which copter for primarily photography

[MichaelS2]

Good Morning,

I would like to use a copter for photography mainly.

And I would like to use therfore a camera with a sufficiently large sensor, eg Canon EOS 5 DIII or at least with an APS-C sensor (eg Fuji X100 or X-T1).

Which copter would you recommend?

The new Inspire 1 again has just a mini sensor.

Would you really nead a Gimbal for photography only?

best regards,

Michael

 

[noiseboy72]

You will need a heavy lift copter - probably and octo for a 5D. Expect to pay about £10K for a suitable platform. You could just about use an F550, but flight times will be very short and stability quite poor. Go down to a GH4 or other more compact camera and a 550 becomes a possibility.

The gimbal will be another few grand, but it is up to you if you want one. You will need a cradle with tilt if nothing else though. Buy from a specialist seller, as they will be able to provide guidance on the correct model and also training on setting it up and safe operation.

 

[derrickduff]

Would a gimbal be necessary for only photography? I think you would only need something to control the pitch of the camera and some vibration dampening.

Here's a video of a phantom flying a dslr:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhaocIQounQ

Not a great camera or lens but shows what just a quad can lift without a gimbal. Without the weight of a gimbal a S900 would be more than enough for a 5D or similar weight camera.

 

[noiseboy72]

It depends!
Fly in a heavy cross wind and use GPS to stabilise your position and you will find that your pictures will be crooked, as the bird will tilt to correct for the wind!

I think I would want a 2D gimbal for stills, as 3D really is overkill.

An S900 with a GH4 gimbal, batteries and good R/C is not far shy of £3500, so this is probably a good starting point. Add another £1500 to get you up to a 5D though. Don't forget FPV, and you will probably want a Lightbridge on this sort of rig, so you can see your shots in HD.

 

[MonsieurAnon]

I use a Samsung NX-1100 on my Phantom 2 for stills. I do photogrammetry, and 3D printed the mount. It requires a little bit of tweaking in the DJI software to keep the Quad stable, but it does the job.