Hawaii Helicopter Photography: Having dispensed my opinions in several forumns since joining recently, now its my turn to ask for advice. I have a date with an open-door Huey in Hawaii...

crazydaddio Loc: Toronto Ontario Canada

Having dispensed my opinions in several forumns since joining recently, now its my turn to ask for advice. I have a date with an open-door Huey in Hawaii next month and debating on which lens to mount. Wide-angle or 150-600?
...any tips on shooting would be helpful as well. (Anyone with actual experience would be MOST helpful :-)

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

crazydaddio wrote:

Having dispensed my opinions in several forumns since joining recently, now its my turn to ask for advice. I have a date with an open-door Huey in Hawaii next month and debating on which lens to mount. Wide-angle or 150-600?
...any tips on shooting would be helpful as well. (Anyone with actual experience would be MOST helpful :-)

Forget the long tele. With the movement and vibration, holding a long lens still enough would be a challenge. If I were taking that ride, I'd probably bring my 28-300mm. A 50mm would probably be good - no concerns about zooming, and you can always crop later, if necessary.

When I took a non-open-door helo ride there years ago, we had four passengers, and there were two VCRs recording the event, so each couple got a tape of the ride. I don't know about your ride, but if they record, it's probably on DVD.

Jay Pat Loc: Round Rock, Texas, USA

Wide angle!
You are going to see some huge, awesome and grand views.
Your wide angle will only capture part of that view.
And, send me a postcard!!!
Pat

Silverman Loc: Michigan

A friend of mine had that "tourist helicopter ride" in Hawaii, they got the DVD version and showed all of us, it was fantastic, well worth the money, and they just sat back and enjoyed the ride and the view.

nimbushopper Loc: Tampa, FL

I have a lot of experience doing aerial photography and I think your 24-70 lens is the best option!

Fstop12 Loc: Kentucky

Are you going to the Big Island? If so will you be viewing the Lava flow?

Stevewayne23 Loc: Sacramento, CA

I just went up on a half-hour open-window helicopter ride over the Sacramento area. I didn't bring up my Tamron 150-600, but I would recommend against it as my Canon 70-200 was buffeted around when I stuck it out the window, so I found myself using the 24-70 2.8 almost exclusively.
http://www.martaranophotos.com/Public-Galleries/SacramentoBayDelta-Helicopter-Tour/

crazydaddio Loc: Toronto Ontario Canada

Stevewayne23 wrote:

I just went up on a half-hour open-window helicopter ride over the Sacramento area. I didn't bring up my Tamron 150-600, but I would recommend against it as my Canon 70-200 was buffeted around when I stuck it out the window, so I found myself using the 24-70 2.8 almost exclusively.
http://www.martaranophotos.com/Public-Galleries/SacramentoBayDelta-Helicopter-Tour/

crazydaddio Loc: Toronto Ontario Canada

Fstop12 wrote:

Are you going to the Big Island? If so will you be viewing the Lava flow?

Yes

dkguill Loc: Elkhart, IN

crazydaddio wrote:

Having dispensed my opinions in several forumns since joining recently, now its my turn to ask for advice. I have a date with an open-door Huey in Hawaii next month and debating on which lens to mount. Wide-angle or 150-600?
...any tips on shooting would be helpful as well. (Anyone with actual experience would be MOST helpful :-)

If you have a steadycam it may help a normal lens. I'd forget the long lens for sure.

Bear2 Loc: Southeast,, MI

crazydaddio wrote:

Having dispensed my opinions in several forumns since joining recently, now its my turn to ask for advice. I have a date with an open-door Huey in Hawaii next month and debating on which lens to mount. Wide-angle or 150-600?
...any tips on shooting would be helpful as well. (Anyone with actual experience would be MOST helpful :-)

I did it in a new Robinson 44 in Kauai with my D7000 and an 18-200 VR ll, and that is all I took for the doors off adventure. You will not be able to change lenses after lift off. Most of my images were shot between 35 & 135. If you go too wide you will have feet and runners in your pictures.
Good shooting, and please post some.

Duane

Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

crazydaddio wrote:

Having dispensed my opinions in several forumns since joining recently, now its my turn to ask for advice. I have a date with an open-door Huey in Hawaii next month and debating on which lens to mount. Wide-angle or 150-600?
...any tips on shooting would be helpful as well. (Anyone with actual experience would be MOST helpful :-)

If the helicopter you are going up in is actually a "Huey," that is, a Bell 204 or 212, you might as well leave the long lens on the ground. The rotor system on a Huey creates some pronounced vertical movements unless the mechanics have VERRRY careful balanced the blades. You would have a very difficult time using a long lens. If you need some zoom ability, something along the lines of 18-140 (Nikon) or 18-135 (Canon) etc, would give good results. So how do I know this about the Huey? Hundreds of hours flying one.

Have fun and post some of your pics when the trip is over.

JonClayton Loc: Central Florida

I would recommend the 28 - 300 also. I did the flight last year and the pilot was very adept at getting over the points of interest. The shots were in the 35mm to 250mm range depending on how close you wanted to get with little cropping needed. I recommend either the early morning or late afternoon flight to get good renditions of the lava.

10MPlayer Loc: California

Leave the camera in your car and enjoy a once in a lifetime experience. You will only be up there for 15-30 minutes most likely. Do you really want to be looking through a viewfinder during the whole experience. Besides, if you're going to overfly the volcano you'll be passing thru the noxious gasses it emits which is kind of like trying to shoot through fog.

If you insist, take a wide angle lens. As mentioned earlier, helos are noisy and they vibrate like crazy and the odds of getting an acceptable long lens shot are small. I've been there done that and I did take the camera along and didn't get much anything of quality. Mostly dull gray foggy shots of black volcanic lava. Enjoy the fleeting moments you will paying a high price for and record them in your memory. Much more rewarding.

Bear2 Loc: Southeast,, MI

10MPlayer wrote:

Leave the camera in your car and enjoy a once in a... (show quote)

Forget the wide angle, anything under 35 mm will include the rotor, frame, landing frame and your feet, knee etc.

Duane