GoPro Hero 3 best settings for flying

[Enewton57]

Hey you video guys, i just got a GoPro Hero 3+ Black edition video camera. What have you found tye best settings are for your GoPro cameras for flying. Wide view, medium view, narrow view, etc. I was thinking about mounting it inside tye cockpit looking out over the nose. Iwould appreciate any and all advise for producing the best videos. thanks

[alaskabearhawk]

Whatever you do, get a neutral density filter. I HATE that funky, bent prop that appears on the new videos!

http://www.polarprofilters.com/shop/frame-neutral-density-glass-filter-gopro-hero3/

[Enewton57]

Yep - I have one

[Zzz]

I personally prefer watching footage from inside the cockpit, as I like to see the pilot doing stuff. It makes it more interesting in my opinion. The gear leg or wing mounted footage just isn't as interesting, even though it can be beautiful. So here are my tips for shooting from inside the cockpit:

Preventing prop distortion:

For sure, get the neutral density or circular polarizer kit. Either will work as long as they stop down the light adequately to force the GoPro to make longer scans (blurring the prop), but circular polarizer has the benefit of removing some haze and improving the brilliance of the blue colors in the sky.

This item is about as easy as it gets:

I personally use the Blurfix from Snake River Prototyping that allows you to screw on 55mm standard photography filters, so I can stack ND, polarizer, whatever. You just have to hunt down a 55mm filter. Tiffen makes good ones for cheap.


Mounting:

For tube fuselages with exposed tubes in the cockpit, this is really easy. I prefer the RAM mount system because it's so flexible. You'll need:

(1) RAM Yoke mount clamp
(1) RAM GoPro adapter
(1) RAM double arm for 1" ball

You'll have to shim inside the yoke mount a little to get a good grip and protect your tube paint. I would use some thin rubber, but the makeshift duct tape one I made in a pinch one day is still in use 2 years later. If thick enough, the shim can provide a little vibration dampening too. For shots inside the cockput, vibration is what causes the "jello effect" and is purely a result of engine or prop vibration. Sometimes it's worst at full throttle and will subside when the power is pulled back.


Shooting:

The neat thing about the GoPros now is the preview feature on your smartphone. Be careful though, because running the wireless on the camera eats up battery life. I recommend using it to aim the camera, the turning off the wireless (button on side) for your flight. You can easily look up to see if you're recording and operate the ON/OFF switch and start buttons on the camera itself.

You'll need to switch the camera orientation to "upside down" in the settings, once again made 10x easier by using your smartphone app.

Buy a few extra batteries, you'll be happy you did. These Wasabi brand ones work great, and even come with a wall charger. Only $24 for 2, half the price of GoPro brand battery and probably made in the same factory.

For field of view, inside the cockpit, I think the Wide setting is great. It really picks up the whole scene well, but it can sometimes make landings and takeoffs seem really fast due to the natural distortion of wide angle lens. Medium and Narrow are ok, but it's a crop of the sensor, not an optical setting and so you lose a little resolution.

Frame rate is not really important unless you plan to do slow motion, or you need to use the footage with other footage shot by a different camera. For instance, I shot a lot of footage recently at 24 fps because I was shooting with my DSLR at 24 fps for that "cinematic" look. It can make some motion look weird, but for the most part it is hard to tell the difference between 24 and 30 fps with the naked eye.

Shoot 1080p, widescreen, 30fps and it's hard to go wrong. The Hero3+ Black can shoot ultra high resolution "4K" format but it makes massive movie files, and unless you have a monster computer at home, it's hard to deal with when editing.

Good luck!

[N3UW]

I agree with Zzz, I do mount the GoPro on the tail beacon on my cherokee for an interesting perspective on longer flights. I also do a lot of shooting with the time lapse mode taking a photo every 1 or 5 seconds then stitch them together for a quick mover of a long cross country flight. If you want to print out photos, this is also good since the resolution is higher than the individual frames of normal HD (I am not sure this is true with 4K though). I would also highly recommend ships power for the gopro. I connect mine with a LONG USB cable to the cig lighter adapter. I have run it as long as 8 hours taking a photo every 5 seconds for a long cross country. Works great. You do have to modify the case and drill a hole in the side for the USB cable. You can modify your existing case if buy a frame or another case and modify. It is also nice to connect the camera to a phone plug on audio panel to get radio and pilot audio. I did that on my old Hero 2 but I think there is an adapter cable for the hero 3+.

[addicted2climbing]

Hey you video guys, i just got a GoPro Hero 3+ Black edition video camera. What have you found tye best settings are for your GoPro cameras for flying. Wide view, medium view, narrow view, etc. I was thinking about mounting it inside the cockpit looking out over the nose. I would appreciate any and all advise for producing the best videos. thanks

Hello Eric,

I have a mount I designed to mount a GoPro to the strut of aircraft. I have multiple versions, but the version for the bearhawk is currently in prototype testing. Georg had been testing the prototype until his accident and I am sending it to Mike Creek tomorrow for further testing. I may have the parts to assemble another if your interested.

Here is a link to my youtube page that shows the mount in use. Also in addition to wingstruts, it can be used on tubing or tubular structures and i have some videos from my hanglider as well as a triumph motorcycle. If you have watched any of the episodes of Adventures on the fly then you have seen footage from my mount since Allen uses it as well.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPkbgRO81PVUeH7GGwV_4JA

I was an early member of the Yahoo group for the LSA and I am a plans holder

Best regards,

Marc Webster
Bearhawk LSA plans #37 (in cad only at the moment)

[alaskabearhawk]

When did Georg have an accident? I hope he is ok. We had our BH incentive rides together at OSH in 2005.

[jimmyb]

Hi guys.. new member here! I realize this is an old post but I'm hoping to get some responses. Anyway, I've been searching around for info on setting up a GoPro Hero3 for inflight video (from inside the cockpit looking out the windscreen). I love the widescreen look as I'm able to capture the entire instrument panel, the entire windscreen and 10" aft of the canopy frame on my Glasair. Problem is my video is all washed out. After reading many posts I've determined that I need to add an ND filter (and possibly a polarizer or haze filter?) to (a.) blur the prop - although mine isn't too bad out of the box, (b.) reduce/eliminate the washed out sky looking out the windscreen. I'm also planning on turning the spot meter "on" to help with the washed out windscreen view.

Per Zzz above, it looks like the Blurfix 55mm frame is a great option (I've also found what looks to be a couple of good 58mm options)

Questions:
1. Can multiple filters be stacked in the Blurfix frame? I assume they can
2. Is the edge of the 55mm filter ring visible in the shot if shooting 720 or 1080 widescreen? I hope not but if so, how large of a frame do you need to avoid this?
3. Have any of you guys used the Tiffen ND filter kit? If so, is that a good choice?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Jim
Phoenix, AZ