I want to upgrade my DIY gaffer tape lens hood to one of those 3D printer hoods. These hoods typically weigh 2.5 to 3.5 grams. Any known problems with the gimbal motors supporting the additional weight?

  

It does make the gimbal work harder, fighting the camera droop with it being front-heavy.  It works fine though and shields the lens as intended and the reaction time is just as fast as without it.  The problem I did find is that because it is a bit longer than the original lens, it can hit/catch parts of the undercarriage.  In full rotation it can hit the leg or if you have one of those aftermarket gimbal/camera protectors, it can catch that.  In flight it is really unlikely to travel that far around unless it is tumbling out of the sky, in which case you have other things to worry about.  The worst one is that it can touch the ground when you start up and prevent it initializing the camera because it is caught on the ground.  This will report a gimbal error or failure or overvoltage protection warning or similar.  It is easily fixed by lifting the aircraft slightly when it first powers up, and let the camera point forward, THEN let it initialize.  Also make sure the longer leaves on the guard are at the top and bottom, not the sides, as that is what's needed to shade a 16:9 aspect ratio of the camera. The long leaf at the bottom is the bit that causes the trouble and catches stuff.

endotherm Posted at 2016-2-6 15:10
It does make the gimbal work harder, fighting the camera droop with it being front-heavy.  It works  ...

Thanks for the comment. Since hanging up on something is a bigger worry than glare, I would guess it would be wise to cut off or reduce the lower petal?

johnsr Posted at 2016-2-7 01:22
Thanks for the comment. Since hanging up on something is a bigger worry than glare, I would guess i ...

It would defeat the purpose a bit -- it is there to shield the light from the lens.  I guess you could push it on a bit further, or increase the soft pads on the landing gear.  It probably only needs a couple of millimeters or so extra clearance.

You're certainly correct; the lower petal must help improve contrast flying over snow, water and other reflective surfaces. Will try moving it back, as I always take off from a small flat pad.

Hi Johnsr, we found a lens hood that works without a problem and wrote about it here -> http://www.weloveaerial.com/feed ... with-your-nd-filter