Mr. Big:
These are the largest of the fleet, 800 series helicopters with rotor blades extending mare than a 6 foot radius. Top of the line helicopters with all the right gear to get steady shots both for video and for photography. These birds can achieve speeds greater than 120MPH and have a stability that is amazing.
Each one is fitted with a stabilized gyro gimbal camera mount with pan, tilt, and roll for any position. Piloted by one person and the camera is operated at the base station through visual remote control FPV (First Person View). While these helicopters look like a lot of fun to play with, they are still large machines with rotating blades, therefore these are not used for any type of close up images. We tend to keep these at a distance of 100 feet or more, and use the camera lenses to zoom in and get the close-up that is required.
Todays cameras are more and more advanced than ever before. The standard camera on this setup is the Canon 5D, which shoots amazing video quality…(recently many movies and tv series have begun to use these due to their size and versatility). Photography is shot between 18-32 megapixels, shot in raw format for exceptional ability to retouch and color correct in post production.
Using such large helicopters, these are the perfect combination to complete the fleet, they are steady and the wind has less effect on them. Primary wind conditions are up to 20knots. If we are shooting motion and hovering where steady still shots are not necessary these can be used up to 30knots.
The camera lenses with the stabilization, coupled with the gimbal stabilization allows for a smoother transition in the post editing room.
