Cockpit video camera

FPV is oriented towards presenting the cockpit image to the radio controller on the ground, but often this is not the goal of cockpit cameras. Simply logging the behavior of the plane at a minimal weight has lots of value for testing and documentation. Lightweight, low-quality USB keychain cameras have come to be standard fare in model plane building, with helmet-cams like the GoPro HD Hero fulfilling higher end documentation needs. Some models of these cameras may have AV out, but people tend to double up and use one documentation cam with onboard recording, and one FPV cam with recording at the base station.

Key Chain Cameras

These tiny, barebones cameras share the properties that they have a tiny, low-resolution sensor with heavy rolling shutter artifacts, a rechargeable LiPo, a microSD slot, and no attempt at a user interface on their smooth plastic frame.

Helmet Cameras / Action Cameras

The GoPro has popularized a niche for a small, ruggedized/waterproofed video camera with a fixed/prime, wide angle fisheye lens. Typically these are mounted to the cockpit or to the central hub, and pointed forward. The helmet cam, contrary to the FPV camera, is usually left to log the action and analyzed after the flight.

Helmet cams are defined by their wide angle fixed focal (often fisheye) lens, their small size and weight, their minimal to nonexistent viewfinder & user interface, and often by ruggedized antishock and water resistant casing. They are not designed to be hand-held, as with pocket camcorders, and do not sport the same flattened shape.

Even the most expensive and popular of these have their faults, like poor JPEG compression and a mere 1/2.3" sensor. Non-photography people are generally satisfied with this, just don't expect serious low-light performance out of any of these. The very inexpensive models, on the other hand, are sometimes glorified low-end webcams; This would not be bad, except that low-end webcams for the last few years have relied on CMOS sensor readout algorithms that bring in a small fraction of the pixels every frame, progressively building up detail about still scenes until after a second or so a full-resolution scene is rendered. This is the absolute last thing that a helmet cam should have, and is unsuitable for any motion, even mild walking. Buyer beware.

• GoPro HERO
• GoPro HD HERO
• GoPro HD HERO 960
• GoPro HD HERO2
• VHoldR Contour Roam
• VHoldR Contour GPS
• VHoldR Contour+
• Drift HD
• Drift HD720
• CamOne Tec Infinity
• Swann Freestyle HD
• Delkin Wingman HD
• Tachyon MicroHD
• Tachyon OPS
• Tachyon OPS HD
• Sony HDR-AS10 Action Cam
• Sony HDR-AS15 Action Cam with Wifi
• Ion Air Pro
• Vio POV.1 & POV.1.5
• Vio POV.HD
• Starnex CamBall
• Looxcie LX1
• Looxcie LX2
• Epic Basic (STC-EPC1)
• Epic Wide
• Epic Carbine HD
• Epic HD 1080
• Epic D1 Cam
• Havoc 480
• Havoc 720HD
• Oregon Scientific ATC Mini
• Oregon Scientific ATC 1K
• Oregon Scientific ATC 2K
• Oregon Scientific ATC 3K
• Oregon Scientific ATC 5K
• Oregon Scientific ATC 9K
• Midland XTC-100 & 150 (currently XTC100VP2)
• Midland XTC-200 & 250 (currently XTC200VP3, XTC205VP2)
• Midland XTC-300 & 350 (currently XTC300VP4)
• Liquid Image XSC Ego
• JVC GC-XA1 ADIXXION
• Intova Sport Pro
• Coleman CSXSWP
• Coleman CXS2WP
• Veho VCC-003 Muvi Micro
• Veho VCC-004 MUVI Atom
• Veho VCC-005 MUVI HD
• Avangard Optics Tiny

• Model & Accessory listing - BH Photo Video
• Helmet Camera Central

FPV Cameras

• Main article at FPV camera

FPV cameras differ from the typical keychain and helmet cams in always attempting to present a real-time video signal back to the user through a transmitter. Commercially, this is a very different market from the other two types of cameras, and some modules may be parts in a security camera supply chain that were repurposed for FPV. The physical camera is usually a small (high F-number, wide DoF, poor sensitivity) fixed-focus lens module on a PCB, with wires hanging off. While not as bad as key chain cameras, rolling shutter can be significant in FPV cams. One benefit to this model is that without a battery, steel casing, or heavy lens it will tend not to fall off in a collision.

More traditional cameras and videocameras

Higher end cameras devoted to a special purpose other than flying the plane are covered under Camera payloads and Video payloads. It may also be the case that people are comfortable using a low-end point-and-shoot's video mode or a budget video camera for flight documentation. As this has to occur in the cockpit at the nose of the plane, a camera with real inertia *and* delicate lens-parts is going to be at some risk in a collision.

Links

• A listing of helmet cams
• Chuck Lohr has done extremely thorough work profiling the #808 series of keychain cameras.
• Key Chain Cam - Russell B. Sutton