new and confused to a camera platform

J

jackal

Member
Hi

new to the forum and would like to know what copter is available for the mounting of cameras. Still, video and possible thermal cameras. I would like good imagery and a bit confused to how I would control the camera. I am used to flying models but never helicopters. I do have a limited budget so would like to find a platform for not huge money

Any suggestions?

thanks and its bloomin hot here in France
 
Are you looking to build your own or buy a ready to fly copter? Also, do you have a specific camera in mind already? Copters with GoPro's mounted to them is the most common setup, but there are also frames and mounts that are designed to carry other types of cameras. There are also multiple different ways of mounting cameras. You can mount them statically, on a stablization gimbal, or on a remote controlled motorized gimbal, and more.
 
mm said:
Are you looking to build your own or buy a ready to fly copter? Also, do you have a specific camera in mind already? Copters with GoPro's mounted to them is the most common setup, but there are also frames and mounts that are designed to carry other types of cameras. There are also multiple different ways of mounting cameras. You can mount them statically, on a stablization gimbal, or on a remote controlled motorized gimbal, and more.
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Ok I am no adverse to building as pretty handy. I have a canon G10 but think it may be too heavy for a quad within my budget. I am only starting so will like to try a simple yet customizable platform so i can develop it later. If i was to build one what part list would you suggest and where should I purchase from. I do live in France. Out of interest are those drone things any good the ones you control with a i phone as i am a bit skeptical.

Cheers for the reply
 
I've never flown an AR Drone, but there are a lot of people who love them. There is also a user on the forum that sells a kit that allows you to fly it with a real transmitter, rather than an iPhone. This increases the range I believe as well.

If you're just looking to get started, just about every build you'll find on the Internet will support a GoPro. You don't even really need a mount or gimbal to start. Are you also looking to fly FPV (First Person View)? This will allow you to fly with video goggles and see things from the copter's point of view. This makes filming and taking pictures a lot easier since you know what the view looks like from the camera.

There are a lot of different builds out there and people take different approaches when they get started. I like the idea of building something less expensive to get comfortable, then upgrading once you gain experience. Broken parts from crash landings can get expensive quick! The other good thing about buying something less expensive is that you can buy extra parts initially. That way you don't have to wait weeks for parts when you crash.

I'm not sure about hobby shops based out of France, but HobbyKing has a European warehouse. I think it's in the Netherlands. Shipping from there might not take that long to arrive in France and may not be that expensive. If you don't mind waiting and paying a bit more for shipping, buying from shops in China is usually the easiest since most of the companies who make parts for these are in China/ Hong Kong and they carry most of their stock in the local warehouse.

OddCopter has a pretty good cheap build with parts list and prices here:

http://oddcopter.com/2012/12/12/easy-diy-quadcopter-build-part-1-the-parts-list/

There are also a lot of other options if you search google for cheap quadcopter builds!
 
Cheers for that info it was very helpful. I chose to buy a bundle of bits from china and currently building it looks very nice for the money. FPV sounds great and will certainly look at that when the funds allow

:)
 
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