OK, it's arrived. And there's good news and bad news. (
EDITED APRIL 1st and 3rd - Edits in bold)
The Bad News:
My initial reaction when I unpacked the dronexpert platform was one of surprise and slight disappointment. The platform sent to me is not made from carbon-fibre as per dronexpert's website photo and YouTube instructional video, it's made from some sort of white plastic. How strong this is going to be I don't know.
EDIT: Now I know, it broke on the first flight (see later post in this thread) :evil:
Fitting the camera is fiddly and so I'm going to need to do it before I leave the house, rather than in the field. There are two long Velcro straps which may have been put in the box by Studiosport or they may be from Dronexpert. In any event they are useless for keeping the camera in place because the RX100 just doesn't have sufficient body on the left side, the strap just slips off. I used the 'tripod screw' I found in the dronexpert box instead and which is used in the YouTube video. Dronexpert really need to source a better tripod screw for this rather than use something that looks like it came from the local ironmonger (it's a bit short, which makes it fiddly to connect). It also needs a circlip or thin fibre washer to hold the screw in place on the mount when the camera is not attached; that way, it's not going to get lost. A spare screw is provided but that's not a good enough solution.
EDIT: It's not feasible to do everything at the house because once the HDMI cable is plugged in, you can't see the menus on the camera's LCD screen. I removed the camera in the field and lost the tripod screw in long grass. :evil:
FURTHER EDIT 3rd April - I had the camera set incorrectly; you can see the menu on the Dronexpert monitor's creen.
The ribbon cable connecting the dronexpert platform to the camera is
exceptionally fine and was creased and very slightly cut when it was delivered to me. I guess that was done during the fitting of the iOSD-mini and testing of the setup at the dealer's. I don't know how long this cable will last as it has to be plugged and unplugged every time the camera is mounted and unmounted. It really needs something more robust.
EDIT: I've discovered that the cable is in fact being damaged by the HDMI plug on the cable (the cable bends back on itself and so, after the plug is inserted into the camera and the camera is locked down on it's platform, the back of the HDMI plug presses hard into the ribbon cable. FURTHER EDIT 3rd April - I've alleviated this problem to a certain extent by putting two layers of electrical insulating tape over the cable where it makes contact with the back of the HDMI plug. So this wasn't a fitting problem at the dealer; it's a design fault - see below
The plug on the end of this ribbon cable, and which plugs into the RX100's HDMI socket, is too long (by 3 or 4 millimetres) and, as a consequence, it stops the camera bracket sitting flat. This makes it difficult to hook the tilt lever in place. It also means that, with the tilt mechanism set fully back, the camera still leans forward just a tad (i.e. it's not quite perpendicular to the platform).
EDIT: The perpendicular issue is of no importance in practice but the length of the HDMI plug is! See the previous paragraph.
Contrary to the dronexpert YouTube video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSwxQrkDITU the platform is not a 'spring fit', it's a permanent fixture, held in place by plastic ties. At least that's how Studiosport have fixed it and I can't really see how else it could be done. So, you can't take the platform off and put it back on as per the video. To be honest, I guess with the iOSD mini as well, there would be too many wires to unplug and re-plug and clip out of the way if you were to do that.
EDIT: This is not a good method of fixing with the quality of plastic used. The platform broke around one of the fixing holes on my first flight.
The platform sits 2mm below the level of the Phantom's rubber feet which is really bad because it's going to be the first thing that hits the ground when the Phantom lands. I now need to cure this by making some sort of leg extenders :roll:
EDIT: See paragraph above. First landing broke the fixing hole in the platform!
Studiosport, my dealer here in France. fitted the platform and wired in the DJI-iOSD mini. The problem is that they have fitted the iOSD in front of the camera, instead of behind it, and that doesn't now allow the camera to sit with the lens pointing absolutely straight down because the platform hits the iOSD if you tip it completely forward. This means I'm going to have to move the iOSD, which is a problem because one of the two cables to it which were wired in by Studiosport is very short.
EDIT: I've discovered that this is irrelevant as, when the camera's lens is extended, you can't angle it beyond about 70° because the lens barrel hits the edge of the platform. I have an idea that I can get around this problem, using the Velcro ties I mentioned earlier.
The cabling to the Phantom's power supply was flopping about and I've had to fasten it out of the way using electrician's tape. In all honesty, Studiosport slipped up there; they should have tidied that up.
The resolution of the provided FPV monitor is 800 x 480 which is sufficient for framing up shots and reading the telemetry but it's pretty basic screen technology given the price of the kit.
EDIT 3rd April: I've now found that this monitor is available from 'shop.righthere.nu http://shop.righthere.nu/fpv-lcd-di...reless-mini-dvr-beyond-5-8ghz-/prod_1484.html at a cost of 135 euro
The rubber buttons on the remote control fob that tilts the camera and fires the shutter are rather soft and 'spongy' (but at least that means you can't operate them by accident).
Finally, I was disappointed not to get a neck strap for the controller (as per dronexpert's video). I just assumed that there would be one and I think that's a fair expectation given the price I paid for this. As it happens I have a bunch of Fujifilm freebies that work perfectly and I didn't even spend any money with them. So that's Fujifilm 10, Dronexpert 0
And now.... The Good News:
It works as I'd hoped; 'live view' output to the screen with flight telemetry overlay. However I've only tried it indoors at the moment.
EDIT: It works great outdoors, takes great pictures and stable video
Camera tilt and shutter firing functions work as advertised. However, that too comes with the caveat above.
EDIT: You do have to use a very firm push on the remote's shutter button
The monitor screen has a nice matte finish to it and seems to have sufficient brightness and contrast. I've found the problem in bright sunlight with almost all LCD screens on cameras and smartphones is because of reflection off the screen, rather than light falling on it. However, this Dronexpert monitor has both issues covered, a well shaded screen and absolutely non-reflective.
EDIT: In practice, the screen is usable in bright sunlight (when shaded) but the contrast range available is really insufficient.
Finally, the monitor is in fact also a DVR! That was a huge surprise. It doesn't mention this anywhere on the Dronexpert site or the Studiosport site but the monitor takes a micro-SD card up to 32GB and can record video and stills to the card wirelessly from the platform AND it records it together with the iOSD overlay. Which was a nice surprise
Oh, and it also has a speaker in it.
I can't fly it until Monday because of high winds so, in the meantime, here are some photos of it all with the camera connected.
NOTE: The black loop to the left in the above photo is the camera's wrist strap; I intend clipping this to the Phantom's leg with a small carabiner.
