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Lens Choice For Aerial Shoot

  • Thread starter Thread starter Adam Welch
  • Start date Start date
A

Adam Welch

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I am wanting to do an aerial shoot so I have some nice footage of my city to use for current and future projects. I have never done this before so I was wondering what would be the best choice of lens for this and if anyone recommends anything else.
 
I would shoot with Master Prime 12mm or 14mm for their breath-taking flat field, no distortions, even illumination and sharpness from corner to corner, which is what you would want when filming a city from air. I don't think Leica Sumilux-C is available in those focal lengths yet.

I would consider shooting HFR and probably between f/5.6 and f/8.

Hope it helps.
 
U want a sharp lens at a wide angle, 14mm-18mm. Shoot at higher frame rates and shutter speeds depend on the available light. Shoot 5K FF so you can do some steadying of the footage in post. There is more info on this forum, the search feature can be tricky, sometimes not worth a shit at all unfortunately. That should get you started.
 
Pawel, do you own Master Primes?

Pawel Achtel said:
I would shoot with Master Prime 12mm or 14mm for their breath-taking flat field, no distortions, even illumination and sharpness from corner to corner, which is what you would want when filming a city from air. I don't think Leica Sumilux-C is available in those focal lengths yet.

I would consider shooting HFR and probably between f/5.6 and f/8.

Hope it helps.
Click to expand...
 
Optimo 24-290 is the typical lens used for aerials. Of course primes for special circumstances, but if you want to stay in the air without worrying about lens changes or getting the chopper dangerously close to a building to get a tighter shot, then a zoom is the only way to go. I highly recommend the 24-290.

The stuff Ted shot for the Epic reel from the helicopter was from a 24-290.
 
Just finished an aerial shoot; The guys have hit on the important points. Go wide. Shoot 5k and up the frame rate. I was fortunate to shoot from a Blackhawk which is large and steady. Just hope for calm weather and good luck.
 
Sharing my 15 years of aerial cinematography ... here are some a pro's and cons.

Everything depends on what and how your shooting in, on and with.

If your shooting useing a large ball camera stabilized system like spacecam, wesscam etc.. The the 24-290 or 25 -250 zoom ate the weapons of choice. these systems are amazing even if the helicopter is stuck in bad weather.. Super smooth.
If your using a gyro stablizes side mounted system that you sit in yourself and control like a Tyler or continental side mount etc.. The optimum lens was a 18 to 100 (or some thing close to those figures) any longer and you start to get to loose.
Now if your just hanging out of a door hand held or with a bungy rig with a couple of gyros. Or using a Tyler mini- then a 18 to 50 is all you will ever need.
One thing that catches out the beginners is the blades of the helicopter cutting into the top of the frame. Especially when doing hard turns. The wider the lens the bigger the problem. If you are wide on the lens ask the pilot to turn as flat as he can with less roll. The good pilots can do this. But really 18mm is about as wide as youd want. Myself .. 25mm is my new 18mm for wides.

Also remember this. If you shoot 5k 18mm and it's a little shakey. Throw it into AE warp stabilized. Or FCP stabilize and your image will look like it had come from a Spacecam. Modern stabilizing tools save the day.

Lastly.. Don't use primes. The last thing you want to be doing is changes lenses in the air with a door opened. Your just wasting your time as well. Ever minute in a heli isxmoney, dint waste it. Use that short zoom and have fun.

Here is a Ad we shot using a red zoom from a heli. With the camera sitting on my knee.... know Gyros... plane and simple.

http://www.zoomfilmtv.com.au/tvcs/ggi_blackbox.html

 
Frank, any chance you can share some of your footage from the blackhawk?

Frank Weeks said:
Just finished an aerial shoot; The guys have hit on the important points. Go wide. Shoot 5k and up the frame rate. I was fortunate to shoot from a Blackhawk which is large and steady. Just hope for calm weather and good luck.
Click to expand...
 
Matt,

The Angenieux 24-290 is a stunning lens requiring a gryo bottom mounted nose rig, 3x wireless mechanical motors.

Adam, are you going to be shooting through a plane window, going up in a copter with the full setup?

Matt Ryan said:
Optimo 24-290 is the typical lens used for aerials. Of course primes for special circumstances, but if you want to stay in the air without worrying about lens changes or getting the chopper dangerously close to a building to get a tighter shot, then a zoom is the only way to go. I highly recommend the 24-290.

