Hobie Cat Forums

For several years I've been playing around with taking aerial photos using a kite. I have had to go back to basics to design a system that was simple enough to launch off a TI. Initial results were ok. I just need to adjust the camera mount so that I can take scenery shots as well as action shots.







... launching the kite & camera.

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Rob,


2011 Hobie TI

Looks great! Did you use a picavet rig or just hanging the camera was stable enough?

I tried the same w/o a rig but it wasn't very stable on my case. Only a few frames of the video were salvaged.

I now designed a simple waterproof rig but haven't been able to test it out yet either due to low winds or bad weather.

Cheers,

-Pesan

Hi Pesan,

I do have a Pivavet rig, but it's just too complex to launch from the TI. So I am using this rig. It's reasonably stable, but I haven't tried video footage as yet. I have added a section of a yellow noodle for floatation just in case the rig ends up in the water!!





Regards,

Rob

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Rob,


2011 Hobie TI

Rob,

Thanks for the pics, and nice looking boat, BTW. (perhaps a biased opinion given mine is also a 2011 dune ).

This seems like a great idea without all the Picavet rig wires and with the buoyant cylinder add-on. Indeed I am worried that the Picavet rig will be too cumbersome to launch from the boat with all the wires. I will post when I have a chance to finally test it. I am interested in doing mostly video with background scenery, so stability will be important.

Cheers,

-Pesan

P.S. Can't wait for the 3D system for the GoPro Hero3 to come out in order to do some 3D footage from it.

Thanks for the photos Rob. They look excellent. I know ziltch about this kite camera stuff but after seeing results like this, I'll certainly be paying more attention.

P.S. I took the liberty of borrowing your kite and camera to give it a go.

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Don't take life too seriously................it ain't permanent.

Hey Slaughter, how did you edit out the black kite line? That's fantastic!

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Rob,


2011 Hobie TI

Small world! My pocket money comes from low altitude aerial photography, using a 40 foot mast or kites. Here is my normal rig

I will be building a much simpler one for my el cheapo waterproof camera, as the last time I used the above rig over water, the boat driver panicked and stopped, sending the rig 10 feet under water, drowning the camera.

I am glad I have a TI, as I suspect using kite cam with two on board woud be heaps easier

I even tried a quarter scale hot air balloon, but it was unsuitable if there was any wind

I use a Mac and iPhoto comes with it as standard. It’s pretty basic software with file handling and editing functions but it’s good enough to clean up shots and take out the dags.

There are limitations with the software however, I tried to remove bits of food from a photo of my Movember Mo, but there was more food than hair so I finished up with a food moustache.

So Rob and Tony, ( from someone who is now an expert on aerial photography ), wouldn’t a small blimp shaped kite be the ideal transportation for the camera behind an AI or TI ? Do they make them ?

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Don't take life too seriously................it ain't permanent.

Yes indeed you can get small blimps, but then you have the potenial issues of either storing it inflated, or paying for a helium refill each time. A kite is pretty efficient if you have the water room, as you can augment the prevailing wind speed. They can be very powerful... my 80" x 50" Rokkaku kite can sometmes generate so much lift that I need help getting it down again (although you could possibly lessen the forces by sailing downwind while retrieving it).

I suspect I will finish up bringing a Sutton Slowform 16 square foot "mattress" kite on a subsequent trip to Lake Macquarie, and we can experiment (the Rokkakus have carbon skeletons, so are more likely to get damaged during "sea trials"

I'd be keen on that Tony. Sounds like a plan.

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Don't take life too seriously................it ain't permanent.