Improved video cam setup for Ivory-Billed Woodpecker (2 Viewers)

[400+birder]

Hi John,



I hope to be able to come up with a rig that allows reliable aiming, in which case the 40 mm will give much better image quality. A shorter lens will obviously be less sensitive against aiming a bit off, so without an aiming aid, a case for a wider angle can probably be made. I wouldn't go too wide, though, as the number of pixels the bird will have squares inversely with viewing angle.

In other words, if the bird has 1800 pixels area with an 8° field-of-view, it will only have 200 pixels with a 24° field of view. The former is 30 x 60 pixels, the latter is 10 x 20 pixels. Made-up numbers of course, just to illustrate the principle.

Regards,

Henning

Thank you again. I'm still conversing with professionals re FOV and lens length. Very helpful to know about the inverse square. To save you some work, I am sure the device should be head-mounted and always on; there are too many reports of searchers not having time to do anything else but turn their head. I do believe, regarding this, that a team of searchers will have to help each other adjust the headmount to align vertically and horizontally with their vision, and then to instruct searchers to follow any bird with their head, not just their eyes. I have a feeling this will be somewhat natural.

 

[Hauksen]

Hi John,

To save you some work, I am sure the device should be head-mounted and always on; there are too many reports of searchers not having time to do anything else but turn their head. I do believe, regarding this, that a team of searchers will have to help each other adjust the headmount to align vertically and horizontally with their vision, and then to instruct searchers to follow any bird with their head, not just their eyes. I have a feeling this will be somewhat natural.

Here's what would be my preferred solution, the 40 mm Scopecam mounted to a pair of binoculars:



I'll follow up with other options.

Regards,

Henning

 

[Hauksen]

Hi again,

Here's what would be my preferred solution, the 40 mm Scopecam mounted to a pair of binoculars:

View attachment 1427686

I'll follow up with other options.

Here's a setup to connect the Scopecam to the red dot sight - only for testing, so far:



Alignment turned out to be fine, but the setup as shown is not terribly practical as there's no really convenient way to hold it. It's not meant for field use, anyway.

Regards,

Henning

 

[Hauksen]

Hi John,

Second paragraph, according to numerous observations over more than 100 years, the IB does exactly opposite that. We cannot approach close, and they will fly away.

I have the 40 mm 4K camera, and I don't think it's all that great regarding "reach". What's the expected flight distance?

Here's a rig to mount the camera and a sight to the paddle ... I've set it up on a tripod because I didn't have a paddle handy, but the idea is to use cable ties or 48 mm duct tape to attach it to the paddle shaft.



(The green aiming reticle is out of focus since it's focused at infinity. That's actually a great feature, since it means you can focus on the fleeing bird while aiming the camera, with both eyes open.)

If you'd tell me the (approximate) diameter of the shaft of the paddles you use, I could add a piece to fit it to a cylinder - right now, the underside is flat.

Regards,

Henning

 

[400+birder]

Hi John,



I have the 40 mm 4K camera, and I don't think it's all that great regarding "reach". What's the expected flight distance?

Here's a rig to mount the camera and a sight to the paddle ... I've set it up on a tripod because I didn't have a paddle handy, but the idea is to use cable ties or 48 mm duct tape to attach it to the paddle shaft.

View attachment 1429474View attachment 1429475

(The green aiming reticle is out of focus since it's focused at infinity. That's actually a great feature, since it means you can focus on the fleeing bird while aiming the camera, with both eyes open.)

If you'd tell me the (approximate) diameter of the shaft of the paddles you use, I could add a piece to fit it to a cylinder - right now, the underside is flat.

Regards,

Henning

Hi, just saw this, sorry. I am not planning on suggesting paddle mounts, but if so, the diameter is fairly standard. I am still suggesting head-mounts. The 40mm lens is extreme; I am testing 16mm and 25mm. Each of these has wider field of view, but still good resolution. Someone is testing them on Pileated Woodpeckers at various distances.

 

[400+birder]

Hi again,



Here's a setup to connect the Scopecam to the red dot sight - only for testing, so far:

View attachment 1429323

Alignment turned out to be fine, but the setup as shown is not terribly practical as there's no really convenient way to hold it. It's not meant for field use, anyway.

Regards,

Henning

I just always go back to the necessity of head-mounting this.

 

[DMW]

If the goal is to document the presence of IBWO in an area, it makes far more sense to place remote audio recorders around the relevant area than to paddle around with video cameras. There are cheap recorders that can be left running for weeks and will be orders of magnitude more effective than a human with a video camera.

 

[400+birder]

If the goal is to document the presence of IBWO in an area, it makes far more sense to place remote audio recorders around the relevant area than to paddle around with video cameras. There are cheap recorders that can be left running for weeks and will be orders of magnitude more effective than a human with a video camera.

This has been done, but apparently is not considered "proof"-- The Search for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker

 

[Hauksen]

Hi John,

Hi, just saw this, sorry. I am not planning on suggesting paddle mounts, but if so, the diameter is fairly standard. I am still suggesting head-mounts. The 40mm lens is extreme; I am testing 16mm and 25mm. Each of these has wider field of view, but still good resolution. Someone is testing them on Pileated Woodpeckers at various distances.

Nevertheless, having a typical paddle diameter would be interesting to me so that I can add the final piece to the design.

Here's my first go at a head mount ... no sighting device yet, but head mount will accept a sight once I have designed one:



First wear test indicates that an extra strap across the head will be needed, or the camera will flop around too much.

With regard to the lens, I guess the test results will show the advantage of longer lenses ... with a sighting device, the 40 mm aren't all that extreme.

Another idea that occurred to me ... how about a forearm mount for the camera? Then you can simply point at the bird to take a video. Might be more likely to get in the way of everyday acitivities, but I think while actually canoeing, it should be fine.

