
yeah, might not work on top of the head set. I'll work something out.
 
rpadula said:
What? No duct tape? :ihih:
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I've learned the magic of an amazing product - Gaff tape. It's basically duct tape but with an adhesive side that leaves no residue behind when you peel it off. It's strong and adherent as you could ever want and fine for using on painted aircraft attachment points. I learned about this from a friend who recently did some videos for AOPA and it's what they use to stick VHoldr Contour cameras on the outside of everything from high G acro rides to biz jets. That's all I use anymore and not very much of it goes a long way.
 
Dustin,

For inside mounts I have done the tripod mounted in the back seat and the mousepad mount on the dash. Definitely like the mousepad mount (see the 160knots.com link). Easy to operate when flying solo or with someone else that is a non-camera operator. Stays on the dash just fine during pavement take off/landing. Does bump around a bit when taking off from a grass strip, but copilot just needs to put a hand on it briefly until you get off the ground. I guess you could rig up a clip to mount it more securely to the dash, but really doesn't move at all during normal operations. Gives a nice view over the nose during take-off and landing. Easy to chuck in the back if it gets in the way. Having it in view is great to know if it is on or off.

I used 2 mouse pads glued onto either side of a pice of 1/4' pressboard. A 1/4" bolt comes through the pads to screw the camera on.

Not sure if you are thinking of outside the plane mounts, but check out some of the stuff Steve Tupper was doing on his airspeed podcast for the acro movie he did earlier this year. Lots of talk about mounts inside and out.

As far as cameras go... be aware that most of the new-smaller cameras will have the rolling shutter issue. This is where fast moving objects appear to bend in the video. The new cameras are great and easy to use, but they can make some horrible propeller video.

For instance, here's a video of me landing at KMYL using a Canon S500 still camera (no rolling shutter): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ggQPoGWbrc

And here's a video I found on youtube of someone landing at KMYL using a camera that has the rolling shutter issue:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSaiMoRAJPk Not so pretty!

Here's some videos using the mouse pad mount to show what it looks like on takeoff and landing:

Taking off from KBOI in an ARCHER
Landing at KMYL in an ARCHER scroll to about 4 minutes in.

I have seen some video with the head mounts. It is kind of a neat POV, but your head moves around so much that it is kind of distracting to watch on video.

Anyhow, good luck and have fun. Jim.
 
I guess I'll have to be the bad contrarian. Most of they flying videos I've seen are only interesting for about 30 seconds, unless the aircraft is actively crashing or doing something else spectacularly out of the ordinary. With luck, the OP won't be doing anything to make his videos that interesting, hence the effort spent on securing a camera could easily be spent doing a vast array of things far more useful. Now, just to try and be a little bit helpful, here's a whole thread on the same subject.
 
PittsDriver said:
I've learned the magic of an amazing product - Gaff tape. It's basically duct tape but with an adhesive side that leaves no residue behind when you peel it off. It's strong and adherent as you could ever want and fine for using on painted aircraft attachment points. I learned about this from a friend who recently did some videos for AOPA and it's what they use to stick VHoldr Contour cameras on the outside of everything from high G acro rides to biz jets. That's all I use anymore and not very much of it goes a long way.
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I just spoke to a friend of mine who works in the theater business as a stagehand and gaffer. He says that gaff tape leaves a sticky residue on everything and not to believe their claims that it doesn't. :dunno:
 
OffCenter said:
I just spoke to a friend of mine who works in the theater business as a stagehand and gaffer. He says that gaff tape leaves a sticky residue on everything and not to believe their claims that it doesn't. :dunno:
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I've been using it for several months now and it's been fine. It very rarely leaves anything but when it downs a quick wipe with a detailer takes it right off. Nothing at all like the nasty problem you'd have with real duct tape and yet it sticks like crazy and is strong (+6/-4 Gz, 200+ mph). Maybe I'm using a different brand?
 
steingar said:
I guess I'll have to be the bad contrarian. Most of they flying videos I've seen are only interesting for about 30 seconds, unless the aircraft is actively crashing or doing something else spectacularly out of the ordinary.
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A good reason to keep them short anyway. The new iMovie has this feature to automatically put together a movie trailer style video. We went out this past weekend for some aerobatic practice and shot a bunch of video with cameras all over the airplanes. I'm thinking about making a movie as a Christmas present for my buds so I threw together this video in about 15 minutes with that new iMovie feature just to whet their appetites for the coming attraction :) The trailer is 45 seconds long but I have enough video to make a feature length movie if I get motivated.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZQDawKWlsY

This was shot with a combination of Contour HD and Drift HD cameras. I really liked the shot of rolling over top of the S-1S.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Okay.

The easy way to mount a camera in a Cessna: Take an ordinary tripod, put one leg into each of the front seat-back pockets, and then put the third leg onto the rear seat (or between them if it's not a bench seat). That's what I did for this video:


I'm not sure of the weight of that camera, but it's probably not going to be very good on a headset mount - It'll stick out far enough that you'll be whacking things with it, and it'll be very uncomfortable after a while.

If you want to mount something on your headset, I have friends who speak VERY highly of the GoPro Hero HD cams: http://www.goprocamera.com/
Click to expand...

Kent did I miss your call to traffic as you were starting your ground run out of The Johnson Creek Airstrip? Those planes that circle over Yellow pine and come up the Johnson creek could spoil your whole day if you don't communicate...... Just wondering?
 
Bob Bement said:
Kent did I miss your call to traffic as you were starting your ground run out of The Johnson Creek Airstrip? Those planes that circle over Yellow pine and come up the Johnson creek could spoil your whole day if you don't communicate...... Just wondering?
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It's there, Bob - Right at 2:04. :thumbsup:
 
I shot this video Saturday using a Drift HD camera attached to the front seat panel with a suction mount. +6 / -3 G later and it was still firmly attached. I did secure it with a safety in case it came loose but I've used this suction mount inside the cockpit quite often and never had it let go under the most punishing G, positive, negative, and rotational.

http://vimeo.com/17049546

I've attached the same camera(s) on the outside of the plane using gaff tape and never had the camera move at all with the same G treatment and well over 200 mph.
 
I turned up the volume and heard the call that time. Sorry for doubting you.
 
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