Shooting from a helicopter

J

jonathanrichards

Active member
Hi guys,

I'll be shooting from a helicopter on Thursday and I was considering using the AF101 on 50p with my Tamron 17-50 inside a Manfrotto Fig Rig.

The cam will be safety tethered to the (ex-Gadaffi) helicopter machine gun support (really!!).

Any tips please??
 
[Full Metal Jacket] EASY! YOU JUST DON"T LEAD 'EM AS MUCH! [/Full Metal Jacket]

I've read that wide angle and 720p will reduce CMOS skew. Aside from that and occasional moving-car shot, I've no experience in the matter.
 
If you can't get gyro$$$, use bungee cords to isolate the camera somewhat from yourself and the heli. Oh, take pics of whatever setup you wind up with, and report back. I'll be shooting from a heli in less than a month and could also use some help :D
 
A steady bag in the lap, or a really soft pillow (for vibration absorption), well tethered on either.
Stay wide. Overcrank if possible (and if slow and smooth works with the video's intent).
Don't fly on an empty stomach.
Have fun!
 
While the machinegun mount sounds cool, probably not the best idea - avoid any direct mounting to the chopper, all it does is transmit vibration. Bungee cords from the roof or bean bag are a better option.
As much as I dislike the Pana 14-140mm lens for everyday shooting, it's a good choice for this kind of gig. A wide range, you don't need a shallow DoF and it has image stabilization.
Shoot SloMo - so 50p is a good option
 
I have a heli shoot set for Thursday in NY as well,i thought about using my 7D for it but since i wont need hardly any tight shots i think i may dust off the ol trusty DVX 100a with my wide lens.I was wondering which method would keep the vibration down the most but the pillow suggestion sounds like a good and cost effective solution that i will give a try. Also i was told up 1000 ft in the sky in a moving doorless copter is not really the best place to change a lens.So i'm going to keep it good and simple with the Trusty DVX which has never failed me before.So once i make it back safely in one piece i'll let everyone know how helpful the pilow was.
 
If it's important, and you have access to rent, a Kenyon Gyrozoom is a must-have. Not expensive to rent, HUGE help. Dual axis is even better. But you'll def. want bungees to hold 'em up, or your arms will fall off afterwards. (They heavy. Sort of the point. Heavy thing spinning REALLY fast has BIG inertia.) Keep all the kit inside the cabin, or rotor wash will be nasty. (Though there is a youtube vid floating around of an Atlanta news shooter who shot stuff standing on the skid, back in the day.) Don't shoot through the plexi. Take pics of the rig BEFORE you go up. (Don't want to forget!)
 
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Heli Tips

Heli Tips

I've done a lot of heli shooting, most of it without a gyro, Tyler mount or otherwise. Bungee cords are superb, keep your lens framing as wide as you can (mcu's without a gyro are terrible), if you have OIS then use it and I always shoot a minute or two at standard frame rate to get nat sound of the 'wop, wop, wop'. The best stabilization tool is to over-crank, 1080 30p at VFR 60 frames or VFR 48 at 24p (The more frames you shoot, the smoother the result). I also mount a .6 or .9 grad in the upper third of the frame to prevent sky blow-out.
 
Has no one considered remote control helicopters instead? Those work really well, I hear. Probably not at 1000 feet with crosswinds, but what do I know!
 
I am experimenting with a quad at the moment and a GoPro... forget filming in any wind its hard enough keeping the thing airbourne, but on a still day...its nice
 
EditingFX said:
Ok, here you go.

Click to expand...
nice work. Vortex Aerial also has some footage on vimeo, that's what made me think.
I think an RC definitely has to be cheaper than a gunship, right???
What are your rates, man? I'm going to need RC shots for a pool party scene.
 
A decent heli runs $1500/hr w/o Tyler mount. By decent I mean a Bell Jet Ranger or similar. Jet turbine engine helis are much smoother than piston-driven. (Robinson R-44s is a piston craft, often used for stills, as it's much cheaper/hour.)

RC heli teams range quite a bit/day. But I think around $2000/day (very roughly) is a starting point. LOTS of variations in equipment.

I'm quite excited by the emerging quad/octo copters with greater payloads, GPS positioning & waypoints, auto stabilization, auto home, etc.
 
Any tips for shooting out the back passenger door of a float plane? I'll be doing that shortly in Arizona and Alaska.
 
Float planes are a problem with the floats and wing struts. I once mounted a small vidcam on a Beaver strut in Alaska and pre-positioned it looking slightly right-forward-down and the pilot flew routes over the lodge, river, lake, etc. (Did the same thing with my Nikon and a remote trigger). Then of course, in a remote Alaskan lodge the FAA is nowhere to be seen and Alaskan bush pilots do a lot of things that others in authority may frown upon, not that I'm suggesting that you try the same.
 
EditingFX said:
A decent heli runs $1500/hr w/o Tyler mount. By decent I mean a Bell Jet Ranger or similar. Jet turbine engine helis are much smoother than piston-driven. (Robinson R-44s is a piston craft, often used for stills, as it's much cheaper/hour.)

RC heli teams range quite a bit/day. But I think around $2000/day (very roughly) is a starting point. LOTS of variations in equipment.

I'm quite excited by the emerging quad/octo copters with greater payloads, GPS positioning & waypoints, auto stabilization, auto home, etc.
Click to expand...

What is the current status concerning legality of commercial operations of RC aircraft in the USA?
 
I did a Heli shoot about 2 months ago. All the nose-cams available were SD - not going to work. Could not get a tyler mount very easily. Went with a Gyro mount the heli company had.
Did not use the HPX370, do to the motion. Used a Varicam H27 and shot in 720p60. Have shot handheld before and would not use that for anything hi-profile. The bill was 800-900/hr with the gyro. You HAVE to be iso'd from the copter or it's useless.
We still used AE smooth motion on the shots.
 
Yeah, the only Tylers are now in Savannah. (?) What kind of heli was that, vidatl?

There's a pogo-stick "mount" with 2 gyros that looks like it works quite well. I forget why I still wanted to go Tyler rather than that, though. But the shots you can get with a RC can be amazing. Through the trees, close to buildings, all kinds of cool shots you'd never get full-scale. On the other hand, you can only go so fast.

And if you're full-scale, you have to deal with the constraints of shooting out a door frame. Basically side shots. Yeah, the pilot can crab the ship, but wind buffeting becomes an issue, and speed is low. (Best to fly reverse, so wind is hitting closed side, if possible.) If you want flight path shots, it's a Wescam-style nose mount or nothing. Big cost. Big.
 
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