Anyone with experience of a Pirate Eye monocular FPV system?

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I'm going to be flying my P2 with a GoPro and Zenmuse H3-3D system and I'll be using a Sony RX100 too. The full story is here
http://www.phantompilots.com/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=10784&p=113044#p113044

As a photographer, I'm leaning strongly towards this FPV gear http://www.studiosport.fr/lunettes-video-monoculaire-pirateeye-pack-complet-p-2193.html. This is the 'Pro system' with two sets of glasses (clear and tinted) but you get the idea in English at http://www.fpvhobby.com/184-pirate-eye-lcd-goggle.html and http://www.1001copters.com/en/monocular-video-glasses/87-hobby-set-pirateye.html

I've read some good stuff here http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1694221 And I've taken the liberty of copying and pasting a couple of other forum posts as below:
________________________________________________________________

"I ordered a Pirate Eye in a desperate attempt to make our pilot's life a bit easier and to get better aerial shots in return. The main problem for the pilot was that he was at no point able to judge distances adequately and framing shots perfectly flying line of sight only. Our camera operator's ground station wasn't helping, as the pilot had to stand close by and look him over the shoulder every now an then to see the live-footage.

So here's our two cents wrapped up in a little review:

We ordered the "hobby version", as the pro version wasn't available. Not a big deal, as the only difference is that the pro version has both the smokey and the clear glasses and comes in a case.

In detail, our version came with the smokey glasses with the display and video adaptor attached, a nylon pouch, a cleaning cloth and a small goody bag containing an allen wrench,
distance pieces for the monocular, a neck strap and spare rubber rings for attaching the video cable to the glasses.

The overall quality of the set is great and IMHO justifies the price of around 400 Euros. If I look at the overall price of our aerial platform, this is peanuts... but as I said, that's just my personal opinion.

On to the important stuff: We only had the chance to try the Eye twice over the weekend for a couple of hours, but were initially pleased with the results. Setup is hassle free, the glasses fit perfectly and the display gave us crispy live-video out of a Canon 650D. Our initial worries that the tiny monitor
might fog-up as it frequently happens with closed systems like the Fatshark due to a lack of ventilation fortunately weren't confirmed. However, we have yet to try it under warm and humid conditions...

Flying was a breeze and we could see that the pilot's confidence got a boost. While maintaining a steady line of sight at most times looking straight ahead, he could easily
look down at the display and frame shots precisely. For us that's a huge plus, as we are currently flying a no-pan-gimbal and all pans have to be done by the pilot...

I know this might sound a bit over-enthusiastic, but if a product caters perfectly to my needs, I'm more than happy to help promote it a bit. Especially when it's coming from a small niche company.

Just a final note to finish this up: The pirate eye is not made for FPV-flying. If you want to immerse yourself, buy a Fatshark or similar. If you are, however, into aerial video and photography, give the Eye a chance and try it out.

Hope that helps!"
____________________________________________

"Had a chance to use the Pirate eye system for two different shoots this past weekend. I love them... maybe the eyeTops were just that bad, but the picture is so much clearer and so much easier to adjust to my eyes as they actually have adjustments. Just wish they came with a shoulder bag like the eyetops did.

Would recommend these to anyone who wants to see their rig and frame shots at the same time. In fact, I'll most likely be selling the eyetops here soon"
 
Re: Anyone with experience of a Pirate Eye monocular FPV sys

I have never seen or heard of this product before. My concern would be glare from the sun intruding into the eyepiece as its not sealed to your forehead as Fatsharks are.

The ability to switch from FPV to line of sight is a huge safety advantage. Using a monitor even with a sunshade does not keep out all of the sunlight. If the subject is at all in shadow then it can often not be clear enough to safely fly close to trees etc. I don't like goggles having tried them so to get me as close to that experience but retain instant line of sight ability as well I fashioned a deep box with only a small slit in it through which I can see my screen. The box slides over my FPV monitor sun shield. No light gets in once I rest my forehead against the box and so the picture I see is as good as a pair of goggles. Whenever I want to switch to line of sight I just look up.
 
