Sample 100% crop from Ricoh GR APS-C camera mounted on Phantom 2 quadcopter. View the above example at 1280 pixels to see a 100% crop from the camera.

I was out playing with Tom Gruber and John Markoff this morning in Santa Cruz, and took some sample shots with a Ricoh GR camera mounted on a DJI Phantom 2. The Ricoh is mounted on vibration isolation, and both FPV and remote shutter release via the rear lever on the P2 radio is working via a gentWIRE-videoUSB cable. The results are REALLY sharp, even at 1/250 sec, so the vibration isolation is effective.

The camera payload is connected to the bottom of the Phantom’s vibration isolation plate via a small ball mount, which is not ideal. It’s like hauling a weight connected to the end of a stick. The resulting oscillation makes flying the Phantom 2 in this configuration a little dicey, even in GPS mode. I need to stiffen up the camera mount, and it should be fine. Battery life is still great, too—I’m getting around 15 minutes before the battery hits 15%.

Incidentally, when you mount something wobbly on a quadcopter flying Naza-M, it drifts, even in GPS mode. In extreme cases, it can begin to fly circles in the air. The circles get larger and larger, and the quad flies faster and faster. I had the same thing happen when I stuck a GoPro on a wobbly helmet extender arm on a quad. It’s possible to fly when it’s doing this, but you can’t rely on GPS hold, and ATT is a more-suitable mode. I was thinking of this because friends like Jon Cornforth have had this happen to their birds, with no reason yet confirmed.

I’ll post more pictures and a link to a sample raw file from the Ricoh when I have faster internet.