photography

[briankizner]

I'm considering purchasing a ready-to-go quadcopter for aerial photography. I welcome opinions on the Blade 350 QX or the DJI Phantom 2 Vision or something else I may not have noticed. Both are available as complete packages including gimbal and camera. The Blade would cost roughly $1100 and the Phantom $1500. Both look to be ultra easy to fly with most of the work being done by the electronics on board. Of course there are various things one can do to get a better setup but I am not willing to go through all the research and work of assembling various components myself to produce the ultimate machine.

[nitrouspete]

Hi Brian.

Go DJI all the way. If you need to see in action I have a really good example to show you. Let me know.

[PaulG-rc]

Hi Brian

I use the DJI Phantom 1.1 and my little Mobius camera and I'm extreamly happy with the results.

Here is my last little aerial video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9lyCDdfMnw

Paul

[briankizner]

good suggestions. Beautiful video, Paul.

[PaulG-rc]

good suggestions. Beautiful video, Paul.

Thanks Brian

Its not as stable as with a gimble but its less weight and I just fly slower.

[Elgreco]

what batteries do they use and how long is the flight ?

[PaulG-rc]

what batteries do they use and how long is the flight ?

I use the Phantom 2200 20c and fly 7 to 10 min depending on how I fly it.

[Elgreco]

wow, I just checked it out.(DJI)
Looks very good and in a ready to go package.
I already have a Gopro3, I am wondering about a package that does not include their camera...

Anyone has an idea where to purchase this price wise ? And any other suggestions ?

I just want to take a look at it further.

And lastly, is this something that could be potentially be adjusted to be used with FPV ?

I have not kept up with all these for some time, so if anyone can post some links it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks anf have a good flying season gents..

[nitrouspete]

I fly FPV on many different machines. On my phantom I fly with a dedicated FPV camera and have gopro on 3
axis gimbal. Awesome stuff.
Mario, I own half of DJI SHARES. :D

[briankizner]

maybe a dumb question but the latest MAAC mag had an article that mentioned potential issues with DJI transmitters working on the 5.8 frequency. Is this something to be concerned about?

[nitrouspete]

Yes. If you end up buying one that works with that 5.8 radio you will not fly with it around our club. I replace their receiver for either a futaba or jeti, as that's what I use. Safer and greater range.
Also wifi from gopro cameras will affect GPS signals. Definitly not good to use in anyway.

[Elgreco]

websites to browse ?

[nitrouspete]

Rotorquest.
Bradatech.
Multirotorheli

[zorba]

You can get the Discovery Quad from the black sheep team here in Laval.
Dji Naza with GPS.
Mikrocopter motors.
Graupner props.
Immersion RC downlink.
FPV camera.
Brushless gimbal. (no camera)
Alexmos controller
CHEAP

Bill
Or you can get one like that custom built.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGI8MGTEvAY

[beto9]

Hey, Zorba!

"Heli's are out.... Multicopters are in... planes too"

Are planes IN or OUT? :D:D:D

[zorba]

Are in Albert, new project coming up.

[Kevin Rochon]

Hey, Zorba!

"Heli's are out.... Multicopters are in... planes too"

Are planes IN or OUT? :D:D:D

Hey:mad: ...heli's are not out for those who like to fly themselves, be in control you know;)

[zorba]

Hey:mad: ...heli's are not out for those who like to fly themselves, be in control you know;)

Heli's are out for me Kevin, I only have my Eurocopter left. All others are gone.

[briankizner]

thread drift alert! The kind of helis I started asking about absolutely do fly themselves. I think the more sophisticated ones will serve you a coffee while they're flying and the pilot takes a nap.

[briankizner]

DJI Phantom ordered from Great Hobbies. Out of stock, though, so I don't know how long it will take.

[nitrouspete]

Which one?

[briankizner]

Phantom 2 Vision including gimbal, camera, and battery.

[Elgreco]

question for the ones following up these things.
The model that comes only with the 3d gimbal so you can install your own gopro, does it offer connection to a smartphone, or is that only possible with the higher version and using their camera ?
I just find it cool being able to lock it in place and then work the camera with your phone.
Thanks.

