Large format aerial photography...anyone?

[John Kasaian]

You can easily adapt a handheld 4x5 Speed or Crown Graphic for aerials, just make a shield to protect the bellows from buffeting and attach via the tripod hole. The Late Peter Gowland's cameras are excellent for the job if you can find one (use plastic film holders with textured surfaces to "leak" air. It you change elevation with the film holder in place the camera acts like a giant demand valve and you can bust finger nails trying to change holders. If you can live with a wide angle lens any of those cheap "hobo" type cameras should work as well.

[Sevo]

I guess I was just curious if anyone has actually tried to use a bellows camera for aerials

I knew one guy hereabouts who extended his aerial business to architectural 8x10 birds eye views - he used a Linhof Kardan with the bellows replaced by box-shaped sheet metal spacers set for infinity.

If you want movements, you might combine a rigid front spacer with a intermediate standard and a short WA bellows at the rear. Whatever you do, you positively want to avoid having a long harmonica bellows exposed to the wind.

[Daniel Stone]

Edward Burtynsky did some work on multiple projects shooting 4x5 from a helicopter. I believe he was using a Master Technika 4x5. When you're up in the air, especially with a 400 speed film, you can just use the hyperfocal distance to gauge focus.

his normal gallery print size IIRC is 30x40 or 40x50, so it has to be sharp to go that big.

just my $.02

-Dan

Noah, thanks again for the KMV btw, I'm really enjoying the heck out of it!

[Bob Salomon]

Linhof Aero Technika 45 or Aero Technika 45 EL

[engl]

Go take a camera with a long lens, try to hand held it and shoot with it and you will find what it does with sharpness...

The problem when you are shooting hand held is not movement but rotation. With a long lens, even just a tiny fraction of a degree of rotation will blur the image.

Moving the camera one millimeter, when shooting something a mile away, will have no effect what so ever on the image. There is no rotation when shooting inside a vibrating aircraft.

[GPS]

The problem when you are shooting hand held is not movement but rotation. With a long lens, even just a tiny fraction of a degree of rotation will blur the image.

Moving the camera one millimeter, when shooting something a mile away, will have no effect what so ever on the image. There is no rotation when shooting inside a vibrating aircraft.

When it comes to the movements (and rotation is one of them) there is no difference if you hand held the camera on earth or in a vibrating airplane - except that in the airplane you vibrate with it too...

[Sevo]

Vibration is the least of your concerns unless you are shooting from a photo dedicated aircraft with camera dome - in the usual improvised open doors situation there will be wind twice the strength of a hurricane dragging on the camera...

[GPS]

Vibration is the least of your concerns unless you are shooting from a photo dedicated aircraft with camera dome - in the usual improvised open doors situation there will be wind twice the strength of a hurricane dragging on the camera...

Of course. And the wind will try to move not just the camera but the hands that hold it too. Those are the vibrations to count with. One can forget the millimetres that "don't have any effects on the image"...

[Jim Michael]

The assumptions of long lens and wind don't necessarily hold. Slightly wide is often most useful at low elevations. Don't hold a camera outside the airframe if you can help it. And don't support your camera holding arm(s) with the airframe. If you do hold the camera outside the airframe have the good sense to tether it with some nylon webbing. It's unlikely to hit the tail rotor, but you never know.

[Noah A]

I'm very familiar with aerial work in general. I worked at a newspaper and would often shoot aerials with 35mm slrs on general assignments and breaking news. Sometimes with a 400/2.8 lens handheld. Usually in less than optimal light.

The explanation of the problem with the standards vibrating in relation to each other makes sense to me, and that seems to be where the problem would lie.

I guess I could rig up a rigid bellows to replace the normal bellows for aerial use, but I guess the most elegant solution would be a handheld 4x5 with a 120mm lens, which I think would be about perfect. It might be fun for other uses too.

I was under the impression that fotoman was out of business. Am I mistaken?