Photographer needs advice on R/C Helicopters

[suvro]

I am an amateur photographer, and planning to get into aerial
photography using digital cameras attached to a radio controlled
helicopter. I need to build or buy a helicopter that can lift about 2
lbs of weight. I really don't know much about r/c helicopters, and I
can certainly use advice from experts like you. What kind of helicopter
should I get? Any help will be appreciated.

Thank you.
Suvro
***@suvro.com
Suvro's PhotoPage : http://suvro.com/photopage

[andras]

I guess you'd need a pretty big helicopter for lifting that kind o
weight -- at least 60 size I suppose.

What kind of photography would you like to do? The main problem on
model helicopter is going to be the vibration and the constant chang
of attitude (a model aircraft is nowhere near as stable as a full-siz
one), which means your exposures have to be very quick or the imag
gets blurred.

Andrá

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andra
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[Simon Robbins]

Post by suvro
I am an amateur photographer, and planning to get into aerial
photography using digital cameras attached to a radio controlled
helicopter. I need to build or buy a helicopter that can lift about 2
lbs of weight. I really don't know much about r/c helicopters, and I
can certainly use advice from experts like you. What kind of helicopter
should I get? Any help will be appreciated.

The camera is going to have to be cheap enough for you to wreck it. And you
will sooner or later.

What you could do to give your self a better chance at decent photos is
attach a mini video camera with tx and get someone to monitor the received
picture on a portable tv. (Camera, video tx and rx can be had for about
£25.) If you calibrate the direction of the video feed to the attitude of
your stills camera you can have your helper talk adjustments to you.

Si

[Kevin R]

Post by Simon Robbins

Post by suvro
I am an amateur photographer, and planning to get into aerial
photography using digital cameras attached to a radio controlled
helicopter. I need to build or buy a helicopter that can lift about 2
lbs of weight. I really don't know much about r/c helicopters, and I
can certainly use advice from experts like you. What kind of helicopter
should I get? Any help will be appreciated.

The camera is going to have to be cheap enough for you to wreck it. And you
will sooner or later.
What you could do to give your self a better chance at decent photos is
attach a mini video camera with tx and get someone to monitor the received
picture on a portable tv. (Camera, video tx and rx can be had for about
£25.) If you calibrate the direction of the video feed to the attitude of
your stills camera you can have your helper talk adjustments to you.
Si

its hard enough flying one without trying too take photos as well if you
have 6 months or so you could learn
Kevin

[JS]

Go to Runryder site, it has some absolutely beautiful shots
from rc helis.
And forum members are great group, good tips !

Post by Kevin R

Post by Simon Robbins

Post by suvro
I am an amateur photographer, and planning to get into aerial
photography using digital cameras attached to a radio controlled
helicopter. I need to build or buy a helicopter that can lift about 2
lbs of weight. I really don't know much about r/c helicopters, and I
can certainly use advice from experts like you. What kind of helicopter
should I get? Any help will be appreciated.

The camera is going to have to be cheap enough for you to wreck it. And you
will sooner or later.
What you could do to give your self a better chance at decent photos is
attach a mini video camera with tx and get someone to monitor the received
picture on a portable tv. (Camera, video tx and rx can be had for about
£25.) If you calibrate the direction of the video feed to the attitude of
your stills camera you can have your helper talk adjustments to you.
Si

its hard enough flying one without trying too take photos as well if you
have 6 months or so you could learn
Kevin

[e***@mail.com]

Post by suvro
I really don't know much about r/c helicopters

Not to discourage you... flying RC helis is something you can learn but
it certainly isn't easy and it certainly isn't cheap. Flying a RC
helicopter takes a LOT of practice. Many experts suggest you purchase a
simulator first before moving on to an actual model.

http://www.realflight.com/helis.html

Post by suvro
I need to build or buy a helicopter that can lift about 2 lbs of

weight

Thats a good payload for most helis... however a 60 size can do it. But
now your talking a couple bucks, not to mention the repair costs of
crashing it, (avg $600.00-$1000.00 per crash), the community noise
level restrictions on model flying, muffler requirements, flying on
other than private property, and liability insurance in case you lose
control of it, hit a bystander and open their skull.... just to name a
few.

Make sure you only consider gas or electric. Stay away from nitros due
to the smoke they emit. (not good when its clouding your photos. If
you're aware of all these issues.. then the Observer is one that comes
to mind:

http://www.bergenrc.com/Observer.asp

Actually with the advent of Lithium- Polymer batteries electrics are
easily up to the challenge and can handle 2 lbs no problem. Electrics
offer no smoke and less vibration. (vibration more critical when
shooting video).

An interesting electic heli (sort of) just announced a couple weeks ago
is the new Draganflyer 5. Whats unique about this DF5 (over earlier DF
models) is this one "flies itself". It has on both on-board gyros and
positional infrared sensors. If you get into trouble and start loosing
the ship, simply let go of the control sticks... and it rights
itself... even hovers itself! Problem is... it won't lift two pounds.
(not even close) On the other hand, it does come with an on board video
camera that will transmit to a receiver. You capture the image on a
laptop computer and then you can makes still from the video frames you
need. (Providing you aren't shooting for National Geographic or need
36x48 enlargements. Anyway... check out the videos:

http://www.rctoys.com/draganflyer5.php

Another option is the RC hot-air balloon. You can lift 20+ pounds:

http://www.ModelBalloon.com

Need a nice mount for your ballon or Heli:

http://www.helicamsolutions.com/html/products.html

By the way... heres a link to others discussing helis and aerial
photography:

http://runryder.com/helicopter/f25p1/

Good luck
Elton