Does anyone know of any good quality small cameras that will output SD video while recording HD video(Like the gopro).... I would like to set up stabilize and PTZ(I believe APM and APM 2.0 can stabilize)
But I need to find a camera which has high quality zoom that I can also control remotely.
Any thoughts? Has anyone attempted this before? If so, what were your results. I'm wondering if it can be stabilized enough to not be jumping all over the place while zoomed in.
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Roger, can appreciate what you’re going through. Some people think that profit is a dirty word. Please keep us updated on your progress.
Thanks, Neil
Seth that doesn't surprise me, but out of my league. Because of my lack of skills, I really like the Flat Head solutions. But I could be wrong; some of the pictures look like they are showing prototypes. Another thing, for that kind of money, there is no warrantee. If you want support you have to buy it up-front. So to sum it up, the Flat Head solution is a commercial only set of products.
Most commercial gimbal manufacturers use the Sony block camera like the FCB-EH3300. You can communicate with these cameras with the Sony VISCA protocol, which is basically RS-232 serial. I've setup an FCB-IX11D on the bench and used an Arduino to control it and it worked pretty well. Stabilization though is an entirely tougher nut to crack. Arduplane stabilization, as it is now, isn't going to allow you to zoom in 30X and have useable video. Many commercial gimbal designs use a combination of hardware stabilization with a precise actuator, such as a brushless motor (servos won't cut it), and a software image stabilization setup either in the gimbal or in the ground control station. Another issue, especially with an HD camera, is transmitting video- an analog transmitter won't push digital HD video. One option would be to get a GigE interface, push video to a GigE capable board, like an Atom equipped dev board running linux/OpenCV for frame grabbing and other cool stuff, then pushing video through something like a Ubiquiti bullet.
A commercial solution to this problem starts at about $20,000- and that's not in HD....
There are 2 others from this company: www.fatheadllc.com
I agree. A nice dampened P&T platform and a LANC controller camcorder with built in image stabilization is the only thing that will stand a chance of being usable when you use zoom.
Here is the LANC protocal in all its blood and glory: http://www.boehmel.de/lanc.htm
Joel, I came across a YouTube video that showed: pan, tilt and zoom. However, he didnt say how he did it.
Hello everyone. I have done a little research on the issue of controling zoom.
There is a pseudo-standard to interface to the ZOOM function and other camcorders functions. It is called “LANC Terminal” and is usually available thru the A/V Remote and is on most Sony and Canon Camcorders. The wires of the cable are well defined but the $64 question is, how to use the connections.
Any thoughts?
The zoom will make the challenges of AP several orders of magnitude more difficult.
I have a Sony WX10 which can do 1920x1080 60i or 1440x1080 30p and output SD at the same time. Not sure if it's what you're looking for.