QUADIFYRC.COM
  • RC Cars
  • Car of the Month
  • Quad Reviews
  • COUPONS AND DISCOUNTS
  • About & Contact

QUADIFYRC Quadcopter reviews

Super lightweight AIO Camera Shootout

18/1/2018

0 Comments

 
PictureTypically AIO cameras are limited to brushless quads now. Here is my santa whoop with the LST S2
Since half of the planet is currently having weather that is forcing people indoors at the moment (not me haha!) I've reviewed some All In One (AIO) camera and VTX combos. Traditionally these have been used on tiny whoop style indoor brushed quads and smaller micro brushless quads although more and more brushless quads are using slightly heavier micro CCDs as standard.

Weight is still very much the name of the game in brushed quads as you'll struggle to get a 4:1 power to weight ratio even on the larger 8520-based brushed micros. This means CMOS-based AIO cameras are still the norm because they are so light. In this round up I've gone for some of the lightest cameras I can find and best of all, 2 include video in / video out so that no tricky wiring hacks are needed to run betaflight OSD.

Note: This is clearly not an exhaustive test, I happened to have a number of AIO camera at the same time I ordered for various micros so had a chance to compare. I though the improvements over the Eachine TX01 were impressive so thought it would be work sharing.

​The Contenders:

Picture
Eachine TX01 - $20 at time of writing

The now classic Eachine TX01 is a 600TVL CMOS Camera with a 120° claimed field of view and a VTX running 25mW 40 channels VTX. It weighs 4.5g with the standard antenna but you can get it down to about 4.0g with a basic monopole antenna. Being older it is larger in size - 20mm wide, 34mm high with the inflexible CP antenna and 16mm total depth including lens. Included here because this was somewhat of a standard 6-12 month ago. No video in / out standard but can be modified to do so with a bit of work. Channels are easily changed and cleared displayed on the single digit large led display. This camera is fixed to NTSC.

You can find this one at Banggood here. Exclusive to them as far as I know
LST - S2 Video out only - $9 flash sale at time of writing

This variant of the LS2 is a 800TVL CMOS Camera with a 150° field of view running a 25mW 40 channel VTX. It is a more recent model and weighs only 3.3g (3.6g claimed) It is very small physically - 14mm wide, 14mm high excluding the flexible antenna and about 15mm deep with lens. It uses a linnear dipole antenna attached by ufl connector and so can be changed easily. This particular model has no video in / out. It can probably be modified for this but I have not yet tried. Channels are easily changed and clearly displayed with 8 LEDs for channels and 5 for bands. In addition this is PAL/NTSC switchable with a blue LED to signal PAL mode.

You can find this one at Gearbest here. Exclusive to them so far as I know
Picture
Picture
LST - S2 Video in/out - OSD ready - $16 at time of writing

This is identical to the camera above EXCEPT it has video in and video out wires meaning you can connect to betaflight OSD without modification. This has made it 0.2 g heavier @ 3.5g

You can find this at Gearbest here Exclusive to them so far as I know
CM275T - $17 at time of writing

​This update to the CM275 is a 600TVL CMOS Camera with a 120° field of view running a 25mW 48 channel VTX. It is the lightest AIO I've seen at 3.2g. It is very small physically - 14mm wide x 14mm high (excluding the flexible antenna) and about 15mm total depth . It uses a linnear dipole antenna attached this is soldered directly to the board. As per the image it has video in/out so can be hooked up to betaflight OSD without modification. Channels are easily changed using 2 buttons and clearly displayed with 8 LEDs for channels and 6 for bands. In addition this is PAL/NTSC switchable.

You can find this at Gearbest here or FlexRC here
Picture
Picture
Runcam Micro Swift 2 with Fullspeed TX200 piggyback VTX - $35 at time of writing for camera and vtx

Just as a comparison I've included this combo in the list. Although larger it can still be set up and an AIO system. Total weight is 8.2g and it is 19mm wide, 19mm high without antenna and approx 19mm total depth. It uses a linnear dipole www.gearbest.com/camera/pp_719175.html?lkid=11603721antenna attached by ufl connector and so can be changed easily. Although it doesn't have video in/out the video cable is very easy to intercept plus the micro swift 2 has a basic battery voltage and time OSD built in. It is bigger and heavier so not suited toa brushed quad but the light handling of the camera is vastly superior. Full review here

You can find the TX200 at gearbest here or Banggood here.
You can find the micro swift pretty much anywhere but here is the link for Gearbest
Results
Clearly discussion on image quality is missing here - I found the 4 CMOS AIO camera above very similar and wouldn't be able to tell apart in a blind test. The only AIO I've picked up which is clearly inferior is the VM2751 standard on the leader which is not included in this shootout. I thought this camera/vtx was the weak point of the Leader 120 quadcopter.

Recommendation
For a micro brushed quad without an OSD I'd recommend the LST S2. For goodness sakes it is only $9!!! Further to that it is light, easy to change channel / band / video format and small.

For a micro brushed quad with OSD or if you are after every milligram of weight savings, get the CM275T. It is CRAZY light at 3.2g and has a very convinient video/in out so that you don't need to mod your cam just to enjoy betaflight OSD - assuming your FC supports it. I know it's at odds with what I said about brushless and ccd cameras but this will be going on my Eyas X2 rebuild going for the lightest 2" possible - targetng 35g with props. Here is my original X2 eyas build on rotorbuilds if your curious.

For a brushless quad 2s and up just get the micro swift or equivalent and the TX200 VTX. The video quality is just so superior in all but the best lighting conditions. VTX can be a little tricky with band / channel display but transmission quality is excellent and you have the ability to bump the transmission power up to 200mW.
Picture
The Eachine TX01 lives in my Eyas X2 which is currently beinf rebuilt. Has been a reliable performer but I'm shooting for well below 40g in this 2s quad now
Picture
The LS2 without video in/out is remarkably light and excellent value at only $9. This proudly resides in my santa whoop with Furibee F3 board and 0716 motors
Picture
LS2 with video in/out adds about 0.2g but allows for easy hook up of betaflight OSD if you have it
Picture
The CM275T is simly the lightest AIO camera/vtx I've seen and it now supports betaflight OSD with Video in/out. I'll be using this in my Eyas X2 rebuild and will be pushing for 35g total dry weight
Picture
A micro CCD cam with TX200 vtx piggy back is still my favourite choice for brushless micros, leader 120 shown here. Many micro CCDs to choose from that have near ideantical performance. This is the HGLRC elf in this picture
0 Comments

    Quick Access Menu

    All
    1103
    1104
    1105
    1106
    1204
    120rs
    1505
    20mm
    2207.5
    2508
    2.5 Inch
    2 Inch
    2s Whoop
    3 Inch
    4s Micro
    5 Inch
    6s
    7500kv
    7 Inch
    Action Cam
    Adapter
    AIO
    AirA
    Antenna
    Aomway Commander
    Ascent
    Asteroid
    Babyhawk R
    Battery
    Beebee 66
    Beeper
    Bench Review
    BNF
    Boldclash
    Bolt
    Brushless Whoop
    Budget
    Build
    Canopy
    Charging
    Christmas
    Cinewhoop
    Cloud 149
    CM275T
    Cobra
    Comet
    Crossfire
    Crux3
    Diatone
    Drone
    Dvr
    DYS
    Eachine
    Eachine Cvatar Cinewhoop
    Eachine Shadow Fiend
    Eachine Tyro79
    Eachine Vrd3
    Emax
    ESC
    F02h
    F3
    Fatshark
    Fatshark Attitude V5
    First Flight
    FlexRC
    Flight Controller
    Flyfox 110
    Fpv
    Frame
    Freestyle
    FRSKY
    FRSKY X-lite
    Ft5
    Full Speed
    FUS Spartan
    FUS X111 Pro
    Gemfan 2540
    Goggles
    Goggle Strap
    Happymodel
    Hawk 5
    Hawkeye Firefly 2
    HB64
    HD Footage
    HGLRC
    Hobbycool
    HobbyCool.com
    Iflight
    Isdt
    JHEMCU
    Jr Port
    Jumper T8SG
    Komori
    Lal5
    Larva-x
    Leader 120
    Leader 2.5
    Leader 3
    LED
    Long Range
    LST S2
    Micro Quad
    Mobula
    Mobula7
    Motors
    Namelessrc
    Novice-i
    Oled
    ORT Dual Shield
    PIDs
    Pnp
    Portable
    Propellers
    R249+
    Racerstar
    Radiomaster TX16s
    Ready To Fly
    Red Devil
    Review
    Roma F4
    Roma F5
    Runcam
    Runcam 5
    Rush
    Sailfly X
    Sailfly-x
    Shootout
    SKY03O
    Skystars
    Skyzone
    Smart Audio
    Snapper7
    Sweet Spot
    Taranis
    TBS Tango2
    Tinyleader
    Tiny Tank
    Tmotor
    T-motor
    Toothpick
    Toothpick Pro
    TP3
    Transmitter
    Trashcan
    Tutorial
    Twig
    TX01
    Upgrade
    V1s
    Vtx
    Whoop
    X120
    X Lite
    X-lite
    ZJWRC 115X

Thanks for visiting QuadifyRC.com Follow us on facebook below to get all the latest updates
  • RC Cars
  • Car of the Month
  • Quad Reviews
  • COUPONS AND DISCOUNTS
  • About & Contact