Very Unique Need

[33driver]

Hey all,

I'm working on some stuff at work at the moment and we have a very interesting need for some specialised equipment we are building.

We are building some ICT gear that will stream a live feed via a wireless internet card back to a command centre to get real time video information (GPS tagged as well for live map plotting). I need some help working out how to get the footage onto a laptop. I have a number of large vendors working on this with me at the moment and we are all finding its a tad challenging, to the point that some of the larger vendors may have to build something for me. But I want to think outside of the box, hence I figured I post here With everyone's video and photo knowledge I'm hoping someone as some ideas!

Requirements:

Highly mobile

Will be going up in light aircraft, can not be permanently fixed

High optical zoom (digital zoom is no good)

Image Stabilization

Must have a simple way to connect to the laptop (ie 1 cable if possible)

What we have got:

Single handy cam, AV out to a USB AV Capture device which the software picks up the feed from - has too many cables and is just messy

2.4ghz encrypted wireless system, works well until you get into buildings or in aircraft - so wireless is out for the moment

Suggestions so far:

USB Web Camera mode available on HandyCams - This was a great idea but new cameras don't have that feature anymore as there was no market drive for it

FireWire Cable to PCMCIA card - this is a possible, but again a lot of Handy Cams are dropping firewire now and i want to keep the PCMCIA card slots free if possible

I'm looking at DSLR's as an option as they have fantastic image stabilization now and a wide selection of lenses, but I still need a way to get a live feed back, AV should work but is not better than what we already have.

Any thoughts?

[MaTBoY]

Some nikon dslr's have an option where they can be controlled by a PC. Look at the nikon site for more info. (I'd offer some but I'm not to clear on it all myself)

[33driver]

hey matt,

yeah I'm doing some digging now, I use canons which have similar features but they all seem to need their custom software, which makes the time frame blow out as i need to have more software written to talk to it. Easier if I can find something that gets picked up by a windows native drivers OR just has a driver set I can use.

I haven't given up on the canons though, just trying to find the drivers. Anyone with Nikon's that can comment on the actual practical use?

[GoldZilla]

Yep, as you've previously mentioned, Canons can do "tethered shooting" while plugged into a laptop or desktop computer. Could you not use this software linked to an external GPS plotter in conjunction with one of the newer D-SLRs with video function built-in? One USB cable and a fully charged camera battery should serve a few hours, right?

And why not just record data to a memory card then transfer later? Does it have to be recorded "live" to the laptop? (I'm just asking, as I'm not sure what the purpose of your set-up will be).

Things like optical zoom range, small size/lightness of weight, etc. *might* be addressed in this article: http://www.digitalrev.com/en/the-dslr-vide...24-article.html

[33driver]

yeah its a tricky one, yes it has to be live streamed as the footage is viewed in real time back at a command centre to make strategic decisions on asset deployment. The footage is recorded both on the laptop and back at the command centre for later viewing if needed though.

The gps is covered, we are using a seperate GPS that the software will pick up, its the video feed that I just have to worry about now. Battery life shouldn't be an issue, a couple of hours run time would be fine, and they usually take 3 or 4 batteries with them anyway for prolonged deployments.

I've been playing around with the canon stuff, but it seems to only get live view through the EOS utility, and can only take single photos, not video through it. The trick is I need the software we use to pick it up as a 'camera' that is installed on the laptop, the EOS utility doesn't look like it will let me do that (I have a 500D, which does video but won't record on the PC).

- Just had a look at that article, very interesting read. At the end of the day though i won't be sending high def down the line (NextG services won't handle it by a long shot), we currently use handcams, but a DSLR might offer us a much better zoom range and image stabilization which would be a big gain in its own right.

[NA_Goodness]

I'm probably very, very wrong, but could a security camera-type setup work? Not sure if you can get something with stability control or optical zoom, but surely there's something around?

[33driver]

i've been looking at security camera stuff, from what I can see, a lot of them don't have great lens capabilities in terms of zoom (stablisation is also a problem), and getting a connection to them is also fun. A lot of the are IP based which may be doable, but not a lot of USB types.

I agree, there has to be something around but I'm coming up blank a lot of areas I look.

I'm open to all ideas though, I just tried my DSLR through the system and it certainly worked, but auto focus had to be done by a seperate button, not a deal breaker but still had the issue of connection (was just testing through the AV connection)

[GoldZilla]

I've been playing around with the canon stuff, but it seems to only get live view through the EOS utility, and can only take single photos, not video through it. The trick is I need the software we use to pick it up as a 'camera' that is installed on the laptop, the EOS utility doesn't look like it will let me do that (I have a 500D, which does video but won't record on the PC).

Maybe check if the newer Canon cameras will do video feed via the EOS utility - like the 550D or the 7D? Ring around, ask a few established camera shops, etc.

[Pezhead]

RC pilots have been experimenting with this for a while - known as first person viewing flying (FPV).

FPV Video Pilot Home

Have a look around there. In order to set up a rig, I'd imagine you'd need to build a custom lens (for the optical zoom) and perhaps a remote platform so you can control x-y coordinate tracking of the picture. I think you'd be better off transmitting the analog video signal rather than trying to convert it to digital. It is easier to modulate and receive analog than digital unless you are willing to invest big bucks in the hardware.

Good luck with the project - post your results if you can.

[33driver]

hey, certainly will post results

$$$ isn't a concern at this stage, just need to deliver a solution

website is very interesting (used to do a lot of R/C flying!), going have a close look at it hehe. We already have access to UAV gear as a whole, so we are already covered in that space. The role of these kits is also to have a 'presence' in the sky with a person behind the camera to pick up on things in the field (and this will turn out cheaper than the UAV gear in the short term). Reason we are going to a digital signal is simply because we need to transmit over the 3g network at the moment so its got to go digital anyway. We are using analog capture devices at the moment which are clunky and not too reliable.

I'm actually toying with the idea of using SLR lenses, attached to a lens adaptor that is fitted to a high end web cam (good quality sensor) and running it that way.

I've got my feelers out to having a look at the EOS utilities for later camera revisions to thanks goldzilla