Urgent Help needed.....(FAO HuN Especially!)

Gandhi

Gandhi

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Ok, quite excited if this comes off. Gutted if it doesn't......


Just been told that on monday there is quite a high likelihood that I'm going on a little helicopter ride, provided by the vendor of a rather nice property to get some shots.


Having never done this before I need some pointers and ideas from people....

My first thoughts are.....

1) gonna need a longer lens than 120mm, my longest reach at the moment. Any ideas how long?

2)And where could I hire one at such short notice and have it by Monday morning?

3) Am I going to need VR. My instinct says almost definately yes, vibration from helicopter plus long reach = definate VR required to my mind

4) Anybody got a 70-200 2.8 VR they want to lend me for a day? I can come collect and will happily pay for it, plus a deposit of some variety etc..........



woot!


I'm quite excited!
 
I would say active VR would be a must, as you won't only be moving from side to side but up and down as well

I will be using my 70-200 on Sunday afternoon to around 6:30pm, but you'd be welcome to come to London and borrow it on Sunday evening if you don't get any offers closer to you.
 
Cheers for the Offer Ross, much appreciated.

Turns out this is a £2.5 million property and the helicopter belongs to the vendor. Definately going up dependant on weather now!

How excited am I?
 
Ok, not much help, but I can say I did a heli ride last year [albeit in very sunny, wind free conditions] and a non VR lens was fine, though I wouldn't have said no to a VR one, but if push comes to shove.....

As for getting a lens, have you tried Calumet... I have never used them but they always seem to get good reports for their hire equipment and may be open this morning :shrug:


Edit: to say enjoy it!! ;)
 
Glad I caught this. If bright don't worry. I usually only have problems below 1/250th but have shot way slower than that. Ramping the ISO to keep a decent speed/aperature combo is usually best option.

DOF is important, as is focusing point. Modern cameras focus on contrast edges which are not always clearly defined in an aerial shot so consider manual focusing if any issues there.

Vibration? Depends on machine. If Robinson you may have an issue but other stuff will be pretty stable.

Lens choice. IR if you have it but focal length is more of an issue. I generally fly with my 28-70 2.8L but considering the 24-105 f4 as I NEVER use the wide open setting for DOF reasons. The height you fly at will determine what you use. For ahouse you want to be at 500ft or below to get into the range of a 28-70. Discuss with pilot BEFORE what he will do (and be allowed to do). Work out your best angle of shot from machine on the ground and discuss with pilot how you can get the aircraft in that position whilst he flys - he might not want to hover but do a pass.

PM me or call me on 07740 2hundred 2hundred for any other info.

And good luck!

Looking forward to seeing the results!

Gary.
 
LadyLens said:
Ok, not much help, but I can say I did a heli ride last year [albeit in very sunny, wind free conditions] and a non VR lens was fine, though I wouldn't have said no to a VR one, but if push comes to shove.....

As for getting a lens, have you tried Calumet... I have never used them but they always seem to get good reports for their hire equipment and may be open this morning :shrug:


Edit: to say enjoy it!! ;)
Click to expand...


Think I have the lens issue sorted. Borrowing a 70-300 of my mate, but doubt i'll have to use it judging from the info below. Thanks for taking the time to reply!



HIMUPNORTH said:
Glad I caught this. If bright don't worry. I usually only have problems below 1/250th but have shot way slower than that. Ramping the ISO to keep a decent speed/aperature combo is usually best option.

DOF is important, as is focusing point. Modern cameras focus on contrast edges which are not always clearly defined in an aerial shot so consider manual focusing if any issues there.

Vibration? Depends on machine. If Robinson you may have an issue but other stuff will be pretty stable.

Lens choice. IR if you have it but focal length is more of an issue. I generally fly with my 28-70 2.8L but considering the 24-105 f4 as I NEVER use the wide open setting for DOF reasons. The height you fly at will determine what you use. For ahouse you want to be at 500ft or below to get into the range of a 28-70. Discuss with pilot BEFORE what he will do (and be allowed to do). Work out your best angle of shot from machine on the ground and discuss with pilot how you can get the aircraft in that position whilst he flys - he might not want to hover but do a pass.

PM me or call me on 07740 2hundred 2hundred for any other info.

And good luck!

Looking forward to seeing the results!

Gary.
Click to expand...




Cheers Gary, that was excactly the info I was looking for. Some of that stuff hadn't popped into my brain yet.

I have a 24-120mmVR that I think I will probably use, it's not particuarly fast but it is a sharp copy, so should be fine. Using the VR and 400iso I should be able to keep the shutter speed up enough to halt any vibrations. I'm booked in all day for the job so hopefully We'll be able to do the aerial stuff a bit later in the day when there are some shadows to help provide definition. It's a fairly large property (farmhouse, buildings, cattlesheds etc) so Im guessing that with 120mm anywhere between 500-1000ft up should be ok.


I've had a big ****-eating grin on my face since I found out on friday.


I just hope he isn't one of these pilots who thinks 'ooh a helicopter virgin, lets scare him silly with some kerrazzzy flying' lol!
 
Gandhi said:
I just hope he isn't one of these pilots who thinks 'ooh a helicopter virgin, lets scare him silly with some kerrazzzy flying' lol!
Click to expand...
I would be hoping he WAS one of those pilots. I always tell them I have never flown;).
 
Added thoughts:

I am a landscape photographer with a slightly different platform. As such wide lenses are often more useful than long as you try to capture the "context" of your subject.

This said Arthus-Bertrand often uses a 70-200mm. I have always assumed this is because of height minima required by aircraft but if aircraft is stable you could pick out some nice details, especially abstracts.

If the brief is posh house in lovely settings wide will suit best but in any case if you think like a Landscape tog with a dodgy tripod you won't go far wrong.:thumbs:
 
well, after today, all I can say is Gary, you have my utmost respect! (not that you didn't anyway. Just now I know where you're coming from!)

15 minutes in a Gazelle helicopter, 170 exposures later and the job is done. Ended up using the 24-120VR from a height of.....well I don't really know as the pilot was busy trying to keep the helicopter stable in a side wind that kept trying to spin us round and I was busy trying not to screw up the opportunity!

I'll post some shots later when they've been processed up a touch.


Thanks again people. Had fun today. And got paid for it.





(desperatly trying not to sound too smug lol)
 
Very nice Spencer, Chance of a lifetime and you took it.:clap:

Look forwards to seeing the shots.:)



On a side note.. Posted your Processor today mate, Hope it works ok..:thumbs:
 
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