Elliott000
Member
I smashed my hero2 the other day 
, Has anyone used a vio pov? i can get one for similar price as gopro... thanks guys!
Elliott
, Has anyone used a vio pov? i can get one for similar price as gopro... thanks guys!Elliott
VIO pov hd, Any one use it?
- Thread starter Elliott000
- Start date
hjls3
Member
I ski with one all the time. It is great. That said, the whole set-up might be a bit much on a multi-rotor. The Lens is connected to a heavy viewer thru a DIGITAL AV Cable that is 4.5 feet long. Real nice that you can see what the lens is filming. I keep that in a pocket inside my coat though and use remote on/off switch. Personally I think the GoPro is a bit cleaner on a copter but if you can get VIO for GoPro money, that is a real good deal in the VIO. Out of curiosity I just weighed my set-up and it is 529 grams. I think my gopro is under 200 with the skeleton case.
Elliott000
Member
thanks for the info man, i just added up the vio weight too... little heavy, is the image quality quite superior to a hero2 or pretty similar? You tube isnt satisfying my needs lol
hjls3
Member
Honestly I can not tell the difference between the two video wise. I do like the VIO for skiing way better than the GoPro, because what is attached to my helmet is real minimal. Cant stand the GoPro on my helmet. I also, really like the view finder of the VIO with remote on/off. THe range on that remote is not good enough for multi-rotor application. What I am getting at...VIO a great system but probably not the way togo for multi-rotor use.
On another note...Recently I did upgrade to the Hero2 from my first generation GoPro. I love the Hero2. Were you flying it in a case when you smashed it? I found the first GoPro pretty tough. Fortunately, I have yet to really test the toughness of the Hero2.
Elliott000
Member
Ya it was in its case fron mounted on my f450, lost radio contact i think and it went down about 60ft into concrete.... The only visual damage is the lens has wierd looking cracks all inside it, and the on off button doesnt click, its jammed in, when i got to it i was pumped as it was still on and signaling that its recording but none of the buttons did anything and i was forced to pull the battery. Video is corrupt and wont play, ill grab another hero2, and id like to try these aftermarket lenses, ill butcher my old hdhero original to try one out and see how it looks with out the fisheye wideness
hjls3
Member
You and I are on the same page. I could not get used to that fisheye. I did some research and ordered a 4mm lens from RageCam. I do not have the lens yet. Should be here today or tomorrow. I will certainly let you know what I think of the lens. I can tell you that the customer I have experienced with these guys has been great.
http://ragecams.com/shop/product_info.php/products_id/312
Elliott000
Member
Cool, kilby i might take u up, is the install hard? I opened mine after smashup and i cant figure out lens removal mind u ive done no research, just an autopsy lol
hjls3
Member
Elliot this is video I watched before ordering my lens. Seems easy enough. I will know exactly how hard tomorrow night
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lx-Uotq37nw
The lens swap isn't hard, just take your time doing the disassembly and layout the screws in a way that you know which ones go where when it goes back together. A few things to be aware of, the stock lens is locktited or glued in so the focus doesn't change, wrap a piece of electrical tape around it and grip it gently with some pliers to unscrew it but don't use too much force as it's really easy to break something if you're too gung ho. The threads in the lens holder are extremely fine, use extra care when starting to thread the new lens into the holder it's far too easy to get it cross threaded and then you'll never be able to get the focus right. The other thing is you will need to set the focus before you fully reassemble the GoPro so have either a TV and the proper cable to connect to it or a set of FPV goggles you can hook up to do the focus before finishing up.
I changed one of my Hero HDs to a Sunex lens over a year ago and it's held up nicely. I think the Sunex is really the way to go if you want to completely eliminate the fisheye effect, only downside is it will not fit in the standard housing without either removing the glass lens cover or putting an extension between the housing and lens cover.
Ken
I changed one of my Hero HDs to a Sunex lens over a year ago and it's held up nicely. I think the Sunex is really the way to go if you want to completely eliminate the fisheye effect, only downside is it will not fit in the standard housing without either removing the glass lens cover or putting an extension between the housing and lens cover.
Ken
hjls3
Member
Just did my swap. Super easy. RTRyder is right...take your time. I did take a few pics and think I can improve a bit on the focus. So I might be disassembling tomorrow to do so. I was wanting to focus the lens outside on something 100 feet away or so, I ended up just using the GoPro Bacpac with live view to focus. That might have been a mistake. The only real challenge of the swap, getting focus dialed and making sure LCD screen is in the right spot. That said, neither of which is all that difficult. Overall, very pleased with how the install went. 4mm Ragecam. One more thing. Even though pics were a tad out of focus, my main goal was met which was to lose all or most of the fisheye look.
Kilby
Active Member
That's cool. Just send me a PM if your interested. From what I've seen, it's easier to replace the lens on the 2 than the original. The nice thing with the rage cam is that you can focus it without taking it apart again. Search YouTube and they have install videos on there. Pretty simple actually.
hjls3
Member
Kilby - I left the black lip on the GoPRo that wont allow me to focus without taking it apart. I was a tad concerned that without the lip the lens might vibrate and become unfocused. Did you find that it was AOK without the lip there and the provided parts with the RageCam were enough to hold it in place? Thanks for the heads up.