Drone Aerial Photography

DavidMartin

DavidMartin

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David Martin
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Hi as the title is or has anyone done any drone photography?
I've bought a GoPro for scuba diving whilst on holiday and was looking at getting a DJI Phantom quadcoptor to have a play at doing some aerial stuff.
As per usual though you are limited to what you can do which in respect of where you can fly is understandable, but if you want to do it commercially you have to be licensed via the Civil Aviation Authority.
 
I do, as you say sadly I can't use them commercially but it is good fun.

I have a Phantom Vision with rotorpixel gimbal and a few range extending upgrades. I went with that rather than the GoPro based systems as I can control the camera from the controller, switch from video to stills etc.

There are a few of mine on my website, http://www.markmullenphotography.co.uk/aerialphotos
 
Thanks for the reply, I'd already purchased the GoPro and was looking to get a bit more use out of it than just holidays etc. as it will probably sit in the cupboard till the next one.
Luckily there's plenty of open areas near me as well as the coast so looking to get something when I get back from holiday
 
Would they be of any use in the Scottish highlands? I am frequently looking for elevated viewpoints in the golden hour, when climbing may be tricky or too time consuming to get anywhere... Would these do up to 300-500m altitude?

Gopro may be a bit weaker with IQ. Surely one of those sony nex thingies or panasonic will be better with hardly any more weight?
 
I've got a gopro and phantom 2 setup. Great fun and some great pics especially of local places. Like you say tho obv limited to rules etc [emoji6]

FPV setup is a whole other area to get into!!!
 
DavidMartin said:
but if you want to do it commercially you have to be licensed via the Civil Aviation Authority.
Click to expand...

So what happens if you do some amateur aerial photography, then a couple of years later you sell them?!

The licencing seems to be more of a money making scheme than anything to do with safety.


Steve.
 
Interesting piece in AP (cover date 6th Sept 2014, page 8) talking about drone photography. Among other things, it mentions the first prosecution in the UK (fine and court fees of £4,300) and 396,000 you tube clips from a search for drone crash. Shouldn't be a problem over the highlands - CAA rules seem to state that drones shouldn't come within 150m of large crowds or 50m from a person or building.

Have been 1/2 tempted by the idea but since I'd want to take it abroad, I'm not sure they're currently light enough and small enough for hand baggage. Probably won't be long before they are though so I may have to find out the Greek rules on their use.
 
Nod said:
Interesting piece in AP (cover date 6th Sept 2014, page 8) talking about drone photography. Among other things, it mentions the first prosecution in the UK (fine and court fees of £4,300) and 396,000 you tube clips from a search for drone crash. Shouldn't be a problem over the highlands - CAA rules seem to state that drones shouldn't come within 150m of large crowds or 50m from a person or building.

Have been 1/2 tempted by the idea but since I'd want to take it abroad, I'm not sure they're currently light enough and small enough for hand baggage. Probably won't be long before they are though so I may have to find out the Greek rules on their use.
Click to expand...

I picked up my Phantom earlier and what a breeze to fly, I've never used any kind of remote thing before (except the tele).
They're really lightweight and with a GoPro fitted probably weigh a kilo max.
I haven't used it with the camera yet as wanted to get used to flying it first.
 
Nod said:
CAA rules seem to state that drones shouldn't come within 150m of large crowds or 50m from a person or building.
Click to expand...

I'm in Naples on holiday at the moment, :D and whilst walking about on Tuesday I noticed a few wedding parties near the Castle. Obviously being nosey I walked passed. One group had a six prop drone with I think, a GoPro attached. I went into the Castle, and whilst I was in there I heard the drone taking off into the sky. Couldn't see what kind of pics they were trying to get, or maybe they were videoing. They had a videographer with them too. So the rules don't seem to be a stringent in Italy, or else these were just seeing if they could get away with it. :-/
 
Or they had the relevant licence for Italy maybe?

I'm interested in one of these just for fun and while looking into them a little I noticed that not all of the drones are capable of obtaining a licence for from the caa in any case. The dji phantom vision isn't one that can be licensed for commercial use.
Looks like good fun though, would be good to use at the local race track if they'd allow it. How about at a Mx meet, that would be good too.
I do a bit of stuff for the Scouts too so would be interesting to use one with them as that would not be commercial :)
 
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There's loads of videos etc on YouTube. As for the commercial / licensing side it looks like you have to obtain a license involving a written exam and practical exam for the princely sum of £1050. You then have to have a refresher after that. Once you have this license you then apply to the CAA. I've been told the total amount is around £3500.
I haven't heard about the Phantom 2 Vision not being able to be licensed as the UAV's go in weight categories and you then get a license for that particular weight.

And yes they are fun.
 
Not all Drones/UAV can be licensed, don't think the Phantom Vision can, not sure about the Phantom Vision+ although at least one of the cheaper dji ones can be. I don't know what the criteria is for being allowed to be licensed is.
Take a look at http://www.buzzflyer.co.uk/DJI-Innovations/DJI-Phantom-2-Vision/p-182-2574/ there's a note at the bottom of the description.

Personally, I wouldn't be looking to use one for commercial use, just for fun.

Which model do you have? It would be good to get unbiased feedback about how easy these things are to fly and what weather limitations there are etc.
 
PaulF said:
Not all Drones/UAV can be licensed, don't think the Phantom Vision can, not sure about the Phantom Vision+ although at least one of the cheaper dji ones can be. I don't know what the criteria is for being allowed to be licensed is.
Take a look at http://www.buzzflyer.co.uk/DJI-Innovations/DJI-Phantom-2-Vision/p-182-2574/ there's a note at the bottom of the description.

Personally, I wouldn't be looking to use one for commercial use, just for fun.

