Hey guys, I'm hoping you can help me-

Here is my "Ideal" solution- a High Quality (more then 640x480, HD would be nice), small video camera- one that I can put in a big plane for HD FPV videos (so video out is required), or keep on the ground with me and record my flights (so this would use video in). Does the Aiptek camera Ian was talking about do this?

Thanks!
-Kevin

Nope. The MPVR+CB is not HD. All the HD Aipteks that also have an A/V input
will blue screen if they see too much noise. I don't think there is a single unit
that fits all your stated desires.

ian

Hmm, I need to keep looking then.

Ok, what about everything minus HD? Video in/out.

Couple things.

For the guys that LOVE posting your videos on Vimeo !
Do you realise that Vimeo takes your 30fps, and down converts it to 24fps

So, PAL to vimeo has a slight edge over NTSC to Vimeo.




CHEATING !!!
Many of the digital devices i see, eg. keychain recorders included, struggle to get 30fps.
They claim up to 30fps, but look carefully at recorded footage, the units cheat.
On high motion scenes they simply repeat frames to fudge up to 30fps.


As for needing 30fps to maintain smooth footage, not so !
compare 25fps PAL to 30fps NTSC, you couldn't tell the difference, other than the PAL looks higher resolution with better colour. (Color)



One last thing, we see mention of 30fps and 60fps.
Again, if you look at 60fps footage, you will see again, the devices like to cheat.
at 30fps you get 30 clean relatively compressed images
at 60fps you get 60 less quality higher compressed images.
The bitrate tends to be around the same for 30fps and 60fps on many devices.
So in simple terms, 60fps has nearly double the compression on each frame compared to if the same footage was shot at 30fps.


Finally, digital recorders take NTSC or PAL footage, and save to a COMPUTER file, so the end result is just a file you play on your computer, doesn't matter if the source was PAL or NTSC really
All that matters is what source the recorder can except.

If the rocorder can do AV out, then usually the AV out format is matching the input.

Hey, Wobby. Check your email!

What do you use?

Originally Posted by Wobby

Couple things.

For the guys that LOVE posting your videos on Vimeo !
Do you realise that Vimeo takes your 30fps, and down converts it to 24fps

Did you realize that Vimeo changed their codec several months ago (close to a year
now I think), and they now maintain original fps up to at least 30fps?
(Download the re-encoded vid with any of the various Firefox video download add-ons
and look at the media info in something like VLC).
Back when they were using the flash mpeg4 codecs in a .flv container
they did downsample to 24-25fps. Now that they're using the same h.264 codec
and .mp4 container as YouTube, it'll do 30fps. They still bias their compression
settings a bit toward image quality over motion, which means YouTube's
high motion vids still tend to look smoother, when they bother to create
a HQ version of the vid (which I can't get consistently).

So, PAL to vimeo has a slight edge over NTSC to Vimeo.

Premise kinda falls down here now..

However, I *definitely* notice the difference between 24-25fps and 30fps
in high motion vids. If you're floating around several hundred feet over,
not such a big deal. Turning and burning between the trees, it matters.

ian

Originally Posted by Wobby

... Just get a MiniDV off ebay, and be done with it, use that for the flights you want to post on youtube.

yeah, but which minidv's dont bluescreen???

mine arived ordered from http://cgi.ebay.com.au/2-5-HDD-AV-Vi...item4a9ca97b31

While undamaged it did not come in a box just all wraped in bubble wrap plastic.
First impression is good; it also works with cf card and that saves me having to buy a hd / ssd
Posetive;
video out while recoring (loop trough)
records static so prevents blue screen on output
option to upgrade firmware (if i knew where to find it)


Negative; need remote controll to operate
needs external 5v to operate; i cut the connector from the power suply and used a ubec.
unit gets warm so probbaly not the most energy efficent .

i will update once i done more testing

EXCELLENT!
Here is the USA Verson of that eBay page ( $85 US Dollars..)
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=220520733797

I wish you could have posted this 2 days earlier! My Neuros MPEG4 was lost in the mail. :-( They refunded my $50US so I want and ordered another one... Should arrive in a couple days.. Can you post footage of a flight where STATIC is recorded to confirm?



EDIT: Interesting this picture clearly shows "BARU" which is the brand name of a similar 12v 2.5" HDD Recorder sold on eBay.

I am wondering how this one compares, other than the remote supposedly not to operate it. And price.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=STRK:MEWAX:IT

Originally Posted by rkkennard

I am wondering how this one compares, other than the remote supposedly not to operate it. And price.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=STRK:MEWAX:IT

It's a decent unit.

I have one. I'm happy with it.

I like the "one touch record"... very handy, easy to use.

http://www.youtube.com/user/rcmonste.../0/VFkg-QI4MRQ

CMULDER and SOMONEY

I have the same unit and I can report it works a treat. I don't know why but the hard drive you install must be partitioned in 32GB chunks (FAT32).

I also use a UBEC and a lipo at the field, then there is the remote that you have to point at the unit, and to make sure the unit is recording, you have to put your goggles on the Vout to check all is OK.


In the end now, I am using a JXD990 which make the operation so much easier. I carries it's own battery, you can see the recording direct on the screen and a 20 min flight will only take 200MB in low resolution.
The only problem is that the recording quality is not as good as the hard drive unit, but very acceptable though...

that apeantly is the previous version.
but that price is a near total ripoff.

keep in mind this is a first impression only and have not even tried a proper recording yet

Originally Posted by SoMoney

EXCELLENT!
Here is the USA Verson of that eBay page ( $85 US Dollars..)
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=220520733797

I wish you could have posted this 2 days earlier! My Neuros MPEG4 was lost in the mail. :-( They refunded my $50US so I want and ordered another one... Should arrive in a couple days.. Can you post footage of a flight where STATIC is recorded to confirm?

Agreed, I paid £35 sterling for mine (chinavision)