Wow, we would never be allowed to disrupt the airflow across the exterior of an aircraft like that here in the UK. There was a crash a few years back caused by a mini cam that was mounted to an aircraft fuselage. The small camera was enough to disrupt the smooth airflow over the tail which led to the loss of control of the plane during a stunt routine. Be careful, aircraft and airflows are fickle things!

Nice shot though, shame the camera doesn't have a wider lens, the Sony adapter just isn't wide enough in my opinion. I'm using some nice 0.45x adapters that have minimal distortion on my MC1's. I think a wider shot would have shown more background which would have enhanced the sense of motion.

Completely agree on the wide angle, but the shot doesn't bother me as-is. We chose solid mounting over super-wide shots. That being said, can you direct me to the 0.45x adapters and maybe where to get them here in the US?

As far as airflow disruption goes, I have a lot of experience mounting cameras on aircraft - it's something I've done quite a bit of, and I have a good understanding of what will and won't affect an aircraft like this. The pitts has a lot of "junk" hanging off of it to begin with, and this camera was mounted in front of the canopy, which is obviously in front of the tail a good bit. Even then, the MC1 has a very low profile, as did our mount, so airflow disruption and/or tail stalling was of no concern to us or the pilot, who also has lots of experience with camera mounting.

Thanks for the feedback, much appreciated.

New footage up! Obviously Vimeo does not do this justice, but you get the idea.... HD Aerobatics at Tutima Academy on Vimeo

Wow, thank you for posting this. I didn't notice any rolling shutter effect from the POV cam. If I had the money I think I would choose this over the EX1....it seems like this camera offers a much wider range of possibilities for unique shots. I wish the lens was a little wider, and that it had a more iris blades instead of what I assume to be four blades....but that is just personal preference.

The image quality is definitely insane, but I would not consider it to be an alternative to the EX1. I have an EX1 and I would not let it go for anything else, although working with these two cameras now certainly has me hooked, and I may just have to buy my own MC1 at some point if I'm doing enough of this work and it seems like a logical investment.

Enjoy!

Think the Sony product has a different traget compared to the Panasonic cam. I also like to buy one of these cams and today I had first time the chance to see the Panasonic package. So when you compare it to Sony it doesn't look to be so perfect for extremsports, where a it can get a little bit dirty or also water will be the problem.

Also the Panasonic recorder and camera is bigger than the Sony product. So I think I'll chose the Sony for the stuff I'm filming, but I love the fact that the Panasonic can record 720p60.... so I think everybody has to decide what he needs. For a helmet camera Sony will do a better job.

Some in-cockpit Mustang footage shot with HXRMC1's, simply the best minicam I've ever seen.

YouTube - The Horsemen at Flying Legends 2009

Are you able to Log and Transfer the MC1 into FC using Pro res with this camera? I am close to buying but want to make sure this works. I am on FCS 6.0.6.

Recently I purchased the Sony XR500V and the footage will not import into FC properly. So I have to use iMovie and move the clips into FC as their own sequence which is far from ideal.

Yes you can

Thank you Steve that is great news.

What wide angle are people using with the MC1 to increase the field of view?

Paul, we are using this: the Sony | VCL-HG0730A 30mm 0.7x High Grade Wide Angle | VCL-HG0730A

Thanks Trevor,

Have you tried anything wider?

Still trying to figure out a housing for the camera head to be on a pole cheap.