daubut

Well I’m new to the hobby and after looking around on the forums I am definitely interested in getting into FPV flying and aerial photo/video. I have an old Nikon 4mp digital camera, the lcd screen went out. I decide to make a mount for it on one of my trainers. I have included a few pics of what I used and how I attached it to the fuselage. I know I have affected the CG by placing it off center and plan to use counter weighting to try to get the plane as balanced as possible. I have ordered a couple of extra servos for tilt feature and operating shutter button. I am going to try to keep the overall weight down to a minimum. The camera has it’s own battery, SD card for storage, and plenty of features to help the camera take different shots. It also has a built in mic and AV out, so I could hook up to a transmitter in future and get the video via RF to use for FPV flying or for a copilot to monitor and take shots. The plane I used was a cheap trainer with a 65” wingspan sporting an OS LA .46 swinging a 10X6 nylon prop. A little worried about vibration and if it seems to be a problem I will install an isolation mount to see if I can minimize the vibration.

I am going to use a ¼ scale servo for tilt & install on bracket on the opposite side of the plane from camera to try to help balance it out. I am using a 6ch TX and have a flap dial I will use to control the tilt of the camera. The gear channel will be used for shutter button with a micro servo mounted on the camera cradle. I will add pics of the operation when I get the rest of the parts finalized & installed. Heres what I have so far.

daubut

A few more pics.

bkdavy

My Feedback: (1)

The additional weight and drag created by this setup, along with the 10x6 prop on an LA 46 is not a recipe for success. This is going to be underpowered. Keep the total weight under 6 lbs and it should fly, but not well. If you're flying off grass, it better be really short. I would also expect that vibration is going to be a significant problem with that boom setup and the camera in the prop wash. There are smaller, lighter cameras which can be suitably mounted out on the wingtip, which provide essentially a pilots point of view. Mounting on the wing tip gets the camera out of the prop wash, and the wing acts as a damping arm for vibrations. You can then use a micro servo to actuate the shutter.

How new are you to the hobby? Have you ever flown this plane (or any others?) If not, get yourself an instructor and learn to fly first, then start worrying about aerial photography.

Good Luck!
Brad

aviatordave

Unless your deadstick, its going to most likely have vibration issues. You might find the vibration less at a certain throttle setting thru trial and error. If possible, I'd stick a thin sheet of neoprene under the camera to the mount.

You might want to prop that engine for torque, instead of a 10 x 6, try an 11 x 5 (BALANCED PROP!). You do realize that the LA series is a little weak on the power side of things. Also, a soft motor mount will help like this for example: http://www.shopatron.com/product/pro...161.5190.0.0.0

Assuming your a proficient pilot, first fly it with the mount and see how it behaves. Then add some dummy weight to the camera mount and fly again to get a feel. Once confident, take the camera up with you. I would set the camera angled down about 25 degrees from the centerline of plane, this will give you some good results.

good luck, but expect to dedicate some time for troubleshooting.

Dave

lvspark

Nice looking camera mount. Pretty fancy cuts around the camera controls[8D]

If you find that even with the 1/4 scale servo on the opposite side, it still wants to roll left, you can add a small amount of weight at the wingtip. Could even go with a standard servo and ballast at the wingtip to keep your AUW (all up weight) down. By looking at the pictures, I can't tell, but be sure your (metal or CF?) throttle control rod does not come in contact with your alum tube. When the metal rubs, it causes RF emissions and that is very near to your RC RX.

