Hello all,
I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of my first 550e DFC. I currently fly a 450 clone. My question is regarding what the best/decently priced options are for equipping the 550 for FPV. All I can find it scattered information. I was hoping to create a thread for consolidated/precise information. It will probably be a little while as I will have to build and get comfortable with the 550, but the videos that I see online of FPV flight seems so amazing. I would prefer to use some glasses but also record to a portable DVR for future editing. Any insight would be very welcomed. I would also love to have some basic OSD so I can see how the heli is handling things. What kind of info do you guys have for a noob? OH also I should mention that I currently have the Spektrum DX7 so if using a 7 channel receiver I would only have one additional port. Is this something that I am going to need to upgrade?(to an eight channel transmitter/receiver) From the research that I have done, it looks like if you want pan/tilt/zoom, it looks like it requires another two servos.

IMO, a pod/boom style heli...such as your 450 or new 500, isnt very good platforms for camera work.

The reason I say this...is Ive tried it and at best had very low quality end results with my mini DV cam.  This is because helis like these create a lot of vibration and I just cant construct a mount that will absorb all of the vibes.  Ive gotten really close...but still the vibrations make the video look "blurry" at best.  Granted I have a cheap camera...but when mounted to a glider the video it produces is absolutely awesome.  But on a glider platform there is absolutely no vibrations to be dealt with.

What I am currently looking at is building a quad in the 500ish size for a camera/fpv platform.  There are tons of different mount configurations to carry a larger still camera or FPV camera.  You can have the ability to use a mount that at least tilts or if you want...all the way pan/tilt.

The cost of a really good 500 size quad isnt all "that bad" when comparing to say a 500 size pod/boom type heli either.  And you will actually be able to get some really incredible footage/stills in the process going this route.

In the end, its up to you.  Just be prepared for a lot of trial and error trying to fabricate a mount that will give you good results.

Goodluck!

As ATV said, isn't the best FPV platform.  With that said, I have FPV on a 500.  Although not great, it was my choice into FPV since I have several heli's.  I purchased the Fatshark system.  It was turn key and great support. I've been happy with it.

Guys,I've seen some pretty good FPV and videos using a Helicopter mounted system but as has been mentioned there is the issue of vibration that has to be delt with first. The pilot for ArticRC did this using a Trex 550 and a GoPro and the outcome was very nice. I'm currently running a GAUI 500X (Quad-Copter) and it has problems with stability if the winds are over 10 mph. A hexacopter (6 blades) or an octocopter (8 blades) would be a better solution. The DJI 550 (Hexacopter) is a more stable platform and costs about the same as the GAUI 500X. You can also get some pretty good stabilization systems for either bird, but recommend you check out some YouTube videos on both systems first and then decide what works better for your environment.I plan on mounting my GoPro Hero3 Black Edition on my Trex 550E V2 using a mount similar to the one build by a guy using Cables to eliminate vibration. It's called "GoPro vibration eliminator" on the FliteTest website if you're interested (http://flitetest.com/article_search#...ion,eliminator) it's an option. It may require an extension to the skids, but that's a simple enough modification to add using carbon fiber tubes and some rubber dampers.Good luck in this endeavor...