It’s a bird … a plane … a dragonfly …
It’s Heli-Go, the photographer disguised as a helicopter. Remote controlled, it was taking pictures from above the new Domicile condo site at the corner of Holland and West Wellington. Inside the operators van was a huge flatscreen TV so the operator could see what pictures he was getting, real time.
The operator with the plastic nose cone taken off. The camera is suspended below the skids, and could be rotated and angled via remote control. When flying, the legs and foam base of the copter retract up and horizontal to the ‘copter, to clear the way for the camera angles. It was equiped with a digital still camera today, sending its wireless camera images to the ground control TV, but there are also movie cameras that he can attach, for filming aerial movie scenes and promo videos.
That's pretty cool. What kind of stabilization system is in place for the camera and/or to keep the helicopter in place so it doesn't drift while you're picking a shot.
I was having coffee with someone at Viva Loca this afternoon and she was staring over my shoulder, and then got me to turn around. Figured it was something like that. VERY cool. And yes, that is a serious boy toy.
I have no idea how it stabilizes. Their web site http://www.heligo.com. While hovering in the air, it did continually drift up/down/side/side. I did notice the front plastic copter cover (removed in my closer up) had a green frog figure on it, which reminded me of the smaller remote control helicopters sold at the Home Show this spring at Lansdowne Parking Lot, which also had the same frog if my memory is right. These toy copters – about 18" long – were a hundred and something dollars and could take your movie camera up but not with remote camera control.
WANT!