New GoPro Black Mounted to 550e DFC v3

[PorscheBoy]

Just thought I'd share my first vid using my new Hero3 Black Edition using my first attempt at a mounting on my 550e DFC v3. I didn't try anything drastic with the flying as I wanted to check the mounting was capable (even though camera was on a safety retaining leash).

Filmed at 1080p, YouTube has somewhat knocked some of the quality out. When viewed direct from the camera to an HDTV via an HDMI cable, the footage is frankly superb, so God knows how much better the next settings are (2700 & 4K).

The "jelly" effect that you can see a bit of on YouTube is nowhere near as evident on the master version.

Porscheboy's GoPro

[muscleflex]

i'm enjoying my gopro as well. any photos of the actual mount and what the gopro looks like mounted?

[PorscheBoy]

i'm enjoying my gopro as well. any photos of the actual mount and what the gopro looks like mounted?

Yes, will do. I thought about that when I uploaded the vid (Whilst terribly busy at work...). Once I get home, I'll take a couple of pics and post them. Got to say though, well pleased with the results (Not the flying, just the results ).

[PorscheBoy]

Muscleflex, pictures of the mount and with the GoPro in position.

I will also sort out a more attractive safety tether arrangement. This works but is ugly

Now I am happy with things I am going to put a couple of countersunk security bolts through the mount and frame on the heli so I don't totally rely on the GoPro 3M stickypad, although they say they are very good, but.....

As you can see the camera is in line with the main shaft so generally only affects the heli in one direction, although there was no difference with take off and flight (Good old vBar!!), the only difference was with the 2mtr auto where the heli came down quicker than I expected.

2013-09-16 16.43.44.jpg2013-09-16 16.43.56.jpg2013-09-16 16.44.48.jpg2013-09-16 16.44.59.jpg2013-09-16 16.45.25.jpg2013-09-16 16.45.45.jpg2013-09-16 16.45.57.jpg

[tourerjim]

Just thought I'd share my first vid using my new Hero3 Black Edition using my first attempt at a mounting on my 550e DFC v3. I didn't try anything drastic with the flying as I wanted to check the mounting was capable (even though camera was on a safety retaining leash).

Filmed at 1080p, YouTube has somewhat knocked some of the quality out. When viewed direct from the camera to an HDTV via an HDMI cable, the footage is frankly superb, so God knows how much better the next settings are (2700 & 4K).

The "jelly" effect that you can see a bit of on YouTube is nowhere near as evident on the master version.

Porscheboy's GoPro

I had the same problem with the jelly effect & had a few attemps to solve so now i'm working on mounting based on tips from others that have mounted cameras.

[muscleflex]

Ahh I see what you did - you used the adhesive mount and the 2 axis arms to mount the camera. Thanks for the photos!

[dillwhacker]

Nice vid - vibes are pretty low compared with many so the mount must be pretty good (or you balanced your blades!) -Gotta love the GoPro Black.
Interesting that you don't have the 'bendy-horizon' in this vid...
I'd be intersted to know what settings you used (resolution and Field Of View).

Edit - sorry just saw it was 1080P - was it wide, med or narrow?
Trev

[PorscheBoy]

Nice vid - vibes are pretty low compared with many so the mount must be pretty good (or you balanced your blades!) -Gotta love the GoPro Black.
Interesting that you don't have the 'bendy-horizon' in this vid...
I'd be intersted to know what settings you used (resolution and Field Of View).

Edit - sorry just saw it was 1080P - was it wide, med or narrow?
Trev

Hi Trev', 1080 wide at 60fps.

Got rid of the "bendy horizon" using the Free download of GoPro Studio 2 (it seems you have to convert the footage before you can use it in other s/ware or upload). Once you are working with an imported vid' there is a setting under the advanced settings button (bottom left) for eliminating the fisheye effect. Seems to work pretty well, but I wonder if that has made the jello effect more evident as when I watch the original footage, as I said, the jello effect is way less visible to the point of almost not there at all.