I think it will haul the camera just fine.. Might handle like crapola due to the large fronal area and parasitic drag on the back-side, but if your good on the stick's no problem.. When the cameral is looking down it should fly better...Might want to change the prop to a 11x4 or 11x4.7 for a little more pulling power.. [sm=confused.gif]

daubut

I have been in the hobby for a few months and have had about 10-15 flights at the field with one of the guys helping me. Plus about 100+hrs on the sim. I am working on my deadstick landings and definetly know I need more stick time. The instructor I am working with seems to think he can fly it even if I strapped a cinder brick on it. We'll see. Good idea about flying it with the mount and some weight to get the feel for it before sending up the camera. I ordered the Dubro vibration isolation mount this morning. I plan to add some thin 1/8" foam to the inside of the cradle to help in dampening the vibration also. Beeing a bow hunter we have some stick on dampners that I would like to try on the bottom of the fuselage to see if that might absorb some of the vibration. I will weigh the entire setup once it's finished and I agree that while the camera is pointd straight down, it should fly better since it's not blocking the prop wash as much. I entend to use it to take aerial photos of hunting lease areas. Unfortunatley google earth doesn't have to many high res aerials of rural areas, so with this I can get up to date aerial photos from like 2000ft to help decide on new spots and to use for a map and locating things.

Thanks for all your help and I will definetly try the wingtip weight to help counter balance the thing.

I'll keep you guys posted!

wjglynn

I am in no way qualified to speak to the aerodynamic issues of your mount and it appears that you are getting great advice from others. I can contribute with regard to that camera. I mounted an Aiptek DV cam on my Alpha 60 and got fair results with the video. I would expect that the glass in the Nikon lens to be superior to the Aiptek with the framing rate to be approximately equal. I believe that Nikon limits the duration of each video capture instance so you may have to continually restart the captures periodically inflight. I am most interested in any still photography you might try with this rig. I have much experience with the Nikon FM2, N4004, N90s, D1, D70, 2100, 3200, and 5400. I am not totally familiar with that particular Nikon but if you can set it to shoot at the high end of its shutterspeed range you may be pleased with the results. I am guessing that camera is capable of 1/2000 or faster shutterspeed. I would advise you to do whatever you can to make it shoot at its fastest shutterspeed. Shooting in straight "auto" will never get you there. Set the ISO to it highest setting (with acceptable results) and if nothing else set the camera in sports scene mode to kick in the high shutterspeed exposure algorithms. By forcing the camera to a wide open aperture in auto will also drive the shutterspeed to its max. With a wide open f-stop you are penalized with shallow depth of field but your pictures will be focused at infinity so who cares. If you are well versed in photography then I am preaching to the choir so take it for what it is worth.

I am looking forward to seeing your results as they might help my project.

Bill

daubut

Thanks for the advice Bill. I'm an amateur when it comes to photography. I have an eye for taking pictures and have always tried to buy the best and do plenty of research before I buy anything electronic. This camera has never disappointed me, always has taken excellent photos. When the lcd screen went all white on me I was going to replace it but by the time it did cheaper better quality stuff was released by Nikon so I just bough a new 6mp camera from them, it's smaller more features and better res. The 4800 still works fine you just have to use the viewfinder for taking photos and accessing the menu screens. No big deal and that why I figured to put it to good use in this AP project. I will post the pics and what settings I used to achieve them this weekend when I get out to the field. I will make a few test runs and hopefully be able to take a few shots with different settings to compare to one another. I have included a link to the specs on this camera. Since you are so familiar with the Nikon products maybe you could look it over and give me a few setting option recommendations to try. Here is the link to the camera specs: http://www.nikonusa.com/fileuploads/pdfs/CP4800.pdf

Thanks for all the help, advice and encouragement. This is a great forum, it has been a lot of help. Amazing what you’ll learn if you just read

wjglynn

Here is a review I found by googling "Nikon 4800". It has a few more specs than the document you posted.

http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/CP4800/CP48A.HTM

Here are some quotes from that review:


"They aren't reported on the LCD display, but the Coolpix 4800's shutter speeds range from 1/2,000 to four seconds."

Note: It looks to me like you cannot directly set the shutterspeed. Your best bet is probably to use the "sports scene" mode. Their quote about that is below.

