R44 News High Definition camera

mickjoebill · 5th Aug 2012, 10:16

Ive had a bit of experience with the standard definition camera version of the R44 news helicopter, which is pretty reliable.

The High Definition camera version has been around for a few years, is the HD gimbal a trouble free piece of kit?

Mickjoebill

JimBall · 5th Aug 2012, 11:22

The HDL-20 was a single chip camera which was fine for most HD work. But the F30/31 now offered is substantially better at 3-chip, 2.3mps. Really lovely camera from Ikegami. Very useful digital zoom as well as the optical doubler on the Canon lens. Using the digital 2x with the optical 2x gives an acceptable 88x.
Gimbal system similar to SD - but different weights.
Been using the F30 for 2 years fault-free and now have 3 V12s with them fitted. We have the EASA mods for converting the SD V12s.

farmpilot · 5th Aug 2012, 14:23

How similar to the V14 are they?

JimBall · 5th Aug 2012, 16:06

Half the weight and obviously smaller. I've used both and prefer the V12 for reaction time, stability and reliability. The Ikegami F30 camera has better performance than the Sony normally seen in the V14 - it should do because it's newer.
Horses for courses - the V14 now comes with an F30 option. And some will say that they prefer 4:4:4 recording from a Sony.
Legally mounting a V12 on anything other than an R44 ENG has been a problem - but we've resolved that.
The lower capital cost of the V12 means lower hire rates. But it's a rare creature and Cineflex no longer make it. In fact, Cineflex support has got a lot worse for both V14 and V12 since General Dynamics/Axssys bought them. They seem to be placing all their faith in the Elite.
But then along comes the independent Shotover. Possible game changer.

farmpilot · 5th Aug 2012, 19:36

And a few other players who also used to work at Axsys/GD. The Elite may well have an Alexa in it but it still has all the same problems the V14 has. I'm not going to spend the money there.

Thanks for the info re the V12.

RVDT · 6th Aug 2012, 08:49

Quote:

But then along comes the independent Shotover.

Might have been there before -

Quote:

John Coyle - Managing Director
John Coyle is a qualified Mechanical Engineer with expertise in the design of high performance servo control systems and has a long history of gimbal design. In 1998 John founded Cineflex LLC, a company designing and producing successful 5-axis stabilized camera systems. Originally from California John and his family moved to New Zealand in 2008 to seek a new lifestyle for his family and to develop the next state-of-the-art stabilized camera system.

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