Mobius 5MP Varifocal Zoom 6-22mm ƒ/1.6

[Dashmellow]

The iSaddle mount looks like a good alternative to the helmet mount.

I bought an iSaddle mount but have yet to install it. It seems very well made and is very versatile in the angles and adjustments it can make. The most impressive thing is once you tighten the thumb screw it holds any adjustments you make so firmly that you just can't move it at all, even a little bit unless you loosen the thumbscrew again.

I use a helmet mount for one of my side facing Mobi and it works well, but it is nowhere as strong a mount and, of course, it is far less adjustable. The iSaddle mount is bigger though.

I notice there are some complaints about the adhesive on the iSaddle but it's very easy to replace with a piece of your own 3M VHB tape.

 

[Harsh]

I bought an iSaddle mount but have yet to install it. It seems very well made and is very versatile in the angles and adjustments it can make. The most impressive thing is once you tighten the thumb screw it holds any adjustments you make so firmly that you just can't move it at all, even a little bit unless you loosen the thumbscrew again.

I use a helmet mount for one of my side facing Mobi and it works well, but it is nowhere as strong a mount and, of course, it is far less adjustable. The iSaddle mount is bigger though.

I notice there are some complaints about the adhesive on the iSaddle but it's very easy to replace with a piece of your own 3M VHB tape.

Adhesive is no problem, most of us have a roll. Will try one.

 

[TonyM]

'Jello' can be caused by high frequency car vibration, and might not be fixed with a rock-solid mount. Over on the RC forums there are Mobius (and other similar camera) users who intentionally isolate cameras from their quadcopter frames to reduce jello in their aerial videos. I think it's still worth trying a stiffer mount though, especially to cope with bumps and other vibrations from the road surface.

Jello does seem to be more pronounced at longer focal lengths, and I agree with @Dashmellow that using less zoom is probably a good idea for a number of reasons.

 

[Dashmellow]

'Jello' can be caused by high frequency car vibration, and might not be fixed with a rock-solid mount. Over on the RC forums there are Mobius (and other similar camera) users who intentionally isolate cameras from their quadcopter frames to reduce jello in their aerial videos. I think it's still worth trying a stiffer mount though, especially to cope with bumps and other vibrations from the road surface.

Jello does seem to be more pronounced at longer focal lengths, and I agree with @Dashmellow that using less zoom is probably a good idea for a number of reasons.

At this point I'm thinking the jello effect we're seeing here is caused by the vibrations from the magnet mount, but you are right, it could be the car itself. A secure mount would definitely be the first place to start in sorting out the problem. Less zoom will reduce the appearance of camera shake even if it is coming from the car rather than the mount. If the jello effect persists the camera may indeed need some isolation.

 

[Dashmellow]

'Jello' can be caused by high frequency car vibration, and might not be fixed with a rock-solid mount. Over on the RC forums there are Mobius (and other similar camera) users who intentionally isolate cameras from their quadcopter frames to reduce jello in their aerial videos. I think it's still worth trying a stiffer mount though, especially to cope with bumps and other vibrations from the road surface.

I watched the video clip a second time and noticed that the camera exhibits a severe shake each time the door gets slammed. This suggests the mount could be more secure.

Then again towards then end of @jaro's video there is a lot of 'jello" even when the car isn't moving, so there does appears to be a vibration coming from the car itself. I'm still pretty convinced that a more solid mount will fix this. Having used a varifocal/Mobius in my truck for 5 years now, driving on bumpy dirt roads, a solid mount has been a key component and I've not had any 'jello effect" issues. At one time I did experience some jello effects with one of my side Mobius cams (l don't recall which lens I was using), but a new mounting solution made the jello go away.

 

[jaro]

replaced the mount with a helmet mount, was able to find a 'sweet spot' wherein the mobius is not visible with the driver and passenger and can adjust the rear view mirror without problem

The 'jello' is still there but not as apparent as the first one. Not sure if the mount is the culprit (as the helmet mount I'm using is not from mobius) or car itself . Either way, this 'jello' is bearable for me.

My question now is about the zoom. For now, as a supplementary camera, I am happy with my setup but I would like to know any cons about it? is this still too far?

Below are some sample video together with my SG9665GCv2 (apologies for having two pair YT video)

 

[Dashmellow]

Everything looks much better @jaro. The helmet mount has definitely improved the results. I also have one of those helmet mounts in use for one of my side Mobius cameras and I find that it is not quite as stable as my other mounts. For that reason, I think that if you get a stronger more solid mount for your varifocal Mobius you may be able to eliminate more of the jello effect than you still have.

I would suggest experimenting with the zoom effect. Less zoom may give you better results and still provide plenty of the telephoto results you are looking for. Recently, I've been experimenting with using less zoom on my varifocal lens and I like the way it looks.

 

[jaro]

Thanks for the advice. Will be on a look out for other possible mount (might go 3rd printed as shown by TonyM on previous post).
Will try to lessen the zoom , the only downside on the mount location is that adjusting / focusing the lens is PITA . (I'm using a 14inch laptop , since the mobius is technically upside down, I need to invert the laptop when focusing/aligning)

another sample comparo pics

The thing to observe now is can the mobius can keep the date and time without power. The current baseline is 7days as per my SG9665GCv2.

 

[TonyM]

Will try to lessen the zoom , the only downside on the mount location is that adjusting / focusing the lens is PITA . (I'm using a 14inch laptop , since the mobius is technically upside down, I need to invert the laptop when focusing/aligning)

There is a toggle in the FW for the Mobius 1 to turn on/off the rotation in webcam mode

 

[joe384]

Are there any suggested settings for using this lens with the mobius?

I am using Lens C Profile (that's the original lens) 1080p @ 30fps (should I be using 60fps?) High data rate. Auto exposure.
What file format is best?

 

[Dashmellow]

ewww

Are there any suggested settings for using this lens with the mobius?

I am using Lens C Profile (that's the original lens) 1080p @ 30fps (should I be using 60fps?) High data rate. Auto exposure.
What file format is best?

These are the current settings I use for the 5MP Varifocal Zoom 6-22mm ƒ/1.6. The lens has a 37mm Hoya HD circular polarizer installed on it which affects which settings I choose. Of course, the best thing to do is experiment with your settings until you are satisfied with the results.

I use the .MOV file format.

60 fps is not available for 1920 x1080 (1080p). If you try to set it to 60fps, it will automatically switch to 1280 x 720 (720p)

Edit: Forgot to mention that I use the "C" lens profile as it provides the most neutral color balance for the varifocal lens.