Try this site http://abekislevitz.com/understanding-your-new-gopro/ (There are a couple of links on the page) It gives you a good insight into using the black, but basic rule of thumb seems to be; leave your stills at 12mp wide, video at 1080p wide 60fps for lighter conditions and 1080p wide 30fps for lower light conditions, that will give you good videos, you can then play with the other settings once you have a handle on things. At least that is the way I'm approaching it

[PorscheBoy]

Bit more (possibly) helpful info for your GoPro Hero3 Black Edition

Information copied from Abe Kislevitz's article (Thanks Abe)

RES FPS FOV Notes


WVGA 240 Wide Aliasing present. Looks decent enough on YouTube.
720 60 Wide Looks great.
720 120 Wide Jagged edges at full resolution. Looks great when scaled down for YouTube.
720 120 Narrow No aliasing, no lens distortion. Clean, great slow-mo.
960 48 Wide Unknown.
960 100 Wide As with 720-120-wide, this has jagged edges at full res. Could be fixed by stretching to 1080.
1080 30 Wide One of the cleanest modes, no improvement over 2.7k-30-wide.
1080 60 Wide Slightly softer than 30fps but hardly noticeable. Reduces rolling shutter, great for action.
1080 60 Medium Very clean, less lens distortion and good slow-mo
1080 60 Narrow Softer overall, no lens distortion (Nore like dSLR). Sensor noise could be an issue
1440 30 Wide Very sharp and very clean, great POV. Aspect ratio is 4:3 though.
1440 48 Wide Some aliasing at full res. Some jagged edges. Looks good scaled down
2.7k 30 Wide Excellent. Sharp as a knife. Does exhibit rolling shutter. Nice motion blur. Good in low light.
2.7k 24 CIN Same as 2.7k-30-wide but at 24fps with top and bottom of image cut off.
4k 15 Wide Good for timelapse with added blur in CineForm and conformed to 30FPS
4k 12 CIN Same as 4K-15-wide but lower framerate and top and bottom cut off.

[dillwhacker]

Bit more (possibly) helpful info for your GoPro Hero3 Black Edition ......

Thanks for both of those Paul.
The fish-eye effect nearly put me off the GP black edition, but I relented and bought one used and was sooo impressed with the sharpness & colour balance and smoothness / lack of missing frames, I was glad I did.
Now, if I can straighten the fish-eye, well, it is a flipping magic camera for its size and weight.
I'll get the GoPro Studio 2 up and running ASAP.
Thanks.
Trev

[tomatwalden]

If you want to do aerial filming from your GoPro - you might want to look at the new Blade 350QX - it's designed with GoPro's in mind ...

[dillwhacker]

If you want to do aerial filming from your GoPro - you might want to look at the new Blade 350QX - it's designed with GoPro's in mind ...

Cheers, but I got a DJI 450 NAZA with roll & pitch gimbal that flies a treat - except I can only get 6 minutes on it fully loaded with the Go Pro and the FPV gear and 24.999 watt VTX... With 4S 3300 LiPo's.
The floppiness of the gimbal plus the mass of the frame & GoPro means vibes are almost non-existent at 1080P / 60 FPS - little props remember, not a great big rotor - Vid & FPV are great, I would just like 10 or 12 minutes....

[PorscheBoy]

Thanks for both of those Paul.
The fish-eye effect nearly put me off the GP black edition, but I relented and bought one used and was sooo impressed with the sharpness & colour balance and smoothness / lack of missing frames, I was glad I did.
Now, if I can straighten the fish-eye, well, it is a flipping magic camera for its size and weight.
I'll get the GoPro Studio 2 up and running ASAP.
Thanks.
Trev

I was concerned about the price of the Black, and when you see it in the flesh it is soo small, you think have I bought the right thing? But well chuffed now (and starting to get to terms with the GoPro Studio2 which is free) and will start experimenting with the different settings, EXCEPT the wireless function while on the heli! I have now read too many stories about losing signal to the heli. I think the GoPro wireless which originates in the camera is 2.4GHz (I might be wrong) and it can blanket the Rx on the heli and down she goes. Shame really, as even though it is quite laggy, the GoPro app on the iPhone works really well.

[muscleflex]

I was kinda worried about the price too and the talks of a new 4 coming out soon (maybe next month) but i needed to get it now for my honeymoon in 2 weeks' time and i want some underwater videos!
At the moment, I only have an 8gb card tho.. maybe a 16gb card is enough considering the battery is only a tad over an hour anyway.

The app is great altho I tend to only use it to set up my FoV and once i've framed it, I switch wifi off. Can't really use the app for live recordings - the lag is so bad!

[PorscheBoy]

I was kinda worried about the price too and the talks of a new 4 coming out soon (maybe next month) but i needed to get it now for my honeymoon in 2 weeks' time and i want some underwater videos!
At the moment, I only have an 8gb card tho.. maybe a 16gb card is enough considering the battery is only a tad over an hour anyway.

Make sure it is a class 10 card (I managed to get two 64Gb class 10 through work.... ). You might need to get a second card just in case you fill the first one and cannot unload it.