Help shooting from helcopter?! What lens?

katebeth

Ok, so I have to opportunity to shoot some images of birds on the ground from a helicopter. I also have the opportunity to rent any glass I could possibly need or want to do it. I need the pics to be good as they are for a paying customer, and not just for myself.

I will be shooting waterfowl from the helicopter at a distance so as not to spook the birds. My intent isn't necessarity to have close up of the individuals birds themselves but of many of them together on land or on a lake.

Has anyone done this before? Have any suggestions? The longest lens I have now it the Canon 70-300 IS. I'd like to rent something better. I also shoot with a 350D. I may rent a better body too, though I'd like to stick to Canon since that's what I know.

I won't have the chance to go up in the 'copter before the big day, so I won't get to see how that movement affects my shots until I'm there. I WILL have the chance to rent the lenses ahead of time and try them out to find the best fit.

Help! I'd love any input you all can give me!!! :help

Osprey Whisperer

I think the use of a tripod won't be practical from the helicoter based on limited space and the movement of the 'copter. Perhaps a small window mounted tripod would come in handy?? This also might be impractical so I'd get in the mindset you'll probably have to shoot hand held.

The use of a zoom lens (canon's 100-400mm "L" zoom is nice) would provide versatility but you will suffer a bit on image quality and lens speed (ability to gather light). If lighting is poor, you may have issues with depth of field and more so with shutter speed. Regarding shutter speed.....I would try to shoot at a relatively high shutter speed (ie. 1/1600 or faster). The reason for this is camera (helicopter shake/movement). I shoot mostly from boats. They are alwyas rocking and camera shake/blur is always a problem. I try and shoot at 1/2000 of a second at f/8 and adjust my ISO accordingly. You might consider trying faster shutter speed than you normally use to counteract any helicopter movement. You might also be shooting hand held as previously mentioned.

Another lens that might work well is Canon's 400mm f/5.6 "L" lens. It's got pretty good reach and is tack sharp. The draw back is it's pretty slow...so if lighting is poor you could have problems. You'll probably have to shoot at a minimum of ISO 400. The big advantage to this lens is it's very light for it's focal length. You can remove the tripod mount and shoot this hand held very easily. This might be my choice as you should be able to hold this lens for hours without too much trouble. This is a great lens and sharper than the 100-400mm lens. Especially wide open at f/5.6. Sharp sharp lens.

You may need more reach than 400mm shooting from a helicopter. I'm not sure what the laws/rules are for you area and the minimum height for helicopters to fly. It also may very due to restrictions and more so with weather conditions. You might be surprised how high you will have to shoot. Then a 500mm or 600mm would be needed, even for multiple bird pano shots. Perhaps a dual lens set up will be in order. Perhaps an 80-200 zoom and something in the 400-600mm. Be a Boy Scout and "be ready" or be covered or whatever it was. Wait... BE PREPAIRED. The use of a teleconverter might also come in handy. They don't work that well with zooms, but the Canon 400mm, 500mm and 600mm "L" glass will all provide great results with a quality tele (ie Canon 1.4x or 2x ). I should also mention that the 400mm f/5.6 WILL NOT AUTO FOCUS with the lower end Canon cameras. You'll need a 1 series body for AF to work with the slow f/5.6 lens. You can still manually focus this lens with the TC or you can tape off some of the contact points on the TC to get the AF to work. Do a search for this info. I can't remember which pins to tape off hand.

You might take along a monopod if you havew one. Definitely a good thing to have to stabilize those long telephoto lenses. The more powerful the lens, the more magnification..and greater chance of lens blur from motion of the equipment. Get the gear stabilized, even if shooting hand held. Think about taking a bean bag or some foam to use as a rest on somethign in the helicopter.

Good luck and don't forget the parachute.

Travis

I think the use of a tripod won't be practical from the helicoter based on limited space and the movement of the 'copter.

Using a tripod from a helicopter suffers from the same vibration issue that using a tripod in a running car or boat does. It will actually do more harm than good. I talked to some friends that shoot boat photos from moving helicopters and they advised using a shoulder-stock if at all possible. That way your body cushions the vibration. If not available and you can't handhold the lense still enough, try using a small bean bag or pod.

It sounds like a blast. Have fun,

katebeth

I hadn't thought about a shoulder stock - I will definitely have to look into one.

I will most likely be shooting in the early morning or late evening, so I'm thinking a fast lens is a must. That and if I can keep the lens weight to a minimum then that's better - I'm not tiny, but I'm certainly not used to the weight of the big guns... That and it has to fit in the helicopter with me.

Silly question - will an IS lens help things in this situation, or not? The whole IS thing can be confusing...

TristanP

I'm guessing - and this is purely a guess - but depending on how large the "flock" is and how far away you are, you may not need as much reach as you think. I'm thinking back to some of those wide flock shots in some Planet Earth episodes. I'd say take the 70-300, rent a 100-400, and something a little wider (17-55 IS?) couldn't hurt, just in case. Just my $0.02.

JohnDC

Travis wrote:

Using a tripod from a helicopter suffers from the same vibration issue that using a tripod in a running car or boat does. It will actually do more harm than good. I talked to some friends that shoot boat photos from moving helicopters and they advised using a shoulder-stock if at all possible. That way your body cushions the vibration. If not available and you can't handhold the lense still enough, try using a small bean bag or pod.

Travis is absolutely right except for the last phrase. I wouldn't use any mount, even a soft one, that touches the aircraft. Do everything possible to use your body to isolate the camera from the vibration of the helicopter. If you have to shoot through a window opening, the quarters may be too confining to use a shoulder-stock. (I have a hard time using my Bushhawk when shooting from a car window.) If you can get the pilot to take off the helicopter door, or he lets you sit out over the skids (Vietnam commando style), that will give you the most freedom. I am afraid of heights, but had no trouble shooting that way from helicopters and single engined planes (multipoint chest harnesses keep you very securely strapped in). And centrifugal force keeps you in your seat when the aircraft banks, which is great for getting downward shots.

To isolate your upper body from the vibration, do not lean hard against the backrest or any other part of the aircraft. You can brace your upper arms against your torso and hold your camera against your face. If you have a door open, be very careful when changing memory cards and batteries, and have keepers on your glasses.

Sounds like fun...

katebeth

TristanP wrote:

I'm guessing - and this is purely a guess - but depending on how large the "flock" is and how far away you are, you may not need as much reach as you think. I'm thinking back to some of those wide flock shots in some Planet Earth episodes. I'd say take the 70-300, rent a 100-400, and something a little wider (17-55 IS?) couldn't hurt, just in case. Just my $0.02.

I was wondering about that. I've never been in a helicopter and have no idea how close we'll be able to get. I figured I'd bring along my Tamron 17-50 2.8 since I've always been happy with it. I was thinking about renting the 70-200 2.8 w/ IS, but maybe I'd be better with the 100-400. Anyone have experience to compare the two?

How will shooting at 2.8 work with that much distance?

Man will this be a learning experience! Thank you all for your help - I think i'm slowly making some decision headway.

bsvirginian

Sounds to me as if you don't have nearly enough info concerning the shoot. Shutterspeed is going to be your best friend here. You aren't going to have a DOF issue. I think you really need to find out how close to your subjects you are going to be what type of images your client is going to expect (close ups, panoramics, etc.) and what shooting platform the helicopter will offer. Most likely you will be shooting thru the plexiglas bubble. If it were me I'd just take a medium zoom. My favorite is the 18-200 and maybe the teleconverter. I don't let my customers know but I'd probably shoot a job for free if I could ride in a helicopter.
bsvirginian