Aerial Photography with Radio-Controlled Aircraft

[Even Chance]

Hi all,
I have been flying RC aircraft for many years now, and have recently thought about adding a digital camera to an electric powered one to obtain some aerial pics.
The aircraft is nearly finished, and has been designed by myself with all the necessary ideals for slow flight. I have an old Sanyo point and shoot 8MP that I will be using initially. It was a really poor camera, but will be fine for trials.
The aircraft can operate up to heights of 1000ft on a good clear day, but Im hoping most of the photos will be taken from a couple of hundred feet to allow nice clear shots of houses etc, that will look better than when taken from a full size aircraft at a greater height.

Are there any recommendations for camera settings? I can fly a lot better that I can take a photo!!

Is there any viable commercial interest in this? Photos of peoples homes/ land etc? I am proposing taking the photos and then selling a CD of all the photos taken to the customer. Most people have photo printers themselves now anyway.

Your thoughts please....

Barry

[davem]

http://forum.caithness.org/showthread.php?t=15848&highlight=kite+cam

Grants kite pics are really impressive. Check his kite cam posts. He's your man for settings.

[Even Chance]

Ive seen that before. Its the same idea with the lower altitude photos.
My settings will be different though, as the aircraft will be moving. (albeit rather slowly)
The aircraft will give the opportunity to position the camera for different angles/heights views etc much better and quicker than the kite cams. I could arrive at a shoot, fly for say 20 mins and take hundreds of pics in that time.

Very nice pics tho Grant- well done!

[Boozeburglar]

Kites or balloons seems well suited to ariel photography.

What excited me about rc aircraft is the possibility of 3D fly throughs on film.

[Dog-eared]

As a wee aside, you can buy controllable radio linked video cameras which will fit inside an R/c plane cockpit and you can swivel it round and watch the image from the ground control unit. Try a search on Youtube.

[Even Chance]

Ive seen these units before Dog-eared. I was thinking about one of these for using as a camera viewfinder to frame the photos before taking them.

Is that the kind of thing your on about Boozeburglar?
I took a few test shots on Saturday, but it was very windy and the plane was on its maiden flight.
I have the photos here.

[Even Chance]

Here are a few test pics. They will get much better!!

I flew at Sarclet, near Wick. Can you see the outline of the dummy airfield runways laid out on the moor?

[davem]

Looking good already.

[Gronnuck]

Is there any viable commercial interest in this? Photos of peoples homes/ land etc? I am proposing taking the photos and then selling a CD of all the photos taken to the customer. Most people have photo printers themselves now anyway.

Your thoughts please....

Barry

I would imagine there will be a lot of interest in aerial photographs of people's properties. Not just for individuals who want a piccie of their home but for building proposals and planning applications. It would certainly add a new dimension to the selling of properties too.
Stick with it Barry, good luck, I don't think there are many in the Far North who are doing this at the moment.

[Even Chance]

Cheers Dave. I still need to sort out the settings yet. I was using the intellegent auto function. I was more interested in flight testing the aircraft. It proved the need for a larger wing area to give more lift at lower speeds. The aircraft is electric powered, and the photos were blurred when taken with the motor running, but perfectly clear when the motor was stopped. Maybe a faster shutter speed???? ISO??


Gronnuck-
Cheers for the words, it means a lot. I also had the idea about estate agents selling houses. The ability to show a house/plot land and its extents overlaid onto an aerial photo for sales purposes would be a great selling point.
Im just at the conceptual stages with this as yet, but the idea has been proven elsewhere, and is a bit hit in the States already. Im in it for the long haul......

Barry

[Pony]

Yes - good luck with this - Im sure it will be popular. I was desperate to get aerial photos of our home a couple of years back and it took ages to find someone that would do it (couldnt find anyone locally). In the end we had to get someone from Inverness - they flew over and took loads of shots which they put on a cd for us. Would be great if this service was provided locally.

[Even Chance]

Hi Pony,
When you got someone to fly over and do your house, was it a full size aircraft, or a model?

Im still desperate for some photography help. Are you experts all too busy to help me with digital settings recommendations?

[Pony]

Mine was done by a full size plane - with a pilot and a photographer in it. But hopefully a model plane can do just as good a job - probably be cheaper therefore more popular even if the quality isnt as good!!

Good luck!!

[Even Chance]

Aah right. I see.
Im hoping that the quality will actually be BETTER than using a full size plane. Much cheaper though, yer right!
This is only the trials and experimentation stages. I can eventually build a larger aircraft to take pics using a Digital SLR camera. All I lack at the moment is the equipment! Im simply using what I have available to hand for the testing and start-up. This smaller setup is also an important part of the equation. I can fly from tighter landing areas, and take pics in more difficult to access locations.
The aircraft is now ready to try for some more shots this weekend. It has a new wing and this should allow even better flight characteristics.
Im also working on a movable camera mount. I have been asked about the possibility of taking survey shots looking directly down. I should have an answer for this soon as well.

