Camera and drone rental in Le Havre: where to film

Where to film in Le Havre

• The centre rebuilt by Auguste Perret, a UNESCO World Heritage site: wide avenues, pale concrete buildings, the soaring church of Saint-Joseph. An Insta360 X6 captures the street perspectives and façades in a single pass. The wide pavements and straight vistas make tracking shots on foot easy.
• The Jardins Suspendus, laid out inside an old hilltop fort: lawns, greenhouses and a view down over the city and the estuary.
• Le Havre beach and its sea wall, looking out at the cargo ships entering and leaving the port: good ground for an action camera, between wind, spray and changing light.
• The Saint-François quarter, around the Bassin du Commerce: tight lanes, market halls and fishermen’s façades, the opposite of the rebuilt centre.
• The André Malraux modern art museum, its glass façade facing the sea, for reflections and plays of light late in the day.
• Sainte-Adresse and the Cap de la Hève, just above Le Havre: cliffs, a lighthouse and a wide viewpoint over the whole bay. The wind blows there almost constantly, something to bear in mind for a steady shot.
• The shingle beach of Sainte-Adresse, with its seafront villas and colourful beach huts, a different setting from Le Havre’s main beach.

Drone in Le Havre: what is allowed

In France, recreational flying is prohibited over built-up areas and gatherings of people, prohibited near airports, here Le Havre-Octeville airport, and in national parks and nature reserves. Flight height is capped at 120 metres and the drone must stay in direct line of sight. Before each flight, the Géoportail map is the reference for checking the area you will fly over. Around Le Havre, the farming plateau of the Pays de Caux, set back from the coast and the built-up area, offers open spaces to be checked case by case before taking off. Our drones weigh less than 250 grams, but they carry a camera: before the first flight, the renter registers free of charge as an operator (on AlphaTango if resident in France) and displays their own operator number on the drone.

What equipment to rent for Le Havre

Facing the wind and spray on the sea wall, a GoPro Hero 12 Black handles the conditions without complicated settings. To walk from the Bassin du Commerce to the Saint-François quarter, the DJI Osmo Pocket 4P steadies every shot and slips into a pocket between takes. To fly over the Caux plateau from an authorised spot, the DJI Mini 4 Pro stays light while handling wide shots. The Insta360 X5 rounds off the kit for a 360-degree visit of the rebuilt centre, with the option of choosing the framing after the shoot.

When to film: events and seasons in Le Havre

In summer, “Un été au Havre” livens up the seafront and the squares of the rebuilt centre with temporary installations, a good chance to film a usually more sober city, with artworks set up on squares that are normally empty. Regattas in the estuary bring together sailing yachts and traditional boats, to watch from the sea wall or the heights of Sainte-Adresse. Autumn brings a more restless sky, with clear bright spells between showers, useful for shots of clouds over the sea. In winter, low morning light brings out the relief of the concrete façades in the rebuilt centre, a look that high summer does not give. The clouds racing over the estuary change the scene every ten minutes, an asset for varied cutaways.

Getting your equipment in Le Havre

Delivery is by Chronopost, to your home or to a pickup point, anywhere in France. The parcel arrives the day before the first day of your rental, ready to use on the morning of the shoot. The return is done with the label supplied in the parcel, with nothing else to arrange. In-person pickup is available only in Lyon, for those who prefer to collect their equipment themselves.

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