Notes on Kite Aerial Photography: Equipment
My first three Kite Aerial Photography rigs
(27K jpg, November 1996).
INTRODUCTION
At the end of the day, after the rest of the family has gone to bed, I often retire to the basement and do what son Thomas describes as tinker. My basement shop is where I build my KAP Rigs and, truth be known, it is as much fun to build the devices as it is to use them. This is my favorite time of the day, quiet except for jazz on the radio, not a telephone ring to be heard. The pages subordinate to this page describe my various camera cradles and suspensions. In general, they have been easy enough to build. Take a look and give it a try.
Son Charlie in the Sanctum Sanctorum. I retire
in the late evenings to this basement shop and work on this and
that including my KAP rigs. Other than a benchtop drill press and
a Dremel rotary tool, I use hand tools for the work. (49K jpg,
November 1996).
The following pages provide some
detail on the kite aerial photography rigs that I've built and
flown. Each of the presented solutions has worked well for me.
I'd be interested to hear of your experience if you build one
too.
KAP Rig #1 - Flying weight 1 lb.,4 oz.
My first rig was originally designed around a Minolta Freedom
Vista point-and-shoot camera. I closely followed a design
published by Brooks Leffler in the first issue of the
Aerial Eye. After six
rolls I adapted KAP Rig #1 to carry a Yashica T4 point-and-shoot
camera and went on to take around 100 rolls of film with that
setup. The rig was retired in September 1996 after I completed
KAP Rig #3 to replace it.
KAP Rig #2 - Flying weight 2 lb.,10 oz. to 3 lb., 0
oz. depending on lens.
Based on a Canon Rebel X this is my first single-lens reflex rig,
built to take KAP images with wide angle lenses. It is my first
rig with in-flight rotation of the camera from horizontal format
to vertical format (after Wolfgang Bieck). Its maiden flight was
September 1996 and I am having a blast with it.
Addendum in 2002: This rig has become my go to
choice for most KAP. It has been remarkably dependable, shrugging off its share
of abuse, and served for over 300 aerial rolls of film so far. As I think back I
can remember replacing one servo in Hawaii (due to a stripped gear), rebuilding
the rig twice on the Ivanpah Dry Lake Bed (after hard falls to the playa floor),
and tightening up the occasional screw. Other than these small accommodations it
has been virtually faultless in performance.
KAP Rig #3 - Flying weight 1 lb.,3 oz.
This rig is the replacement for KAP Rig #1 after it was retired
with distinction. Basically, I had so much fun building KAP Rig
#2 that I kept working until this one was finished too. It
carries the updated Yashica T4 Super point-and-shoot and I was
able to add in flight horizontal/vertical format rotation without
adding weight (in comparison to KAP Rig #1.)
My 2002 addendum on Rig #3 notes that it is
seldom used. This is in large part due to ease of use with Rig #2 carrying the
Canon Rebel. The Rebel rig has performed well and now that I carry a range of
kites it is an easier argument to go one size up in kite than one step down in
cradle weight. Pity as it is a nice little rig.
KAP Rig #4 - Flying weight 1 lb.,9 oz.
My latest KAP was built in March 2002. This setup is built around the venerable
Canon S100 Digital Elph. I bought the Elph in Summer 2000 and carried it through
Europe that year and quite a few places since -- the odometer was reading over
6,000 images after one year of use. In the summer of 2001 I purchased a Canon G1
with 1 Gb IBM Microdrive and that became my daily use digital camera. The little
Elph has languished for a while and I decided to send it aloft. Spring Break
2002 provided a fine opportunity to chill out and build the rig. I will let you
know more as I gain experience with my first flying CCD. In the meantime you can
take a look at what the Elph is flying over by checking out the
queue page.
I am often asked "how many cameras have you
lost?" The answer is one, sort of. Here is a
harrowing tale of misadventures with KAP Rig #4.
My Picavet Suspension - Flying weight 2.75 oz.
Contemporary KAP systems typically use one of two suspension
types: 1) a rigid pendulum suspension or 2) the string- and
pulley-based Picavet suspension. I only have experience with the
latter. This page describes the two versions that I've used.
[ Home Page | Background | Equipment | Gallery | Maps | Discussion | Others | Search | What's New ]
Comments to author: crisp@socrates.berkeley.edu . All content,
graphics and
images contained throughout are Copyright (C) 1995 - 2005 by Charles C. Benton
and are protected by United States and International copyright laws.
No text, graphic or image may be used whole or in part, individually,
or as part of a derivative work without express written permission.
All rights reserved. Revised: Saturday, June 26, 2010
URL: http://www.ced.berkeley.edu/~cris/kap/equip/rigtoc.html
-->