CRIT365:204 mounting cameras on helicopters

Hey Critters, today’s my birthday:)

When I’m not at work I have a few hobbies, one of which is flying models,. Recently I’ve been looking at some of the new breed of model helicopters.

For Around $2000 you can buy an electric helicopter capable of lifting a dslr. From there you ad a hot head and a video transmitter. If you go into your local model shop it’s likely that someone that goes I there will have been playing around with mounting cameras.

In the past the idea of adding helicopter shots was reserved for those with massive amounts of money. With even a remote control helicopter cost around 2k a day. Today it’s Becoming affordable.

If you want to shoot stills from them its fairly straight forward. However if you use them for video you have to be aware of two key limitations. The electric motors create interference that upsets the cemos sensor which in turn affects the picture in quite a major way. This problem can be got round by properly isolating the the camera mount from the body, or using a ccd camera

The second is that because the sensor scans down fast moving objects take on a slant. Giving you edge wobble, again using a shutter or ccd camera will solve this.

If you’re thinking of doing it for yourself, expect to spend a good few months getting the hang of flying the helicopter. To do it properly you will need caa accreditation and proper insurance.

It’s a long way to go to get a great shot, but pretty exciting. Heres one with a 5D on it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUqioKvjL9Q&NR=1

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