What camera for pictures from a glider cockpit?

Shawn wrote:


Make sure what ever you get can accept a polarizing filter to get rid of
canopy reflections.


Or fly a 1-26 with a sports canopy, so you shoot through air, not
plexi! ;-P

I settled on the Canon G-6 last year. I wanted fast shutter speed, and
features like programmable infinity focus...I've had other cameras that
had efficient infra red auto focus mechanisms: they focused perfectly
on the INSIDE of the plexiglass!

Soon I'll make a "sock" to put around the darned marketing department
silver plastic body.

Overall, I like the camera a great deal. I think they're $400 on
Costco.com I opted to get a 1G Lexar Pro CF flash card (much faster
than other digital memory...at least when I bought it).

Another good thing to get is a memory to PC-Card adapter. It can make
downloading todays pix to your laptop much easier than getting SeeYou
to suck a trace from a VolksLogger.

Good Luck!

309 wrote:
Shawn wrote:


Make sure what ever you get can accept a polarizing filter to get rid of
canopy reflections.



Or fly a 1-26 with a sports canopy, so you shoot through air, not
plexi! ;-P

I settled on the Canon G-6 last year. I wanted fast shutter speed, and
features like programmable infinity focus...I've had other cameras that
had efficient infra red auto focus mechanisms: they focused perfectly
on the INSIDE of the plexiglass!

How well does the infrared remote control work, or haven't you tried it
out on a wing tip?

--
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Eric Greenwell
Washington State
USA

Eric Greenwell wrote:
309 wrote:
I've had other cameras that
had efficient infra red auto focus mechanisms: they focused perfectly
on the INSIDE of the plexiglass!

How well does the infrared remote control work, or haven't you tried it
out on a wing tip?

The remote works well on the ground...I haven't tried it in the air.
I'm told other folks have had reasonable success with tip mounted
cameras & remotes. There was an article in Soaring 5 or 6 years ago on
building a camera mount and remote, solenoid operated trigger; it was
mounted on a 1-36.

I was referrring to the focusing mechanism, nowadays it's usually an
infrared beam that the camera uses to measure distance. If you fail to
disable this "feature," the camera will detect the INSIDE of your
canopy, and focus on that, rather than the other glider 75 feet away
(effectively infinity).

By setting the focus on "infinity," (or sometimes referred to as
"landscape mode"), you tell the camera to look through the
(plexi)glass. Practice this by taking pictures through a window or
screen door. You'll notice the difference (not that I have a screen
door on my 1-26 Sports Canopy...).

A camera with programmable custom modes (like the Canon G6, which C1
and C2 modes that be programmed virtually any way you want), you can
set speed, aperture, focus, etc., in advance so you don't need to mess
with that while trying to remember how to fly. FWIW, I set the C1 mode
to wide angle, infinity focus (I forget the other settings), and C2 to
maximum zoom with infinity focus. This way, I can turn it on and it
quickly will be at the settings I need for a close up formation shot,
or a far off one.

A bunch of my air-to-air photograhpy is visible on the 1-26 Association
Photo Gallery
http://www.126association.org/images.htm
There are many pix there from other photoraphers, too.

Be careful when doing this...flying formation can get
dangerous...especially when one (or both) of you is looking through a
viewfinder...nevermind flying left handed. Talking to one another is
very wise.

-Pete
#309

309 wrote:


I was referrring to the focusing mechanism, nowadays it's usually an
infrared beam that the camera uses to measure distance. If you fail to
disable this "feature," the camera will detect the INSIDE of your
canopy, and focus on that, rather than the other glider 75 feet away
(effectively infinity).

You'll be pleased to know that most cameras now look at scene features,
rather than use infrared, so they no longer focus on transparent
objects. Big improvement!

By setting the focus on "infinity," (or sometimes referred to as
"landscape mode"), you tell the camera to look through the
(plexi)glass. Practice this by taking pictures through a window or
screen door. You'll notice the difference (not that I have a screen
door on my 1-26 Sports Canopy...).

For example, my 4 year old Minolta Dimage X has no trouble with canopies
and windows (haven't tried screen doors - not good for the image
either). It can still mis-focus if something nearby is in the focus
field, so being able to manually set the focus can occasionally be useful.


A camera with programmable custom modes (like the Canon G6, which C1
and C2 modes that be programmed virtually any way you want), you can
set speed, aperture, focus, etc., in advance so you don't need to mess
with that while trying to remember how to fly.

This feature was on several of the cameras I looked, including the Canon
S80 that seems the best match for my criteria (so far). Sounds useful.

snip

Be careful when doing this...flying formation can get
dangerous...especially when one (or both) of you is looking through a
viewfinder

This is why I want a large LCD monitor, visible in sunlight, that I can
use instead of a viewfinder. Don't know how well it will work, but I
really hope it does.

...nevermind flying left handed.

No problem here - I'm left-handed and fly almost as well with it.

Talking to one another is
very wise.

That's what prompted my mostly unsuccessful posting about a wireless,
ear mounted microphone. I'll probably go back to my sunglasses mounted
Plantronics mike, wired though it is, until I come up with something better.

