MicrostockGroup

Microstock Photography Forum - General => Photography Equipment => Topic started by: ShazamImages on January 07, 2014, 14:12

Title: Article: Civilian Photography, Now Rising to New Level
Post by: ShazamImages on January 07, 2014, 14:12
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/02/technology/personaltech/review-the-phantom-2-vision-photo-drone-from-dji.html?emc=eta1 (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/02/technology/personaltech/review-the-phantom-2-vision-photo-drone-from-dji.html?emc=eta1)
Title: Re: Article: Civilian Photography, Now Rising to New Level
Post by: wordplanet on January 07, 2014, 14:47
Scary thought all those drones flying overhead and it's cheap enough that it could happen - what a bonanza for the paparazzi! Sounds like it would be incredibly fun to own. Much cheaper than hiring a helicopter to get a bird's eye view of a location over time I'd think and a tad more subtle if you're trying to swoop in on a celeb wedding  8)
Title: Re: Article: Civilian Photography, Now Rising to New Level
Post by: BaldricksTrousers on January 07, 2014, 14:52
I saw something very like this being flown from a beach near Swansea just after Christmas. It carried a Hero III. The way it was handled, hovering and swooping, was very impressive. That one seemed to run off a console.
Title: Re: Article: Civilian Photography, Now Rising to New Level
Post by: elvinstar on January 07, 2014, 19:50
I had no problem carrying my GoPro on my MUCH-cheaper Parrot AR Drone before I crashed it.  :-[

I bought the Drone for about $250 where the DJI Phantom is $500 and up.

That reminds me that I really should repair my Drone and get it back in the air!
Title: Re: Article: Civilian Photography, Now Rising to New Level
Post by: Ed on January 07, 2014, 21:27
I was thinking about doing this....so I went to the local hobby store and bought a small quad copter to practice with.  I crashed and broke the first one....then I crashed and broke the second one - both incidents in my front room.  Flying time was about a minute and a half and recharge time was about an hour.  It was frustrating.

Then I saw this....

http://petapixel.com/2013/08/16/photographer-flies-his-drone-camera-into-the-grooms-head-during-a-bridal-shoot/ (http://petapixel.com/2013/08/16/photographer-flies-his-drone-camera-into-the-grooms-head-during-a-bridal-shoot/)

I decided that I was better off using my stealthy ninja photography skills with both feet on the ground and camera in hand.
Title: Re: Article: Civilian Photography, Now Rising to New Level
Post by: wordplanet on January 08, 2014, 01:20
I was thinking about doing this....so I went to the local hobby store and bought a small quad copter to practice with.  I crashed and broke the first one....then I crashed and broke the second one - both incidents in my front room.  Flying time was about a minute and a half and recharge time was about an hour.  It was frustrating.

Then I saw this....

[url]http://petapixel.com/2013/08/16/photographer-flies-his-drone-camera-into-the-grooms-head-during-a-bridal-shoot/[/url] ([url]http://petapixel.com/2013/08/16/photographer-flies-his-drone-camera-into-the-grooms-head-during-a-bridal-shoot/[/url])

I decided that I was better off using my stealthy ninja photography skills with both feet on the ground and camera in hand.


Loved the video! I was only kidding about getting one - I don't do weddings  8)
Title: Re: Article: Civilian Photography, Now Rising to New Level
Post by: LesHoward on January 09, 2014, 01:48
Here's the product in the original article http://www.helipal.com/dji-phantom-2-vision-gps-drone-rtf.html (http://www.helipal.com/dji-phantom-2-vision-gps-drone-rtf.html) - about $1200

and a different version that will carry a GoPro http://www.helipal.com/dji-phantom-2-gps-drone-rtf.html (http://www.helipal.com/dji-phantom-2-gps-drone-rtf.html) - about $800 but needs some extra stuff to mount the camera . You supply the GoPro.

This looks like it could be a lot of fun particularly if you're into video. One word of advice I saw scanning through the articles was that these are expensive products and you might want to practise a bit with some cheaper stuff like RF helicopters that typically cost only about $40.

