Using a "toy" RC helicopter to get aerial shots?

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dan_aka_jack

Well-known member
Hi folks,

I'm working on a low-budget film that would really benefit from an aerial shot at the end of the film. The list prices for hiring a Hovercam for a day (£2000/day) is a bit out of my budget. So I'm wondering if there's any use in buying a "toy" remote control helicopter and mounting an HC30 or GH1 to the 'copter. Of course, I realise that the camera wont be able to tilt and pan independently of the 'copter but that should be a problem for the shot I have in mind (which is basically a glorified tracking shot).

Some specific questions:

1) Is it possible to buy an RC chopper capable of carrying the weight of a small camera like an HV30?

2) Will the chopper vibrate too much and/or be too unstable?

Any thoughts would be really, REALLY helpful!

Thanks,
Jack
 
Thanks for the info - very interesting. Buying a Draganfly is definitely out of my range! But hiring one in the UK would be interesting.

I've just been searching for "kquad" online. Interesting stuff.
 
Flying an RC helicopter is an acquired skill, usually found by crashing them and learning not to.

How high does your shot need to be? Maybe you can rent a bucket truck or scissor lift.

Another possibility is to mount the camera to the bottom of a weather balloon filled with helium. Attach 3 guidelines to the sides and have the people holding them spread far out.
Depending on how wide the shot is, you'll probably have to paint out the wires.

The easiest thing would be to try and substitute some stock footage, does your audience know what your location looks like from above?
 
Great replies - many thanks!

@Jockomo - good ideas. I think the bucket truck could be the way forward. I'll investigate...

@hoarp001 - Fantastic! I'm based in London and we'll be filming in and around London.
 
I went down that road a while. Got two helis with the intention of mounting cameras on them. It was a total bust. You need hundreds of hours of experience and LOTs of cash invested in the proper size heli + stabilizer cam mount to get good smooth shots, so I highly recommend the other options.

A 20 foot crane with a wide lens could do wonders.
 
keep in mind if you use any kind of heli without a gyro rig, you'll probably have alot of vibration, and if you're shooting with a CMOS camera, I'm guessing you'll have alot of jello-vision going on.
 
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