The stuff Ted shot for the Epic reel from the helicopter was from a 24-290.
Click to expand...
 
We left out one HUGE consideration.

Time of Day. This is an artistic choice so what are you looking to get out of the shoot?
 
Will Keir said:
Matt,

The Angenieux 24-290 is a stunning lens requiring a gryo bottom mounted nose rig, 3x wireless mechanical motors.

Adam, are you going to be shooting through a plane window, going up in a copter with the full setup?
Click to expand...

Yes, thats a given. But primes are not the way to go unless you want to keep changing them throughout the shoot (waste of time and potentially dangerous if doing it in the air). You could always go with the shorter Angenieux zooms (i.e. 17-80mm) if you dont need up to 290mm. But most aerial shots are done on the 24-290 like Mark and I have noted (which is F2.8. It's the most versatile and gives you the most options. Also, with primes you still need 2 motors, one for iris, and one for focus, so one more motor isn't a big deal. It requires a gyro but does not have to be confined to the nose. There are several gyro rigs for side mount as well...
http://www.tylermount.com/middlemount2.html Support up to 60 Pounds side mounted. (24-290mm is 25lbs, and Epic body is around 10lbs for a total of 35lbs)

http://www.helinet.com/services_production_equipment_mounts.php
 
Well if your shooting at night or handheld, primes might be a good idea if your just shooting wide establishing type of shots. If you are shooting handheld without any stabilizing tech try to use something like a Cine Saddle to help keep it under control and crank up the frame rate but if shooting at night you will get flicker from some of the lights (see below) and keep the lens wider then 24mm. A Ruby 14 - 24 is a great small zoom.

Here is some footage we shot Epic 5k last night using our new Leica 18mm prime hand held in a R44 helicopter with some of it at 90fps and all of it at 1.4. We are making a demo of the difference between shooting hand held in a helicopter and using a Cineron hand held in a helicopter. will post the actual video soon.


And speaking of helicopters our buddy Tim just made a great landing at Highland and Franklin tonight in the KTLA ship.

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2012...s-emergency-landing-in-hollywood-parking-lot/
 
Thank you for everyone's input. I am still building up my lens collection, so it is very helpful to hear what everyone is using.
 
Will be shooting through the window. The copter does not have the full setup.
 
Does the 24-290 have image stabilization? How are you getting smooth shots at 290mm? internal gyro is the only way? could it be possible to shoot at 290mm and stabilize in post? Too crazy right?

Matt Ryan said:
Yes, thats a given. But primes are not the way to go unless you want to keep changing them throughout the shoot (waste of time and potentially dangerous if doing it in the air). You could always go with the shorter Angenieux zooms (i.e. 17-80mm) if you dont need up to 290mm. But most aerial shots are done on the 24-290 like Mark and I have noted (which is F2.8. It's the most versatile and gives you the most options. Also, with primes you still need 2 motors, one for iris, and one for focus, so one more motor isn't a big deal. It requires a gyro but does not have to be confined to the nose. There are several gyro rigs for side mount as well...
http://www.tylermount.com/middlemount2.html Support up to 60 Pounds side mounted. (24-290mm is 25lbs, and Epic body is around 10lbs for a total of 35lbs)

http://www.helinet.com/services_production_equipment_mounts.php
Click to expand...
 
No but shooting at 5k gives you room to stabilize. How do you think shots that start out on a car/truck driving on the freeway pulling out to a wide of the city happens? Not on a prime... If your looking for nothing but fixed shots then fine, go with a prime. I suggest a zoom because it gives you options for framing without having to change lenses.

http://www.hdaerial.com/wescamhd.php
http://www.shot-over.com/cinema-system.html

There was a bts of the Ted in the chopper stuff but can't find it. Optimo 24-290 and Epic for the aerial shots.

 
Will be shooting through the window. The copter does not have the full setup.
Click to expand...
Is there a reason that an open door option is not available?

Since you are new to aerial filming do take the time to look at the other threads on the subject regarding mitigating the dangers associated with open door filming.
In respect to using cinesaddles they must be tehered. A clipboard flew out an open door and is the suspected cause of a recent fatal crash.

Using bungies to support a camera from the door sill is dangerous and probably illegal.


Mike Brennan
 
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