Flew my Vision with TWO CAMERAS today!

[dutchcfi]

Have been experiencing some camera dropouts where the Phantom's own camera freezes in mid flight.This happened before and after the latest firmware upgrade.
Anyways, that started me preparing for the eventuality that I may soon be without a reliable camera one day...
So I decided to experiment with a very small Full HD action camera: the Blackvue SC500. It's even smaller than the GoPro!
I mounted it with Velcro right behind the other camera, as close to the center of gravity as possible.
I can have it face backwards or perfectly downwards, which is not really possible with the Vision camera.
A short test flight revealed that it has real potential. It made the Phantom slowly rotate though which might indicate that it was not perfectly centered. It might also shorten the endurance a bit...

 

[Studiowise]

It made the Phantom slowly rotate though which might indicate that it was not perfectly centered. It might also shorten the endurance a bit...

I can top you by one!
I was hoping my Dronexpert gimbal would have arrived and I wanted to be ready to film it in action for a review I'm planning so I mounted my goPro as usual behind the vision camera (see avatar) and a Mobius HD looking down from the front bracket (see avatar!). Flew great (props sounded like they were definitely working harder). Only no sign of the gimbal (yet)

 

[FPV col]

It made the Phantom slowly rotate though which might indicate that it was not perfectly centered. It might also shorten the endurance a bit...

I can top you by one!
I was hoping my Dronexpert gimbal would have arrived and I wanted to be ready to film it in action for a review I'm planning so I mounted my goPro as usual behind the vision camera (see avatar) and a Mobius HD looking down from the front bracket (see avatar!). Flew great (props sounded like they were definitely working harder). Only no sign of the gimbal (yet)

Looks interesting Studiowise, what's the flight time with the added weight ? Any pics you would like to share

 

[Studiowise]

Looks interesting Studiowise, what's the flight time with the added weight ? Any pics you would like to share

This all came about because I needed a straight down shot for a planning application and you just cant do this with the Vision. Then I thought id compare Vision output with my GoPro3 by shooting the same stuff simultaneously.
The Mobius HD is a huge leap up in quality from my last 808 type keychain camera - it only weighs 39g and is widely used by the glider community (who are obsessed with weight!).

Here's the temporary install for the Mobius so I can film my gimbal in action doing its thing (when it arrives :x ). And also here's the GoPro3 install so you can use it for straight down shots or have it facing forward behind the Vision camera (hand catching is recommended though!)

Flight time was reduced but by how much i'm not really sure. I still had two bars (one flashing) on the battery and i'd been flying for over ten minutes.

Dutchcfi - what's the weight of your extra Blackvue SC500 camera? How did you find flight time was affected?

 

[artsribanpot]

Have been experiencing some camera dropouts where the Phantom's own camera freezes in mid flight.This happened before and after the latest firmware upgrade.
Anyways, that started me preparing for the eventuality that I may soon be without a reliable camera one day...
So I decided to experiment with a very small Full HD action camera: the Blackvue SC500. It's even smaller than the GoPro!
I mounted it with Velcro right behind the other camera, as close to the center of gravity as possible.
I can have it face backwards or perfectly downwards, which is not really possible with the Vision camera.
A short test flight revealed that it has real potential. It made the Phantom slowly rotate though which might indicate that it was not perfectly centered. It might also shorten the endurance a bit...

Hi dutchcfi, I also have the same issue, just this morning. I updated vision camera firmware last night, flew my P2V this AM, the same image stayed on my iphone till the end, I turn off and on the camera(through iphone) a few times and nothing happened, same image was still frozen on iphone. I know that when I turned it on and off during flight worked by revealing files on my pc. The temperature was 16F, I flew my P2V many times in Connecticut when it was only 5F-8F and camera worked fine till an update the night before. Wonder if removing update camera firmware is possible! Anybody?

 

[dutchcfi]

Regards weights of the Blackvue: I dismantled the LCD to save a few more grams (easy clip on) and will give you the exact figures when I get back home in a couple of days.
Still need to figure out the rotating tendency...

 

[dutchcfi]

If you read my previous post you could have noticed:
1. I only had one short test flight
2. Problems with rotating
3. Am away from my Phantom for a few more days...

Anyways, can't wait to experiment some more!

 

[FPV col]

Looks interesting Studiowise, what's the flight time with the added weight ? Any pics you would like to share

This all came about because I needed a straight down shot for a planning application and you just cant do this with the Vision. Then I thought id compare Vision output with my GoPro3 by shooting the same stuff simultaneously.
The Mobius HD is a huge leap up in quality from my last 808 type keychain camera - it only weighs 39g and is widely used by the glider community (who are obsessed with weight!).

Here's the temporary install for the Mobius so I can film my gimbal in action doing its thing (when it arrives :x ). And also here's the GoPro3 install so you can use it for straight down shots or have it facing forward behind the Vision camera (hand catching is recommended though!)

Flight time was reduced but by how much i'm not really sure. I still had two bars (one flashing) on the battery and i'd been flying for over ten minutes.

Dutchcfi - what's the weight of your extra Blackvue SC500 camera? How did you find flight time was affected?

Thanks for posting pics Studiowise, looks a great setup you have there and I've just done a quick research on the Mobius HD and that thing shoots sweet footage.. Great idea about filming Gimbal working, I'm looking forward to seeing that

 

[dutchcfi]

Got a few shots of my rig with the Blackvue Sport SC500 camera.
Hopefully more flights soon.

 

[dutchcfi]

Another test flight with BOTH cameras operating.
No rotating problem today -- camera must be in the right spot now, I guess.
Having this small Blackvue cam on board doesn't seem to effect the performance or endurance much...

When I looked at the vertical video of the SC500 I must say I'm impressed with the quality of it!
At least on the same par as the FC200.

Will do more testing and see if I can post a short vid and some photos.