GH2 Anyone used a GH2 on a RC HELICOPTER?

hutch - I recommend the $430 Gaui 500X - with a $140 ST S-500 V2 2 axis camera mount for a lot less expensive solution. If you don't plan to add servos to the mount for inflight control of pan and tilt, you can save a few dollars with the $104 ST S-500 fixed camera mount.

The 500X can carry up to a kilo or so of camera weight. With a 453g GH2 body, you'll have to watch your lens weight, but with pancakes or small primes you should be fine. Once you learn to fly it, it's smooth enough that you don't need gyro stabilization of the camera mount, as you might with fixed wing or conventional helicopters.

Couple of sample videos with 94g Go Pro HDs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoqqebYJqfI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngQnxgi742Y

Hope this is helpful,

Bill
 
Wow, thanks Bill! Such great information and links.

Excuse my ignorance, but it says you need a transmitter, receiver and battery to complete setup. Would you please give me some advice as to what sort I would need?
And it mentions "Gu-344" stabilization device for an extra $100, do you think that would be worth it? I'm planning to use the 12mm 1.6 which weighs less than the GH2 body.
THANKS!
 
LOADS of practice flying and simulations must be done to get some "decent" flight footage FIRST.
Id look into the new GoPro2. Really nice 1080p 30fps/960p 48fps/720p 60fps footage, and you can change the FOV so the camera isnt fisheye. On top of that all, you can do a timelaps mode at 11mp.
I suggest this camera over the GH2, because its much cheaper, crash proof, and very soon you can wifi live view/control to your iPhone or tablet... so no need for an expensive transmitter. (Plus the entire camera and setup would be MUCH lighter... so you can use a smaller/cheaper chopper)
Heck, I think for $300 you can get that qudra chopper you control with your iPhone (also has a live view through a built in camera)... and stick a gopro on it, controlled by another iPhone/tablet. For about $600, you'd have a 1080p (duel camera - built in camera i think is HD now) arial setup... a child could pilot. - i dont know the weight it can support, but it comes with a pretty heavy crash guard... so maybe after you remove that, it could carry a naked GoPro camera.
 
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Whew....I looked at RC helis a ways back. I have rarely if ever seen video that met my criteria and standards for professional production.

The extreme subtleties and difficultly in flying a small aerial machine stably and smoothly are hard to understate. Also, CMOS sensors and the warp/jello inherent in the tiniest of adjustments ruin about 99% of the footage I have ever seen.

Watch a lot of samples, find good ones, see what they're doing and try to emulate. The best stuff I've seen though tends to come from people that have spent thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours in refining their skills and equipment.

And remember there are other options. Cable cams, renting aerial platforms (helis, planes, balloons), large cranes and jibs, etc...

But good luck if you go the RC heli route. I'm sure it will eventually be figured out so that more people can create reliably stable footage similar to a real helicopter platform someday.
 
hutch -- yes, you will need a transmitter, receiver, batteries for both, and servos for the camera mount (if you choose the two axis mount). If you have never flown an RC aircraft, you should visit a local hobby shop, if there is one in your area, and get some in-person help.

As for how hard it is to fly a quad - I think people are thinking about conventional RC helis when they warn you not to risk your GH2 or say they have never seen pro quality footage -- the new quads and hexacopters are not trivial to fly, but they are a lot easier than conventional helis and airplanes.

It can be done if you take reasonable precautions (e.g., practice first, don't fly in high winds, don't allow the aircraft to get too far from the transmitter, land long before the battery starts running low, etc...)

Best,

Bill

EDIT: Forgot to mention that there are also fora, a lot like this one (only not as erudite ;-)), for RC hobbyists. You can learn a lot by hanging around and asking questions. I am a member over at RC Universe, for example, where there is an entire forum dedicated to Aerial Photography and Video.
 
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Ryan Farnes said:
The extreme subtleties and difficultly in flying a small aerial machine stably and smoothly are hard to understate. Also, CMOS sensors and the warp/jello inherent in the tiniest of adjustments ruin about 99% of the footage I have ever seen.
Click to expand...

Yeah I don't want to pan or tilt it as it doesn't look very "filmic" to me. But there's certainly a lot of footage in what Bill posted that's great and useable.
 
brunerww said:
hutch -- yes, you will need a transmitter, receiver, batteries for both, and servos for the camera mount (if you choose the two axis mount). If you have never flown an RC aircraft, you should visit a local hobby shop, if there is one in your area, and get some in-person help.

As for how hard it is to fly a quad - I think people are thinking about conventional RC helis when they warn you not to risk your GH2 or say they have never seen pro quality footage -- the new quads and hexacopters are not trivial to fly, but they are a lot easier than conventional helis and airplanes.

It can be done if you take reasonable precautions (e.g., practice first, don't fly in high winds, don't allow the aircraft to get too far from the transmitter, land long before the battery starts running low, etc...)

Best,

Bill

EDIT: Forgot to mention that there are also fora, a lot like this one (only not as erudite ;-)), for RC hobbyists. You can learn a lot by hanging around and asking questions. I am a member over at RC Universe, for example, where there is an entire forum dedicated to Aerial Photography and Video.
Click to expand...

Thanks again, Bill! Just one more question: are you able to see what you're recording with that setup or do you need additional gear?
 
dvxhutch said:
Thanks again, Bill! Just one more question: are you able to see what you're recording with that setup or do you need additional gear?
Click to expand...

Yes, for a live feed to a ground station you'll need more gear. Some of the RC aerial video folks are wearing goggles with the video piped in for a "you are there" experience. It's called First Person View or FPV. Here is a whole forum on the subject:
http://fpvlab.com/forums/forum.php

And a subforum on rcgroups: http://www.rcgroups.com/video-piloting-fpv-rpv-469/

Most of the cameras these guys work with are standard def micro cams (and a few Go Pro HDs), however.

There is also at least one DSLR guy who has experimented with affordable live remote monitors which might be lightweight enough to work for monitoring GH2 video while inflight: http://robertbenson.com/blog/

Video here: http://vimeo.com/16487451

I guess you can tell I've been thinking about this for a while ;-)

Cheers,

Bill
 
dvxhutch said:
Yeah I don't want to pan or tilt it as it doesn't look very "filmic" to me. But there's certainly a lot of footage in what Bill posted that's great and useable.
Click to expand...

Yeah, if those samples he posted are acceptable for what you're looking to do...yeah, there are some amazing tools out there for not too much money. Have a blast!
 
Ryan Farnes said:
Yeah, if those samples he posted are acceptable for what you're looking to do...yeah, there are some amazing tools out there for not too much money. Have a blast!
Click to expand...


Thanks Ryan, the way I look at it is even if I don't get useable footage I'll still have a cool toy to play with!
 
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