What non-gopro cameras are people using on solo?

[pious_greek]

What non-gopro cameras are people using on solo?
Are there any cheap HD cameras with HDMI output that anybody recommends?

 

[Dogman1973]

On my second Solo, I'm using a Sony Nex5t on a fixed mount with a 16mm F2.8 pancake lens. I use this rig just for mapping type applications. The output quality for producing orthomosaics compared to the GP H4B is night and day.

I use the Flytron IR adapter to control shutter (in mission planner/tower etc), and the HDMI out works fine with the Solo for the realtime view.

 

[Tomsu]

I use a Panasonic DMC-GM1. It is a 16mp, micro 4/3 camera with interchangeable lenses. Currently running the 14mm pancake lens, but the kit 12-32mm works great with legs extensions. The 14mm is a touch lighter.

I am not sure what the fascination with automatic camera triggering is. Majority of my missions are flown at 50m and 5m/sec speed, taking a picture every 1 sec. At this setting, I get a ground resolution of 1.35cm. That is a pixel size of 1/2 inch on the ground. The GM1 has an intervolmeter that can be set in 1 sec intervals. I shoot in manual, iso 200 (lowest the camera goes), speed 500 (fastest the camera will shoot with mechanical shutter, the electronic shutter has given me issues in the past). I meter the light for aperture setting. If there are scattered clouds, i sometimes shoot in speed priority and let the camera auto meter for every shot (this has caused missed shots). I shoot in raw, so correcting the exposure in Lightroom is very easy. I can easily get 2 stops of exposure correction without losing any detail with this camera. My overlaps are 90% front and 80%. I know seems like overkill, but i have never had time in the field to process my photos to see how many shots were missed or blurry. With this overlap, I can throw away all the bad (if any,) and cherry pick the very best. No matter what camera you put on a uav, the camera will not give feed back if the photo did not take or was blurry. Even if someone came up with camera that did give feedback, is the drone supposed to turn around and try again? This why I go beyond the recommended overlap and could care less if I have automatic triggering.

I have also added a true analog fpv system with negligible latency. Trying to fly the Solo with digital latency is very difficult when doing tower or roof inspections. This is basically the same setup most fpv racers are using and I have it wired directly to 12v supply on the main board. When i turn on the battery, it fires up. Slap on my Fat Shark V3's and I can put the Solo confidently anywhere I want.

So to sum it up, forget automatic triggering for missions and mount any camera you want on the Solo. Lighter is better. My Solo weighs exactly the same as with the gimbal and GoPro mounted. So I have not lost anymore flight time than anyone else and I get better control with much better pictures. Still fits in the backpack with 7 batteries and 2 chargers! I keep the camera in a separate Pelican case with my GoPro, lenses, camera chargers and batteries.

 

[Pedals2Paddles]

For those fixed mount mapping cameras, you don't find the pitch/roll angle of the aircraft to be detrimental to the images? It seems like every image would be a slightly different angle as the solo compensates for wind and makes turns. I've never tried it with anything other than the GoPro on the gimbal, which does a decent job keeping it level.

 

[Tomsu]

I agree that camera angle can be detrimental when you are using the bare minimum overlaps, but that is why I exceed the recommended. The gimbal is also nice to reduce blurry pics. My setup will produce a lot better quality and accurate 3D models than the GoPro mounted on a gimbal. The Solo will never be able to handle the weight of a decent size sensor camera and gimbal. If you look at the setups of the "professional" survey drones, i.e. Ebee, Trimble UX5, etc., none of them have gimbals. Older photogrammetry software had issues with pictures that were not pointed straight down (nadir), but that is not an issue now. If you are surveying a project with any structures or varying heights, Pix4D actually recommends a camera angle of 30-45 degree angle to be able to capture the sides of buildings or structures. No project is perfectly level, so your camera will always be at some angle to surface, with or without gimbal. I survey several projects on the ground with my dslr and have zero issues with not pointing my camera perpendicular to surface I am trying to capture.

Here is a link to some of my projects I have done:
Tomsu Group, LLC

 

[CheapoHeli]

Sony AS20 action cam in standard mount No video in because it uses a gopro mount in the waterproof housing(no way to plug). \

Akaso EK7000 Gopro knockoff. Used in the same way as above but in the gimbal with a block between it and the backplate(so I don't put pressure on the gopro plug) and zip tied. Video is crisp and smooth but no live feed.

Both of these options are because I don't have a Hero4 but I do have one on order(hero4 black). Once it gets here I wouldn't mess with the other two.

 

[Dogman1973]

For those fixed mount mapping cameras, you don't find the pitch/roll angle of the aircraft to be detrimental to the images? It seems like every image would be a slightly different angle as the solo compensates for wind and makes turns. I've never tried it with anything other than the GoPro on the gimbal, which does a decent job keeping it level.

I've 'bent' my bracket to give a 5-10 degree forward pitch, under the assumption most images will be shot during forward movement... seems to work ok.

 

[corlo]

I'm using a Sony Nex5t on a fixed mount with a 16mm F2.8 pancake lens.

What type of fixed mount are you using?, I'm planing to use my Nex 5 to with my solo.

 

[NewAgeAerial.com]

I use a Panasonic DMC-GM1. It is a 16mp, micro 4/3 camera with interchangeable lenses. Currently running the 14mm pancake lens, but the kit 12-32mm works great with legs extensions. The 14mm is a touch lighter.

