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Hobby Lobby Acme FlyCamOne2 Micro Video Camera
The FlyCamOne is back in a V2 with some upgrades. Ezone author and amateur film director Napo Monasterio strapped it to all sorts of moving objects for this review, so click on and see what he thinks about this small yet versatile gadget.
Introduction
Once of the first things you will notice is that the lens rotates so you won't need a mirror anymore to record straight ahead or straight down. |
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| Weight: | 1.3 ounces |
| Length: | 3" |
| Width: | 1.5" |
| Depth: | 0.5" |
| Video resolution: | 640 x 480 (25 frames per second) |
| Photo resolution: | 1280 x 1024 |
| Recording modes: | Video recording, still photos, spy video, webcam, built-in microphone |
| Memory: | SD card of your choice (not included) |
| Battery: | Built-in 220mAh LiPo |
| Connection: | USB port for transferring images and charging camera; pin connector for remote photo trigger |
| Manufacturer: | ACME |
| Available From: | Hobby-Lobby |
| Price: | $98.80 |
Needless to say, aerial photography and videography has come a long way in the past few years. But a camera barely bigger than my little finger, barely heavier than a AA battery and able to record as much footage as your tiny SD card is willing to hold? Well, who'd've thunk it?
The folks at Acme (an actual company, not the one from the RoadRunner and the Coyote) have been thinking about it apparently. Last year this German company released the FlyCamOne, which fellow author Michael Heer reviewed here, and now they're back at it with a new-and-improved version.
In itself, the philosophy of the FlyCamOne V2 remains the same: A tiny gadget with the capability of recording video and shooting photos. However, this new release includes some new features, the most exciting being higher resolution photos and video.
Kit Contents
I have to admit it: If I saw the FlyCamOne V2 sitting on a shelf, I would be quite tempted to just grab it and take it to the checkout counter right away. It comes in an attractive package that showcases the small size of the camera, and it has "buy me now!" appeal all over it.
Upon opening the box, you'll find the camera with some protective film over the lens and LCD screen (a nice touch to prevent early scratches), a camera mount (more on that later), a USB cable for transferring the files as well as charging the camera, some velcro strips and a small servo arm so you can rotate the camera in-flight. There's also a small string that you can attach the camera to (KeychainCamOne, anyone?).
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Ah, the power of great product presentation: Resistance is futile, now isn't it?
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Once of the first things you will notice is that the lens rotates so you won't need a mirror anymore to record straight ahead or straight down.
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At top, you can see where the camera mount and its connectors attach, and on the side is the USB port and the slot for the SD card.
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The accessory package includes a camera mount, servo arm, Velcro tape and a USB cable. A lanyard is also included.
Assembly
There's little that needs to be done in order to get the camera on your moving object of choice other than attaching some velcro to the camera mount (and some more to the camera itself should you wish to) and some to the plane wing/fuselage, bottom of helicopter, top of car or wherever you please.
The camera mount itself is not necessary. You may notice that it has some pin connectors which are used to both power the camera externally and remotely trigger the camera. Acme, however, does not carry such product yet, and the few connectors available right now are homemade gadgets. As of publication date, I did not know of any third-party manufacturers of such a product.
One thing you can add relatively easily is the option to move the camera lens in-flight by simply using a servo connected to an open channel. Just hook that servo arm to it, connect it to, say, your gear channel, and you're in business. You're just one switch-flip away from taking off while the video records your forward flight and then, when you're at a comfortable altitude, switch over to record straight down footage. I find it to be a rather cool tool that doesn't require much equipment, yet it could take your videos to that next level.
Operating the camera
Using the FlyCamOne could not be easier, but remember to put the card in since the camera doesn't have any built-in memory. Just slide it in, though you might need to push it in with a small screwdriver or other small object. Once you hear a click, you know you're good to go.
Make sure the camera is charged. It’s super easy: hook it up up to your computer via the USB port and let it do its thing.
Turn it on by sliding the On/Off switch, then press the shutter button that's right above the switch. An 0-looking symbol will appear on the screen. Hit the menu button above, and scroll through the different modes. Once you find the one you want to use, hit the shutter button, and you're on (or you just took a picture). Hit it again, and you're off. Simple enough.
