What Camera?

Fireforge · Nov 19, 2017

I just got a 3DR solo and the gimbal I need a camera still. What kind of GoPro should I get that works with the gimbal. What is the Cheapest GoPro I can get?

brianuc4 · Nov 19, 2017

Gopro 4 black. If you want control of the camera from your transmitter you'll need to downgrade to firmware version 3.

Fireforge · Nov 19, 2017

brianuc4 said:
Gopro 4 black. If you want control of the camera from your transmitter you'll need to downgrade to firmware version 3.

Awesome thank you any other tips?

brianuc4 · Nov 19, 2017

The gopro 3 is cheaper but the Solo was designed for either one. If you plan on doing a lot of video be sure and pick up extra batteries

Fireforge · Nov 19, 2017

brianuc4 said:
The gopro 3 is cheaper but the Solo was designed for either one. If you plan on doing a lot of video be sure and pick up extra batteries

What edition of the hero 3?

brianuc4 · Nov 19, 2017

The 3+

Perspective · Nov 19, 2017

3+ black NOT silver. I own a silver and it will not stay on while plugged into gimbal. Other forums I've read verify this problem. The gimbal is designed for 3+ black and 4 silver and black, that's it.

IrishmanPDX · Nov 20, 2017

brianuc4 said:
Gopro 4 black. If you want control of the camera from your transmitter you'll need to downgrade to firmware version 3.

Something I'm missing here? I have 2.5 GoPro Hero 4 blacks ( the .5 alludes to one of them needing repair!), all are running the latest firmware and I can control all of them from the transmitter. Adjust resolution, fps, start/stop recordings, trigger the camera. Are you saying there's other functionality to be gained from downgrading the firmware? As far as I know the only thing the transmitter doesn't do is power on your camera once it's connected to the gimbal, you have to power it on manually.

brianuc4 · Nov 20, 2017

Apparently I'm missing something because I've never had control of the camera so I was told i had to downgrade firmware.

IrishmanPDX · Nov 20, 2017

brianuc4 said:
Apparently I'm missing something because I've never had control of the camera so I was told i had to downgrade firmware.

I think when the solo was released, the gopro firmware might have had an issue and the only way to fix it at the time was to revert, however I've been running the latest firmware across all my camera's and never had any issues with gimbal control, camera control etc. Like I said, the only thing it doesn't do is power on the camera. Are you using a GP4 Black or a different model? Wondering if maybe the silver has an issue?

brianuc4 · Nov 20, 2017

I'm using the 4 black. Now I'm curious if installing the latest firmware will help. I'm going to tackle this issue as soon as I get home from work tonight.

Saijin_Naib · Nov 20, 2017

Use two GP4B at work. Full control of settings in the gimbal with the v5.x firmware, just have to turn it on manually. Turns off just fine from the gimbal.

IrishmanPDX · Nov 20, 2017

Yeah it's a curious one. As far as I remember the "lastest" update was back in... Feb or March of 2016? So been using Firmware 5.0 across all 2.5 cameras (look, I'll get it fixed next week ok?) and have full control. However, did come across several threads with people complaining about their camera's not working and people suggesting they reload the V3 firmware. So wondering if it was a problem with the firmware before V5, or a problem with the 3DR software at the time. Either way, sounds like the issue was solved quite some time ago. So let us know what happens when you load the V5 firmware!

brianuc4 · Nov 20, 2017

IrishmanPDX said:
Yeah it's a curious one. As far as I remember the "lastest" update was back in... Feb or March of 2016? So been using Firmware 5.0 across all 2.5 cameras (look, I'll get it fixed next week ok?) and have full control. However, did come across several threads with people complaining about their camera's not working and people suggesting they reload the V3 firmware. So wondering if it was a problem with the firmware before V5, or a problem with the 3DR software at the time. Either way, sounds like the issue was solved quite some time ago. So let us know what happens when you load the V5 firmware!

What tablet are you using? Im wondering if maybe using my Note 5 to run Solex is part of the issue.

IrishmanPDX · Nov 20, 2017

I'm using a Samsung Galaxy S5 and a cheapo $99 tablet from Amazon, both work okish (the tablet is a little slow for the video feed). I did a quick search on the threads here, what I found was that after Ver 3, Ver 4 was launched and people had lots of trouble with camera control. So much so that people were reverting back to Ver 3. When Ver 5 came out, people upgraded and there were very few issues. However there were a few extra features added to Ver 4 and Ver 5 which weren't accessible through the solo menu, only accessible via the camera. Didn't affect most users, but people with custom lenses had a few issues, so they stuck with Ver 3 simply because it removed these options. That's the very basic summery at least. So I can't see you having an issue with Ver 5.

brianuc4 · Nov 20, 2017

IrishmanPDX said:
I think when the solo was released, the gopro firmware might have had an issue and the only way to fix it at the time was to revert, however I've been running the latest firmware across all my camera's and never had any issues with gimbal control, camera control etc. Like I said, the only thing it doesn't do is power on the camera. Are you using a GP4 Black or a different model? Wondering if maybe the silver has an issue?

I have camera controls in Solex app now! I got home and upgraded to the "latest" firmware for the GoPro (which was from 2016 like you said lol) and voila, I have full controls. This will make flying more enjoyable for me. Thanks

joeyscustoms · Nov 21, 2017

I did the updates to the latest firmware on my hero 3+black and 4+black and both do a great job with solo gimbal and both are controlled by the TX.

DJMc · Nov 21, 2017

V5 also has the in-camera lens correction - 'linear' mode. That's the trade off I made for the loss of the stop/start in V3.

PaulClement · Nov 21, 2017

Fireforge said:
I just got a 3DR solo and the gimbal I need a camera still. What kind of GoPro should I get that works with the gimbal. What is the Cheapest GoPro I can get?

Um using a gopro hero 3+black. It works well.

IrishmanPDX · Nov 21, 2017

So the lesson to this story is.... don't always believe what you read or here, instead try it yourself to see if it's true. Although keeping that in mind, seriously, drone props to the face REALLY do hurt...... I've read...