On-board Video Equipment?

snip
The camcorder is a hard-drive-based one that can
record for a pretty good length of time; but I'd rather not deal with
it if I don't have to.

Noel,
In my talk at last year's SSA convention, "HD Video and Soaring" I
overviewed the videocam in cockpit situation, I can send you the
slides if you like.

One thing I point out is that hard disk based systems are often
limited to 10,000 ft as that head is "flying" on a very thin cushion
of air, so you risk a head crash esp. at a place like Warner Springs.

But we need more people shooting footage that has a lesson it (vs
entertainment).

Kemp

On Jan 28, 10:13*am, John Smith wrote:

Do some of you you even read a question before answering to it? Noel
explicitely asked for something he "can simply turn on at the beginning
of each flight and let it capture a couple of hours of video".

With a hand held camera the pilot has to point the camera to frame the
picture. With a fixed camera the pilot has to point the glider to
frame the picture. While it may be possible to turn it on and forget
it, I think it is possible, or even probable, that there would be a
temptation to fly differently with an active camera on board.

Andy

Hi Noel,

While I agree with others that you don't want to be "playing" with the video
camera while in flight, I do think that it would be OK to rigidly install
something before flight and forget it while in flight.

I had a company approach me recently about selling their digital video
systems. They are designed for use in race cars and aircraft. They are
more expensive though - starting at about $1698 for a single camera system.
It uses a very small Sony EXView 580 camera head and a small digital
recorder box. It is not HD quality, but much better than the low cost video
cameras mentioned elsewhere in this thread. The videos on their web site
are quite impressive.

I told them I would think about selling their products after seeing if their
is interest first. I plan to mention the system in my next newsletter. It
would be fun to sell products like this, but I fear that the technology is
changing so rapidly that it doesn't make sense to stock anything.

The systems are from datatoys.com. Below are some links to the products of
interest.
http://www.datatoys.com/products/Spe..._11/index.html
http://www.datatoys.com/products/Pro...duct_info.html

Let me know if you are interested in one of their systems and I'd be glad to
help you out.

Good Soaring,

Paul Remde
Cumulus Soaring, Inc.
http://www.cumulus-soaring.com

"noel.wade" wrote in message
...
Hi All,

I'm hoping to take some on-board video of my first Regional
competition in April - but all I have right now is a hand-held
camcorder. OBVIOUSLY that is not a safe device to use when doing any
serious flying; especially not in a contest environment!

So I wanted to ask folks if they knew of a good setup to use. I'm
thinking about a bullet/lipstick camera that I can put either in the
cockpit (on some kind of remote mount), or up on the TE probe. I want
something I can simply turn on at the beginning of each flight and let
it capture a couple of hours of video (hands-free operation so its not
a distraction during my competition).

I've found some interesting "helmet-cam" type systems (the VIO POV1
system is especially impressive), but I'm not sure if these systems
have a wide-enough lens or can focus on distant objects well-enough to
capture the actual scenery when soaring.

Any tips or ideas on equipment?

Thanks, take care,

--Noel

I have been pretty impressed with just how much video and audio you can do
with cheap digital still camera's... I saved 45 minutes on a single SD Card
with room to spare on my Kodak DC265...no external power source, no special
mount, just start in Video and forget it.....converting this into a DVD that
could play on any DVD player for TV Presentation took a bit more effort but
I did this with a free software from DVD Flick .
I've also seen some new digital camcorders as low as $129.00 .. with these
options I think anyone can make simple movies from a glider with pretty good
results.
tim
Please visit the Wings & Wheels website at www.wingsandwheels.com

"noel.wade" wrote in message
...
Hi All,

I'm hoping to take some on-board video of my first Regional
competition in April - but all I have right now is a hand-held
camcorder. OBVIOUSLY that is not a safe device to use when doing any
serious flying; especially not in a contest environment!

So I wanted to ask folks if they knew of a good setup to use. I'm
thinking about a bullet/lipstick camera that I can put either in the
cockpit (on some kind of remote mount), or up on the TE probe. I want
something I can simply turn on at the beginning of each flight and let
it capture a couple of hours of video (hands-free operation so its not
a distraction during my competition).

I've found some interesting "helmet-cam" type systems (the VIO POV1
system is especially impressive), but I'm not sure if these systems
have a wide-enough lens or can focus on distant objects well-enough to
capture the actual scenery when soaring.

Any tips or ideas on equipment?

Thanks, take care,

--Noel

In article
,
"noel.wade" wrote:

Any tips or ideas on equipment?

I've been playing around with this recently, trying to go for reasonable
quality at a minimum of cost. I've ended up with an Aiptek A-HD+ and a
Clampette from High Sierra Manufacturing. This camera is very much of
the no-name off-brand cheapo variety, but it does surprisingly well
considering. It's not nearly as nice as Kempton's HD Soaring stuff but
at under $200 total for everything, I'm very pleased. (Video is cool,
but past that amount I'd rather spend the money on tows!)

If you're interested you can see the one video I've done with it so far
he

http://www.mikeash.com/?page=glider_first_hd_video.html

I used the Clampette to mount it to my seat and that was that. One
trouble is that the battery only lasts about 90 minutes and the thing
refuses to record while on external power, so an external battery pack
seems not to be an option. I'm talking with their tech support to see if
there may be a way around this, but I might just be limited to shorter
recording sessions.

As for distraction, well, listen to the more experienced guys, not me.
Personally I haven't really thought about the camera while flying, but
I've only flown with it twice and maybe I just haven't noticed its
effect on me. Trying to get cool shots with the camera while in the air
is of course a big no-no, but resolving to just let it run and forget
about it until I land has worked well so far.

--
Mike Ash
Radio Free Earth
Broadcasting from our climate-controlled studios deep inside the Moon