Hasselblad 500ELX + Aerial Shoot = Love!

PKM-25 · Jan 20, 2014

I finally got to take my Hasselblad 500ELX for a high altitude spin this morning on a Kenyon KS-6 gyro, shot at 14-16,000 feet, Tmax-400. My wife helped me keep track of A12 backs, I brought 5 and used them all, three re-loads plus a couple rolls of 35mm in my F100 for super long shots.

I used a pair of "Hassel-Converter" 9V battery packs and it simply rocked! I was going through a roll of film per pass on targets that used to net me at most 3 shots hand wound on my 501CM. Paired with either my 100 or 180 CF, this was a super productive flight.

Damn I love this system!

cjbecker · Jan 20, 2014

That looks awesome. We need some shots!!!!!!!!!

PKM-25 · Jan 20, 2014

cjbecker said:
That looks awesome. We need some shots!!!!!!!!!

I already ran the film, it looks killer...:w00t:

cjbecker · Jan 20, 2014

It's always good when you are 100 percent confident in the pictures and they turn out perfect.

illumiquest · Jan 21, 2014

I feel cold just looking at that photo of your hand out the window. Brrr.

mgb74 · Jan 21, 2014

How long a shutter speed were you able to achieve with the gyro?

Back when I was doing some oblique aerial (80s) with Koni Omega and Mamiya press cameras, I tried to not go any longer than 1/500 except when I absolutely had too. That's without any stabilizer and 150-180mm lenses.

PKM-25 · Jan 21, 2014

mgb74 said:
How long a shutter speed were you able to achieve with the gyro?

Back when I was doing some oblique aerial (80s) with Koni Omega and Mamiya press cameras, I tried to not go any longer than 1/500 except when I absolutely had too. That's without any stabilizer and 150-180mm lenses.

I try not to go below 125th when the camera is out of the wind, 500th when it is.

StoneNYC · Jan 22, 2014

Gah!!!! Now you make me want a Hassleblad!! Grrr I hardly ever need a winder for my film shooting, I like cocking the shutter by hand, but I can see needing this for an aerial flight. You're life is extraordinary...

Now go do this with your 4x5 and I'll be truly impressed

cjbecker · Jan 22, 2014

Whats the slowest you can handhold with the gyro when just normal hand holding, Not in a plane or anything?

mgb74 · Jan 22, 2014

And the EL and ELM bodies are so darn cheap right now. Tempting.

PKM-25 · Jan 22, 2014

cjbecker said:
Whats the slowest you can handhold with the gyro when just normal hand holding, Not in a plane or anything?

I'm not sure, I have only used it for aerial work, it's a heavy affair with the battery pack. I don't think you would gain more than a stop on stationary use like you mention, it will net you about 3-4 stops in motion though although wind will still play havoc on the image, I lost about 1/2 a roll of 120 with the 180mm on the shoot because I was too far out the window into the wind blasting by at 110 MPH.

Kenyon gyros went out of vogue for a bit when car and other big budget ad shooters lost big on location accounts to computer generated shots replacing them. Then digital cameras with great VR lenses and clean ISO 800++ ability put them further down the list. But lately, they are back in popularity with HDSLR and video shooters who love them for cine and other motion work.

When I am not using mine, it lives at the office of the pilot I work with so he can offer it up to video shooters for conservation work. I get a significant discount on flights by basically offering it as trade.

PKM-25 · Jan 27, 2014

I lost my helicopter pilot today...damn this sucks...

http://www.aspendailynews.com/section/home/161035

StoneNYC · Jan 27, 2014

PKM-25 said:
I lost my helicopter pilot today...damn this sucks...

http://www.aspendailynews.com/section/home/161035

Wow, sorry, especially if he was a good friend.

ambaker · Jan 27, 2014

Amazing how fast things change in life. My condolences to you and those in the crash and their families.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

PKM-25 · Jan 28, 2014

StoneNYC said:
Wow, sorry, especially if he was a good friend.

Yep, he was a good friend to me and a lot of people, helped to save so many lives in high risk Mt. rescues. I just talked to him last week about setting up a flight.

StoneNYC · Jan 28, 2014

PKM-25 said:
Yep, he was a good friend to me and a lot of people, helped to save so many lives in high risk Mt. rescues. I just talked to him last week about setting up a flight.

Well again I'm sorry for your loss and his family's loss, terrible.

Argenticien · Jan 28, 2014

That's terrible news; sorry to hear. At least he died while doing what he apparently loved to do. It sounds like a cliché when we say that, until you realize that really it's being said (or can only truly be said) in the cases of only a small minority of people. So many people reach the end with regrets at having not quite got round to what they would've loved to do.

--Dave

by the way: link above no longer seems to work; try http://www.aspendailynews.com/section/home/161041 -- and you've paid nice tribute to him in that article.

PKM-25 · Jan 28, 2014

Thanks guys. He was considered to be one of the best Mountain Pilots in the U.S.....you could just feel through the airframe how much he loved to fly...

Hasselblad 500ELX + Aerial Shoot = Love!

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency