Super lightweight AIO Camera Shootout

Typically 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:

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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

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

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.

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

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

LS2 with video in/out adds about 0.2g but allows for easy hook up of betaflight OSD if you have it

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

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