Photos from a helicopter

[cj_eds]

Does anyone have any experience shooting from a helicopter? I've got a flight booked this week that I got as a Christmas present so I'll be taking along the camera. At my disposal I've got a Canon 500D & a 18-270mm f3.5-6.3 VC lens, or the standard kit lens - 18-55/f3.5-6.3. Generally I never use the kit lens now, I bought the other to replace it really as opposed to complement it (but that's a different thread!) but I'm not sure how much space there'll be in the helicopter. I'd like the flexibility of the 18-270 but not sure I'll have the space to zoom anyway.
Anyone have any hints or tips from doing such photography? Last time I did this was about 10 years ago in a mate's microlight and I was using a fully automatic Casio compact!

At the moment it looks like the weather should be resonably dry and bright, relative humidity is about 70-75% at 8-14deg so as far as I understand weather guestimation, that means I'm not going to see a long way into the distance so I'll probably take the polariser to see if it helps - but then I'm also not expecting a lot of time to fiddle with the camera & exposure.

[GeraldSmith]

Do you know what sort of helicopter and how many other people?

My only experience was in Sydney, it was warm enough to have the doors off and so there was a lot of space and good views, just used a point and shoot though. With the doors on I think it would have been quite restricted.

[abarth500]

I took a couple of zooms (70-200 f2.8IS and 100-400) the last time I was up, but ended up sticking with the 17-40. It was my first time in a helicopter, and didn't really know what to expect.

I wouldn't bother with the polariser, although it wouldn't do any harm taking it with you.

A couple of shots with the 17-40.

[LaserTam]

[quote=abarth500]I took a couple of zooms (70-200 f2.8IS and 100-400) the last time I was up, but ended up sticking with the 17-40. It was my first time in a helicopter, and didn't really know what to expect.

I wouldn't bother with the polariser, although it wouldn't do any harm taking it with you.

A couple of shots with the 17-40.



/quote]

RBS at Gogarburn, if I'm not mistaken?

[abarth500]

Yes

[driverrob]

No open door on this one, just a large window.
Taken with OH's Minolta 35mm and scanned in, so excuse the quality. The original photo was surprisingly good.

Opera House view by driverrob, on Flickr

[mattdaniels]

Give the windows a good clean before you go up.

[paul911]

I did a microlight flight a few weeks back. Vibrations was an issue and ended up shooting at 1/800 and faster, to avoid shake. Large aperture is fine if shooting downwards, but go narrower if aiming at the horizon. I used my 24-105mm and most pics where at the longer end. Your 18-270mm should be perfect for this. Haze was also an issue, but nothing you can do to avoid that! Have fun



P & O by paulsflicker, on Flickr


West Lancashire Microlight School by paulsflicker, on Flickr


Hesketh Golf Club by paulsflicker, on Flickr


Seaforth Container Terminal by paulsflicker, on Flickr

[Condieboy]

This was taken on a 450D with kit lens a couple of years ago, but through the helo window which did reduce the quality unfortunately.

Edited by Condieboy on Saturday 14th May 16:06

[tenex]

Condieboy said:

This was taken on a 450D with kit lens a couple of years ago, but through the helo window which did reduce the quality unfortunately.

Edited by Condieboy on Saturday 14th May 16:06

Is that DD at the end of the jetty in the bottom right hand corner?

[cj_eds]

Thanks for the advice from you all. There's a couple of pictures of Edinburgh there, so I was just browsing for the Lothian Helicopters website to ask if any were taken from one of their flights. They've gone into administration last week so no flight for me next week.

http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/Refunds-up-...



Time for the credit card company to get to work on my behalf.