CX7 - Shake while freeflying

[PharmerPhil 0]

??? I dunno, I didn't see much difference. IMHO both had objectionable shimmy/shudder/shake. Reminds me of my old TRV-900.

[frost 1]

i can definitely see a difference. Video after the mod is better. But i dont think it's better to a point of being acceptable... Trunk, respect for working on it, testing it and posting it for us.

[bomb420 1]

The shake you see afterwards is not from the camera, its literally shake from me. I will try to send the full res. Its a different type of flutter.

-Trunk

HYPOXIC

[frost 1]

i see.

So would you sayl that the fix corrected the shaking problem? What are the side effects on the camera? can you still use zoom? The lens aligned well with your method?

[Trevor 0]

looks like a huge difference; as long as the zoom and focus still work, I'd like to do the same to mine...just worried about bricking my camera...

[bomb420 1]

Here is a link to a better copy of the video I've looked it over and the two places to note are when I am looking down on the subjects. In the first video, it drives the stabilizer crazy, on the second its a ton better.

I'm trying to find the video I took with the camera mounted in the center of the helmet, it was not all that bad. Also, I have seen most of Willy Boeykens footage from the AZ Challange where he was using the CX6. I do not notice flutter in any of his videos except for one belly to sit (with wings) transistion. You can notice how much shake my setup has when I am sitflying (Optik with a custom plate and cx7 and XTI mounted on top). This shake added with a burble I believe makes the flutter.

I can post the instructions shortly but please do not sue me if you make your camera a brick. Seriously!

Here are the issues with this mod thus far:
• It will always have error code e62:20. This means the camera has a stabilization failure.
• I’ve also noticed some freaky things when trying to take still pictures with this mod, think it tries to use the stabilization to focus or take multiple scans. Who knows.
• The camera will take a little bit longer to start up.
• There is something funky when your screen has half dark and half light data in it. Presetting the exposure will fix this. I can post this if you guys are curious. I think this only occurs before the camera decides to set the Error code.

I still think an air baffel or enclosure of some sort will help too.

-Trunk

HYPOXIC

[SkymonkeyONE 4]

I have been jumping my CX7 side-mounted, in the open, on an L-bracket on my Optik Illusion for the past 50 jumps (all belly) and haven't experienced any of this "shake" problem. I also jumped it with my wingsuit in the same configuration right before I left on this trip and didn't see any problems. Odd?

Chuck

[frost 1]

That's what i would expect, Chuck. Not much burble there even side mounted... I am very happy with HD, belly and back flying footage of the CX7. Feet down... not so much. But still, the camera rocks and with the simple little things like editing the clips on the fly and the ease of file transfers i am loving it.

[Zensay 0]

Now i have tested the underwater housing (HCB), and for me it looks like the solution is to stop the burble form getting in.

Jumped this monster box 2 times, but at the first jump, something hit the start/stop button on the HCB, so nothing.

It was a protec helmet with a camera mount, and the box was tightend in the bottom with the screw and velcro around.The CX6 was fastened in the box with a modified original camera plate(HCB not compatible with CX6), and it could shake a bit.

The result is not the best, but far better than normal (homemade box), and with steadyshot turned ON, the rest of the shake maybe disappear with steadyshot turned OFF. Don´t had the time to test that.

Yes my head-up is not the best
[/url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-ULtYdSRMc

I like to hear what you think.

Now I need to make a 1 to 1 mould of my camera, to make a perfect fit airtight glass fiber box, any ideas to do that?

[frost 1]

Good job! Thanks for the efforts to test this configuration.

Judging by the video, seems to me that air tight housing is still not a solution. Shaking, while a bit less pronounced, is still pretty bad. I get similar results flying with my head tilted back, trying to put more clean air over the camera...

This housing is also very bulky. Plus the cost and effort of making one of it is not attractive for the results i am seeing...

A video of CX12 in feet down position from a neighboring thread seems to be MUCH better.

[Trevor 0]

I did a jump this weekend with the CX-7 mounted upside down. I wanted to confirm that it is the airflow causing the shaking problem and not the orientation of the camera. Headdown (with the cam upright) was fine, sitflying (with the cam upside down) was terrible.

This confirms what eveyone else thought about the airflow; I just wanted to be sure before unleashing the glue gun on my lens assembly.

[bomb420 1]

I did not want to post this originally because I think there still is a better less intrusive solution. But, since people are doing this, I rather help out with my limited knowledge.

Please see the bottom of Get Hypoxic's webpage for instructions on how to glue down the optical stabilization on a CX7.

-Trunk

HYPOXIC

[DSE 5]

Very cool article, Mark. Wouldn't it be a good suggestion for folks to discharge the capacitor using a resistor/jumpers? I'd hate to see someone stop their heart with a seemingly harmless camera.

[Trevor 0]

Mark,
Awesome job on those instructions- the photos are head and shoulders above the diagrams/cartoons in the service manual. I am glad I waited until this week to tackle this. In the interest of safety, I am attaching the capacitor discharge page of the service manual. I was able to buy a 1K ohm/1 Watt resistor at Radio Shack for about a buck...
-Trevor

[LouDiamond 1]

Quote

Very cool article, Mark. Wouldn't it be a good suggestion for folks to discharge the capacitor using a resistor/jumpers? I'd hate to see someone stop their heart with a seemingly harmless camera.

