***all pinch cams are now wired to fit anything a runcamnano3 can fit! Just plug and play :)
The Pinch (aka FX965TW) is the latest result of a long partnership between Tiny Whoop and FXT. It features a smaller-than-ever camera, which produces a considerably higher level of detail and more true-to-life colors.
The Pinch cam is now available with or without the infrared filter! This means if you're looking to fly with an Infrared headlight or in very low light the Pinch without an Infrared filter may give you slightly better lighting. If you're flying in normal lighting, the pinch With the IR filter is standard.
Looking for Mounts? Try the Pound Mount, the Orangestuff mount, the ultralight PP Pinch Mount, or the PP Seat belt Mount.
But first the stats:
Click here to check out the User Manual!
OK, now let me dish for a sec.
First of all, I want to show you guys how dramatically this camera can reduce your profile height. This camera has two possible mounts - one camera mount meant to fit any of the standard TW size canopies, like the Stingray or Razorskin canopies, but it will also come with a second mount that is much lower. Here's the Pinch with the lower mount beside the FX950TW.
Using the optional lower camera mount, you can see there are some excellent lower canopy opportunities! We're working on it. If you want advice on switching your camera mount, check out some info down near the bottom.
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Most of all that lower height comes from the much smaller PCB on the camera, but the ingenious camera mount designed by Team Pilot Wes Burson (BluJ) also allows the bottom of the camera PCB to poke out the bottom of the mount on the low version. But yeah, the camera is also way smaller. |
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But I was much more concerned with the image quality of the camera than the size and weight.
Early Side-By-Side tests withthe FX965TW and the FX950TW
Here are the side-by-side tests I initially did, on a day when TWHQ was the messiest it has ever been. The new camera at the time was nicknamed New Juan after a friend of mine.
I wanted to use the exact same DVR, VTX and VRX for these tests, so they're two separate videos where I try to do roughly the same thing in each video.
The first thing I noticed was the sharpness. Then the colors. Reds are actually red, blues are bluer, pinks are pinker! The contrast is obviously higher on the Pinch (left), but there is also more structure and details between the tiny lights on the trees. At the very end of this video you see I tried to line up the faster light changes. The new camera takes a split second longer to adjust to suddenly high or low light, which I see as a negative, but it seldom comes up, even at TWHQ, and someone also pointed out that the slower adjustment was also slightly more true to life.
This second video tests the lens distortion, then sudden light changes (the first test made me concerned about it), then finally how the camera handles fast motion with high lighting contrast, becuase in my experience sometimes cameras that have such beautiful colors tend to blur in high contrast during fast flight. You'll see i slow it way down to compare motion blur inside the Lady Luck, our in-house bar here at TWHQ.
Pinch on the left, FX9650TW on the right.
Comparing the distortion in the opening shot I find the two lenses almost identical. Then in my second test for sudden light changes I realized that if i'm not literally flipping a switch the adjustment time was no problem. Finally I feel like this new camera passes the motion blur test with flying colors, showing more detail and contrast throughout the fast motion.
But I still wasn't convinved. Side to side motion is different than fast forward motion. Again, Pinch is on the left and FX950TW on the right.
Once again the new camera shows tons more detail and handles the blur much better! Watch the metal rack on the left in the hallway. That detail at speed is going to be huge for those that tree-weave at speed.
I sent one to the fastest Tiny Whoop pilot in the world, Team Tiny Whoop pilot Rab_FPV. He was able to finagle a mount (which was still in development) and fly some very, very serious laps on his home course. I cannot believe that a human mind is capable of this kind of flight:
CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT FLYING??? Please consider subscribing to his youtube channel! Today he has 219 Subs.
The FX950TW will go down in history as the tiny camera with the widest dynamic range ever. It has the ability to pull details out of very low light and very high light situations. We still have a few available, and i'll always keep myself a stash of this camera. But the FX965 camera is just sharper, and i love the colors being so true-to-life. Especially for places like Tiny Whoop HQ with our LED course and artwork, it's a big improvement.
Custom Microfiber Lens Cleaner
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The lens is your eyes! Keep it crystal clean! I always give my lens a lick and a wipe before every important flight. Shout out to Say Andrea for making these awesome custom cloths! |
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Some advice on changing your camera mount-
The camera mount is an awesome weight-saving innovation but takes a little finesse in the current version.
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You'll notice that underwear the camera will sit there is a little knotch. That's to make the few layers of ABS act a liiiiittle bit like a hinge. |
Make sure the camera wires are on top, then use your fingers to hinge the wings open just enough to pop the camera in.
| Adjust the little arms so they're holding the threading section of the lens. | 
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Then check to make sure the PCB of the camera is roughly paralel to the angle of the lens mount. If you have any trouble with this or feel like you can't get it to work, shoot me an email at orders@tinywhoop.com.