Scope Cam Evolved: A Hajimoto & Side-Shot Collaboration

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https://www.phoneskope.com/store/add-to-cart

1549860842_816365505c60ffea3219b5.00277917_Screen Shot 2019-02-10 at 6.53.01 PM.png


use same prism as the SideShot but can be mounted to any scope! No special mounts needed. can do GoPro and cell phones.
 
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This looks like it has potential but I'm not seeing the total package yet other than the $1,250 option which is just insane. I just cant jump in until I feel confident it is going to work and it doesn't appear to be there yet.
Click to expand...

The total package IS the $1,250.00 option. All other configurations are for the guy/gal/ or other acceptable pronoun, to use their existing GoPro Hero Camera. The confidence of it working is illustrated in videos by shooters like Bob_O, HunterOne, Matt Dubber, Justin Jacobsen and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tg7boGpf8hc&list=PLwDXAQ4JDEbfEUIeRczx2sHS58sgHQl5_.

There is certainly plenty of footage for you to see the unit in action.



Hajimoto 
 
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Just ordered one. Yes it’s a bunch of money but good stuff costs.

I can tell you from experience the most expensive way is to TRY to do it on the cheap. 

Min addition if it’s a challenge to use I’m not going to bother.

I have a side shot to use with a I phone and it’s good. The negative is the phone and you can work around it but this should be much better. 
 
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There is little/no information out about what make/model lens will work for the older hero 4-6. Other than that, it looks great. It's just hard to jump in without that information. It's like buying a car without a transmission. And the salesman tells you they don't know what transmission it needs. Sure, the transmission exists......somewhere. But until there is solid information about what part is needed, it's just not for me.
 
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Hi all,

I would like to add a few comments and share my own limited experience with the Side Shot GoPro system as of today.

But first of all, I would like to thank Haj for his effort and guidance to help me out with his videos and lens suggestion to convert my own GoPro7 camera.

I recently received my SS mount and the flat lens from Ali Express. To be honest, I didn't anticipate the amount of work and stress that I had to endure going down this rabbit hole... But I was able to finally figured things out with limited information out there. I am getting close but still need a bit of more fine tuning with the focus of the new lens and the gopro settings.

Pros: nice system to have to film scope cam footages once you can DIY the lens change

Cons: Cost of Gopro 7 mount only is a bit steep as compared to the Hero 3/4. Why the extras?

SS mount: $280; Gopro7: $400; Ali Express lens: $75: tool: $25

total: $780 plus applicable taxes and shipping cost

DIY stress: you will soon find out if you are to venture down this hole but hopefully you will have better result. So is the saving worth it? I have yet to come to that conclusion.

SideShot package: $1250 plus taxes/shipping cost

Anyway, this is my negative experience with it so far. So prepare to sweat and stress with the removal of the original lens; although Haj has an excellent how-to video, the process for me personally was nerve racking. I had to search several places for that sharp point wire cutter and finally found it at HomeDepot ($25 cdn). After twisting off the lens cover, I was having problem with loosing up the fisheye lens (counter-clockwise) and ended up cutting and marking the edges of the lens but not damaging the function of the lens. After several tries, sweats and a few curse words, it came loose. What a relief! So I thought its home run from this point. I followed Haj's instruction and screwed in the new lens and trying to figure out how to focus down to a macro view. Not knowing what to do exactly, I was again having difficulty getting the lens to focus and decided to give up for the night.

I worked on it again after work the next day with a new attitude and hope. I was able to turn the lens to get some focus but not very clear on the reticle. Since I couldn't find any additional video online on this topic, I was doing everything thru trial and error. Also, the lens was loose and it doesn't have a locking device like the back-bone version so I was very careful every time I handle it putting it in and out of the casing. I did make a mark on the lens edge to the gopro housing. And used that marking to fine tune left or right to get better focus. The process was tidies and frustrating. It wasn't as easy as I thought it should be. The objective is to set the lens to a position where the cross-hair is in full focus, sounds easy but it wasn't for me. More curse words uttered from my mouth. 

Next issue I encountered was mounting the SS to my scope in the level position so that the reticles is level in the video recording. Easy enough I thought, just release the two screws and rotate the mount one way or the other. Well, took me a few tries and it is still not perfect, but good enough for now. Again, no videos out there showing how... I did it my way by hanging a plum line and place my crosshair level to that plumb line and press record. Then review footages in computer to see if I get a level cross hair. What a PITA to adjust, test, record and check. But I didn't have another other choice or method otherwise. Just looking at the screen of the GoPro while it is on the scope would not show me if the picture is level. Another long and tidies process and more curse words...

Now another day and more testings. By now I got the mount in the right position, focus is so-so. Took some recordings at some pinecones across the street 40 yards away on a sunny day. Videos were over exposed and white wash in the light area and so so in the shaped area. Now what to do??? So much for just drop in the gopro in and off I go with the recording, right? Not quite. So I started to adjust the settings of the GoPro itself. I soon found the ISO max needed to be at 100 and not higher for a sunny day. So now I finally got a decent pictures but not perfect. I did so much recodings, testings, taking gopro in and out of the casing, loading into the computer, checking for each settings...on and on. What a trip so far with this scope cam venture.

