Best Camera for Aerial Photography in Afghanistan?

[3bayjunkie]

If I were in your position, I would say screw the photos and go straight for the GoPro.

I was going to suggest the same thing. Only 300 bucks and now that they are in walmarts and other stores now. Easy to get now.

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[unpopular]

No amount of image stabilization will help in this situation, you can pretty much write that one off your requirements, and focus will probable be preset to infinity, I'd imagine, so AF is not likely necessary, in fact, if I knew that I was flying above infinity, I'd use manual focus, preset and forget - AF will only cause you problems.

I think you should focus more on size, weight, weather proofing and ergonomics.

 

[KiowaScout]

Haha, well I did get actually get a ContourHD and it seems to work pretty decently on my helmet. The ground guys like it because it's relatively stabile and useful video and they generally can view most of what we see thanks to the wide angle lens.

So video is generally covered, but I still need a new camera!

unpopular- I'm not the smartest on this stuff yet, so I understand that you're saying that AF may actually become a problem for me, but I'm not really following how? Your last sentence is right on the money for what I'm looking for though: "size, weight, weather proofing and ergonomics."

 

[unpopular]

On my 200mm lens, everything beyond about 200' is considered "infinity", so if I focus at beyond 200', then everything will be in sharp focus (kind of). So if you are flying "infinity and beyond" (hehee) with AF the camera will have to determine the focus and pull the lens into infinity focus before every exposure. Unlike the camera, however, you know that the subject on the ground is 500' below, and that you don't need to adjust focus.

If you are routinely flying below infinity, or plan on shooting with a very, very long lens (unlikely with your budget and space), then AF would become more of something useful.

Aerial-specific lenses are designed differently entirely, and are optimized for minimum focus in the hundreds or thousands of feet. Macro lenses are the opposite. With normal, non-macro, non-aerial lenses, focus range is tied to focal length, longer focal lengths tend to have more focus range, and less minimum focus. What kind of lens do you plan on using?

 

[unpopular]

BTW - i still think that 4/3 has a big advantage. The smaller format will permit more magnification.

 

[KiowaScout]

unpopular, you just gave me an "ahhhhh-haaaa!" moment; light bulb on above my head and everything, so thank you for that explanation.

So, basically a rule of thumb is 1mm = 1'? If so, then yes I will almost always be shooting at 'infinity' because I will nine times out of ten be well beyond a few hundred feet from the subject that I am shooting (unless I'm on the ground which I realize is a totally different animal and will be easier to find a lens for).

I do not plan on shooting with a 'very, very long lens' as you're correct about my budget and space limitations.

As to the question of what kind of lens I plan on using: I plan on using whatever y'all think is best for my situation honestly! Given your noob education, I would surmise that a longer focal length with more focus range (as in distance?) would be better for me...

I figure that if I buy the camera for around $1000 (or if I get lucky, less), that gives me about $500 or so for a good lens. I realize that this will not buy me an awesome lens, but I would like one that is just as rugged and waterproof as the camera and can take pictures of people, convoys, structures, everything from a few hundred feet to even 2 or more kilometers away in some cases. I realize that shots at a one or more kilometer will not be too sharp, but as sharp as I can possibly attain would be useful to both myself and some who will really be happy to have some pictures.

As I've been looking, I noticed that the K30 is a little bigger than the Olympus OMD EM5. I also cannot find any real reviews of the K30 I guess because it's so new. I do like the fact that the Pentax will take 4 AA batteries in a pinch though, which is pretty cool to me. I really wish that I could pick both of them up though before buying.

 

[unpopular]

I do not know if 1mm=1' is exactly accurate, but all lenses have a point that everything will be in focus, what this is will vary from lens to lens.

This lens, which I always like to pull up just because it's so friggin' awesome, has a focus scale in thousands of feet, yet the focal length is around 1200mm. So no, it depends on design.

As far as lens selection, what altitude do you normally fly at? How large is the smallest subject? What do you need to convey about the subject? More important than focus distance is magnification. Also, I am guessing, given the size of your aircraft, that this will be done in daylight, correct? If at night, that changes EVERYTHING.

Also, bear in mind that everything beyond infinity is going to be 'in focus', so having a long focus range isn't as important as where infinity "starts" as this will determine at what altitude you'll need to adjust focus.