That is seriously good advice that should be re-iterated and heeded.

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING

[bomb420 1]

Yeah I should add it for all the older people of the crowd It'll be updated in the next few days. I still do not recommend people doing this, but if you are curious read through it. I think places like Kelly Camera in San Diego, amongst others, may be willing to perform this mod for a fee. From the sounds of it it'll be over $500.

HYPOXIC

[mrwrong 0]

Hi guys.
Stumbled upon this http://www.vimeo.com/1513129
It gets (really) interesting about 4 minutes into the video. Don’t get me wrong I found it all interesting but I wonder if this “anti shake” thingie can be used for OIS based cameras to enhance the video while editing. The shake might be too severe for this but who am I to know?

Maybe the gurus here have an opinion regarding this

[Edit to correct spelling]

“The sum of intelligence on the planet is a constant; the population is growing.” - George Bernard Shaw
He who dies with the most toys, wins.....
dudeist skydiver # 19515
Buy quality and cry once!

[Trevor 0]

I finished rebuilding my CX-7 after gluing the shakilizer. I only had one piece of the camera leftover after I was finished which is pretty good considering my track record of permanently disfiguring my electronics. The camera worked without the piece, but I figured I better put it back in to be sure. It turned out it was a tiny metal support bracket near the memory stick socket- easy fix.

I didn't get shocked during the procedure; I followed the instructions for discharging the flash capacitor with a 1W resistor from Radio Shack, but still treated the capacitor as ‘hot’ since I couldn’t tell if it was really drained or not. There were three things I wish I’d done better:

1) I took a couple of days between taking apart and reassembly making if hard to remember where stuff went and increasing the chance of dust accumulating. If you are going to tackle this project, leave yourself a whole day to do it.

2) I was aware I was getting fingerprints on the lens as I worked with it and planned to wipe it down during the reassemble. I forgot and reassembled it with all the fingerprints still there. Not a big deal to fix, but sloppy.

3) When the camera is in autofocus mode, the image shutters a little as it tries to find the focus point. I think this is because I was slightly "off" when reassembling the imager/stabilizer assembly getting those three little rods to line up. I jump with the camera in manual focus (of course) so it's not a big deal...but I will take it apart again and do it right.

I have not been able to jump the cam yet, but I am sure the shakes are gone. That assembly is glued tight and not going anywhere. For the record, I had a hell of a time using a caliper to center the lens and ended up eyeballing it. I would get it exactly right with the caliper, but would shake it loose when going for the glue gun. Eyeballing it seemed just as accurate.

Since I am disassembling again anyway, I am going to experiment with other methods that might help the shakes without causing the error codes. Ideally, I would like to leave the stabilization circuit connected, but somehow break the physical connection between the stabilization motors and the (glued) stabilization lens. That way the cam can power it's motors and think it has control of the lens (and not give me an error code) while the lens stays glued tight. Even if I screw that part up, I can unplug the circuit and be back to bomb420's working method.

[bomb420 1]

Trevor I believe the shutter is from the exposure not the autofocus mode. However, with this mod, do not manually set the exposure since I have had the camera "white out" without warning. I just give it a minute on jump run to error out and all is good.

HYPOXIC

[Trevor 0]

Trunk-

You are right on the money. I experimented and removed the large magnet that the stabilizer moves back and forth against when it has current. I also left the stabilizer circuit connected. My hope was that when the cam powered on, it would "test-power" the stabilizer motors and not set an error code. Since the magnet is gone, the motors wouldn't actually move and my stabilizer lens would stay glued right in there.

Somehow the camera was smarter than me and when I powered it on, I got the old 62:10 code so it knew I'd been messing with it. Otherwise, same minor symptoms, but nothing that would keep it from jumping. It takes about 17 seconds to boot up (it just displays "handycam" on the screen.) Once it has booted up and the picture is on the screen there is a funky exposure problem that last until the camera sets the error code 30 seconds later.

So bottom line, the camera is good to go 45-60 seconds after powering up. I don't know how soon I will get to jump this thing due to the hurricanes, but I am sure the shakes are gone...thanks!

[thunderdan 0]

I attempted the mod myself and failed :( however I was able to have it done by a friend at a authorized sony service center for $200 email or message me for information. Also if you are considering doing it yourself it is possible to get the lenses out of wack and they will have to be calibrated (at least thats what I was told was wrong with mine).
Anyways all is well now and I am looking to get a second cx7 or 12 for backup I really like the camera.


daniel@smithmultimedia.com

[bomb420 1]

Cool, was he able to do the mod without making it error out?

HYPOXIC

[thunderdan 0]

Yep still get the error. Have to see after someone else gets its done though because i messed the camera up trying to do it myself first so not sure if that is the cause. Likely that the error will show unless someone came up with a firmware update but really not a big deal.