User Guide
For first time users, scroll down and to read Initial Set-Up Instructions and overviews what all the options mean on the Home Screen and the Settings Menu.
After you've familiarized yourself with the app, see the Best Practices discussion of which options and settings to choose:
Best Practices
Pylon Mount
I recommend the Ski-Doc Orbit, and a metal phone mount without a tilt adjustment, like this one, as the tilt mechanism seems to pick up more vibrations from the pylon.
Settings: Camera Select
For most iPhone models, you will get the best image stability by using the Selfie camera. This is due to physical stabilization hardware on the Rear Main lens. It handles "regular" hand movements well, but produces very shaky video when exposed to small high-frequency vibrations like on a boat pylon. This is due to physical hardware (magnets, actually) and thus cannot be circumvented by software. On most phone models, the Rear Ultra-Wide lens does not have the stabilization, and so would also work, but it requires a lot of zoom and ultimately yields worse image quality than just using the Selfie camera.
The one unfortunate exception is the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro. On these models, Apple added the same problematic stability hardware to the Selfie lens. They did improve the hardware on the Rear Main lens somewhat, so it's not as bad as it used to be (and not as bad as its Selfie lens), but it's still worse than an earlier model Selfie lens. Some 14/15 Pro users are reporting that it's fine, but the one time I got to test a 15 Pro back-to-back with my 11 Pro, the 15 Pro was noticeably worse. I am currently researching possible vibration dampening devices. Also see the note below that 30fps may yield better stability on these phones. And I had one 14 Pro user report that by mounting their phone so that the lens is "outside" the Ski-Doc farther away from the pylon, rather than "inside" the Ski-Doc closer to the pylon, it lessened the shake. No idea why that would change anything, but give it a shot - I haven't gotten to test it yet myself.
Settings: Mode (Resolution and Frames-Per-Second)
Essentially this decision is a trade-off between quality and file size. 4K will offer a sharper image than HD, but will quadruple your file size. 60fps will yield more fluid motion than 30fps, but will increase file size by roughly half.
You will get the best quality by using 4K60, however the file size becomes quite large - roughly 175mb per pass. By comparison, HD30 is roughly 30mb per pass.
If you are watching back only on an iPhone-sized screen, the difference between HD and 4K is present but not drastic. The larger the screen is, and the more you zoom in, the more the quality of 4K will become apparent.
For frames-per-second, even on a small screen the difference between 60fps and 30fps will be noticeable. So I recommend using 60fps regardless, and then decide HD or 4K based on concerns (or lack thereof) regarding file size. (The one caveat to this may be if you have the less-stable 14 Pro or 15 Pro. For those, it's possible 30fps will appear more stable. I haven't gotten to test it yet).
HD120 allows you to playback in slo-mo, but unless you specifically want slo-mo, I'd avoid it. You can edit the video to playback full speed (see Settings Overview below), but it's not any smoother than 60fps, and the image sharpness gets degraded.
*One important note regarding file sizes: If you go to phone Settings > Photos, you will see that "Optimize iPhone Storage" is selected by default. If your iPhone is running low on space, the Photos app will keep only low-resolution versions of files on your local phone, while storing full-resolution versions in iCloud. This means playback quality on your phone could be reduced, and/or your phone will need to download full-resolution versions from iCloud before you can view a video (particularly older videos), requiring data or wifi. To check your storage space, go to phone Settings > General > iPhone Storage, which will show you how much space you've used and how much you have left. If you have the space, I'd change the setting to "Download and Keep Originals", and you can always switch it back later if you need.
Also note, if you text someone a video, Apple will compress/degrade it on the recipient's end, sometimes significantly. If you want to share a full-quality video, you must upload it to a file storage service like Google Drive and send a link.
Zoom Level
For the zoom level on a Selfie lens, you are likely good at 1.4x zoom, but it depends on your phone model and the line length you ski at. I'd start at 1.2x zoom and increase the zoom each set until you find your ideal spot - you can always zoom the video afterward when watching back. If the skier is going off the screen on only one side, adjust your camera mount to compensate by turning it more towards center (small movements make a big difference!).
Trigger Speed
I recommend setting your trigger speed 2-4 MPH below your slowest ski speed, to ensure you don't miss any portion of a pass.
Initial Set-Up Instructions
When opening the app for the first time, you will get a series of prompts:
Allow "PylonCam Pro" to use your location?
- You must select Allow While Using App. Later your phone may ask if you want to change it to "Always" but that's not necessary.
- If you need to verify that you selected correctly, go to your phone Settings >Privacy & Security > Location Services. Find "PylonCam Pro" in the app list and click it. The setting should be "While Using the App" or "Always.""PylonCam Pro" Would Like to Access the Camera
- You must click to Allow.
- If you need to verify that you selected correctly, go to your phone Settings >Privacy & Security > Camera. Find "PylonCam Pro" in the app list and ensure it's enabled (green toggle)."PylonCam Pro" Would Like to Access the Microphone
- You must click to Allow.
- If you need to verify that you selected correctly, go to your phone Settings >Privacy & Security > Microphone. Find "PylonCam Pro" in the app list and ensure it's enabled (green toggle)."PylonCam Pro" Would Like to Access Your Photo Library
- You must click Limit Access...
This opens a screen that says Select Items
- Don't select any photos, just click Done. You don't need to select any photos as the app doesn't need to access previous images or videos, but this gives PylonCam the permission to save new videos to your camera roll.
- If you need to verify that you selected correctly, go to your phone Settings >Privacy & Security > Photos. Find "PylonCam Pro" in the app list and click it. It should be set to Limited Access.
Home Screen Overview
In the top-left is the Time, so you know how late you are compared to when you told your wife you'd be done skiing.
The top middle shows the current Zoom level. Use a two-finger drag in and out to adjust the zoom, as you would in the standard iOS Camera app.
The zoom level will save even if you full-close and re-open the app. It will, however, reset to 1.0x if you change the Mode (in the Settings menu).
When a video is being recorded, a small Red Circle will appear in the top right.
The bottom left button accesses the Settings menu (see below).
The middle number shows the current trigger speed, and the + and - buttons next to it adjust the speed. This is the MPH at which the camera will start recording (once user speed goes above trigger) and stop recording (once speed goes below trigger).
The bottom-right toggle switches between Auto-Record Enabled (green) and Auto-Record Disabled (gray). When it is Disabled, no recordings will be made. This defaults to Enabled when you full-close and open the app, though if you switch it to Disabled and only put the app in the background, it will remain Disabled when you open it again.
Settings Overview
All Settings will save and reload even after a full-close and reopen of the app.
Camera Select: Allows you to switch between using the Rear lenses and the Front/Selfie Lens.
Lens: If you selected the Rear Camera, you can select between the Main camera and the Ultra-Wide lens. If you selected Selfie, the Ultra-Wide option is not available, as there is only one lens on the Selfie side.
Mode: Selects what resolution and frames-per-second (fps) you want to record in:
HD = 1080p quality
4K = 4K (2160p) quality
30 = 30 fps
60 = 60 fps
120 = 120 fps
Note that 120 fps videos default to being played back in slo-mo. You can manually adjust a slo-mo video to playback full speed with these quick steps.