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Two buttons and one switch is all you need: The button on the left scrolls through the different settings, while the one to its right starts and stops the video and snaps photos. The switch on the right just turns the FlyCamOne V2 on and off.
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You should be able to get at least 30 minutes of video on a 1Gb card. The batteries on your plane will likely run out before you run out of storage space.
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Adding the camera mount and a servo arm will allow you to rotate the lens in-flight.
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It only takes a small servo and a pushrod to rotate the lens. Here, I attached a Hitec HS-55, and it pulled the lens without a problem.
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The possibilities are endless as far as your recording options. This specific setup allows the camera on my GWS E-Starter to toggle between straight-down and 45 degrees back.
Switching through the different modes
The FlyCamOne is not just a lean, mean, RC ready machine. Let's take a look at the software behind this piece of hardware.
- Video recording (VR): This is the first option as you scroll through the different modes, and the one you'll likely be using 95 percent of the time if not more. The FlyCamOne V2 will record at a 640 x 480 resolution and at 25 frames per second, a rather high-quality image for such a small gadget. While the instructions claim that you can get about 18Mbs per minute, mine were actually more along the lines of 34 Mbs per minute. You can probably get roughly half an hour's worth of footage on a 1Gb card (what I used for this review).
- Video endless (VE): This is the same as the above, only it will keep rewriting your old footage when you run out of storage.
- Photo (PR): Self-explanatory. Press the shutter and get your picture. The resolution is not too shabby coming from such a tiny lens: a healthy 1280 x 1024. File sizes varied a bit, but they were mainly in the 150kB range, and you'd have to really click that shutter a lot to fill up one of those 1Gb cards. Presumably, this would be the option should you have a remote shutter, but you can't just take a picture any other way.
- Photo endless (PE): Same thing, only it will start deleting your old pictures once the card is full.
- Spy video (SR) and spy endless (SE): This option would allow a user to shoot footage if something in the environment were to move (thanks to that little white ball that you were wondering about).
- Download to computer (PC): If you don't have an SD card reader, this is a handy way to access the files on the card. Just hook the camera to your computer, and it should pop up as a new drive.
- Webcam (WC): Need I say more?
- Delete (PR): Now this is a handy upgrade. In the previous release of FlyCamOne, the delete button was in a quite handy location, and you can imagine what happened then. Now, you have to scroll through the different menus until you find it.
Video Tutorials
These two mini tutorials will show you how the menu works as well as how to set up your FlyCamOne so the lens angle can be changed in flight .
Downloads
Going airborne and off-road
For the purposes of this review, I decided to strap the camera on two of my favorite aircraft: My beloved GWS E-Starter (a gentle flier with a knack for mild aerobatics yet still quite stable in the air) and the ESky Co-Comanche from Hobby-Lobby, a fun indoor helicopter that I also have reviewed. The former would allow me to check out the outdoor possibilities the FlyCamOne V2 offers, while the latter would allow me to see how it performs in low light situations.
I also dusted off my Team Associated It's-So-Old-I-Can't-Even-Remember-The-Name off-road buggy which had been in a bin for some years now so I could test the camera on terra firma.
Outdoor flying with the E-Starter
The camera is quite a plug-and-play gizmo, and the only thing you need to worry about when attaching it to a plane is to make sure you do so near the center of gravity. The FlyCamOne V2 is quite light, but that doesn't mean it won't be move your CG back or forth if you just plop it wherever you wish. I put a piece of velcro right on the CG on the wing.
You don't necessarily need to use the camera mount for the FlyCamOne V2 unless you want to use the Rotate In Flight feature, where you will have it connected to a servo.
I did use the mount for this plane, so it was just a matter of slapping velcro against velcro, and I was ready to go. I flew with both the video pointing straight ahead and straight down. I’ll let the video do the talking; a picture is worth a thousand words, and at 25 frames per second... well, you get the idea.
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Pointing straight-up...
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... or pointing straight down...
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... the FlyCamOne V2 is ready to go airborne in the ever-versatile GWS E-Starter.
