Best cam with onboard recording and FPV video out for 250?

[PropsToYou]

I';m currently flying a fairly new 250 and would love to be able to record my flights.
Due to our limitations here in the UK with strength of VTX/RXs obviously the video received on the ground isn';t what you';d call crisp.
I';d like to get a replacement camera for my FPV system that allows me to record onboard and wondered if anyone had any suggestions?

[nub]

why not just buy a mobius or something? be better off going that way IMHO.

[fruitsalad]

im with nub,mobius cam..

[Paul01]

Yeah same here, get a mobius/runcam hd or the Xiaomi Yi if you want 1080p 60fps

[PropsToYou]

Wow, this may just be the fastest responding forum I';ve ever come across! Thanks all for your suggestions!
Looks like I';ll be getting myself a Mobius!!

[bazzerh]

i';ve not tried it but the hd cams aren';t going to be very good for video out fpv pictures on a 250, theres a problem with the dynamic ranges and the update speeds on all of them which means you';ll be getting lots of very washed out or dark images and they';ll also have enough lag on them to be troublesome.

horses for courses so a decent fpv cam like a PZ0420 based on is going to make it much more fun. bit like your fatshark cam but with much better dynamic range.

for recording then yes, mobius, runcamhd or a yi cam are the value for money options but after going through 2 mobius in 6 months then i';m a bit shy of those now.

[Friskle]

I tried the Mobius as an FPV Cam + recording, and i saw nothing wrong with at all as an FPV camera, it was crystal clear on the monitor, in fact it was certainly a better image than the fatshark camera.

[bazzerh]

http://youtu.be/_UmvhgZY7nk

0.2 seconds lag
40km/h (modest speed for a 250)
2.2m covered in 0.2 seconds

[annikk.exe]

As Bazzer says, trying to fly a 250 with a 200ms delay is going to be unpleasant and hard.  You won';t be able to react quickly enough in some situations and it could lead to a lot of frustrating crashes.

I would strongly recommend using a board cam for real-time FPV, and a seperate higher quality camera (such as a Mobius) for recording your flights.

Board cams known to have good latency include the CC1333-B and the PZ0420M, the former requires 12v (can run from 3S lipo) and the latter has a nice wide voltage range and can be powered by anything from 2S to 4S.

For recording your flights, I would cautiously suggest the Xiaomi Yi (cautious because there have been mixed reports so far, and mine didn';t arrive yet) since that can do 1080p at 60fps which is very good for footage of fast flying such as what a 250 is likely to do.
Other good options include the Mobius and the Runcam.  You can also use a GoPro if you want the best possible results, but they are much more expensive and you may feel less able to charge around hell-for-leather with a £400 GoPro strapped to the front of the aircraft than with the cheaper cameras.

[Mark_Felton]

If your going the board cam direction, I can recommend the Emachine camera and VTX combo, dirt cheap, I now have 4 as they are disposable in the end.  Use the mobius/run cam or WHY as recording device and use board cam for the FPV.

[PropsToYou]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I';ve decided to go with the majority and invest in a Mobius.
I';ll try it to begin with as a seperate recording device and stick with my current camera for FPV flight for now but may give the mobius a live bash at some point too.

[NorcoT]

I went along similar path at the beginning of the year, ran video out of my GoPro into the TX and didnt use an onboard cam in the attempt to save some money. It worked ok, at first the lag wasnt noticeable as I was flying a 450 AP rig. Dynamic range / exposure setting was noticeable, flying into the sun the camera didnt do as well as a dedicated FPV camera and the ground is just black.

Now i';ve built a 250 and seeing as the Eachine VTX and Camera combo cost only £18 i splashed out! Also found the Yi Camera for recording cost about £68, slightly more than the Mobius but the comparisons on YouTube show that it looks a little smoother than the mobius footage.

[bazzerh]

I';ve just got back from trying an eachine combo,  can';t understand why people are saying the cam is ok? It';s terrible, hhave probably been spoiled by using better quality cameras since I started fpving but this cam is useless. Open parkland at lunchtime in june,  overcast, and the cam has trouble showng sky and land together. For the money I guess it';s ok but if I started fpving and thought that was the image possibility I';d have given it up as a bad job pretty quick. Transmitter seemed ok but had a lot of motor noise where in other similar setups I get none.

[Mark_Felton]

That doesnt sound good Bazzerh, I have 4 and they are all good on my quads, I get a lil noise from motors, but otherwise I cant grumble, even used at 250 racing session and TBH £18 or so at that price its ideal as far I am concerned for first time FPV, as the chances of crunching camera is reasonable high.  Think if i went back to FPV at range as I used to with fixed wing then I wouldnt use Emachine at all, but lil 250 hooning around surely its a good starting point?

[bazzerh]

if you';ve never tried a better quality cam then you';re in for a treat if you upgrade from the eachine one. the cams dont get bashed around too much in my experience, not with proper installation and a nice smear of liquid tape.

some good quality pz0420 based cams can be had from far east for not too much but it is a case of getting what you pay for with cams. read some reviews, watch some youtube footage ripped from the cams themselves.

ive tried an aomway cam tonight, friend got one for £11ish and even though its cmos it was handling some tricky light very well. combined with an aomway mini vtx you could have that for £27 ish and it';d be way better than the eachine stuff

[Friskle]

As Bazzer says, trying to fly a 250 with a 200ms delay is going to be unpleasant and hard.  You won';t be able to react quickly enough in some situations and it could lead to a lot of frustrating crashes.

I would strongly recommend using a board cam for real-time FPV, and a seperate higher quality camera (such as a Mobius) for recording your flights.

Board cams known to have good latency include the CC1333-B and the PZ0420M, the former requires 12v (can run from 3S lipo) and the latter has a nice wide voltage range and can be powered by anything from 2S to 4S.

For recording your flights, I would cautiously suggest the Xiaomi Yi (cautious because there have been mixed reports so far, and mine didn';t arrive yet) since that can do 1080p at 60fps which is very good for footage of fast flying such as what a 250 is likely to do.
Other good options include the Mobius and the Runcam.  You can also use a GoPro if you want the best possible results, but they are much more expensive and you may feel less able to charge around hell-for-leather with a £400 GoPro strapped to the front of the aircraft than with the cheaper cameras.

Dont forget one thing also with FPV, we are not all doing 50mph through trees or racing round tight courses with race gates, Most of the emphasis lately when something is asked, is all based around fast flying in and around obsticles, the Mobius on the latest FW out atm, there is absolutely nothing wrong with it for general FPV flying, ive been practising with that as the cam, and have no issues at all.

[dirtyharry]

have to agree with friskle there , have a mobius on my wing and simply don';t notice the lag whatsoever.
Actual latency times below from rcgroups post ,  measured using a timer and not  with dropped frames which would be a bit of a guestimate

Latency:-

Sonny 600tvl = 0.02 seconds
effio-v 800tvl 0.1 seconds ( on the "worst" settings )

Mobius 720p= 0.063s
mobius 1080p= 0.093s

[Ynot6]

+1 i';ve seen a 250 that would have embedded it';self into a shed roof with a mobius as fpv cam. but for more sedate or open land use, i';d go mobius for both, and have a little more flight time.