The "BEST" Wing Cameras!!!!!!
 

I have four different sports action cameras (GoPro, Drift HD-170, Contour and Origon Scientific ATC-9000) and have written reviews on all of them. The best and most for your money without a doubt for shooting from an aircraft platform is the Drift HD-0170! It has a preview screen, Rf remote control with more than enough range to cover the entire aircraft, great photo and video quality, the best mounting system, a movable lens and all the features of the other cameras as well. All that is required to mount this unit is to drill a couple of holes in one of the supplied mounts. I drilled three holes on two center distances and this allows me to mount the camera in a multitude of different locations simply by removing and replacing two existing screws,(Front top of wing looking foreword, front bottom looking foreword, rear top of wing, rear bottom looking back, wing tip looking at cockpit, Top or bottom of V/S looking foreword or back plus many other locations that virtually cover the entire aircraft). The location can be changed in about one minute or so. The tiny R/F remote is a must as the I/R remote models require pointing directly at the cameras lens. I will post a short video link here for review that clearly shows the video quality, stability, Etc. This was shot at 200 MPH. If anyone is interested or desires more information just let me know. Regards, Allan
http://vimeo.com/22471547

Impressive video quality. Did your testing involve capturing any intercom audio? Pictures are great, but without corresponding audio half the story is left untold, IMO.

What remote comes with it? Is the R/F remote an optional part? I looked at their website and did not see it mentioned.

Thanks,
Tom RV-7A N175TJ Flying

The HD 170 comes with the RF remote and several mounts and gadgets.
http://driftinnovation.com/hd170-action-camera, Regards, Allan

Drift
 

Is the cost comparable to the others?

Yes! They are all in the same price range.

How does this camera do recording the prop arc? I know that lots of them (i.e. my hi-def iPhone 4 camera) get really funky horizontal lines.

They all are about the same, not terrible, but I try to avoid shooting through the prop when possible. This video was taken looking at propeller with s Drift 170 at 720 resolution and can show you the effect. Regards, Allan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fn9Tove3Ilk

Pardon me for being Captain Obvious, but no one else has mentioned something kind of important from the original photo ....

Doesn't the camera, mounted on the top of the wing, act as an effective lift spoiler? Why wouldn't you mount the camera on the bottom of the wing? I think there's lots of ground clearance.

Look at any military aircraft. The top of the wing (low pressure) is clean, and the bottom of the wing (high pressure) is where they hang all the junk off of.

The location of the camera, with spanwise flow at high AOA, might affect aileron effectiveness. You might not like how it stall/spun.

Aerodynamics is funny business. Something which looks trivial - say a simple wing root fairing - can make a big difference. You really don't know until you put it in the wind tunnel (or fly it, obviously).

Same thing with the camera mount on the vertical fin. It probably disrupts the airflow over the rudder. Significantly? I dunno. All I know is that the L39's that I fly have vortex generators on the vertical fin to try to reattach the airflow to the rudder. Also, the weight of the camera probably lowers the flutter speed of the vertical fin.

Just be careful at high alpha or high speed with this camera config, ok? You really don't know what you've done to the wing, ailerons, vertical fin and rudder. A friend of mine is dead now because his vertical fin came off his RV-7A, and I really don't want that to happen to you.

Recent discussion on another plane site revealed the fact that a filter can make the prop more normal looking in videos. Borrowing from that other site:

"A neutral density filter (sun glasses for a camera) lets in less light and slows the shutter speed.* The ideal shutter would be around 1/60 second, or about half the 30fps video frame rate, and you won't see the prop at that speed.**This will probably take a pretty dark filter; I would start with a 0.9 and see what happens."

Mike