Now, as far as performance goes, it's up to your plane and the power setup. As for my E-Starter, I did not notice much of a difference. There was a bit of drag, but beyond that it was the usual pleasant flying characteristics.
Quality-wise, the video is quite crisp. The larger screen resolution is much appreciated, and it makes a difference. Color quality is quite good as well; what you see on the screen is pretty much what you could see with your own two eyes. If you point the lens toward the sun, it will look like a black/red dot surrounded by a white glow, but the colors are quite true. And switching from one lighting condition to another (i.e., light to shade) is quite quick.
The only downside I found was a clear lag in the sound recording. For some reason unbeknownst to me, the sound is at times more than a second behind the video. Hopefully a firmware update will take care of this problem soon.
This video was shot at the former Berry Middle School in Hoover, AL, one of my regular flying sites.
Downloads
Indoor flying
In order to test the camera with lighter and less powerful aircraft and in low-light conditions, I chose the ESky Co-Comanche, and I flew it in my garage.
Now, when it comes to attaching the camera to such a small plane, you might want to start improvising. For starters, you most-definitely want to keep it right on the CG. Here, smaller adjustments back and forth will make much more of a difference.
My solution was to strap it right onto the battery, which I knew was right on the CG. A couple of straps of Velcro on each side, and I was in business.
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I put Velcro on both the camera and the LiPo battery. This was the easiest way to attach the FlyCamOne to my indoor helicopter without shifting the center of gravity.
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Since these helicopters won't allow you to go too high, you shouldn't point the camera straight down. Otherwise, you might just be counting grass blades or staring at concrete. Instead, point it straight ahead or at a 45-degree angle.
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There's barely any ground clearance if you put this camera on the ESky Co-Comanche, but that won't stop me.
How did it fly? Not so well. It was quite the struggle to get the Co-Comanche up in the air, and hovering was a full-throttle struggle. Needless to say, the battery didn't last nearly as long as it would normally last, and I could hardly gain any altitude.
The video wasn’t bad though it was a bit grainy as I expected it to be. It's dark, but it does its job. I did have the lights off so I could test in the most extreme of conditions, and it stood up to the challenge OK. If you were going to use it indoors, you would likely do so with lights on in the first place, and the quality would undoubtedly be better.
Downloads
Going off-road — sort of
Unless you're truly planning on going off-road (read: wild jumps and such), there's really no need to get your camera right on the car or truck's CG. It really won't make much of a difference.
Just like with the Co-Comanche, my method of choice for securing the camera was a piece of Velcro right on the body, to which I attached the camera, sans camera mount. The camera was technically attached upside down, and the video would therefore be recorded (you guessed it) upside down. No worries though, we'll get to that point in a bit.
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My RC off-road buggy came out of retirement for a special mission: to put the FlyCamOne V2 to an uber-rugged test. Will either of them survive?
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Just like in the other vehicles, the camera was strapped with a piece of Velcro.
How about the performance? Well, the car's performance is a whole other story (old car, old batteries, you get the point), but when it comes to the camera's performance, it was quite good.
As with the outdoor flight on the E-Starter, the colors were quite vivid and the video quality was quite good. Make sure you don't attach it near any parts that could accidentally turn the camera on or off.
Video from FlyCamOne V2 on land
The Team Associated buggy goes on an explorer's trip around the backyard and surrounding undeveloped lots — so brace yourself.
Downloads
This is where the boat review goes...
Only it’s not. Sorry. The FlyCamOne V2 is in no way sealed, and the innards could get quickly fried if they got wet. So, I didn't put this camera anywhere near water — and neither should you if you want it to survive.
Taking photos
At 1280 x 1024, the FlyCamOne offers a decent resolution for its size. Don't expect to be able to blow the pictures from your latest RC escapade to a mural-size print, but it's still a decent size for such a tiny gadget.
Taking pictures is as point-and-shoot as you can imagine: scroll to PR, aim and hit the shutter button. Voila, you took a picture! And, at the tune of less than 200kB per file, you'll be tired of taking photos by the time your memory card is full (and getting a 1Gb SD card is dirt-cheap these days).