[nitrouspete]

B careful. The vision 2 plus uses 5.8ghz radio and 2.4ghz wifi for camera. Not good to use with other rc fliers around. Interference will most likely cause big problems. Maac does not want these machine at clubs.

[nitrouspete]

My build is custom mix of dji and other goodies. That's what I do and use. Futaba and Jeti radio's only. :D

[nitrouspete]

GPS fliers are good for target practice. ;)

[Ronald Longtin]

B careful. The vision 2 plus uses 5.8ghz radio and 2.4ghz wifi for camera. Not good to use with other rc fliers around. Interference will most likely cause big problems. Maac does not want these machine at clubs.

It seems illogical for a manufacturer to use this frequency set. Why?

[nitrouspete]

Because they can. Not for club flying. :D

[Burning Head]

:confused:What about all those free slot in the 2.4ghz tech to avoid interference issue ...J'ai toujours pensé que 82 radio pouvais être allumé en même temps mais pas 83...

[zorba]

The frequency on the 2.4ghz for the GoPro is not hopping frequency and when your radio happens to fall in the range then is goodbye signal.


Bill

[Burning Head]

I see, thanks Bill:)

[briankizner]

Look what showed up at the post office. Cool machine

[Kevin Rochon]

What is this, 4 bowling pins molded together:confused::D

[briankizner]

starfish with decals

[Elgreco]

so if from what was said, it is not safe to fly around others, how or when do you plan to use it ?
just curious...

[nitrouspete]

Change certain components so you can. Modify!:D

[briankizner]

I live in a pretty remote area and am not at all worried. I know that MAAC has concerns about these things but I am not sure if there really is a problem in practice because there are dozens of videos on the net of them flying and photographing downtowns of many large cities. I found two online tutorials filmed in downtown Austin, Texas and in Sydney, Australia. The Phantom knows when it is in an area of restricted airspace and will let you know not to fly there.
All that said, I flew in my back yard this morning. It is very, very easy to fly and the video is sharp and completely free of vibration. Nothing good to post yet but I hope to have some interesting videos soon. It is easy to land yourself or you can just turn off the radio and it will land itself within two metres of the takeoff point. A little disconcerting the first time, but it works well as long as the compass is calibrated before takeoff (a simple procedure). I now understand where video goggles can be helpful. The camera is controlled by your smartphone which you clip to the transmitter. The smartphone will show the images as they happen. It also gives info about battery charge, altitude, and location. The problem that would be improved with goggles is that the phone screen is tough to see in sunlight.

[nitrouspete]

Happy for your sucess. Hope to see you results. Happy flying just use common sense. :D

[Kevin Rochon]

Can't wait to see some videos of your area Brian.

[briankizner]

tried today to take a video of a beautiful iceberg today. The berg is about 500 metres offshore and has passages through it. In my fantasy world, I flew the Phantom through the hole in the ice then returned to a beautiful landing at my feet. Reality was quite different. It is fairly windy over the water today. I took off, flew to the water's edge, then returned to a messy landing. An earlier flight was much longer and better but I had the camera aimed too low to see the iceberg. It will take a while for me to be able to concentrate on good flying and good photography at the same time. No vids till I'm satisfied

[briankizner]

Went back to the same spot with a helper to keep an eye on the video. This time, I flew well, in spite of 30km winds with gusts up to 37. One problem, I forgot to tell my helper to press "record". Live and learn.

[briankizner]

http://vimeo.com/98381818

password- WIMAC .This is the first little video I did of an iceberg near here. It is not great and I said yesterday I would not share but the subject is so beautiful I thought you might appreciate it. My concern is that it is raining quite hard now and I don't know if the berg will still be there when I want to try again. What surprised me is that the video is smooth in spite of strong wind (notice the whitecaps on the water). The gimbal's stabilization of the camera is really amazing.
By the way, I caught a news item of an idiot flying a Phantom over the crowd celebrating the Stanley Cup win in front of the Staples Centre in Los Angeles. People in the crowd started throwing things at it and succeeded in bringing it down, after which they apparently destroyed it. The commentator was angry at the crowd for wrecking some kid's toy, thinking it was a surveillance drone. I thought the pilot was stupid to fly over the crowd and, in a sense, it was a surveillance drone. I don't like that some people think of the technology as "toys" and, on the other hand, I don't like this kind of incident getting the attention of law enforcement and government.

