Aerial Photografy Equipment ???

[gustavo_semeraro]

Hello Hello !

 

I'm from Brazil and I'm starting with Aerial photography ... and I'm

trying to choose a good equipment ... but since I'm starting the

activity, I was not planning to spend lot of money ...

I'll be using an Ultralight to take shots and we will have to fly

about 1500 ft over cities ... (safe height ) ...

I've already done some shots using normal 55 mm lens but the results

were not so good ... I need to get closer in some situations and I

guess that I need a 300 mm ...

I'm looking for high quality and I'm planning to enlarge the

pictures ...

 

I've found two interesting equipments regarding price, but I don't

know if they can meet my expectations of quality ...

 

1- Minolta Maxxum 3 QD (Date) 35mm SLR Autofocus Camera Kit with Zoom

Wide Angle-Telephoto AF 35-80mm f/4.0-5.6 II Autofocus Lens

and Zoom Telephoto AF D 75-300mm f/4.5-5.6 Autofocus Lens

 

2- Pentax ZX-60 35mm SLR Autofocus Camera with Date Kit with Zoom

Wide Angle-Telephoto SMCP-FA 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 AL Autofocus Lens

and Zoom Telephoto SMCP-FA J 75-300mm f/4.5-5.8 AL Autofocus Lens

 

My doubts are:

 

Are these lens good for the purpose ? Can I get good quality aerial

shots with these lens ? will I get good pictures with enough quality

to enlarge to sizes about 60 cm X 90 cm ?

 

Thank you very much !

 

 

Gustavo Semeraro

[art_haykin]

If you are in an ultralite, I infer that you will be alone, so you you will want to simplify things as much as possible. A fast, manual focus 200mm 2.8 prime would make things look about 4 times closer than your 55mm, and a 300mm about 6 times closer. At 1500 feet, you'll be at infinity anyhow, and for big blow-ups, a fairly slow film is indicated. The make and model of the camera body is relatively unimportant, in my view.

[douglas_green1]

If you are doing Aerial photography, and want high quality from big enlargements, I would strongly recommend Medium Format gear, either 6x6, 6x7, or 6x9. Probably the least expensive high quality stuff that would meet your needs would be a used Koni-Omega 6x7 camera. As for lenses, they had a 58mm wide angle, a 90mm normal, and a 180mm tele. BTW, this stuff was standard issue U.S. Military aerial reconaissance gear for decades.

[peter_j_harvey]

I hate to be a wet blanket re this subject, but after flying over 24,000 hours for a Major U.S. Airline, I think this is a good way to commit suicide. Flying is a dangerous business for a neophyte and demands a lot of attention, I would say 100%. If something goes wrong,there is only one way to go. If you can't afford to do it properly, don't do it! DC 10 driver