So, let's allow the photos to do the talking from now on, shall we? And, for the record, these pictures have not been digitally altered in any way. What you see is what I got.
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Even in low-light, up-close situations, the pictures are not too bad. Not overly sharp, though.
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As you can tell, the FlyCamOne won't focus too well up close at times. But then again, aerial photography is all about focusing far away anyway.
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An inside shot lit by fluorescent bulbs. It's not too bad, and the Stevens Aeromodel DiddleBug looks good in this picture, too.
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Even from four feet away, focusing is quite crisp, even indoors. The color range is not bad, but it can be enhanced with some editing software.
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Outside, the colors are quite vivid and it focuses quite well, too.
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Outdoors, the FlyCamOne V2 focuses well and does a nice job with keeping the color range as true as possible. The photos could be a bit sharper, especially up close, but a bit of sharpening in your photo editor may do the trick.
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The only downside of such a small camera? It doesn't have a viewfinder (unlike the previous version), so you might end up taking photos of, well, dead grass instead of photos of your subject.
Transferring your files
Did you get some fine flying footage? And some fun photos? They won't do you much good if they're stuck in that little SD card, now will they? Let's move them over to your computer then.
The quickest and easiest way to go about doing so is to skip the USB cable altogether and just drop the card into a card reader and let that do its job. That way you won't have to go through the camera menus until you hit PC and then hook up the camera to the computer and so on and so forth. Since the camera doesn't appear to be USB 2.0, transfer rate is rather slow.
But don't lose that USB cable just yet... you're going to need it to charge the FlyCamOne V2's built-in lithium battery.
Either way you choose to go, you should see your card or camera pop up as a removable storage device once you connect either the camera or the card reader, and you can grab the files from there and take them to your video and photo editing programs of choice.
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Hook up the FlyCamOne V2 to your computer via the included USB cable, and your files should pop up on the screen in a few moments. Leave it hooked up, and it will recharge the battery.
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This camera does play nice with my Mac, and that's a huge plus in my book. You can see how the files display just like those on any digital camera or storage drive.
REJOICE, MAC USERS, REJOICE!: If you're like me and use a Mac, you're in luck, for the FlyCamOne V2 is fully recognized by OS X if you choose to use the USB cable. Turn it on to the PC setting, hit the Shutter button, and you're in business. Mine showed up right on the desktop, with all the files ready to be picked up and moved over to the desktop. Should you experience any problems, the simplest solution is to just stick the card on a SD card reader.
The only thing you might need to do to your videos, depending on how you shot them, is to rotate them. Remember how the FlyCamOne was upside down on my buggy? Fear not, for it's an easy fix. Windows Movie Maker will allow you to turn them right side up, and both the latest version of iMovie and QuickTime Pro will take care of that seamlessly as well.
What you do with those files is truly up to you. A word (or three) to the wise: Edit, edit, edit! Not many people want to watch a 15-minute video of a plane traveling through scenery that won't change much, so get the most interesting frames and showcase them. Do some introductions, some transitions, some nice endings but when it comes down to it, less can often be more. Keep it short and sweet, and viewers will appreciate it.
Conclusion
Can aerial photography get any easier than this? Probably not; hit record and you're on.
Can there be better quality? Not unless your plane can haul an full-size HD camera and you have thousands of dollars in disposable income.
Can it get more fun? Hardly.
If you're looking into getting into aerial photography on a budget, and you want to use your camera on a variety of planes, this is a must-consider item. Some of the features may sound a bit too odd for our hobby, but the resolution and fool-proof inprovements that the FlyCamOne V2 has to offer make it a serious contender in this ever-expanding field.
This gadget can be upgraded via firmware releases, so the sky's the limit (OK, now that was a bad pun!) for new features that could be automatically implemented with just a download (and bugs that could be fixed, too). And the fact that the camera could be remotely triggered without much more than some sort of switch and wires is a nice touch (hopefully someone will release that soon).
Overall, it's fun to use, quite versatile and performs just as advertised — you can't go wrong with that combination.
