The "GumCam"

So called due to it being capable of fitting inside a chewing gum packet, this cost me approx £12 new from an Ebay seller - there's loads around and you may find one even cheaper. The manual is complete jibberish, but it takes a micro SD card, is charged and uploads via USB, and records stills, sound, and video ( 640 X 480 @30 FPS )

I strapped it onto my EPP buzzard and headed off to the field yesterday along with a few other models and ace snapper and clubmate John Bowman.

Here's a few pics I did this morning, and a link to a demo video from onboard the buzzard yesterday will be up a little later. Much better ( and cheaper actually ) than the original flycamone V1 and recommended at the price. Easier to operate also!

Very acceptable quality, Timbo - definite improvement on earlier cams and amazing for its size. I'm very tempted..............mind you, I was getting a bit queasy towards the end of the vid................

 

Pete

Wow! look awesome quality for what little you paid for it!

Definatley for me to try! 

At the moment I have to put up with my full size camera strapped to the side of the plane with masking tape!

timbo-i'm impressed-you have gotten a cracking bit of kit there....

 

        ken(david bailey)anderson...............

i liked how it caught the reflection as you flew over the puddle,Great value f or the money and can be hidden in most airframes without much butchery.One for the wishlist methinks.

Yep I reckon its great VFM - the quality is actually even better of course before U tube do their thing to it.

Sorry about the quesyness PeteB- it was an almost windless day, so try as I did, I couldnt hold the bird stationary very well - when it gets its outing up the big rock later this week,  it will hover better.

Here's a link to a seller in the US doing them for under £9 !!

Free intl P+P too unless I didnt read it very thoroughly.

You've convinced me - ordered one at £8.99 without a card. Should be here for the spring!

 

Pete

 EPP eagle - direct from China

HERE

There's also several "key fob" cameras which seem to have very similar performance around on ebay at the moment - similar price too. 

 

There's a website (I'll post the url if I can find it again!) that summarises the differences between the slightly different variations of these cameras.  It also gives details on how the date/time can be set correctly - something the original "Chinglish" instructions apparently attempt to do, but fail dismally!  I don't think the date/time can be removed from the display though.

Amazing film for the cost, well done Tim.

Here are a couple of ground to air shots from the day, It would have been nice to see the real buzzard on the video!

 

Cheers

John

If anyone else is interested, this item is the one I ordered. It states 720 x 480 resolution in the description, whereas other similar cameras may be much less, so read the desc carefully. Whether my purchase will be as described, time will tell. I have to say that Timbo's looks very good and is probably up to that spec.

 

Pete

Posted by John Privett on 08/02/2010 23:04:18:

 

Young Sam has found a link that perports to remove the time stamp completely - Ill experiment and post back.

Tim Bring it along tonight please i wouldnt mind a look before i buy

 

Ta

 

BB

Had one of these for awhile now. They are very good, especially considering the price.

I bought one with a 4 Gb memory already fitted.

 

One issue that may arise - it appears that some of the cameras come with a USB cable that is not very good. This can cause charging problems. Just swap it for a normal digital camera USB lead if there is a problem.

 

Reg

 

The URL I mentioned earlier is here.

 

It's mainly (totally?) about the "keyfob" cameras, but may be worth trying the date adjustment methods mentioned there.  One of them might work for these GumCams.

 

Thanks John...tried about 20 different methods and cant get rid of it .

Still for £9 I can live with it. Had a nice sssion up the Orme all day yesterday, and heres a 4 minute montage of a few flights on the EPP eagle - watch out for Iawnski's 60" Wildthing floating along beneath it ....