Camera Mount

[jb cub]

Hello,

 This is a short clip on how I made my camera mount for my super cub

nothing special but it works good enough for me.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaQK-SI_0JE

[hghost]

Like those video's.

But has anyone considered mounting a camera in the windshield ? There is a sensor already there ( most everyone never uses ) Remove it, mount camera inside with lens in hole opening where sensor use to be perhaps ? OR...mount on top of the wing perhaps ?

Most are on wing, or bottom of fuselage and some even pointing backwards ....why not on top or out the windshield ? Just a thought . Any ideas ?

[jb cub]

Hummm, that does sound like a good idea. Sure would be safer for the camera and the view might be pretty realistic as well. Only thing is removing the wing to remove camera. But now I thinking on it.... might be something I have to try... lol
Thanks for the idea
jb cub

[hghost]

That was my hope, give someone an idea

[coupe1942]

Personally, I feel it is okay to mount a camera there, but only if you want to view the continuous flapping of the prop in front of it. Believe me, I thought of doing such in the past, but I decided against it, as there is a lot of foam removal to do in mounting most cameras there. If you also added in a wooden saddle up front for your wing, then that would be in the way for easy removal or insertion of the camera. This is if you mount the camera from inside the cockpit area. If you mount it from the outside, you will have to whittle out the section for your camera and ensure it is still tethered to avoid loss, but also mounted in a manner that angles the camera upwards enough to show video outside the prop spin to avoid those irritating scallops across the scene in any playback of the video. I am sort of focused more on a Mobius as the camera of choice, as there are many. Another problem is actually your field of view or field of capture. The wide angle cameras will extend this wide enough that your probably not going to like the results with those flaps of the prop showing in the video. The prop showing as it spins is probably the major problem with mounting a camera of any sort where it picks this up in the video. Watching such a video is akin to watching miles and miles of white stripes on a road where someone has taken the video of such. Many of the small cameras have the lens in a different location on the camera body, so that can be a handicap or a plus, depending upon the location of the camera location. Another factor is the added weight of the mount and camera to the nose area, as it can shift the CoG and possibly make the plane a bit nose heavy. Depends upon the camera being used though. One other thought is the amount of vibration and motor noise when the camera is mounted so close to the front as it would be in the cockpit windshield area. Just something to consider though in placement. 

I made a diy mount that I used on my maiden flight with my old Mobius camera. It was mounted onto the top of the wing and didn't pick up the prop spin, due to the angle. Unfortunately, on that day I didn't have my camera mounted on that particular mount in my first crash though. The mount I did use failed and the camera flew to the pavement. The Mobius is really not designed to take a lot of impact. Mine broke immediately when I slammed the plane into the side of a vacant liquor store. My lesson learned was that my Mobius was way to expensive to treat in that manner. My GoPro would have withstood the crash, as it is contained inside a protective case. Not so with the Mobius, so I learned that the key chain cameras are much, much cheaper to replace if ruined like that.

I am not trying to discourage anyone from attempting to make a good mount in this location for their SC, but like anything, the mount has to be thought out pretty well or the end result may well be something you really didn't expect and sure didn't like. Me, I believe it would be a bit easier to trim out some space for the camera to be mounted to the side of the cockpit, bust behind the first small side window. Just a thought though and I have not really played around in doing so. Of course, it would only give one view of the side it was mounted on.

On the original post here of the mount shown, I'd sure suggest that you check that battery door latch often, as the weight may seem light on the door like that, but the door is held up with a very small latch that, if like the ones on my two SC's, can be easily moved about or jarred open if not tightened down well.

I love playing about with diy camera mounts and various locations:

www.flickr.com/photos/a1930ford/sets/72157635701860576/

www.flickr.com/photos/a1930ford/sets/72157635023215356/

www.flickr.com/photos/a1930ford/sets/72157634691823964/

I have several sets at flickr of diy camera mounts for other projects. In doing any of these, there is always a failure or two and often something valuable is learned as much from them as any success.