How good are those remote control helicopter cams?

H

harmonica44

They seem to be growing in popularity for getting aerial shots, and the cams say 1080p I think. But a lot of cams say that but can still be poor quality. Bad lenses maybe? They look okay in the story, but hard to know how it will look in a finished product. So how good are they really? Would the aerial shots look close enough to the rest of the footage from a 1080p DSLR, and be enough to match, without being too distracting to the audience?
 
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You have links? I've seen guys tape a flip cam to a $30 RC copter and guys mount a $8000 camera rig to a $4000 copter (still RC and small), so I'm not sure where in between you're talking about.

Even with a link, my answer would be: If you've seen the video and you think it looks good, then go for it. If it doesn't look good, don't try to figure out a way to fix it, find another solution.
 
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I'd like to know which helo/cam he's referring too? I've looked into a number of systems, and a few thousand dollars seems to be the least expensive route I've found. Once you consider the helo itself, then add the receiver transmitter combo. Then you add the camera mounts. And that doesn't take into consideration for stabilizing gyros, and remote video transmitter receiver.

Is the OP talking about an all in one combo? Some sort of toy?

I'd love to know, because this is an area of great interest to me.
 
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I'm talking about the all in one combos, for like $100-300. The trouble with hooking a cam up to one, is that you cannot focus pull, so I would need a cam that could get shots without going out of focus.
 
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11f aperture should achieve that.


Have you investigated these: https://www.google.com/search?hl=en...source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=1RVzT4z6FomlgweW1sBi




Surely you're not considering this, right?: http://www.toysit.com/rc-toys/video-camera-helicopter.html

video-camera-helicopter.jpg
 
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How good are those remote control helicopter cams?
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Only as good as the ground pilot operating them. It takes a great deal of practice. Buy yourself one of those micro-copters and try flying it around your living room, you'll see what I mean.
 
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David.rhsc said:
Only as good as the ground pilot operating them. It takes a great deal of practice. Buy yourself one of those micro-copters and try flying it around your living room, you'll see what I mean.
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This. I was going to try some aerial test shots some time. I bought a £30 helicopter in town, brought it home and couldn't control it. I wasn't going to spend £XXX on something that I'd probably crash...
 
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To be fair, those little micro guys are missing a degree of freedom (forward/back and rotation l/r only, no "strafe" if you will) which is somewhat limiting.

I mean the little practice jobbers that are less than $50 usd usually. Still a good way to acclimate.

There's a great RC board with a heli section where one can download a simulator that works with your particular transmitter and is a way to practice without crashing your $300 heli.

Got really into the research for a while, but there are other toys I want to spend my $$ on, so sidelined it. Lots of fun with my little micro around the apt though, sort of makes me wish we had a cat. :D
 
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Well maybe it's not worth buying cause I'll just probably end up crashing it and possibly getting into legal trouble for it too. The only thing is, I feel in the future I could use more aerial shots. I mean look at the opening shot of The Dark Knight or other movies where the camera pans up and over the scene, such as when a character walks through a crowd or something. Those shots probably wouldn't look as cool if shot from ground view.
 
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You could always rent a boom lift (also known as a condor) from a local equipment rental company. It may not be as mobile as a helicopter, but it's a whole lot better than standing on a ladder.
 
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harmonica44 said:
Well maybe it's not worth buying cause I'll just probably end up crashing it and possibly getting into legal trouble for it too. The only thing is, I feel in the future I could use more aerial shots. I mean look at the opening shot of The Dark Knight or other movies where the camera pans up and over the scene, such as when a character walks through a crowd or something. Those shots probably wouldn't look as cool if shot from ground view.
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Well, if "worth it" hinges on being able to just take it out of the box from time to time and knock out perfect photography, then no it isn't worth it and don't even bother with an RC heli. Having such expectations pretty much guarantees disappointment and lost investment in the form of crashed helis.

Take some of the other tried and true routes to get the camera above the action. Or look around for RC clubs in your area and find an experienced heli pilot to partner with. Let them fly the thing, and you .. oh I don't know .. maybe Direct, you know, like a Director.

OTOH: If you really want to learn RC (beyond its application to film making) there are tons of online resources and cheap practice micro-helis on Amazon. Really only get into it for the sake of the RC heli because it would be a while to develop some piloting skill and actually be able to make it fly level, where you want, and smoothly.
 
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Find an operator to fly the chopper.
Otherwise you have to add another thing to the list where you have to spend lots of time to master it. ;)

I must admit: I also feel tempted now and then. I'd love to have my own 'air-camera' and play around in the port of Rotterdam (the largest port in the Western world) or fly around the downtown skyline.

So master the basic skills you really need first and look and google around to find people/companies that can help you when you need them.

Or specialise in aireal cinematography after you mastered the basics. ;)
It's a niche market and maybe there is no market at all where you live, but it can be fun :P
 
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