danny bartle Posted March 12, 2004 Share Posted March 12, 2004 I'm currently making a small CCD wireless camera system which is to be mounted onto a skydivers helmet. I've made the transmitter & receiver sections & that all works great with good range but now I'm deciding on which camera to use. Obviously it must be small & light but also waterproof as the skydivers will be often landing in water. Here is one I've been thinking of using http://shop.viosport.com/store/customer/pr...6154&cat=&page= Anyone used this type of camera or similar cameras? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ultra Definition Posted March 12, 2004 Share Posted March 12, 2004 That camera looks OK. Not much signal to noise ratio though. I have another suggestion. How about using one of the new flash drive (no tape) camcorders. You'll have to somehow figure out how to make it waterproof. Maybe some bag? Check some big camera stores. I think the Panasonic has image stabilization. It is very small. You can also buy one of the off brand flash memory cameras. There is another choice and that is a small still digital camera with VGA 30p video mode that will record on a flash card. Problem with these, except for the Panasonic, is that the recording is MPEG4, which I would not recommend in this case. You can get glasses with built in screen to watch the image. I saw a nice one, to be available soon, that would probably be good for sky diving. The camera you selected has a very wide angle of view. With the Panasonic you would be able to zoom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danny bartle Posted March 12, 2004 Author Share Posted March 12, 2004 I've already gone through trying to use a small camcorder but we need something even lighter. Never seen the flash drive cameras but i'm sure they're expensive & they'd be heavier than just using a CCD camera. Basically there has to be as little weight & physical size on the skydivers head, hence the reason for using a CCD camera only with no storage device, be it tape or memory. Plus I'm trying to make this all for about AU$700 roughly. What i'm making is a small CCD camera which will be able to be strapped to a skydivers helmet or just handheld by them. Cable will run to a small 2.4Ghz transmitter & battery will be mounted in a waterproof case with small antenna which is strapped to the skydivers stomach or chest. My Sony PDX10P will be on the ground with the 2.4Ghz receiver & Yagi antenna to receive the signal. You also mentioned the Panasonic having image stabiliser & being able to zoom. We always use wide angle when jumping as we are so close to the other skydivers so the wider the better, no one ever uses zoom. Image stabilisers aren't needed either as your falling at a constant even speed. You'd be surprised how smooth the footage is. Basically the communications & video storage is almost sorted, just want to find out what would be a decent CCD camera to use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrbill762 Posted March 12, 2004 Share Posted March 12, 2004 Your post was intriguing. Therefore, I did some searching and found this. http://www.bulletcam.com/products.htm Have a look and let us know what you think. Mr. Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danny bartle Posted March 12, 2004 Author Share Posted March 12, 2004 thanks for the link... I think they sell similar cameras at www.rfconcepts.co.uk They have Sony 1/3inch CCD's 480 lines according to specs but I dont know if they're waterproof. The sie you gave me a link to appears to have a waterproof bullet camera package but I dont know if they sell the camera alone... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ultra Definition Posted March 12, 2004 Share Posted March 12, 2004 Hi, The camera you had the original link to did not have bad specs. The Panasonic is really tiny and light. It probably costs 800 USD. I have no idea how much Australian dollars it is. The security cameras are pretty cheap, often with Sony CCDs. Do some search on the net. Then you have small medical cameras that are expensive. I think that a security camera is the best. Check some electronics hobbyist magazine. These things are tiny. It just dawn on me -- check some survailence equipment web site, all that spy gear is not really expensive and is good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dorian Quell Posted March 12, 2004 Share Posted March 12, 2004 That's really interesting. I'll not that site down because i had gotten an idea for a short film where most of the shots consisted of long tracking shots from three peoples pov's or from the side, front, and back. im guessing those cameras would be a good tool to use instead strapping a bulky camera to someone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrbill762 Posted March 12, 2004 Share Posted March 12, 2004 thanks for the link...I think they sell similar cameras at www.rfconcepts.co.uk They have Sony 1/3inch CCD's 480 lines according to specs but I dont know if they're waterproof. The sie you gave me a link to appears to have a waterproof bullet camera package but I dont know if they sell the camera alone... From their FAQ Is the Helmet-Cam waterproof? All of our cameras have rubber-O-rings at each end to help prevent water from entering the camera enclosure. We think it's safe to say that they are waterproof to 10 feet. Mr. Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danny bartle Posted March 13, 2004 Author Share Posted March 13, 2004 Mr Bill, when they stated it being waterproo to 10 feet, which website stated this for which cam? The www.bulletcam.com cameras are only NTSC unfortunately, I need PAL being in Australia. I'm also planning to use it to a surfers head also to get the surfers POV which I think will be cool too, so waterproofing is necessary. Joe you said these new cameras are only about US$800 which seems really cheap, when are they coming out & in what format? (MPEG?) Dorian, I've just patented the wireless head camera system, you'll have to buy the 2.4Ghz system off me. haha, just j/k mate.... :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ultra Definition Posted March 13, 2004 Share Posted March 13, 2004 The cameras are out, record in DV and MPEG4, your choice. Check Panasonic.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danny bartle Posted March 13, 2004 Author Share Posted March 13, 2004 had a look, not suitable for the use I need it for but a cute little camera regardless.... I'm sure it'll be popular though for the consumer given its small size.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ultra Definition Posted March 13, 2004 Share Posted March 13, 2004 Hi, I looked again at the camera that you listed in the original post. It has 500 horizontal pixels. HDV is 720. So you'll only have about 70% of the horizontal resolution. PDX10 has a kind of 16:9 chips. With the camera you suggested, you'd have to use letterboxing for that, and would lose vertical resolution. The spec sheet does not say if it is CCD, CMOS, etc. The pictures would be OK but nothing spectacular, more like Hi8, I think. Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrbill762 Posted March 13, 2004 Share Posted March 13, 2004 Mr Bill, when they stated it being waterproo to 10 feet, which website stated this for which cam? The www.bulletcam.com cameras are only NTSC unfortunately, I need PAL being in Australia. I'm also planning to use it to a surfers head also to get the surfers POV which I think will be cool too, so waterproofing is necessary. haha, just j/k mate.... :) Here is the FAQ page. http://www.bulletcam.com/faq.htm I maybe showing my ignorance here, but should not the camera work with PAL as well as NTSC? Is not PAL/NTSC for the recording device? If I am incorrect would someone please correct me? Mr. Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danny bartle Posted March 13, 2004 Author Share Posted March 13, 2004 yeh I sorta realised the CCD camera wont be as good as my PDX10P but i'm sure it'll be good enough for what we want. The unique POV we will get will make up for the loss in image quality... The camera comes in either NTSC or PAL models. Since the CCD camera has A/V outputs, it must transmit either the PAL or NTSC format. You're probably thinking of the CCD sensor itself which isn'y either PAL or NTSC, its only a pick up device... I hope I explained that well enough.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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