Lens Choice For Aerial Shoot

[Pawel Achtel]

Pawel, do you own Master Primes?

Yes, a small set :)

[Matt Ryan]

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?

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_prod...ent_mounts.php

[Aaron McLane]

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/...d-parking-lot/

[Adam Welch]

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.

[Adam Welch]

Will be shooting through the window. The copter does not have the full setup.

[Will Keir]

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?

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_prod...ent_mounts.php

[Matt Ryan]

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.

[Michael Brennan]

Will be shooting through the window. The copter does not have the full setup.

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