Pluses:
- Ease of use
- Good video resolution and decent photo quality
- Rotating lens and servo-arm attachment make for easy (and even in-flight) change of recording angle.
- Buttons and menu redesign prevent you from accidentally deleting files.
- Plays nice with Macs
- Double-digit price tag
Minuses:
- Lag in audio/video syncing can get a bit annoying (but here's hoping it gets addressed in a future firmware update).
- Lack of cables for remote triggering
- It would be nice if it was waterproof (the first version wasn't, either). I did happen to rather easily get some moisture in the lens while doing the land review (easy to dry up, but still a hassle).
Discussion
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Mar 10, 2008, 12:54 PM
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Cedar Grove North Carolina
Joined Oct 2006
1,126 Posts
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your video clips did not play? sound came thru but no picture?
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Mar 10, 2008, 01:00 PM
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Birmingham, Alabama
Joined Feb 2007
7,869 Posts
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Are you using QuickTime? You'll need that to view them.
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Mar 10, 2008, 01:21 PM
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Birmingham,Al
Joined Dec 2001
1,815 Posts
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I don't think I have ever responded to a review before but this review was one of the best and most in-depth reviews I have read on here. With your wide range of platforms, you went above and beyond just reviewing this flycam attached to a plane. Even though I don't do AP, I still found this review a very accurate and informative one.You covered all the bases and then some. Great job! Dave
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Mar 10, 2008, 02:42 PM
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Rhode Island
Joined Feb 2008
1,009 Posts
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very nice I just got mine from hobby lobby today.
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Mar 10, 2008, 02:56 PM
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Rhode Island
Joined Feb 2008
1,009 Posts
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How long did you have to charge it to get it to turn in? Mine has been charging over 30 minutes and still nothing.
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Mar 10, 2008, 03:05 PM
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Birmingham, Alabama
Joined Feb 2007
7,869 Posts
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Quote:
Thanks so much for the kind words, I really appreciate them! I hope you enjoyed reading the review as much as I enjoyed putting it together. I thought it would be fun doing the video tutorials — with plug-and-play gizmos, it can sometimes be a challenge to do something out of the ordinary.  I wasn't up an AP kind of guy until I reviewed this camera, but it's growing on me now. This is a nice (and affordable) way to get into it. |
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Mar 10, 2008, 03:06 PM
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Birmingham, Alabama
Joined Feb 2007
7,869 Posts
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Quote:
Does it say anything when you hook it up to the USB port? Is it at least recognized by your computer? Also, do you have the SD card in there already? |
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Mar 10, 2008, 03:12 PM
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Rhode Island
Joined Feb 2008
1,009 Posts
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When I plug it in it says PC. And when It is not plugged in and I turn it on nothing happens. But when I turn it on and plug it in the PC it has 2 black lines on the screen the goes back to pc. Very odd.
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Mar 10, 2008, 03:30 PM
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Birmingham, Alabama
Joined Feb 2007
7,869 Posts
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Quote:
 So now it's as non-operating as yours.  I'm charging it as I type, so I'll double-check in a bit and see what's up. Do this in the meantime, however: Turn in on, then press the middle button , then press the top button (M). See if that does anything...
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Mar 10, 2008, 03:37 PM
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Rhode Island
Joined Feb 2008
1,009 Posts
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No That does nothing but thanks. The tech guy at hobby lobby is not there to help me beacuse I just called. Thanks for helping me im still working on it. Also can you turn it on when it is plugged in? I cant.
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Mar 10, 2008, 03:39 PM
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Birmingham, Alabama
Joined Feb 2007
7,869 Posts
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No, I'm hitting the buttons right now while it's on PC mode, and it's not doing anything. So yeah, unhook it and try it out.
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Mar 10, 2008, 03:40 PM
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Rhode Island
Joined Feb 2008
1,009 Posts
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I did both. Still nothing.
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Mar 10, 2008, 03:43 PM
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Birmingham, Alabama
Joined Feb 2007
7,869 Posts
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Just wondering... is the SD card in the camera?
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Mar 10, 2008, 03:45 PM
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Rhode Island
Joined Feb 2008
1,009 Posts
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yes.
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