Hippy Heli Cam

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05-16-2007, 12:30 PM
Trackhead

Hippy Heli Cam

Well, I sold the loud, intimidating, two stroke helicopter and bought a nearly silent, smaller, electric heli for the helicam.
http://fritzrips.com/Gallery1/albums/Heli/IMGA0206.jpg

http://fritzrips.com/Gallery1/albums/Heli/IMGA0207.jpg

http://fritzrips.com/Gallery1/albums/Heli/IMGA0208.jpg

Pros: Very quiet and clean.
Very smooth, no vibrations in electric motor.
No odor.
Less intimidating due to slightly smaller size.
Cheaper crash repair costs.
Very light-10 pounds with camera, mount, batteries.

Cons: Lower payload, have to fly light cameras and HDV cams.
Shorter flight times (7 minutes per battery). That's plenty.
Expensive batteries. ($250-300)

This thing is SO much easier to shoot clean vid with because of the electric motor and lack of vibration. Stock set up and it shoots beautiful footage.

I also have an infrared stabilizer that keeps the heli level. This allows further flight without the fear of crashing. So you can fly a bit more aggresively and not worry so much.

I bought a Digi SLR and a couple lenses. So I will be shooting alot of stills with it next winter as well.

Who wants to model?
05-16-2007, 12:52 PM
wendigo

Will winds effect the flying characteristics (stability) due to the lighter weight?

Quote:

Who wants to model?

When are you coming to Alaska?
05-16-2007, 01:02 PM
Trackhead

Quote:

Originally Posted by wendigo

Will winds effect the flying characteristics (stability) due to the lighter weight?

When are you coming to Alaska?

Yes, winds make it 'balloon' as you fly. Sort of makes the heli rise in forward flight. Not a big deal.

The gasser did fairly well in 15mph, this will likely need 15 or less to be ideal. So you shoot early, when the winds are light, and the light is right.

It's the economical way for a ghetto living poor boy to get aerial footage.:D
05-16-2007, 01:51 PM
mc_roon

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trackhead

Who wants to model?

oooooo, pick me, pick me!

if i read your post right, your planning on mounting a DSLR on the heli? How are you planning on dealing with focus, zoom, etc?
05-16-2007, 02:20 PM
Trackhead

Quote:

Originally Posted by mc_roon

oooooo, pick me, pick me!

if i read your post right, your planning on mounting a DSLR on the heli? How are you planning on dealing with focus, zoom, etc?

Always wide angle, always infinity focus.
05-16-2007, 02:26 PM
Tippster

Very cool, TH. Can't wait 'til my upgraded comp comes so I can actually WATCH some of your HD vids.... :nonono2:
05-17-2007, 06:44 AM
Trackhead

50mb-2:45 vid of the little beast flying in tight quarters. My shaky hand wife with the camera.

http://www.fritzrips.com/FritzripsRandomVids/Trex.MOV
05-17-2007, 07:23 AM
lemon boy

Damn, that is sweet.

You should goto the WPG pad (or the pad on top of your hospital) and get some audio of helis flying and powering up for takeoff to layer in there :D
05-17-2007, 07:52 AM
Trackhead

Quote:

Originally Posted by lemon boy

Damn, that is sweet.

You should goto the WPG pad (or the pad on top of your hospital) and get some audio of helis flying and powering up for takeoff to layer in there :D

Or just torment WPG like an annoying mosquito.
05-17-2007, 08:10 AM
lemon boy

that too. Are you going to land that bad boy "on" WPG groups like they do to all the sad tourons there? ;)
05-17-2007, 08:13 AM
Trackhead

Quote:

Originally Posted by lemon boy

that too. Are you going to land that bad boy "on" WPG groups like they do to all the sad tourons there? ;)

Yeah, that's why I bought it. It can carry 2 lb. charges too, for avy control work. See, I plan on bombing all my runs next winter, prior to skiing them.
05-17-2007, 08:42 AM
lemon boy

2# charges will definitely be big enough to prove the stability.

Definitely need to mount a little .22 rifle on that bad boy :)
05-17-2007, 02:04 PM
Trackhead

Flew the little beast around 7.5k today with ambient air temps at 72 degrees. PLENTY of power with the camera and mount. I don't see a reason 9,500k wouldn't be feasible on a warm day. And in winter, I'll have more power with cooler temps and higher air density.

http://fritzrips.com/Gallery1/albums/Heli/IMGA0210.jpg
05-18-2007, 12:42 PM
SuperChief

I was wondering, is there an camera/interface that you could control remotely with a computer using wireless?

I found this mount it is pretty cool, the versatility of forward and downward shots seems like a big bonus.

http://www.lastrefuge.co.uk/data/aer...ion_mount.html
05-18-2007, 01:34 PM
L7

You seem to have an infinite amount of time and money to throw at this hobby. Be cool to see the footage. I hoped you got close to getting your money back on that first one if not make a little for all the time in as well.
05-18-2007, 01:50 PM
soul_skier

looks like a pretty sweet setup, should get some sweet footage next season.
05-18-2007, 03:16 PM
Trackhead

Quote:

Originally Posted by SuperChief

I was wondering, is there an camera/interface that you could control remotely with a computer using wireless?

I found this mount it is pretty cool, the versatility of forward and downward shots seems like a big bonus.

http://www.lastrefuge.co.uk/data/aer...ion_mount.html

Yes. But realistically, you ALWAYS shoot wide angle, so no zoom function is needed. If you shoot zoomed in, you can pick up minor camera shake, the wide angle hides that. There are no vibes in the vid, but heli/camera movement is inevitable, like when you hold a big lens without a tripod.
05-18-2007, 03:26 PM
Trackhead

Quote:

Originally Posted by L7

You seem to have an infinite amount of time and money to throw at this hobby. Be cool to see the footage. I hoped you got close to getting your money back on that first one if not make a little for all the time in as well.

I have a very FINITE amount of money, but an infinite amount of twitch to try to get footage and photos in ways that haven't been done. Perhaps I need medication.

Just bought a DSLR for the helicam today too. So I will be hooking up with Grizzle6 in the near future for some collaborative work.
05-18-2007, 03:29 PM
summit

so freaking sweet
05-18-2007, 04:23 PM
Atrain505

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trackhead

Who wants to model?

Sign me up! I'll be down in Utah for a week next year.

And ya, when are you coming to BC with that thing?
05-20-2007, 11:30 AM
SuperChief

[QUOTE=SuperChief;1281986]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trackhead

Yes. But realistically, you ALWAYS shoot wide angle, so no zoom function is needed. If you shoot zoomed in, you can pick up minor camera shake, the wide angle hides that. There are no vibes in the vid, but heli/camera movement is inevitable, like when you hold a big lens without a tripod.

I was thinking along the lines of still shots, when to trigger the shuutter or do a 5 shot burst, things like that. also do low cost aerial stills for planimetric mapping.

looks like a sweet set-up, Can't wait to see the shots you produce.
05-21-2007, 09:20 PM
Trackhead

The little pig is flying well...........should have some Moab vid up in a week or two, when I get back.

http://fritzrips.com/Gallery1/albums/Heli/IMGA0225.jpg
05-22-2007, 06:34 PM
The Suit

Is that a T-Rex 600?

I crashed my mini-heli a few weeks ago. A blade strike makes for an impressive amount of destruction. I recommend against it.
05-22-2007, 08:26 PM
Trackhead

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Suit

Is that a T-Rex 600?

.

Yeah, got rid of the big gasser. Too heavy, too loud.

Might stretch this to 700.

The thing flies so damn nice.