Steeluloid
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- Mar 22, 2013
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Question: How best to use a rocket for low cost , reliable , stable and steady aerial photography?
My main hobby is producing hand drawn maps. Recently I've looked into other ways to obtain aerial photography which all have their own unique difficulties.
I've decided that the best camera is the lightest model which has any sort of decent resolution, so I'm opting for a plain and simple 808 keychain HD recorder.
So. Imagine that I want to produce a map of a castle. Or a priory. (If you don't have something like that in your neighbourhood, then maybe a mid sized school.) I don't have my own aeroplane, so it's likely that I'd use Google maps or Bing. The trouble with that is - I don't own the copyright. And although I could claim "fair use" of the images (because I'm producing art work BASED on the images, rather than selling the images in their original form) I still expect one day to receive a letter from some massive corporation telling me they would like my house to cover legal fees.
Here are my thoughts so far -
Weather Balloons and a very long string: Nice and cheap, but there is a global shortage of helium, and gas companies will not take orders from new customers at the moment. (at least the ones I've tried!)
Party balloon packs: Probably cheaper. But I'm trying to look professional here.
Chartering a flight: Good idea, but I'd have to add a considerable fee onto my maps!
Parrot AR Drone 2.0 : Easy to fly, except the camera is front facing. It could carry an 808, but they don't get high enough.
Other RC helicopter: The best solution by a long way - but the outlay is huge and I don't have the first clue how to fly RC. It would take months before I was ready to use it, I think.
Strap an 808 camera to a kite: Probably a good idea but again - I doubt I could get enough height for a whole campus.
Strap on an 808 camera to the outside of a model rocket - Now this idea I like - except that the cameras don't seem terribly stable. And in many cases I've seen on Youtube the camera is facing every direction other than the launch point.
What I REALLY want to do is find a way to get the camera INSIDE the body of the rocket, so that after final separation, it will be suspended from a parachute. This will ensure its field of view is not obstructed; but, I imagine it will spend ages twirling round before it eventually settles into a point where it is looking at the ground.
I've launched one rocket so far - (Snapshot with a built in 110 camera) but that was years ago.
So the question again is - How best to use a rocket for low cost , reliable , stable and steady aerial photography?
Over to you, ladies and gents....
My main hobby is producing hand drawn maps. Recently I've looked into other ways to obtain aerial photography which all have their own unique difficulties.
I've decided that the best camera is the lightest model which has any sort of decent resolution, so I'm opting for a plain and simple 808 keychain HD recorder.
So. Imagine that I want to produce a map of a castle. Or a priory. (If you don't have something like that in your neighbourhood, then maybe a mid sized school.) I don't have my own aeroplane, so it's likely that I'd use Google maps or Bing. The trouble with that is - I don't own the copyright. And although I could claim "fair use" of the images (because I'm producing art work BASED on the images, rather than selling the images in their original form) I still expect one day to receive a letter from some massive corporation telling me they would like my house to cover legal fees.
Here are my thoughts so far -
Weather Balloons and a very long string: Nice and cheap, but there is a global shortage of helium, and gas companies will not take orders from new customers at the moment. (at least the ones I've tried!)
Party balloon packs: Probably cheaper. But I'm trying to look professional here.
Chartering a flight: Good idea, but I'd have to add a considerable fee onto my maps!
Parrot AR Drone 2.0 : Easy to fly, except the camera is front facing. It could carry an 808, but they don't get high enough.
Other RC helicopter: The best solution by a long way - but the outlay is huge and I don't have the first clue how to fly RC. It would take months before I was ready to use it, I think.
Strap an 808 camera to a kite: Probably a good idea but again - I doubt I could get enough height for a whole campus.
Strap on an 808 camera to the outside of a model rocket - Now this idea I like - except that the cameras don't seem terribly stable. And in many cases I've seen on Youtube the camera is facing every direction other than the launch point.
What I REALLY want to do is find a way to get the camera INSIDE the body of the rocket, so that after final separation, it will be suspended from a parachute. This will ensure its field of view is not obstructed; but, I imagine it will spend ages twirling round before it eventually settles into a point where it is looking at the ground.
I've launched one rocket so far - (Snapshot with a built in 110 camera) but that was years ago.
So the question again is - How best to use a rocket for low cost , reliable , stable and steady aerial photography?
Over to you, ladies and gents....