[PaulG-rc]

http://vimeo.com/98381818

password- WIMAC .This is the first little video I did of an iceberg near here. It is not great and I said yesterday I would not share but the subject is so beautiful I thought you might appreciate it. My concern is that it is raining quite hard now and I don't know if the berg will still be there when I want to try again. What surprised me is that the video is smooth in spite of strong wind (notice the whitecaps on the water). The gimbal's stabilization of the camera is really amazing.
By the way, I caught a news item of an idiot flying a Phantom over the crowd celebrating the Stanley Cup win in front of the Staples Centre in Los Angeles. People in the crowd started throwing things at it and succeeded in bringing it down, after which they apparently destroyed it. The commentator was angry at the crowd for wrecking some kid's toy, thinking it was a surveillance drone. I thought the pilot was stupid to fly over the crowd and, in a sense, it was a surveillance drone. I don't like that some people think of the technology as "toys" and, on the other hand, I don't like this kind of incident getting the attention of law enforcement and government.

Its so clear and stable, looking forward to more nice scenery.
Did you see this video Brian?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8DW_hZeWV8

[briankizner]

Thanks for finding that, Paul. It shows what I was hoping for but am too afraid to try. Question for Paul or Peter or anyone else with suggestions. What kind of editing software do you suggest? How about software to remove the fish-eye effect? Vimeo and Microsoft Movie Maker both work but my impression is that both are not great.

[beto9]

Brian, I was expecting an ICEBERG, not a large scotch ice cube.... :D:D

[PaulG-rc]

Thanks for finding that, Paul. It shows what I was hoping for but am too afraid to try. Question for Paul or Peter or anyone else with suggestions. What kind of editing software do you suggest? How about software to remove the fish-eye effect? Vimeo and Microsoft Movie Maker both work but my impression is that both are not great.

I use Magix pro 16 plus

[briankizner]

thanks, Paul. Ice cube the size of an office building

[briankizner]

getting better.

http://vimeo.com/98605323

[PaulG-rc]

getting better.

http://vimeo.com/98605323

This is very nice and relaxing Brian, I love the music track for it.
Thats a beautiful area you live in.

[bob forest]

Brian nice video, what great scenery, You could see the wind mills far in the back. Looks like you are in the dunes. What would be neat, is when the Trail Bikes are there and you could follow them from above. I loved Newfoundland, drove from Port aux Basques to St. Anthony. We did it in our 1961 MGA. I will never forget that trip. The scenery, the people. Fantastic. Nice that you put their music as background. Keep it up.

[Shawn]

Excellent Brian,very nice to see the area that you live in. MORE!

[briankizner]

http://vimeo.com/98945067

Filmed over the last few days in and around my home in Forteau, Labrador. If you find the video does not run smoothly, turn off HD.

[bob forest]

Brian, where you fly your pattern plane, you have no trees to hit. Also don't you miss the stop lights. Beautiful, no wonder you love that area. Looking forward to more.

[briankizner]

It is a good flying site. Too easy to land on a full size runway.

[Sempai-mj]

Nice video !

[Kevin Rochon]

That looks like paradise or last man on earth:D very nice Brian. Keep'm coming.

[David Janashvili]

Nice video

[PaulG-rc]

Getting better and better Brian a pleasure to watch and listen too :D

[beto9]

You got very good at video filming and editing in a very short time Brian. Great one. And the music....

[briankizner]

thanks, everyone.

[IMB Drone]

Hi
I already bought several times on the internet from Helipal.com
I never had problems delivery or quality.
I have a Storm Drone 6 and i have build the Tarot you can see on my picture.
mike