Finally got a good, inexpensive video mount

[freelanceshots]

Got my Anti-Jello vibration Isolator attached to my phantom and hooked up my homemade sony action cam mount and it worked well finally. Shot this video after I got it installed to see if it was a hit or a bust. 720i at 120 FPS with camera stabilization turned on and 120 degree FOV edited using iMovie.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=CHf7OxB3uO4

 

[freelanceshots]

Re: Finally got a good video mount

picture of my setup which seems to be working pretty well with the Sony camera. Now if I can just get a near windless weekend to do some of the work I want.


Dji Multirotor Phantom by freelanceshots, on Flickr

 

[Gizmo3000]

Re: Finally got a good video mount

Looks great!
is that the VGE mount?

 

[freelanceshots]

Re: Finally got a good video mount

It is the VGE mount and it is nice, simple and very lite weight. Just what I needed.

 

[pwright]

Re: Finally got a good video mount

Looks pretty good.

 

[freelanceshots]

Re: Finally got a good video mount

Was out again with my big dog yesterday to the park and there were to many people around to let her loose to play and then wonder off some distance before I cranked it up. I had her on a lease attached to me and then put my phantom up on a picnic table and fired it up. Long story short pushed the throttle up and in the delay it takes for it to get going Hotrod knocked me off balance and pulled free from the leash and jumped up on the table and went for the closest props. At that point it was just starting to get airborne so when she went in it got all out of shape and took a nose dive off the table and to the ground. Luckily I shut the power off quickly so the props didn't run into the ground like the beginning days but my sony cam took a nice bounce on the ground after coming detached from the mount. Not a camera breaker but still a concern because I don't run it with its protective case. No good way to mount with it on. No damage to the front element that I can see so I'm sure things are just fine. Dog received no injuries and probably still doesn't even know that there was a spinning prop that hit her. Kind of wish it did sting her a little bit so she would be aware of the hazard. I enjoy taking her with me as its a great time for her to get exercise and for me to be with her. I tell myself never again after crap like this happens where I need to stick to my guns in the future. feels like it knocked one or 2 props out of balance though.

 

[howardmaryon]

Re: Finally got a good video mount

Good job you didnt have carbon fiber props on there, or it could have been a trip to the vet!

Your setup looks very neat and light, the Sony does pretty good compared to the GoPro 3 in picture quality too. If you are still developing your flying skills, like me, you might want to get the underwater mount for protection, my GoPro u/w case has saved my front element on more than one occasion!

 

[howardmaryon]

Re: Finally got a good video mount

Where did the black legs come from? Did you paint them? Looks very smart!

 

[freelanceshots]

Re: Finally got a good video mount

Yes, I just painted them, I used to be able to find the high quality spray can paint that had a super fine/adjustable spray nozzle and the paint was really thin but had good coverage like an automotive finish. These days only paint that I could find at the big box home improvement store was Rust-oleum ultra cover which is supposed to bond to plastic but I think goes on thicker and just doesn't turn hard enough to get that durable finish. One tip is to wash these parts good in warm soap and water and then dry with air or a fresh clean towel or rag. Avoid touching after that because of the oil on your skin. I used a big, long ziptie I had around the house where I slid it through one of the larger holes where it mounts to the shell. This way I could hold the end of the ziptie and not have to lay this part down, get overspary on my hands and I could spray at all the angles. I then used a spring clamp/clip to hold onto the end of the ziptie so I could hang them to dry over night. One negative of the paint is I feel the paint adds some weight as I could tell a somewhat noticeable difference before and after. One other negative is that the black will get scratched easily so extra care i needed to protect them.

 

[Maxxborg]

Re: Finally got a good video mount

You should just die them. I have seen a lot of guys doing this in the R/C Car world and it works great. You can do pretty much any color you want. Your phantom looks awesome by the way.

 

[GearLoose]

Re: Finally got a good video mount

Good looking dog... once my Phantom arrives I'm a bit concerned that my 2 year-old standard poodle is going to want to play with it himself. He is long on energy and short on commonsense.

I'm looking for suggestions on how to mount my Drift HD 170 action cam to the Phantom, also a Canon point & shoot. Could you please post a photo of the homemade mount you used to attach to the anti-jello piece? I live a long way from the hobby shop and hardware store, so the more ideas I have before I make a shopping list and head for town, the better!

 

[freelanceshots]

Re: Finally got a good video mount

At Maxxborg: I did try to dye and it didn't work. I used the popular RIT Dye, boiled up the water, inserted the legs and white props and let it sit for over an hour. It turned out a very light blotchy gray to even a drown look. Looked awful. I think its a plastic unlike the typical stuff found on the RC cars and trucks. I don't know but it's not something I will try again.

I will post a close up photo of just the mount. It's not the perfect solution but I think it gets job done and weights very little. Wish I could figure out a better way to snap the camera to the support. Velco does a good job of holding but allows a little wobble. The snap in material that I got recently worked pretty good which holds it more firmly but still has a little play when pushed together. The bad thing about the the Scotch brand heavy duty fasteners is that when stuck to the camera body it then cannot be inserted back into its protective housing unless you peal it off. Once its stuck on its difficult to pull off. The velcro alone does allow it to be inserted back into it case. I plan on using my sony camera for many things that might pop up so got to be able to slide it back into its protective/water proof case. I would really like to mount up a Canon PowerShot G1 X and call it a day but I don't know how I would get it to crank off still shots without wiring up a pocket wizard trigger or something. Would also have to build some kind of mount that I new was very secure. The newly released Canon PowerShot G1 X would be a great option for better image quality over the Hero 3 black edition camera for stills and vid and its approx maybe 300.00 more. Maybe in the future if we still have the right to fly these things with a camera attached.

 

[GearLoose]

Re: Finally got a good video mount

Thanks for the close-ups... I had thought of making something of a similar shape by bending aluminum but then I had a "brainwave". I'm mounting my Drift HD 170 using the tiny ball head off of a pocket sized tripod, which is attached to the GoPro mount (included with the Phantom). I tension the Drift between the landing struts with a couple of rubber bands.

I make no claims about the video quality with this rig -- I'm still very new at this so you can probably detect how my hands are shaking at the TX controls if you watch one of my recent flight videos.

But, it gets the camera into the air -- and I've got some good stills out of it, too.