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kashton

New Sidemounted Freefall Camera

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I found a camera that has the potential to be a promising contender in the sidemounting FF camcorder class. I think many people have over-looked it because it doesn't have a wide angle lense.

The Sony HDR-TG1:

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10510551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921665400969

This camera is definitely not new news though it did come on the market quite recently, but I stumbled upon a site that may increase the camer's versatility and popularity:

http://techmoan.wordpress.com/2008/06/04/sony-hdr-tg3-with-a-wide-angle-lens-2/

It may need a little modification to make it airworthy, but it is a good start. With some custom mounts built on the side of the helmet it is possible to limit the distance from the side of the helmet to the other side of the camera to 1.5 inches. I've tried it and it is unbeatable for it's compact (and titanium) frame. It is surprisingly rigid and should hold up well in the air but I won't know until it is jumped. I have a good way of mounting it which I can show pictures of sometime soon but right now I have to sleep. Let me know what you think.

Thanks! :)
This was interesting as well:

http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/News/Press/200806/08-069E/index.html

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Ok, so I decided to stay up a little later and give you some pictures (Attached). I spent three hours at lowe's with just a budget and some creativity and came up with a decent mount. It has six small holes drilled into the left side of the helmet, two lines, each with two holes. Two are horizontal and one is vertical. Tie bungee cord with the knots inside the helmet (make sure to not interfere with the cutaway system!), and make sure to use a secure knot such as a square knots. Make sure to make the bungeea very tight. I improvised a protective holster for the camera that allows full function of the buttons and full view from the lense (It is just foam wrapped in duct tape lol, but it works!).

just so I don't get attacked, I am not jumping this
That John Denver's full of s**t man...

It's a great day to be alive

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Nice one,

We have been testing this camera for a few weeks now and it is getting jumped this weekend.

It is a great little camera for side mounting.

We have built a prototype mount for this camera and done a small production run to iron out any bugs. They will be available soon.

Cookie:)

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NICE!!

Please let us know how the testing goes!

I'd be especially interested in knowing if the camera has shake issues similar to the cx7 while freeflying if thats not to big of a problem for you..

If everything works fine you already have a customer!

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The HYPEYE D PRO does control this camera for standard operations. Sony decided to only implement a subset of their protocol on this camera and therefore the zoom control and switching modes does not function correctly.

Outside of the control, you must have the LCD facing outwards for the camera to turn on. This is a non-issue with a full case like cookie provides. I already know one team that is going to be using the TG1 as a backup camera during nationals.

I can't wait to get one of those new cookie boxes. :D

-Trunk

HYPOXIC

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The HYPEYE D PRO allows you to switch modes (video, photo, vcr) by double clicking the push button. It also starts up the camera in video mode so that it could recall the zoom if that feature is used. The TG1 does not listen to these mode commands so the above features will not work correctly.

Sony runs the camera production once and once it's started its full steam until they sell out. So I doubt they will fix this or even think its a bug.
HYPOXIC

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wow.. that box looks awesome.

what was the reason to move the camera that far away from the helmet? There's quite some gap between the lens and the helmet. Does the hypeye pro plug take up that much space, or is it something else, I'm not an expert in box building, just curious.

"He tried to kill me! He tried to f***ing kill me!"

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The gap worked out as such for two reasons.

1. To accomodate the Hypeye Pro
2. To fit a wide angle lens. If the camera was flush with the helmet the wide angle would pick up most of the helmet. You will see once the video's are uploaded that the Liquid 3 still picks up the edge of the helmet and the dudes face

Cookie

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OK more to the manual focus setting.

To set your camera to manual focus with camera out of the box is

For the Liquid 3 lens
Set the camera to manual
Step down using the left button (Little man Left arrow) until you hit 0.1M. Then press the same button four times to get the lens in focus

For the Liquid 5 lens
Set the camera to manual
Step down using the left button (Little man Left arrow) until you hit 0.1M. Then press the same button one time to get the lens in focus

You can also hold the lens in front of the camera and do the same as above to confirm.

Cookie

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