Canon 550D live out

[xtakos]

I am interested in purchasing the Canon 550D for AP and i wanted to know from users that already have it, how do they shoot their photos.
Can i use the live out future so i won`t have to mount an extra FPV camera to the gimbal?
This guy here is using the T2i (same camera) with live out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dh0_ZKLWN1M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dh0_ZKLWN1MCanCan this be done with 550D?
Anyone has done it?Using it?Pros-Cons?

 

[DennyR]

Yes you can hack the cable to find the Yellow Vid out wire and the ground outer. Sadly it does not have the shutter release socket that the other canons have.

 

[xtakos]

I just had a doubt if this will work as the mini usb says digital and not analog A/V output.I was thinking of using it with the BlipSwitch Duo connector.What do you mean it does not have shutter release socket?

 

[Bartman]

modification of the proprietary Canon composite video wire to enable connection to a video transmitter and live view from the ground

http://www.multirotorforums.com/showthread.php?121-Canon-T2i-video-out-hack&highlight=canon


for the shutter release you can buy a cheap ($9) hand-held shutter release switch with a 2.5mm plug (I think) and cut the cable. wire it to a Pico switch from Dimension engineering and it works to release the shutter remotely. works perfect and keeps the 3.5 frames per second continuous mode operational. the GentleLED can only do 1 frame per second in photo mode.

Hope that helps,
Bart

 

[Bartman]

does the european 550D not have the socket whereas the US T2i version does?

 

[xtakos]

Thanks Bart, you really helped me out with this one.I haven`t bought the camera yet and i don`t know for which socket you are refering but these are the 550D socket according to review.

View attachment 1943

 

[Bartman]

the middle port is the analog composite audio/video out, the jack just above that is for a remote shutter release. the remote works better for the stills but the gentLED works better to enable starting and stopping video while flying.

modify the plug to get to the ground and the yellow wire. they can be wired to the video transmitter.

the T2i works great and takes beautiful video. mine even survived a rapid descent into a pine tree that totaled the camera mount. i was going to buy a Sony NEX but I've since decided to stick with the Canon and probably just buy a second for back-up.
Bart

 

[xtakos]

Thanks a lot Bartman, Monday morning i will go and buy the 550D.I will then start the mod and let you know.Thanks again.

 

[DennyR]

does the european 550D not have the socket whereas the US T2i version does?

It does have it but the 5D and 7D has a different one that can use the wireless controller.

 

[andrewrob]

I've got a 550d (T2i) and am starting to use it for AP shortly. You can buy the canon mini usb to video cable known as the AVC - DC 400st (mono version also available).
If modifying it so you have a right angle connector coming out of the camera rather than the standard 400st one which is quite long you have to remember to connect + and - video and then short a 3rd pin to ground otherwise the camera LCD will not switch off and you will not get video out.

For a remote I made one from one of these receiver switches http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=8833 , a couple of resistors and an NPN 2n2222 transistor. The whole thing cost me well under £10 to make. I made a wiring diagram for it but its probably not the clearest to read! http://dl.dropbox.com/u/25201190/Canon remote.pdf The LED used is a purple one from memory. Its not for indication as its quite dim anyway but I had to add it as the switch still gives off 3.5v when its off.
If anyone wants to use it please feel free to ask for any further info. Its about 1cm by 2cm so nice and small. I did have one from gentLED before but its burnt out for some reason so I made one as I was in a hurry.

ETA
Another thing well worth looking at with the 550d is the 3rd party Magic Lantern software. I've had it on mine for a year now and its great. So many more options when shooting video, you can also vary the bitrate of movies too which is helpful. Another nice feature is auto restart.
There is a 4gb file limit and when this is reached the camera will stop recording and you cannot restart remotely with the standard canon camera software as the record button is not the shutter release button. But with this software you can set the camera to automatically restart recording when the limit has been reached.
The software is run from the SD card, if you put a normal card in or hold the shutter down half way when starting up it will load without the magic lantern software.
Loads more useful features but that's just a few off of the top of my head, and its free!
http://magiclantern.wikia.com/wiki/Magic_Lantern_Firmware_Wiki

 

[xtakos]

I didn`t quite understand what pins i will have to use for the video out.I though that i will only need the video and ground output.What do you mean by + and - and 3rd pin?

 

[andrewrob]

I didn`t quite understand what pins i will have to use for the video out.I though that i will only need the video and ground output.What do you mean by + and - and 3rd pin?

Sorry, I wasn't too clear on that one. As you have said, you need video and ground output BUT you also have to connect one pin to ground otherwise the camera will not output video, the LCD would display the picture instead. When you connect this pin to ground the display shuts off and it outputs video through the cable. You will get the video cable with it anyway so you can just use that, the only reason I had to hack mine to pieces was I couldn't quite fit everything in the space I had as the video cable connector sticks out about 2cm from the side of the camera.

 

[Bartman]

if you guys look at the photos and explanation i posted on the cable hack you can see i removed the absolute minimum from under the black plastic sheathing in order to bend the mass of wires and clear plastic looking stuff to a right angle. if you don't hack too deep into the mass of stuff, the wire that shorts those two prongs will remain intact and you only need to connect to the yellow and ground wires. the clear plastic stuff will soften if you put a hot air gun to it and will harden right back up as it cools. if you're careful you can bend the whole thing and then just put heat shrink over it. mine's been like that for a year and it still working great.