Alternatives to gopro ----- non video making

yama · Mar 2, 2017

Hi recently bought a solo without realising it was mainly for gopro.

I've searched the forum and due to solo being gopro optimised everything point to gopro.

Basically I am looking for a an alternative to dropping £300 on a gopro if possible.

I'm looking for a camera which I can use on the gimbal (padded out) that I can use for the live feed to the controller and which I can also use for some 5cm accuracy photogrammetry surveys...

I do have some cameras that can be fixed to the bottom bay but at the moment I am looking for easy of use for testing different picture processing software. Hence I would like to use the go pro gimbal that I have already.

I do have an ehang 4k 30fps camera but I don't think it outputs live feed via the HDMI.

Any recommendations?

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FlyXlsa · Mar 2, 2017

I got a cheap Apeman Action Camera I bought on Amazon for $50
I use it on my Solo with the Static Mount along with other cameras and on my RC 4x4
I have a GoPro Hero Silver Refurb I bought from GoPro Direct for $220
There's a reason the GoPro costs more and is worth it IMHO.
Can you use something else? Yes.
Can you Control the Gimbal and Camera in-flight? Probably not.

This topic is addressed in multiple threads herein.

Use the search feature.

yama · Mar 2, 2017

Can you control the gimbal tilt and pan with a generic action cam zip tied on or does it only function with a go pro attached?

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Burb · Mar 2, 2017

FlyXlsa said:
I got a cheap Apeman Action Camera I bought on Amazon for $50
I use it on my Solo with the Static Mount along with other cameras and on my RC 4x4
I have a GoPro Hero Silver Refurb I bought from GoPro Direct for $220
There's a reason the GoPro costs more and is worth it IMHO.
Can you use something else? Yes.
Can you Control the Gimbal and Camera in-flight? Probably not.

This topic is addressed in multiple threads herein.

Use the search feature.

I will agree. I have a GoPro hero 4 black and a ACTIVEON action cam. The GoPro captures much better video quality. I use the activeon more now for stuff I just want to document and have fun. But it doesn't look near as good as the GoPro.

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FlyXlsa · Mar 2, 2017

I have only used the GoPro in the Gimbal.
I presume you could, but you can't "see" what you're shooting.
You're basically flying blind.
Someone said they got a newer Garmin Virb to work but that's a $400 camera.

yama · Mar 2, 2017

I thought any camera with mini HDMI out worked?

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yama · Mar 2, 2017

Only reason I'm not gopro ATM is price and it only does 12m stills which I use for surveys

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yama · Mar 2, 2017

cryhavoc38 · Mar 2, 2017

FlyXlsa said:
I got a cheap Apeman Action Camera I bought on Amazon for $50
I use it on my Solo with the Static Mount along with other cameras and on my RC 4x4
I have a GoPro Hero Silver Refurb I bought from GoPro Direct for $220
There's a reason the GoPro costs more and is worth it IMHO.
Can you use something else? Yes.
Can you Control the Gimbal and Camera in-flight? Probably not.

This topic is addressed in multiple threads herein.

Use the search feature.

There are some very fine action cams on the market now that destroy GP in image quality, price and features, but alas, for the Solo, we must use a GP for now.

The reason why GP's are so expensive is the extensive marketing budget that GP has.
All that advertising, sponsorship, giveaways to athletes and extreme sports comes at a cost.
The consumer pays that cost.

The Yi 4k action cam is fantastic and the new Yi 4K+ will be a killer cam once it hits the market.

XevetS · Mar 2, 2017

Here is what I did WARNING!!! Please lower your volume thanks, Its a Sony AS100V it has HDMI video feed out also great low light video. The 3d Gimbal features a storm32 controller and is connected via the Mavlink Rx/Tx, signal power is also supplied from the SOLO. I have tilt controll but no smart shot capability. I went this route because it was cheap and I had the sony already, I do not have a Gopro "yet" but I will soon it's worth it.

Anmol · Jul 28, 2017

Hi. So you ziptoed gimbal to solo and zip tied the Sony to gimbal. Which gimbal is it and what payload? Cheers.

XevetS said:
Here is what I did WARNING!!! Please lower your volume thanks,

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Its a Sony AS100V it has HDMI video feed out also great low light video. The 3d Gimbal features a storm32 controller and is connected via the Mavlink Rx/Tx, signal power is also supplied from the SOLO. I have tilt controll but no smart shot capability. I went this route because it was cheap and I had the sony already, I do not have a Gopro "yet" but I will soon it's worth it.

XevetS · Jul 28, 2017

Anmol said:
Hi. So you ziptoed gimbal to solo and zip tied the Sony to gimbal. Which gimbal is it and what payload? Cheers.

Gimbal is held on by screws the zip-ties are to compress the damper balls and hold wiring in place, the sony is attached using the velcro straps that came with a runcam2.... the gimbal is an Ebay goodluck/goodbuy storm32 3d gimbal...it works great and was cheap...and very easy to adjust the PID's.

tpsharkey · Aug 1, 2017

I just got the Eken H2 4k Ultra HD. It has ok video at 1080/60, 2700/30, and 4K/25. It can be strapped on Solo gimbal and plugged into the HDMI connector and show FPV video. It sits on top of the GoPro plug, so it's not a perfect fit, but the balancing is not too far off. I think at $56 it is an alternative to those that don't have a GoPro camera but want to use the Solo gimbal. I considered making dremel cuts for the GoPro connectors, but I have a GoPro to use and don't need to do that.

so low still grounded · Aug 1, 2017

It’s better to have descent 2K than cheap 4K. not all the cameras are offering the same standard. Some 4k cameras are offering 4K at 60p and the images look cartoony with a high pumped up Chroma and a very low luma range. Also keep in mind the micro HDMI slots face different directions some toward the lens some away. The gopro is toward the lens. Take for example the ele elite 4K on locked down time-lapse images are good but if you move that camera around well that’s another story. So then you have to shunt down to 2K at 60p otherwise judder and image quality become issues. So might as well go for a gopro that does 2K. and save to get a gopro 4K. The 4k standard is all over the show at present. I have a few different 4K cameras and I know there limitations and some are only good for 2K at 30p despite offering 4K. If I have a good steak and cut it into 20 slices or 400 slices won’t change the original meat quality. Better to have two slices of good steak than 4 pieces of horse meat sold as prime steak.