Let’s Go To The Videotape!

Yes, I know it has been a while since I’ve posted anything about my USPSA matches. This is mostly because I just got lazy, but more recently because I’ve had some gun troubles. Last month, my primary competition pistol…a Ruger SR1911 in .45 ACP…developed extraction issues that so far have me pretty stumped. I’m working on it, but the bottom line is that unless you like watching me clear malfunctions, last month’s match video was pretty unwatchable.

Which brings us to the July match. Not trusting my .45 ACP pistol to run properly, I broke out the “minor gun,” my Colt 1911 chambered in 9mm, and shot Single Stack minor power factor. It is amazing how much better you shoot and how much more fun you have with a gun that actually runs! (Don’t worry. I’ll get the .45 ACP sorted out and back in action soon.)

I also added a couple of new wrinkles to my video recording capabilities. The first, most obvious is that I added a small drone with image tracking to record a third-person perspective. The DJI Neo 2 launches from the palm of my hand, locks onto my image and follows me throughout the stage while it records 4K video. It’s pretty slick. I also finally upgraded my old GoPro camera for an Insta360 Go 3S camera for the first-person view. Not that there was anything wrong with the GoPro, but the Go3S is simply smaller and lighter, and easier to wear through a full day of shooting.

The end result is below…a match video with two views of the action. This is my first attempt at this combination, and I decided to make the drone view the larger, primary view, and make the first-person view from the Go 3S as a smaller, “picture-in-picture”. What do you think? Which view should take priority? Or would a 50/50 split screen be better? Comment here or on YouTube and let me know what you think.