Re: Anyone with experience of a Pirate Eye monocular FPV sys

Shrimpfarmer said:
I fashioned a deep box with only a small slit in it through which I can see my screen. The box slides over my FPV monitor sun shield. No light gets in once I rest my forehead against the box and so the picture I see is as good as a pair of goggles. Whenever I want to switch to line of sight I just look up.

:D I did exactly the same, using a 32 cm tall one made from stiff black art-paper (an advantage of being married to an artist!) It folds and fastens with two pieces of Velcro and when unfolded, it fits exactly into the lid on my Phantom case. When she saw me using it, she said it looked like the old "What the butler saw" from seaside amusement arcades :lol: The problem for me was looking up after watching the monitor; it often took me several seconds to re-locate the Phantom. The abrupt change of view also made me dizzy sometimes, depending on the vertical angle and direction, but then I do have a problem in that regard anyway.

So that's why I'm interested in this 'Pirate Eye'. From what I've read, light leakage doesn't seem to be an issue.
 
Re: Anyone with experience of a Pirate Eye monocular FPV sys

If the light does not leak then that improves its value greatly.

I am a firm believer that its best to fly FPV then line of sight. Avoid switching between the two as you lose your night vision as well as your orientation. Its very very hard to re-aquire a quad once you have flown FPV. I always fly line of sight on take off. Then I commit to 100% FPV then bring it back at medium level and then revert to LOS. The only time I switch is when I am in close proximity to a hazard, trees etc.

I doubt the monocle allows you to keep line of sight and fly FPV once the quad has left your immediate vicinity.

Its the beauty of our system that we can flick between the two easier than goggles.
 
Re: Anyone with experience of a Pirate Eye monocular FPV sys

Shrimpfarmer said:
I doubt the monocle allows you to keep line of sight and fly FPV once the quad has left your immediate vicinity."

Yes, it does, and that's the beauty of it for photographic use. That's what draws me to it. Let's say you favour your right eye. You look through the glasses with both eyes (your right eye is looking through the glasses but over the top of the monocle), and then flick your vision down and you see the FPV / OSD instantaneously with your right eye, so you can flick your view from one to the other. From what I've read, it's much like (but even better than) looking into the viewfinder of a DSLR or rangefinder camera and shooting with both eyes open (which of course is the correct way to do it) :)

I'll have to go off to another forum and find someone that owns a set ;)
 
Re: Anyone with experience of a Pirate Eye monocular FPV sys

Those glasses look utterly fantastic and exactly the sort of thing I'm looking for for AP. Let us know how you get on with them.
I hate goggles because I want to maintain LoS with my birds as I sometimes fly very close to things. I use a BlackPearl at the moment mounted to my tx but these glasses look to be perfect for my needs.

I can't find a UK supplier though.
 
Re: Anyone with experience of a Pirate Eye monocular FPV sys

rilot said:
Those glasses look utterly fantastic and exactly the sort of thing I'm looking for for AP. Let us know how you get on with them.
I hate goggles because I want to maintain LoS with my birds as I sometimes fly very close to things. I use a BlackPearl at the moment mounted to my tx but these glasses look to be perfect for my needs.

I can't find a UK supplier though.

And I can't find a USA supplier.

I have to ask this, though it is apparently obvious to everyone else. One user says it is able to show the video output of a Canon 650. So what video transmitter is on the copter?
 
Re: Anyone with experience of a Pirate Eye monocular FPV sys

rilot said:
I can't find a UK supplier though.

I believe the glasses are French. My dealer stocks them http://www.studiosport.fr/lunettes-video-monoculaire-pirateeye-hobby-p-2181.html and they offer free shipping via Colissimo to the UK for orders over 129€ in value (Colissimo is the parcel section of the French post office)

Email this guy - [email protected]. He has lived in the UK, speaks perfect English, and has been so, so helpful to me. Please mention my name if you contact him.
 
Re: Anyone with experience of a Pirate Eye monocular FPV sys

tubino said:
I have to ask this, though it is apparently obvious to everyone else. One user says it is able to show the video output of a Canon 650. So what video transmitter is on the copter?

I believe you can can use whatever video transmitter + receiver system you like. The glasses simply take the video out from your chosen video receiver via that little box which is a video adaptor and transformer. You need a lipo battery to connect to that in order to provide power.

Unfortunately, according to their website, Studiosport will not ship to the USA or Canada
 

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