 

[KiowaScout]

Lol, thanks for the link, However I'm too much of a pansy to heft a radioactive 200lb lens, but that is probably the most badass thing that I've seen in a long time!

We fly from 5' - 5000' just depending on situation. We do our best to not overfly things, especially if it's something I deem worthy of taking a picture of since it may be someone whose AK-47 may be an answer to my shutter clicks. In most cases though, I'll realistically be taking a picture of things that are anywhere from as close as 200' or so to as far as say 1500' away from where I am.

The smallest subject could be anything from the size of say a standard fuel can out in the open, to a group of men next to a few trucks and a medium size building. In both cases, I'd want as much detail of these hypothetical subjects as possible.

If it's night pictures that I need, then the aircraft will be better at taking those than I will ever be so I am referring to all of this in early morning to early evening light and mostly in-between.

I know that this is leading me down a path of needing pretty much a 'jack-of-all-trades' lens, huh? I will have to educate myself more on the 'magnification' aspect of all of this decision making process. The 4/3 size does seem very appealing though, I agree.

 

[unpopular]

LOL. Yeah. Let me done some math and get back to you.

I need to keep shampooing this carpet for a family reunion next week. I'll take a break try to make a recommendation.

Oh and yeah. That lens is SO cool. I'd seriously buy it if I had $3k and a truck to mount it onto.

 

[KiowaScout]

Here are a few examples of the type of stuff that I am interested in taking pictures of so y'all know what I'm babbling about.

None of these are of any tactical value or are sensitive in any way, but the distances and situations in which they were taken will no doubt happen to me in the future and they will be far more critical at that time.


In this case, I was probably 600-700' or more away. A little more detail would be helpful if I was trying to really use this picture for a purpose. At this point I was just playing around with my little point and shoot. This was probably cropped in photoshop from the original.


This was taken a little closer up and is about the level of detail or greater I'd like to achieve in this sort of setting as possible. I was again probably 600-700'+ away.


In this case some local militia were identified as being good guys, but if these had been bad guys, I would have wanted a lot more detail in the photograph to pass to the kind of people who could use it. I was probably closer to a kilometer away on this one and using a different camera.


I like taking pictures like this too that just show the colors, scale, and everything about the landscape of the country. I wonder what type of pictures I could have taken in these valleys with a better camera?



This is the type of situation that I'd like to have as much detail as possible. A traffic jam like this occurs often, but while I was again probably about 800'+ feet away (purely guessing) any detail that I could glean from a photo like this could be useful in a different situation.

 

[unpopular]

What was the actual focal length range on the P&S lens?

 

[KiowaScout]

Unfortunately I'm not sure which picture was taken with which camera. The bulk of these were taken with either the Sony DSC H20 which has these specs:

• Release date- 04/1/09
• Resolution- 10.1 megapixels
• Lens- 38 - 380mm F/3.5
• Lens System- 10 x x Zoom lens - 6.3 mm - 63 mm - F/3.5-4.4
• Optical sensor size- 1/2.3"
• Optical sensor type- Super HAD CCD
• Image stabilizer- Optical (Steady Shot)

Some may have been taken with another camera though that I cannot recall what model it was!
It was an Army purchased Sony, I think, with a fixed non-removable lens but a few steps up in all aspects. It wasn't a small camera by any means. I suck at this point of gathering information. I thought that I'd written the other camera model down, but have no idea at this point. That was in November 2009 to Nov of 2010.

 

[manaheim]

D700 + 70-200 + TC 1.7.

So a pretty damned big body and a GIANT lens? The guy is talking about space issues and you suggest he ram a cadillac in the trunk of a VW.

(and you're not the only one)

Folks, think outside the box a bit.

Lots of us recommend DSLRs all the time, but this sounds like a good case for a rugged smaller body or an all in one or something.

 

[manaheim]

btw, this is a fascinating thread.

 

[KiowaScout]

I appreciate all of the info that keeps coming my way too. I'm learning a lot and this is all really helping me narrow some stuff down!

I just realized after watching some reviews on that K30 Pentax that despite how awesome it and it's comparable older model the K5 are, it is not really a small camera, it looks to be about the size of most of the others that are a little too big for my requirements. For whatever reason I had thought that it was a 4/3 camera.

Is Olympus the only one with a good 4/3 weather sealed camera right now that would be a good compromise for all of my requirements? I'm looking around quite a bit and have hit a 'research stand-still' but will keep searching...