If you are still reading on, then perhaps you are already in knee deep with me or you haven't stick your head into this rabbit hole OR you have no issue at all with this DIY GoPro lens adjustment. Anyway, I am getting closer everyday and best of all, I am learning as I go. Isn't it why we spend money and time doing something we all enjoy to do with air gunning?

Sorry for the long post. I would appreciate if someone can chime in and let me know what I have been doing wrong or right. I hope someone who has similar questions or problems will find my suffering and findings helpful.

Cheers and I hope I will able to finally get a chance to get out to the range and do some scope cam footages. Maybe then I can justify and happy that I venture down this rabbit hole just to get some scope cam footages.

Alex
 
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@max115 I read through your post and I must say I felt your pain. I also felt a bit responsible, and for that I'm sorry. I will be working on a detailed set of protocols and procedures to help the next scope cam builder.

I will do a video which will go through the process that I use for Camera settings, focus techniques using iPad, iPhone or cable connections to an external monitor and so forth. i will be working on this as we speak. The first and most important information I will provide will be the camera settings and procedure for remote viewing of the camera video feed.

Hang in there bud



Hajimoto
 
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Hi Haj,

No need to apologize. Without your videos and advice, I wouldn't have tackle this Scope Cam DIY.

Beside the sweat and stress, I am learning a lot and gained valuable knowledge along the way.

Yes, it would be great to just plug and play, but it is more satisfying at the end (once I get everything to work).

thank you and I look forward to any tips and instruction you post.

ps. I was able to get some footages with the setup. Still need a bit of minor adjustment I think.

Alex
 
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Hi Bob,

you were right about how much easier to pair the gopro to my phone and use it to see the images and make adjustments. Much better than my original method.

anyhow, I am still having problem dialing the new lens to the "right" position where I can see clearly on the crosshair and the background image focus. I saw how clear and crisp your SC images were. Did you get the backbone lens package for your setup? I did some videos recording and I just couldn't get that perfect clear images.

I am just wondering if I am doing something else wrong.

thanks.

Alex
 
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Using a GoPro as a Scope Camera

While I am working on my tutorial video I think it is important to have a brief discussion related to GoPro cameras and their video/photo capabilities. These are very intelligent devices and do a lot in the background (if you let them) which can affect your image results.
When using a GoPro as a scope camera we are essentially focusing light directly into the lens so that means management of that light needs to be understood.


Because the GoPro Hero Cameras have a fixed aperture (no iris) the exposure is controlled by the Shutter speed and the ISO. So if the camera is constantly adjusting the exposure our crosshairs will constantly be in or out of focus. If we set the values and then focus our camera on the crosshairs with these fixed, we will no longer have the out of focus or whiteout image happening because of automatic exposure settings of the camera. So the first thing you want to do is turn the cameras Protune mode ON so we can start making some changes.
Below I will talk briefly about each and why we need to override the default settings.

There are (4) things that can mess up our video clarity and they are.

  • SHUTTER SPEED.
  • ISO.
  • WHITE BALANCE.
  • SHARPNESS.


SHUTTER SPEED:
Default AUTO:
When video recording the Shutter Speed should be 2x the speed of the capture rate. If you are capturing as 1080 240FPS the Shutter should be set to 1/480.

ISO:
Default: MIN 100 to MAX 1600
The higher the ISO the more sensitive to light the camera is. While this is good for low light conditions it comes at the cost of grainy or noisy images. We want the Min to 100 and Max to 200.

WHITE BALANCE:
Default AUTO
We want to set this to NATIVE. This way the camera is not adjusting the shot and making our whites look blue.

SHARP:
Default HIGH
When the sharpness is on high the video/images tend to look to digital. Low is too blurry so MEDIUM is the setting you should use.

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Remember to use a iPad or iPhone as a monitor to your GoPro video feed during focus session to keep from going insane. You simply make small adjustments and insert the camera in the case and instantly see the results.

Now make these changes to your GoPro, focus your lens on the crosshair in the scope and go shooty shooty video capture!

Hajimoto
 
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Fantastic advice Haj. I have found something similar online with the settings but your explanation on each setting make a lot of sense. I will definitely try them out. Unfortunately with the rain that we are having this week, i wouldn’t be able to test it out as my understanding with GoPro is that lighting needs to be sufficient to have good footages.

i have made some progress with the lens adjustments to get better images but still not 100% satisfied. Hopefully with the new settings, I will get the result I am looking for.

thank you HaJ!

alex
 
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Update with my DIY GoPro Side Shot.

I finally figured it out and got it to work properly.

A big thank you to Haj for his invaluable information and advice; also, to Bob for the tips on using the phone app to view the live footage of the camera.

Here is a link to my new Youtube channel showing the camera footages.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIWV6Ozc0RM

Capturing footages of your shots is a fantastic way to analyze the way you shoot and how your POI differs with different gun/pellets. And of course to have awesome slow motion picture of the impact is awesome.

Conclusion: my stress and journey down the rabbit hole was worth it at the end.

Cheers!
 
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