[golach]

Not taking anything away from your photos Even Chance, but have you seen the Orgs original Aerial photographers work

http://forum.caithness.org/showthread.php?t=15848&highlight=kite

http://forum.caithness.org/showthread.php?t=15848&highlight=kite

[Even Chance]

Hi Golach,
Aye, seen them as well. Davem put the link in up at the top of this thread. Impressive stuff! The kite seems a good stable platform. They also use helium balloons to achieve a camera platform.

Barry

[Even Chance]

I have started a Flickr page with higher resolution uploads.

Here is the page:-
http://www.flickr.com/photos/48127961@N08/

Barry

[Even Chance]

More photos added to my Flickr page.
Quite a successful weekends flying was had.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/48127961@N08/

Comments and constructive criticism very much welcomed.

If you want your house/land photographed, just PM me for details.:)

Barry

[nirofo]

More photos added to my Flickr page.
Quite a successful weekends flying was had.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/48127961@N08/

Comments and constructive criticism very much welcomed.

If you want your house/land photographed, just PM me for details.:)

Barry

Impressive, if you can keep that sort of quality constant then you could be onto a winner.

nirofo.

[Even Chance]

Thanks nirofo.
I took around 290 photos of a relatives house on Sunday morning. These of course yeilded quite a few useless photos, but there were a LOT of good photos to choose from. There were also a good few high altitude shots of the surrounding scenery.
Learning where to point and position the aircraft when taking the photos is the true secret to this.
I am still modifying the aircraft this week. I hope the weekend has decent weather to try it out again.

[Gronnuck]

Barry - I've just had a look at your latest postings on your flickr page. I'm impressed. I can see a wee business really lifting off here, (pardon the pun :lol:)
I'm sure there are a lot of home owners out there who would like a photo like those, of their home; it's certainly different and unique.
The best of luck to you.

[Even Chance]

Thanks very much Gronnuck. I do hope theres a sniff of opportunity. Im not quite ready to begin advertising as yet, but its nearly there.
I need a few ideas for places to photograph in Caithness for demonstration purposes.
Camster cairns???

Where else would show off the capabilities best???

[Even Chance]

More pics uploaded-

http://www.flickr.com/photos/48127961@N08/

[Even Chance]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2668/4454483820_3e237d0a9a_b.jpg

[Even Chance]

Thats it, I can get the photos to appear here now.

[Gronnuck]

Barry - I can't help you with your uploading problem but I've had a look at your flickr photos'. That picture of Noss Head Lighthouse is a cracker - well done. :D

[Even Chance]

Cheers Gronnuck.
I was up early yesterday morning and got a few nice shots in before the wind picked up. Just uploaded more to flickr.
Staxigoe, Riverside in Wick and pics taken of Wick from the Trinkie car park.( well 500ft above it anyway!!)

I see loads of the experts with their photos appearing on their posts, and I wanted to try it out in case some folks didnt click on my Flickr link to see my pics.

Glad someone likes my pics. I just wish I could haul a DSLR up in such a compact plane.

Barry

[Even Chance]

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4039/4454483008_9b4dc459fc_b.jpg

[nirofo]

The shot of Noss Head lighthouse is a cracker, amazing what you can see from above.

Have you considered one of the Olympus 4/3 DSLR cameras, they are quite small and have interchangeable lenses. They usually receive a good write up in the reviews.

See here for more info. http://www.olympus.co.uk/consumer/dslr_6749.htm

nirofo.

[Even Chance]

The Olympus 420 weighs 400grams without a lens. Thats a wee bit too much for what im after really, and its the smallest of the bunch!
The one I was looking at was the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1. It weighs 385grams including the lens, and I can power it from the aircrafts drive battery further reducing the weight.
see here- http://www.panasonic.co.uk/html/en_GB/Products/LUMIX+Digital+Cameras/G+Micro+System/DMC-GF1/Specification/2821836/index.html?trackInfo=true

Basically anything in between the GF1 and the FS15 Im currently using would do nicely. If I did go for a larger aircraft to lift up a DSLR, I would probably go for having a seperate camera operator as well.
The current rig is better for its ability to use smaller spaces to take-off and land. It weighs 1.1Kg ready to fly. The FS15 Im using weighs 135 grams including its 1 cell battery. Its limitations appear to be the lens used. I had an old 3.2Mp lumix years ago that had a bigger lens and its photos were fantastic.

[Even Chance]

Hi all,
I am now good to go as a commission basis Aerial Photographer.
I have just uploaded some recent pics onto my Flickr page-
http://www.flickr.com/photos/48127961@N08/

Mail me at caithnessaerialpics@gmail.com

Hope you like,