Aerial Imaging

jxo · Mar 19, 2018

Robpower said:
I have changed that set up to a Nikon J5 mirroless with a 10mm F2.8 lens, 1 inch sensor 20Mb, raw files and have added a servo and a new mount so I can tilt the camera using the paddle on the solo controller. I use a ribbon type HDMI cable from the camera to the solo HDMI connection. ...

Robpower: this looks great. Please advise on how you built or obtained the mount. I have an extra 3dr gimbal that I might try to rebuild.

Robpower · Mar 19, 2018

jxo said:
Robpower: this looks great. Please advise on how you built or obtained the mount. I have an extra 3dr gimbal that I might try to rebuild.

jxo, I did not use any of the 3dr solo gimbal. I used the go pro fixed mount that came with the solo and removed the center leg. My mount is attached directly to the plate.

My mount is something a radio controlled modeller gave me, it is basically 2 brackets, I have mounted a servo and a couple of gears on it (one on the servo and one on the mount) to get the camera side of the mount to tilt.

I used an old analogue servo I had in my parts bin and added a 3.3k resistor to each side of the servo pot to give me more travel ( I get approx 75 degree movement)

I solder a wire to the RC6 pad of the main board and this uses the paddle on the controller to operate the servo to tilt. I had to make a change in the Mission Planner software, setting RC6 from 0 to 1.

The camera is using the time-lapse function) intervalometer to take an image ever 15 seconds. I am looking at setting up a shutter trigger but will need to go to open Solo 3.0 operating software, my solo software is stock.

Thats about it, here is a closer pic of the actual mount with camera, hope this helps. It is by no means the perfect solution and I am not an engineer but it works for what I want to achieve, it has evolved from the fixed mount I started with, see here Camera Mount - Lumix TZ110

I hope this helps, cheers, Rob

jxo · Mar 19, 2018

Robpower said:
jxo, I did not use any of the 3dr solo gimbal. I used the go pro fixed mount that came with the solo and removed the center leg. My mount is attached directly to the plate.

My mount is something a radio controlled modeller gave me, it is basically 2 brackets, I have mounted a servo and a couple of gears on it (one on the servo and one on the mount) to get the camera side of the mount to tilt.

I used an old analogue servo I had in my parts bin and added a 3.3k resistor to each side of the servo pot to give me more travel ( I get approx 75 degree movement)

I solder a wire to the RC6 pad of the main board and this uses the paddle on the controller to operate the servo to tilt. I had to make a change in the Mission Planner software, setting RC6 from 0 to 1.

The camera is using the time-lapse function) intervalometer to take an image ever 15 seconds. I am looking at setting up a shutter trigger but will need to go to open Solo 3.0 operating software, my solo software is stock.

Thats about it, here is a closer pic of the actual mount with camera, hope this helps. It is by no means the perfect solution and I am not an engineer but it works for what I want to achieve, it has evolved from the fixed mount I started with, see here Camera Mount - Lumix TZ110

I hope this helps, cheers, Rob

Awesome stuff. How does the drone fly with all that weight?

Robpower · Mar 19, 2018

jxo said:
Awesome stuff. How does the drone fly with all that weight?

jxo, when I had the first mount with the lumix it didn't weigh much more than the solo gimbal and hero 4. The J5 Nikon is a lighter camera but I haven't had the chance to see how heavy this set up is. I might do this when I am home again.

It flies fine, better than my first mount, I don't do anything fast anyway, but usually average about 15-18min in the air depending on weather and am flying it 120m (400ft) high and usually about 800 metres away to fit our 40 acre property in the image.

makatanav · Jul 12, 2018

Robpower said:
The J5 Nikon is a lighter camera but I haven't had the chance to see how heavy this set up is. I might do this when I am home again

Hi, Robpower,

Also I would be interested in how much is the weight of gimball and gimball+camera

p.s. I`m new here, more than year shooting with DJI Spark, but looking for RAW, larger sensor etc (FF MLC shooter)

Robpower · Jul 31, 2018

I don't have a very accurate scale at home but managed to weigh the drone with a suitcase scale hanging in a slign. The drone had a battery, props,my camera mount and Nikon J5 and camera battery attached, ready to fly, it weighed just over 2kg (5lb) Solo specs state for a solo with gimbal and go pro it weighs 1.8kg (3.9lb) so mine is a bit heavier.

I am using Master air screw props and get 15 min safe flight time (usually land with 20% left in batteries) and my batteries are a few years old.

I hope this helps, cheers, Rob

makatanav · Aug 1, 2018

got my 3DR Solo on 5dy, had not flown it yet
DIY camera gimball is in progres (almosut completed), will throw some pictures here soon

blahdc · Aug 1, 2018

andrew.baker.142 said:
You can add an alternate camera mounting location to the accessory bay. It is closer to the Solo's longitudinal CG.

Thanks for posting this. Can you provide more details on the mount. I tried to model and print a mount but when I attached the S110 to it I ended up cracking some of the frame. There is a small gray piece that sticks out preventing the mount to be flush which may have caused the issue? I don't understand how those small metric screws can support much weight as compared to the gopro/gimbal mount. Pictures of my issue here: Mounting 2nd camera to Accessory Bay

Robpower · Oct 28, 2018

I have printed up a new mount for my Nikon J5. First time I have drawn something up to be printed and I am sure I can refine it. This was my first go. I have made the mount a bit wider to suit my lumix or Nikon j1 if the j5 has issues out in the field.

This mount with the servo directly mounted to the lower bracket where the camera sits allows a full 90 degree option, still using ch6 and the gimbal tilt control. Haven’t gone done the path of using ch7 to trigger the shutter (still using the intervalometer in the camera) This mount also mounts on the fixed gopro mount using the dampening part, not direct like my other mount. This set up is for still images, not video.