"Sports Assist Mode: A figure in action is the icon for Sports mode, which uses faster shutter speeds to freeze action. The Menu button accesses the Scene Assistance menu, with options for Sports, Sport Spectator, and Sport Composite modes. Sport Spectator enables the user to instantly press down on the Shutter button without pausing halfway to focus, and works best with unpredictable subjects within a range of 9.8 feet (3.0 meters). Sport Composite mode takes 16 images in two seconds, each time the Shutter button is pressed, and arranges them in a four-by-four array, much like Multi-Shot 16 mode"



Using the highest ISO setting that gives acceptable quality (graininess) will drive the camera to use a higher shutterspeed.

"ISO light sensitivity is rated at 64 during normal shooting, but the Coolpix 4800 automatically raises it as high as 400 when conditions require it, or the user can manually select the ISO from the four available options of 50, 100, 200, and 400. (Note though, that the camera doesn't report its automatically chosen ISO value to the user while shooting.)"


Set your camera to capture in the highest quality/size mode that your memory card will allow. The buffer discussed below might be handy to "shotgun" your image capture but sometimes the camera won't allow you to use the highest quality image setting because of the amount of data that must be buffered.

"The special 3-Shot buffer mode is designed to help you capture the action, even if the action is happening a little faster than your reflexes can catch up with. Just hold down the shutter as the action approaches, and release just after the action has occurred; the camera then saves the last three images in the buffer, recorded at just over one frame per second."


The 4800 appears to have a great zoom range. Keep in mind that the more you zoom the more vibration will be captured in the image. That is a pure fact that vibration at high zoom can only be offset by a faster shutterspeed. For early successes I would advise not zooming at all. Leave it at its lowest setting. If you shoot movies most of those nikons will allow you to zoom before starting the capture so you can experiment at different zoom settings and observe the effects of vibration. I agree, many of the threads on this forum give lots of valuable advice. I used much of it.

Most people use as small of a camera as they can find to mount on a rc plane for obvious weight and drag reasons. For high quality photography it is still about the glass. Inexpensive cameras with inexpensive lenses have a limit as to how high quality results they can achieve. I believe the best results for those of us pursuing this facet of the hobby will be with moderate quality equipment whose value has depreciated enough to risk on a plane ride. I think that you might be limited with your present airframe but are on the right track with your optics. If you haven't already seen it I have my project documented on this forum with my thread labeled "Giant Big Stik Camera Platform". I have bought a Nikon 5400 off Ebay for $200 and will be mounting it on the Stik over this winter. I also bought the wired remote from Ebay and plan to use miniature servos to drive the zoom and shutter release buttons from inside the fuselage and tap the A/V output with a wireless video feed to the ground so I can PTZ through the lens. It should arrive any day now.

Good Luck!

Bill

daubut

Thanks for all the help Bill, I took your advice and tryed a few of the settings we discussed here is what happened.


Well she flew! Tested it first with the cradle mounted and attached an RX bat pack to help simulate weight of camera. She taxied and jumped right off the runway a couple of clicks on the aileron trim and straight and level flight no prob!

Here is a small video I shot of the mount finilazed before we tested, excuse the flip of the cam at the end.

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

Here are a few shots we took with the camera. I used the sport spectator mode for the first flight. I changed to regular sport mode. I never shot any video or tryed any other settings as I was eager to fly my other plane and let a buddy of mine get his first try at RC flight. I will start the troubleshooting process now. The next changes or improvements I am going to try are: 1. Install the new engine mount 2. Try different settings with the camera. I will post the outcome of the next set of flight tests. Thanks for everones help.

aviatordave

very neat. good job on getting that all figured out, I like that tilt mechanism!

Are you still using the stock reciever battery (600 mah?) or did you go to a larger capacity with those extra servos?

Dave

wjglynn

I forgot to mention one thing about those still pictures. If you use a software package like Nikon View that came with the camera it will show you the camera settings used for each picture. This "meta" data is imbedded in each image file but not all software will display it. To optimize your settings it will be helpful to see what the camera used for each shot.

Great mount! I am glad you did not have any drag problems with that camera hanging out there like that. Keep the reports coming!

