Camera recommendations, please!

[Ed_Wischmeyer]

These are mostly for documenting flight test results, and the shots I've used in the past were:
* One screen of the Garmin G3X Touch. My no longer viable Garmin VIRB did this fully zoomed in, mounted in the passenger seat... i.e., no passenger. I hope the next version supports video capture, preferably internally.
* Panel, showing the GTN and the adjacent G3X screen. Camera was mounted on a column on the baggage compartment shelf, essentially an over the shoulder shot
* Over the nose, with the camera mounted on the glareshield

I'd probably get two cameras, and I think I can feed them audio from the Garmin GMA245 audio panel. Also need to aim the cameras, probably using the iPhone as the monitor. And I'm intrigued by the gyro stabilized cameras that keep the horizon level.

Thanks!

 

[fl-mike]

The G3X data logger and the free Savvy Aviation tool are your best friends for flight testing.
Add in some Excel to find sample by sample exceedences and such.
Data is much faster to analyze than video and the Savvy tool is super easy to use.

About the only thing I can think of that a camera would add would be looking for gear shimmy or fairing shake.

 

[Ed_Wischmeyer]

The G3X data logger and the free Savvy Aviation tool are your best friends for flight testing.
Add in some Excel to find sample by sample exceedences and such.
Data is much faster to analyze than video and the Savvy tool is super easy to use.

About the only thing I can think of that a camera would add would be looking for gear shimmy or fairing shake.

Thanks, I'm already well-versed in G3X digital data in Excel. The limitations are that the data sampling is only once per second, and the AOA and G-meter data are exceptionally noisy. Plus, digital data is not nearly as effective in presentations as video. (And I used to analyze DFDR data in a previous life).

Here's a clip to show the value of video and the limitations of my previous setup... when the camera was more reliable:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWSzptdQyFk

I have used CloudAhoy for special purposes, a little outside of its original design, with great support from them. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7lWAhp6sqI However, live shots are preferable when available.

There's another digital data feed on the G3X Touch, available as asynchronous data on a G3X serial port. There are three data blocks (air data, engine, and avionics, or something like that) with the air data at 11 Hz and the other two at lower data rates. I have the hardware to record the serial data to an SD card, but don't have the tools or knowledge to wire it up to the connector. And the local avionics shop (Statesboro, GA) has been slammed for years, now.

I've not used Savvy, but I'll look into it. Thanks.

 

[planenutz]

Cameras

If you're only going to be using the camera for footage of the inside (cockpit, pilot, panel) and are not going to join the masses with in-flight YouTube videos later, then the likes of the GoPro Mini is going to be perfect. Once testing is over you can still use it in a number of other locations. If you want to get a bit more fancy, you could go to any one of the later GoPro Hero series or their equivilents (lots of options these days) and then repurpose them later. The 360 degree cameras (any one of the two favoured products you see used here often) are good too, but probably better suited to mounting externally due to their field of vision and the slight distortion associated with this kind of lens. Really, you can't go too far wrong with any of the HD quality cameras on the market. Use what you can buy and get support for locally.

Be aware that you can buy a lot of this stuff second hand too, saving you heaps. Just make sure the lenses are good and be prepared to buy a replacement battery. You can't go wrong really. I purchased a second hand GoPro Max 360 recently from a fellow aviator and was confident the unit worked and was in good condition when I bought it. My old GoPro Hero 3 is still working perfectly and you can pick these up real cheap now due to their age.

I'm not sure which version of canopy you have, Ed, but in my RV-6 the mounting of a camera up on the Canopy Roll Bar (tip-up) just to the right of centre, turned out to be a great place to have a camera for flight testing. You can see the entire panel as well as what's going on outside. Select the wide angle view for best results.