Helicopter or Quad flyer for aerial videos?

[Carl Klinkenborg]

Hi All,

 

My first post so please bear with me!

 

I am looking to start aerial videography and would welcome more experienced flyers' comments and opinions as to the pros and cons of using either a helicopter or quad flyer as a platform for a small HD video or stills camera.

 

Thanks in advance, Carl. 

[Plane Addict]

What do you want to know? Which one is more stable?

 

I am not sure about helicopters, but I know that quadcopters can be very stable. I have seen projects where people were using Wii Nunchuck and Wii Motion Plus boards for stabilizing quadcopters. On one of them, the pilot didn't touch the sticks and the quad pretty much stayed where it was.

 

I have seen video's of very stable quads and those are perfect for aerial photography and videography.

[Carl Klinkenborg]

I guess stability, ease of flying and low vibration are paramount.  A decent payload would be a bonus; just how big do these quad flyers come?  Mechanically, the simplicity is very appealing compared to a helicopter - I am really more interested in the video aspect than the modelling aspect.

 

Cheers, Carl. 

[Plane Addict]

You need to have a budget. As with most things, a higher budget will give you better options. You can get 'ready made' frames, you can make something yourself from readily available products.

 

I mentioned the project where people are using Wii parts to build a quadcopter. You can read about it here:  http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1246831

 

I am following that project. I will be building my frame with T-Rex 500 helicopters tail booms and motors that I bought from Hobbyking

 

You wrote that you are more interesting in the video aspect than the modeling aspect, but you must realize that the latter comes first. It is very important to get a stable, as much vibration free as possible, airframe. Your video will be useless if you can not fine-tune the quadcopter.

[Bryce Allcorn - BritFlight.co.uk]

The helicopter we (Hampshire Fire and Rescue) use is very stable, downloads video, stills and thermal imaging to us or our command units.  But budget is the big thing here, a £500 TREX wouldn't do what we need it to do, ours was ~ £15K plus cameras and modifications bringing it to about £25k.

 

It depends on what you are after, is it for fun or for work, is it for legal evidence or just filming?

 

Aerial obs platform

Edited By Bryce Allcorn - BritFlight.co.uk on 02/07/2010 09:36:39

[Plane Addict]

Don't want to offend you, but I always get the shivers when I read/hear those figures and then see other people do similar things with MUCH less money. I guess the thermal imaging makes it expensive...

 

Btw, what are the regulations for flying above populated areas in the UK? Are they different for you then for 'common' people?

 

I also would like to know how stable your platform is. Can the pilot fly it to a position, let go of the stick and the copter will stay where it is?

 

 

[Bryce Allcorn - BritFlight.co.uk]

Can't reply ref costs apart from to mention we have much greater accountability in every way (risk related and to achieve the desired objective) than say a filming company. 

 

Can't reply ref flying above populated areas except to say it is managed/assessed and approved by authorities above the fire service

 

Extremely stable and yes, you can let go of the stick and it will maintain position/altitude.

 

 

Edited By Bryce Allcorn - BritFlight.co.uk on 02/07/2010 12:27:58

[Carl Klinkenborg]

Thanks for the replies All.

 

The commercial end of things does look disproportionately expensive, but the suppliers have governmental and local authority budgets to dip into so just add another '0' to the price  £25000.00 for an electric heli??!!!  Even allowing for the bells and whistles, just think about that price for a minute...

 

I'm sure most subscribers on this forum are in it for fun and just a little YouTube glory; so am I, and why not? The point about overflying and privacy are completely valid and I would be very interested to learn of the legal aspects of this.

 

Cheers, Carl.