Leader 120 Camera and VTX upgrade

The Leader 120 is my favourite micro quad but manufacturing to a price point has meant that although not uncommon, the camera and VTX leaves something to be desired. I found that although it handles light well for an AIO camera, it is poor compared to a CCD camera meaning flying in an out of dark areas can be challenging. Additionally the VTX is limited to 25mW so total distance before video breakup is not fantastic, especially around trees or other obstacles.

I used a micro CCD camera (in this case the camera from the HGLRC XJB F428 Elf) and the new Full Speed TX200 VTX as a way to replace the AIO camera/VTX supplied as standard. A full review of this setup is here so that I can use this blog to give details of the install specific to the Leader 120. Update: Gearbest sell a clone of the micro swift which is identical to the HGLRC Elf - the Furibee 1672. This performs just the same as the other micro CCD cameras - micro swift, arrow, HGLRC elf. Update 2018: The foxeer micro arrow pro is now the best value and performance micro CCD camera at around $20

For my first attempt at the install please see the captioned pictures below:

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Unfortunately with this setup I had digonal lines in the video feed that were made worse when the quad was armed with increasing breakup when throttle was increased. Since this VTX will happily accept 5-17v I supplied power from VBAT rather than using the 5v BEC circuit on the flight controller. This immediately fixed the issue for the minor inconviniece of having to solder additional wires to the VBAT pads. This did however offer the advantage of less stress on the BEC circuit and less risk of brownouts as a result, especially when running on 200mW transmitting power.

You can read my conclusion in the review but to summarise a micro CCD is a must have on the Leader 120. Having to use Vbat due to noise on the flight controller 5v circuit is a minor inconvience but the improvement on signal compared to the AIO camera, even on 25mW is really impressive and running on 200mW opens a whole lot more flying opportunites with much better penetration though trees for example. The additional depth the VTX adds to the camera (meaning the top standoff cannot be fitted) is mildly annoying for the leader 120 but realistic. I thought it would be hard to top the Eachine VTX03 but the tidyness in piggybacking to the camera and ability to do it's own 5v regulation wins it for the TX200.
Parts mentioned:

Full speed TX200 25/200mW VTX

Runcam swift micro 2 camera

FuriBee MS - 1672 600TVL CCD Camera

Update 2018: I forgot to mention this does rely on being held in by wedging the camera between the sideplates but since then I've found a better free solution below:

I trimmed a standoff by approximately 5mm and used longer screws to torque the frame together. This is much stronger and more secure than my previous install. Note: the caddx cameras are a different shape and you may be able to install without trimming that standoff