Regards,

Henning

 

[400+birder]

Hi John,



Nevertheless, having a typical paddle diameter would be interesting to me so that I can add the final piece to the design.

Here's my first go at a head mount ... no sighting device yet, but head mount will accept a sight once I have designed one:

View attachment 1431901

First wear test indicates that an extra strap across the head will be needed, or the camera will flop around too much.

With regard to the lens, I guess the test results will show the advantage of longer lenses ... with a sighting device, the 40 mm aren't all that extreme.

Another idea that occurred to me ... how about a forearm mount for the camera? Then you can simply point at the bird to take a video. Might be more likely to get in the way of everyday acitivities, but I think while actually canoeing, it should be fine.

Regards,

Henning

Hi John,



Nevertheless, having a typical paddle diameter would be interesting to me so that I can add the final piece to the design.

Here's my first go at a head mount ... no sighting device yet, but head mount will accept a sight once I have designed one:

View attachment 1431901

First wear test indicates that an extra strap across the head will be needed, or the camera will flop around too much.

With regard to the lens, I guess the test results will show the advantage of longer lenses ... with a sighting device, the 40 mm aren't all that extreme.

Another idea that occurred to me ... how about a forearm mount for the camera? Then you can simply point at the bird to take a video. Might be more likely to get in the way of everyday acitivities, but I think while actually canoeing, it should be fine.

Regards,

Henning

Hi. Thank you for your continued work on this. Thought you might like to see the attached--

 

[Hauksen]

Hi John,

Hi. Thank you for your continued work on this. Thought you might like to see the attached--

Thanks, looks entirely reasonable with regard to the 16 mm lens ... just as expected, it's too short for good pictures.

I'm not sure what the maximum resolution of the standard scopecam is, but if it can be increased by reducing the frame rate, I'd suggest to try that, too. (I bought the 4K version, which I think would be better for your purposes as well, if it's affordable within your budget.)

Here's the improved version of my head-mount with the cross strap:



Note that it's worn on one side of the head rather then on the forehead (as the GoPro style actioncam in your summary), as the form factor is different.

The cross strap should not be elastic (as in my example), but the kind of textile used by backpack straps etc., as elastic still leaves the camera a bit bouncy.

I'll add an aiming device next.

Regards,

Henning

 

[400+birder]

Hi John,



Thanks, looks entirely reasonable with regard to the 16 mm lens ... just as expected, it's too short for good pictures.

I'm not sure what the maximum resolution of the standard scopecam is, but if it can be increased by reducing the frame rate, I'd suggest to try that, too. (I bought the 4K version, which I think would be better for your purposes as well, if it's affordable within your budget.)

Here's the improved version of my head-mount with the cross strap:

View attachment 1432188

Note that it's worn on one side of the head rather then on the forehead (as the GoPro style actioncam in your summary), as the form factor is different.

The cross strap should not be elastic (as in my example), but the kind of textile used by backpack straps etc., as elastic still leaves the camera a bit bouncy.

I'll add an aiming device next.

Regards,

Henning

I think the 16 lens is useful; that's the one used with the IB model. The bird can have an ID over 100 meters. I will be testing a 25mm lens soon. Someone else is testing the 16 with Pileated Woodpeckers.

 

[rkj]

As I noted in the more general Ivory-billed Woodpecker thread, I am doubtful that the images from the camera discussed there are likely to be convincing. Nevertheless, if you are committed to something head-mounted, surely something attached to a helmet would be the way to go. I often see cyclists with such devices. I doubt what they use will be up to the Ivory-billed task, but if you can design a mount for a binocular and for a paddle, a helmet mount seems like it should be possible.

 

[Hauksen]

Hi rkj,

As I noted in the more general Ivory-billed Woodpecker thread, I am doubtful that the images from the camera discussed there are likely to be convincing. Nevertheless, if you are committed to something head-mounted, surely something attached to a helmet would be the way to go. I often see cyclists with such devices. I doubt what they use will be up to the Ivory-billed task, but if you can design a mount for a binocular and for a paddle, a helmet mount seems like it should be possible.

Good points.

I'm trying to accommodate John's wishes ... personally, I'd probably go with the binocular mount.

Here's the headstrap arrangement from John's PDF:



I'd imagine it might be more convenient to wear while kayaking through a hot and humid swamp than a helmet.

With regard to my head rig, I've actually added the sight to my design and find it a bit difficult to calibrate it. While the field of view of the scopecam easily includes that of my 8 x 42 binculars, it's all a bit more complicated if you want to aim it with head movements alone.

Maybe John's preference for the 25 mm lens makes things a bit easier there - I'm bought the 40 mm 4K version because a longer lens and more pixels will give me a better picture, but it also makes operation more challenging.

Regards,

Henning

 

[Mono]

If I were trying to get evidence I would go down the DNA route rather than paddling around in a canoe with camera strapped to my head.

Find trees with good looking woodpecker nesting holes, the nesting behaviour was documented in extant Ivory-billed Woodpeckers. Climb up and sample the nesting chamber for feathers and guano. There is ample Ivory-billed DNA about some museums are over flowing with dead ones.

Properly analysed DNA would be far better than yet another pixelly out of focus video.

 

[400+birder]

If I were trying to get evidence I would go down the DNA route rather than paddling around in a canoe with camera strapped to my head.

Find trees with good looking woodpecker nesting holes, the nesting behaviour was documented in extant Ivory-billed Woodpeckers. Climb up and sample the nesting chamber for feathers and guano. There is ample Ivory-billed DNA about some museums are over flowing with dead ones.

Properly analysed DNA would be far better than yet another pixelly out of focus video.

This would work if there was a quick and easy way to sample a lot of holes easily in a suspected IB area, but not randomly in any forest.