I am not sure what the fascination with automatic camera triggering is. Majority of my missions are flown at 50m and 5m/sec speed, taking a picture every 1 sec. At this setting, I get a ground resolution of 1.35cm. That is a pixel size of 1/2 inch on the ground. The GM1 has an intervolmeter that can be set in 1 sec intervals. I shoot in manual, iso 200 (lowest the camera goes), speed 500 (fastest the camera will shoot with mechanical shutter, the electronic shutter has given me issues in the past). I meter the light for aperture setting. If there are scattered clouds, i sometimes shoot in speed priority and let the camera auto meter for every shot (this has caused missed shots). I shoot in raw, so correcting the exposure in Lightroom is very easy. I can easily get 2 stops of exposure correction without losing any detail with this camera. My overlaps are 90% front and 80%. I know seems like overkill, but i have never had time in the field to process my photos to see how many shots were missed or blurry. With this overlap, I can throw away all the bad (if any,) and cherry pick the very best. No matter what camera you put on a uav, the camera will not give feed back if the photo did not take or was blurry. Even if someone came up with camera that did give feedback, is the drone supposed to turn around and try again? This why I go beyond the recommended overlap and could care less if I have automatic triggering.

I have also added a true analog fpv system with negligible latency. Trying to fly the Solo with digital latency is very difficult when doing tower or roof inspections. This is basically the same setup most fpv racers are using and I have it wired directly to 12v supply on the main board. When i turn on the battery, it fires up. Slap on my Fat Shark V3's and I can put the Solo confidently anywhere I want.

So to sum it up, forget automatic triggering for missions and mount any camera you want on the Solo. Lighter is better. My Solo weighs exactly the same as with the gimbal and GoPro mounted. So I have not lost anymore flight time than anyone else and I get better control with much better pictures. Still fits in the backpack with 7 batteries and 2 chargers! I keep the camera in a separate Pelican case with my GoPro, lenses, camera chargers and batteries.

View attachment 4772 View attachment 4773 View attachment 4774 View attachment 4775 View attachment 4776

your a hard company to track down, I found your youtube and linkedin, but where is the website sir?

 

[Dogman1973]

What type of fixed mount are you using?, I'm planing to use my Nex 5 to with my solo.

I printed some models off thingverse...
3DR Solo accessory bay adapter for second camera by AlpoHassinen
3DR Solo generic camera mount by joelnewman

Added an angle bracket..

I'm away for the holidays, but will upload a pic when I'm home

 

[fabian29907]

Trying to read whatever I can on these. The $299 deal at BB seems too good to pass up. I have a FPV camera with it's own monitor from an entry level toy racer that I would imagine I can wire up as mentioned in a previous post. I've seen claims of go pro clones being successfully used for live feed but can anyone CONFIRM? Not that I should let my current lack of FPV deter from the deal at this time. At least I don't think so...

 

[hblanken]

There are many threads talking about alternative cameras for Solo. It seems like there is no single best answer and all depends on your specific needs. Here is a list of what I have picked up so far. Would be great to make this list more complete. Please all add to this to make it better.

What are some of your considerations?

Mount (Fixed or Solo gimbal) / HDMI live feed (yes/no) / Remote shot control (yes/no) / Connection (Wifi/USB) / Weight (g) / Image ground resolution @ 20m / Zoom (x) / Cost $ / ...

• GoPro H4B (gimbal, HDMI out, shotmanager, usb connection, 88g, 3840x2160px, ground res?, no zoom, ~$299)
• Sony QX1 (fixed, no HDMI out?, shotmanager over wifi with mavlink?, 216g, 16-50mm zoom, ~$699)
• Sony QX10 (fixed, no HDMI out?, shotmanager over wifi with mavlink?, 105g, 10x zoom, ~$299)
• Sony Nex5 (...)
• Sony A5100
• Sony A6000
• Sony AS20
• Panasonic DMC-GM1
• Akaso EK7000
• Sjcam Legend SJ6
• Sjcam Sj5000
• Sjcam Sj7000

360 cameras

• Samsung Gear 360
• Insta360

 

[pyrate]

there are 0 cameras that will integrate with the solo gimbal and work as designed 100%

That being said, people have used 3rd party gimbals to put gopro knockoffs on the solo
People do a lot of hard mount mapping rigs like the Mapir cameras
Ian of IMP makes a ton of static mounts for all kinds of point and shoot class that can me used for mapping.

There is a real expensive rig for the sony QX1 but it is only a two axis gimbal for pointing not stabilizing

 

[Tomsu]

your a hard company to track down, I found your youtube and linkedin, but where is the website sir?

Sorry, one of these days I will get the website back going. Has not been a priority, unfortunately. Main business is 3D modeling for gps machine control and custom modeling for engineering.

 

[CheapoHeli]

My gopro knockoff works very well in the oem gimbal simply zip tied in place. No rings needed and very smooth playback. You just have to start video before taking off.

 

[pyrate]

that is why I said it wont work as designed you have no camera control at all

 

[jayinsc]

"Ian of IMP makes a ton of static mounts for all kinds of point and shoot class that can me used for mapping."

Hey Pyrate, do you have a link you could share to "IMP". Hopefully not missing an obvious acronym here but its been known to happen during the holidayz lol

 

[IMP Concepts]

www.impconcepts.com

 

[NewAgeAerial.com]

Sorry, one of these days I will get the website back going. Has not been a priority, unfortunately. Main business is 3D modeling for gps machine control and custom modeling for engineering.

tell me more!

 

[jayinsc]

Thanks IMP. I'll be ordering a few late xmas gifts for me when I get home