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Eric Greenwell
Washington State
USA

I've been using a Minolta Z1. It is a decent camera,
but not for airwork. It is a tiny bit bulky, it does
have a large zoom factor, and it does have a view finder.
I've yet to see an LCD screen that I can see in bright
sunlight; this is where I require a viewfinder. I
have the digital zoom turned off, but the view through
the viewfinder is terribly grainy. I didn't discover
this until I flew with it long after I bought it.
Be sure you have a good optical viewfinder for airwork.


At 19:36 07 December 2005, Shawn wrote:
Eric Greenwell wrote:

There are plenty of cameras that take great pictures,
and I have used a
large, heavy camera in the glider, but I'm not willing
to do it anymore.
Camera technology has improved so much, and some of
the cameras I've
looked at are so close to being acceptable, I remain
optimistic. The
difficult feature for the smaller cameras seems to
be the minimum focal
length (wide angle). Big zooms must be easier to achieve.

Forgot to mention this site:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs.asp

It has tons of info about many new digital cameras.

Shawn

Hi Eric:

No longer satisfied with the Nikon F duct taped to the wings?

Here is an alternate approach to think about. Buy one or more miniature
television cameras. These things can be tiny and inexpensive (some are no
more than the size of a pencil eraser). Then mount one in the front of the
sailplane and run a cable back to your palm computer and use the palm
computer to record photos. You could have a camera in each wingtip and even
one in the tail. Total weight just a few ounces. Switch cameras with a
switch in the cockpit.

Regarding the polarizing filter, it needs to be rotated for maximum
effectiveness, depending upon the angle of the sun. If the filter is fixed,
you may have to rotate the sailplane for maximum effect. Polarizing
aerobatics, so to speak.

Colin

COLIN LAMB wrote:

Hi Eric:

No longer satisfied with the Nikon F duct taped to the wings?

Here is an alternate approach to think about. Buy one or more miniature
television cameras. These things can be tiny and inexpensive (some are no
more than the size of a pencil eraser). Then mount one in the front of the
sailplane and run a cable back to your palm computer and use the palm
computer to record photos. You could have a camera in each wingtip and even
one in the tail. Total weight just a few ounces. Switch cameras with a
switch in the cockpit.

Poor image quality, unfortunately.

Regarding the polarizing filter, it needs to be rotated for maximum
effectiveness, depending upon the angle of the sun. If the filter is fixed,
you may have to rotate the sailplane for maximum effect. Polarizing
aerobatics, so to speak.

I'll probably just hold it in my hand to try at first, then try it on
the camera. Possibly one orientation might adequate, since the
reflections on the canopy always come from the same place (the
instruments), so sun position might not matter.

--
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Eric Greenwell
Washington State
USA

Eric Greenwell wrote:

I'd like to replace my current digital camera with one better suited to
pictures from my glider, but I'm having difficulty finding one with the
features I want.

You'll have to check many different tipes on dpreview.com
It will take a long time...

I suggest you check:
Nikon 8400, 8megapix, zoom 24-85mm
Canon S80, 8MP, zoom 28-100mm
Canon S70, 7MP " " "
Canon S60, 6MP " " "
Minolta A200, 8MP, zoom 28-200

and probably many others.
The latest prosumer is the gorgeous Sony dsc-R1 (10MP, zoom 24-120),
buti it won't pass through your canopy window for hand-held shots from
outside.

Aldo Cernezzi

2cernauta2 wrote:
Eric Greenwell wrote:


I'd like to replace my current digital camera with one better suited to
pictures from my glider, but I'm having difficulty finding one with the
features I want.


You'll have to check many different tipes on dpreview.com
It will take a long time...

I suggest you check:
Nikon 8400, 8megapix, zoom 24-85mm
Canon S80, 8MP, zoom 28-100mm
Canon S70, 7MP " " "
Canon S60, 6MP " " "
Minolta A200, 8MP, zoom 28-200

and probably many others.
The latest prosumer is the gorgeous Sony dsc-R1 (10MP, zoom 24-120),
buti it won't pass through your canopy window for hand-held shots from
outside.

I've just been using dpreview.com, and it's a great site. It came up
with the Canon S80, Fujifilm E510, and some way too expensive Leica,
Ricoh, and Panasonic models. The S80 appears to do everything I want,
and reasonably priced at ~$470, except I can't be sure the LCD is bright
enough in sunlight. Probably have to look at one somewhere.

The A200 and 8400 are better functionally, but quite a bit heavier and
bigger. The prices are more, also, but not bad at about $150 more than
the S80. I'll keep them on the list, just in case the compact camera
idea doesn't work out.

--
Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly

Eric Greenwell
Washington State
USA

2cernauta2 writes
Nikon 8400, 8megapix, zoom 24-85mm

I got one of these. Lovely camera, doesn't really fall into the small
and compact category though. Sort of a stepping stone hybrid between
compact and SLR. But it does hang on its strap quite nicely around your
neck - just make sure it's secured against bouncing off your forehead in
the event of a cable break if you launch on the winch!

A link to some pictures taken with it using a polarising filter a couple
of weekends ago over the Cotswolds here in the UK (not soaring - I was
ballast in a motor-falke :-)

http://j.domaindlx.com/scapegoatsanon/

--
Bill Gribble
http://www.harlequin.uk.net
http://www.scapegoatsanon.demon.co.uk
"Consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds" - Emerson