Camera mounting angle

[JT]

 Up until now I have mounted my gopro looking straight ahead and level which has worked very well for making  video while flying LOS. I have now tried FPV with a 7" monitor and on my second ';maiden'; flight(the first lasted less than a minute before a motor failure so didn';t really count lol) I found it impossible to keep track of my altitude and even with a friend spotting for me the shouts of ';up up UP'; were too late to prevent me from ';landing'; in the barley a couple of times!
Tonight I made a small angled wedge to go under the camera it';s 15(ish) degrees, judged by eye and the resultant footage looks a lot more like many of the videos you see on youtube. I think this may make my FPV experience better(well I hope it does) although when going for it with the quad tilted way forward you cant really see what';s in front....
Just wondered what angle others mount a camera at for filming and for FPV? I don';t really want to start adding gimbals and huge landing skids as I want to keep the weight down and flying time up

[robshaw]

My TBS has gopro and fpv can both facing straight forward. No angle. Could go someway to explaining why I too can';t judge my altitude and I';m pants at fpv.

[dp106]

I find it difficult to hover in fpv but not too bad in flight. I';m thinking having the camera further back might be better so you can see the props and get more of an idea what the craft is doing. I think if anything my camera is pointing up slightly at the moment so needs sorting

[steve fh]

I currently have my FPV camera horizontal on the front so no part of the quad or props is visible.

I find this ok for forward flight but no good for descending, particularly if slowing down with the nose up as I loose sight of the ground and the actual point I';m aiming at.

I';m thinking that the way forward is to move the camera back and up a bit with a slight down angle so the front motors and props are in frame for judging distance in tight spaces and the down angle will help when descending.

[nub]

can';t really talk from experience but try having a reference point of some sort when descending may help?

suppose it just takes time to get used to it, think of flying a box larger the area your viewing.

[steve fh]

The problem is if the camera is horizontal then it';s difficult to to pick a valid reference point.

To fly a visual approach you need sight of the target which in a decent is bellow the horizon so you need to be able to look forwards and down. It';s one of the reasons a helicopters have clear sections in the foot wells and why long nosed aircraft like spitfires are tricky to land as late in the approach to land and at point of flare you are blind to the point of touch down.

A head tracking camera will solve all the issues as it gives you the ability to look around

[dp106]

I currently have my FPV camera horizontal on the front so no part of the quad or props is visible.

I find this ok for forward flight but no good for descending, particularly if slowing down with the nose up as I loose sight of the ground and the actual point I';m aiming at.

I';m thinking that the way forward is to move the camera back and up a bit with a slight down angle so the front motors and props are in frame for judging distance in tight spaces and the down angle will help when descending.

faster descents must be the answer then :-D To land I normally flick it into self level for the final bit

[JT]

 Just tried an FPV flight with the new downwards angle and it is MUCH better, the view seems a lot more natural and this time no accidental ';landings'; as you get a greater view of what';s below and therefore have much more time to add altitude when you see the ground coming towards you!

[Biffa]

I have to say I found that a perfectly horizontal camera was a little hard to hover with. I kept tilting my head forward to get a view of the ground to get my bearings

What it also felt like, was when coming into a hover I was sliding backwards. I think for the most part it';s just a new sensation that your brain has to cope with. The only problem I see with having the camera tilted forwards is in FFF the camera will be pointing maybe to far down.

I guess it';s one of those things that you have to find what suits you the best.

[nub]

just a thought, do u guys prefer to fly with props in vision or not?