Hi Alan;
Sorry for the delay in answering here.
Answers to the three questions
Q1) The Legend was designed to look like an 80% scale C182. So yes, there's more than a whiff of Cessna about it. I haven't flown any real Cessnas so I can't compare the flying characteristics. What I can tell you is that it is very forgiving if you let the airspeed get out of whack. I did, and it “dropped a wing” which took the form of a gentle uncommanded left bank. I corrected it by pushing the nose over and full throttle which brought it back to controlled flight instantly. It is a two seat LSA. My wife and I can fly with full fuel (120L) and 32Kg of luggage. Where the back seat would be in a C182 is the luggage area and it has more space than you can carry, unless it's bulky light stuff like bedding. Also, as for flying characteristics, I observed a C152 take off from my local field the other day and they struggled to clear the trees at the end of a runway that we lift off about 1/3 the way down the runway and clear those trees by about 300 - 400ft.
Q2) I have a couple of types of external camera mounts. The Legend is composite, so I can't bolt or rivet anything to it. I use GoPro surfboard mounts on the ends of the wings. I got approval from the manufacturer for these as it's an LSA. Not all GoPro mount bases are the same and you can see in the Gold Coast video the right wing cam wobbles. I've since remedied that by using a different base that fits tighter in the mount. The other camera mount straps to the wing strut. I made the mount from some sheet aluminium. If you PM me I can send you some pics. They're easy to make with simple hand tools. The inside camera is mounted on a suction mount on the inside of the windscreen.
Q3) When we fly over water, we wear inflatable life vests. If you have a look at our Sydney Victor 1 video you'll see them. Around here, we stay within gliding range of solid ground. You'd be surprised how far that is though. I don't have solid numbers to relate, I determine my safe distance by eye, based on wind direction and height above the water. The life vests weigh about 1/2 kg I think. I bought them from a boating place. They have dual inflation with CO2 bottle and oral inflator.
HTH