Shooting From A Helicopter

[Gary Ferguson]

I was lucky enough recently to have a friend take me on a helicopter tour of Rio de Janeiro. I used a Canon 5D with a 24-105mm and a polariser filter, thinking that the combination of an anti-shake lens and a polariser would defend against the two obvious problems of vibration and reflections due to shooting through a glass screen. Unfortunately about 60% of my shots still showed either or both of these problems.

He's offered to fly me from Sao Paulo to Rio along the coast on my next trip to Brazil, so I'd appreciate any advice on how to achieve a higher success rate.

[sbacon]

I recently took a heli-tour in Kauai and solicited similar advice. I shot with a Canon 30D and the same 24-105 f/4 IS lens. I was on a "doors off" helicopter, so reflections were not a problem, but shake from the helicopter and wind certainly were.

I shot the entire tour wide open at f/4 and at ISO 200. Since I shoot mostly landscapes this went against my normal routine. But it worked. I had a high percentage of sharp images. And once I thought more about the DOF issues (or lack there-of), it made sense. There is little, or nothing, in the foreground. Most objects will be at a distance, reducing the need for smaller apertures. In reviewing the images, I noticed that those showing little to no shake had shutter speeds above 1/750th sec. You can see some of my images here (the heli-tour images are fairly obvious).

You're probably losing 2 stops with the polarizer and that may be hurting your efforts. You could try wearing dark clothing to minimize reflections instead of using the polarizer.

Hope this helps.

[blansky]

I used to shoot out of a helicopter that had doors and I just got the pilot to get me to the "right" place, then hover, and I opened the door and shot with the door open.

It's a strange feeling to tell him, "this looks good, stop here"  but with a helicopter you can do that.

Michael

[KAP]

I was lucky enough recently to have a friend take me on a helicopter tour of Rio de Janeiro. I used a Canon 5D with a 24-105mm and a polariser filter, thinking that the combination of an anti-shake lens and a polariser would defend against the two obvious problems of vibration and reflections due to shooting through a glass screen. Unfortunately about 60% of my shots still showed either or both of these problems.

He's offered to fly me from Sao Paulo to Rio along the coast on my next trip to Brazil, so I'd appreciate any advice on how to achieve a higher success rate.
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Shooting through the glass is never good, nothing ever looks realy sharp. If you touched the glass with your lens when shooting, the vibration would be a killer. I've shot at 1/30th and on occaison slower from helicopters. I would say 1/500th and quicker is the normal speed I use, the only times I tend to shoot slower are when having to stop down wideangles lens to get a decent corner. Then I shoot at f9+ often at 400iso, even then I still find 1/250th is the shutter speed, in a steady hover that's OK. Take the door off or get a window popped out, the perspex is never flat, clean or without scratches. I have heard a rubber lens hood is OK against the glass, cuts out reflections and doesn't transmit the vibes. I still wouldn't bother myself without clear air between me and my subject unless it was a News shot when anything is better than nothing.

Kevin.

[fennario]

If you've got the need, budget, and skill set then something like this will take things to the next level.  I'll hazard a prediction that one of these systems will make its way to Africa next fall.

http://www.ken-lab.com/

P.S.  They're rentable

[Peter McLennan]

Good advice everywhere here.  

Plastic and polarizers don't work together.  Either or both have to  go.  Door off is the only way to get the magic that a helicopter can provide.

You didn't specify what kind of helicopter it was.  Some of them (Bell 206) have little sliding windows you can easily, temporarily open.  They offer a tiny, but clear shooting aperture.

1/500th is the minimum shutter speed you should consider, absent image stabilizers of some kind.

I bet you had fun.  Rio by helicopter is an incredible sight.

Peter

[stever]

right, polarizers don't work with plastic and with many coated/tempered glass windows used in vehicles  -- if you can get the windows down/door open, the the polarizer will provide the usual benefit depending on angle of the sun, otherwise don't use a polarizer

i've had surprisingly good luck shooting thru vehicle windows so long as there aren't reflections -- which are usually pretty obvious when you're shooting

[KAP]

If you've got the need, budget, and skill set then something like this will take things to the next level.  I'll hazard a prediction that one of these systems will make its way to Africa next fall.

http://www.ken-lab.com/

P.S.  They're rentable
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=125310\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

I have a Ken lab gyro, mostly if it's a good day I don't bother with it, they make portrait shooting difficul. It's a heavy item on the bottom of your camera, turning it on the side isn't very nice.
They won't make shooting through glass any better either. Also they can slow you down (not always a bad thing) you need to sort of not hold your camera but just support it in your hand. An essential bit of kit for low light or after sunset shooting, that and a good steady pilot and a breeze to point the aircraft into.

Kevin.

[SeanFS]

I was lucky enough recently to have a friend take me on a helicopter tour of Rio de Janeiro. I used a Canon 5D with a 24-105mm and a polariser filter, thinking that the combination of an anti-shake lens and a polariser would defend against the two obvious problems of vibration and reflections due to shooting through a glass screen. Unfortunately about 60% of my shots still showed either or both of these problems.

He's offered to fly me from Sao Paulo to Rio along the coast on my next trip to Brazil, so I'd appreciate any advice on how to achieve a higher success rate.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=125166\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Just did a helicopter job earlier in the week . Canon 1ds2 and 24 - 105/polarising filter + 70 -300 for some shots . the 24 - 105 is a great lens for this sort of work( but I really must spend the cash and upgrade to the 100 - 400 zoom soon!). Much longer and unless its a perfect day a telephoto of much greater length picks up a lot of haze despite the polariser.

Although I have an MF back I think movement would probably mean the resolution advantage is mostly lost and the Canon does an excellent job - still needs some Post production work to optimise the results but affer that I don't know if I could expect much better.


The door was off as shooting through glass just doesn't work - damn cold down here in NZ at this time of year. I had IS on but I think at 1/500th sec it wasn't doing much and I wonder if it wasn't fighting with the helicopter movement as there were some frames mysteriously unsharp. I did another shoot  earlier this year and a non IS lens was fine so next time I won't have it on.
At the clients request I even got a stitched panorama series of images that has come out very well . with little sign of the joins ( after some photoshop work),

[djgarcia]

Don't touch anything hard with any part of your body - if you can sit cross-legged on a cushioned seat it's the best way to minimize vibrations, and definitely do not lean on the window. If shooting through glass / plastic window, beware of inner reflections - they're easy to miss while shooting but noticeable later on.

My .015 cents  ...

[gerardd]

I shot a few times from airplanes (Cessna without door and Pitts Special without canopy). I used the 70-200 Nikon twice with VR on and 95% of shot were sharp. Most shots were around 1/640s at iso 320. Other times I used the 12-24 or the 10.5 at iso 320 / f8 and never really had a problem.
Cheers,
Gerard