Bill

daubut

I am still using the 600mah RX bat. Seems to be no less of a drain on the battery than before, I don't write the voltages down or anything but from what i can remember they are still around the same as before. I get about (4) 10 min flights to the one battery and have had no power problems yet! I always take an extra charged battery with me to the field and I since I am still kinda training I bought an additional trainer for a backup so I have a third battery just in case.

Bill -

I have the Nikon picture project that came with the cameras and it does show the info you state. So I have started a little word doc that shows what I have tried so far as to try to eliminate duplicating the same test settinds, also allows me to rite a little review of how the pics came out with that certain setting so I don't have to view all the pics everytime.

I am headed out to the field first thing in the morning to try the video feature on the camera. I was busy last weekend so I didn't get to fly [] I will report back with the samples and the outcome of this weekends tests.

Have a great weekend guys and get out there and fly.

daubut

Well here it is, first video shot on board. The camera was in movie mode and the zoom was 0%. I left the camera pointing forward the whole time. Still have some vibration problems but for a first try it came out all right, IMO. I am going to be installing the new vibration dampening motor mount I got to see if this will help with some of my vibration problems.

Here is the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EL7g46UtHR0

Diesel_Fuel_Only

Very cool video man, made me a little nervous when you were going inverted there .

wjglynn

Your video looks great! Keep up the good work in your development effort and keep us updated?

Merry Christmas to all!

Bill

CRAZYRYAN

My Feedback: (1)

you fly at sparks? You should come down and fly at Space City rc it's a awesome place like now other in houston!

daubut

No I am a member of NWRCC in Northwest Houston. The field is out in Waller. like 15 mins from my house. Space City is down in clear Lake right? Thats a little far for me to drive, especially since I allready paid my dues for 2007 with NWRCC. It's a great field, grass runway but very well manicured. The people have been great there. I am allready in my 4th plane and only took me about a month to solo with my trainer. I then added the camera as outlined in this post and it was a fun and exciting thing to do. I ordered some cheapo transmitter on ebay and got shafted. stole my money says he shipped it bogus tracking, etc.... Sorta lost intrest in the areial photography for now. I have been working on a new kit and becoming a more profecient pilot. Ever fly at Scobee field? I went there a couple of weeks ago with a buddy to maiden my cessna. Nice runway but I like to be able to pull my truck right up to my area in the pits and there you have to lug all your stuff into the pits through fences and crap. besides that the pit area is kinda small and was crowded with only like 6 people there. I have also heard of a lot of people taking hits out there. It seems if your not a member of that club you just might loose a plane cuase some jerkoff decides to turn his radio on the channel your flying on. It has nevef happened at NWRCC history that I know of but have heard that it has happened to several people at Scobee Field. At our field if you take somones plane down my mistae with radio, you owe him a new plane, thats the wat it should be everywhere. My cessna went down that day, and noone there would fess up that they turned there radio on, but right before I lost control and nosed it in the dirt some guy asked what channel I was on, I told him and asked if he needed it, he said no just wondering? Thats a little to smelly for me, but who knows! i checked the plane wreckage and nothing mechanical seemed to be out of place, I would never fly there again, thats a shame too cuase I really like that runway.

CRAZYRYAN

My Feedback: (1)

thats why i spend 150 a year for a nice secure field

daubut

Yeah I agree. It's $175 a year at NWRCC and it's safe, great people and I got plenty of help as newbie. The only reason we went to Scobee is my instructor has been wanting to check it out and try their runway out. I looked up Space City Rc and you guys are in Katy, actually not to far from our field. I would love to come check it out. Maybe if your planning on going out one weekend, shoot me a PM and I can come fly with you, check out your club and field make a day out of it.

lvspark

Dang, didn't know how good I had it....
$35 a year and includes insurance (no AMA required)
www.proptwisters.org

CRAZYRYAN

My Feedback: (1)

you only have a 300ft runway while i have 600ft by50 thats whay it is so much less for you

CRAZYRYAN

My Feedback: (1)

on the other hand if u had bought a spectrum transmitter for the larger models you wouldnt have to worry about radio interference look it up for the spectrum radio they just came out i think end of last year might be the thing your looking for