Cameras - What's your poision

[flango]

Amazing photography what an artist you are.

 

[boxbrownie]

Great collection. What's the tiny lens for? Or is that a big watch?

No, not a big watch quite a small lens instead, I used them for engineering investigations during vehicle research on items from suspension articulation to water ingress into intake components or snow compaction within engine bays, electrical component splash vulnerability.......almost anything really that could not be correlated by instrumentation and needed visual observation, sometimes there is nothing better than the human eye/brain for evaluation.

Started using these back in the early 80's when they were mostly developed exclusively for the military and the other places

It was always great fun finding an answer to a problem no one else had been able to

 

[BTB 500]

That looks like a Chris Foss Wot4.

It does a bit, but it was actually a 100" Algebra sailplane converted with a .40 up front and a taildragger undercarriage. The Lomo had a low-ish minimum shutter speed (1/250 IIRC), so I took pictures on the glide to avoid vibration. Got some very good results with it.

 

[BTB 500]

I love your RC photos, just a hobby or in the business?

I've done a few paid jobs in the past but just a hobby really. I've always been interested in photography and flying models so I tend to have all the stuff anyway! You need a CAA licence and special insurance now to do any kind of paid work so you'd need to do a fair bit per year to make it worthwhile. Might consider it if I ever took early retirement.

In the last few years I've done a couple of magazine covers and a book cover on an expenses-only basis (which is legal) for friends/contacts.

 

[BTB 500]

My current 'flying tripods'

For stills:




For video:

 

[BIRMA]

I've just bought a Sony alpha 6000 very compact compared to cameras from the past, works nicely too.

 

[Bryan Allman]

Cameras and lenses have always been regarded as tools for me - so get used until they drop or become outmoded by something that gives me an advantage. I'm a long term Canon man after the Rollies and Blads - mainly because of weather proofing and range of lenses. Since the early 70's I have shot mainly fashion supplemented by vintage motor sports and aviation. In the lighter moments I shoot a lot of models portfolios and personal stuff plus a fair amount of theatre work and headshots of actors.

These days it's a couple of 1D-X and a 1DMkIV that fill my bag along with 50 & 85MM primes, 24-70, 28-300, 100-400 zooms and a quick email to Lensesforhire for anything else I need

Lighting these days is usually Bowens (they are rugged and travel well) though I still work on the maxim of 2 lights is 1 light too many

 

[Deleted96908]

My current 'flying tripods'

For stills:




For video:

Reminds me of the Flying Bedstead. As difficult to fly?

I like the latest fly by wire, self correcting systems and what I'd call virtual tethers.

Did you see Philip Bloom's Ghost Town?

[YOUTUBE HD]jbjkc3WuTAU[/YOUTUBE HD]

 

[BTB 500]

Reminds me of the Flying Bedstead. As difficult to fly?

I like the latest fly by wire, self correcting systems and what I'd call virtual tethers.

Did you see Philip Bloom's Ghost Town?

Mine do use commercial flight control systems, so are pretty easy to fly (self-levelling and with GPS etc.).

The new DJI Phantom 3 (used to shoot that video) is unbeatable for video really. As a long-term r/c modeller I enjoy building and tinkering, but the P3 now delivers great quality results straight out of the box for an incredibly competitive price. There would be little point in trying to come up with a DIY solution.

I'm more interested in stills which is more of a niche area, although the DJI ready-to-fly quads do take pretty decent stills too. And of course the vast majority of people don't need really good quality pictures ... they only end up resized and compressed for posting on the web anyway

But coming vaguely back on-topic, with the Ricoh GR I have a video downlink from the camera so I can compose the shots I want on a monitor on the ground. Then I fire off half a dozen frames via the radio (I have a function that takes a shot every 1.5 secs while the transmitter switch is down). With previous setups I used to shoot hundreds of frames on a flight to guarantee getting a good one, but this gives such good results that it's really no longer necessary

A big improvement from the 1980s where I would shoot a couple of 36 exp films with the OM-1 and not know for sure what I'd got till they were processed!





I used to shoot a bit of 8mm cine too