Edited for spelling and clarity.
Title: Re: Article: Civilian Photography, Now Rising to New Level
Post by: old crow on January 09, 2014, 07:53
I believe the newer/better drones have an electronic stability system that allows you to steer it while it maintains the attitude.      http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/flying-cameras/     has an entire forum section devoted to aerial stuff.
Title: Re: Article: Civilian Photography, Now Rising to New Level
Post by: LesHoward on January 09, 2014, 14:48
I just found this Kelbymedia report in my inbox from the CES show First Look: CES DJI S1000 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2z0h7_fjmQ#ws)
Title: Re: Article: Civilian Photography, Now Rising to New Level
Post by: Liatris on January 09, 2014, 15:02
It still takes considerable skill to pilot one of these multicopters, plus a large investment of both time and money.  The previous version of the multicopter linked above, has many reports on RCGroups of having electronic connectivity problems which cause random crashes which usually run several hundred bucks to repair, not counting the fragile camera, if not using a gopro.
Title: Re: Article: Civilian Photography, Drones not illegal FAA
Post by: Uncle Pete on March 18, 2014, 19:15
http://motherboard.vice.com/read/commercial-drones-are-completely-legal-a-federal-judge-ruled (http://motherboard.vice.com/read/commercial-drones-are-completely-legal-a-federal-judge-ruled)

Commercial Drones Are Completely Legal, a Federal Judge Ruled  March 6, 2014 // 06:51 PM EST
Title: Re: Article: Civilian Photography, Now Rising to New Level
Post by: markmagedotcom on August 19, 2015, 05:46
I believe the newer/better drones have an electronic stability system that allows you to steer it while it maintains the attitude.      [url]http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/flying-cameras/[/url]     has an entire forum section devoted to aerial stuff.


Correct -- this BTW applies to all models (consumer ones, at least) well beyond just "famous" DJI Phantoms. So before falling for all the hype around those, in order to get one's feet wet, more affordable ones like Blade 350 QX3 offer most of the same features.

More affordable particularly in the way of a **complete** set you can use for AP/V, which includes lots of spare parts and extra flight batteries etc. These are where DJI clearly overcharges you (following the old Exxon model of "free petroleum lamps" but expensive fuel), so with a Blade 350 (or even a newer-generation AR Parrot) you got what you need to learn the craft first...
Title: Re: Article: Civilian Photography, Now Rising to New Level
Post by: markmagedotcom on August 19, 2015, 05:48
It still takes considerable skill to pilot one of these multicopters, plus a large investment of both time and money.  The previous version of the multicopter linked above, has many reports on RCGroups of having electronic connectivity problems which cause random crashes which usually run several hundred bucks to repair, not counting the fragile camera, if not using a gopro.

both can now be significantly reduced when you get the right platform (see my neighbouring post here): all (consumer) models more or less "fly themselves", and the non-DJI styles are very affordably priced as well while offering almost all of the same auto-fly features.
Title: Re: Article: Civilian Photography, Now Rising to New Level
Post by: markmagedotcom on August 19, 2015, 05:50
[url]http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/02/technology/personaltech/review-the-phantom-2-vision-photo-drone-from-dji.html?emc=eta1[/url] ([url]http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/02/technology/personaltech/review-the-phantom-2-vision-photo-drone-from-dji.html?emc=eta1[/url])


so when even the NYT covers it, this got to be developing into a major trend now ;)
Title: Re: Article: Civilian Photography, Now Rising to New Level
Post by: Fudio on August 19, 2015, 06:25
Quote
both can now be significantly reduced when you get the right platform (see my neighbouring post here): all (consumer) models more or less "fly themselves", and the non-DJI styles are very affordably priced as well while offering almost all of the same auto-fly features.


Or even eliminated altogether... http://www.lily.camera/ (http://www.lily.camera/) ...I'm just waiting for the 4k version.