Which model do you have? It would be good to get unbiased feedback about how easy these things are to fly and what weather limitations there are etc.
Click to expand...

I've got the Phantom 1. I bought it mainly so my GoPro has abit more use other than diving on holidays, so for fun.
With regard to ease of flying they are a breeze, I've never done any RC flying before and found it dead easy.
I flew it today and it was a bit breezy but still handled pretty well. It was holding position when hovering pretty good considering the wind.
 
Blimey that's good. How hard is it to get to that level of control of these things, having never flown RC?
 
landwomble said:
Blimey that's good. How hard is it to get to that level of control of these things, having never flown RC?
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I'd never flown one before and have now flown the phantom 2 and phantom 2 vision+, both have been supremely easy to fly without any experience.

Blythman said:
Stunning footage.

I've been looking at the Phantom Vision 2+, but put off by stories of "fly aways"
Click to expand...
I too was worried bout the flyaway stories, but think as long as you find a sensible location and follow all guidelines, then they seem to be good!
 
markmullen said:
The Vision not being able to be licenced is more to do with the frequency it uses (5.8Ghz as opposed to 2.4Ghz for the non vision models) rather than the weight.
Click to expand...
Ok, I was wondering why some could and others couldn't.
 
Blythman said:
Stunning footage.

I've been looking at the Phantom Vision 2+, but put off by stories of "fly aways"
Click to expand...

Most of these are operator error IMO.
It is easy to get disorientated once you can barely see it, panic trying to bring it home but in fact sending it away, then lose radio contact.
Another common mistake is not getting full GPS home fix before taking off.
It should return to base if signal is lost but can't if take-off was rushed.

To get the best from them you need reasonable computer aptitude and knowledge of basic image and video processing - that sounds like most people on here.
There is a lot of stuff to learn at first but after a few weeks use it is all remarkably simple.
- But can soon start to get expensive -
http://www.phantompilots.com - by far the best place to read up on phantoms.

The Vision Plus camera is a little disappointing but the package which includes reasonable FPV to smartphone or tablet, a good if somewhat fragile gimbal, and very capable quad with range up to about 1km is hard to beat at under £1000
If you already have GoPro look at the Phantom 2 but you need a good preferably 3D gimbal and will soon want FPV of some sort to frame your shots.

There's no way to make any changes to a GoPro during the flight as the wifi doesn't reach far and can affect the control signal.
With the V+ you can change almost any camera setting, stop and start video etc during a flight as f it was on the ground at your side.
The latest app has a feature called Groundstation where you can mark out a route up to 500 metres out by tapping the spot on a google map - and it will fly directly to your point(s) on its own. Astonishing technology really.

The only question is do you really want to do this.

 
4wd said:
Most of these are operator error IMO.
It is easy to get disorientated once you can barely see it, panic trying to bring it home but in fact sending it away, then lose radio contact.
Another common mistake is not getting full GPS home fix before taking off.
It should return to base if signal is lost but can't if take-off was rushed.

To get the best from them you need reasonable computer aptitude and knowledge of basic image and video processing - that sounds like most people on here.
There is a lot of stuff to learn at first but after a few weeks use it is all remarkably simple.
- But can soon start to get expensive -
http://www.phantompilots.com - by far the best place to read up on phantoms.

The Vision Plus camera is a little disappointing but the package which includes reasonable FPV to smartphone or tablet, a good if somewhat fragile gimbal, and very capable quad with range up to about 1km is hard to beat at under £1000
If you already have GoPro look at the Phantom 2 but you need a good preferably 3D gimbal and will soon want FPV of some sort to frame your shots.

There's no way to make any changes to a GoPro during the flight as the wifi doesn't reach far and can affect the control signal.
With the V+ you can change almost any camera setting, stop and start video etc during a flight as f it was on the ground at your side.
The latest app has a feature called Groundstation where you can mark out a route up to 500 metres out by tapping the spot on a google map - and it will fly directly to your point(s) on its own. Astonishing technology really.

The only question is do you really want to do this.

Click to expand...
Having flown the phantoms I totally agree with what you say.. I had the phantom 2 with a gopro but did feel really frustrated that I had no control over the camera. So would end up having to sift through lots of photos, video etc. I then tried a vision+ and that for me made it a lot more enjoyable, being able to control the camera, reasonable FPV, and now the added bonus of being able to plan flights etc.
 
SaintSLR said:
I too was worried bout the flyaway stories, but think as long as you find a sensible location and follow all guidelines, then they seem to be good!
Click to expand...

I saw one crash in the sea off Branscombe the other day - the operator was gutted , we got it back to him when it washed up on the next tide, but i'dimagine its going to be a write off after imersion in salt water anyway
 
I have a toy one with a built in camera which is pretty good quality but the battery only lasts 5 mins and I'm not very adept at flying it lol, will stick to kites I think
 
big soft moose said:
I saw one crash in the sea off Branscombe the other day - the operator was gutted , we got it back to him when it washed up on the next tide, but i'dimagine its going to be a write off after imersion in salt water anyway
Click to expand...
Ouch... The first time I upgraded the firmware on mine, one of the updates was to slow the descent rate on it, was happily flying it, quite high, went to bring it down and cos of the slower descent I didn't think it was coming down, the feeling in your stomach is awful... Must be worse if it's going down over water!!
 
sturisoma said:
I have a toy one with a built in camera which is pretty good quality but the battery only lasts 5 mins and I'm not very adept at flying it lol, will stick to kites I think
Click to expand...
Friend of mine has similar one! Think he's ended up with about 15 batteries now!! Shame can't tape them altogether!!
 
the video quality is actually very good, and all for £30 :) my son can work it really well and he's had it above the roof of our house, it's a great toy lol
 
With regards to flyaways etc I have had a couple of dummy runs with mine by turning the transmitter off. Itcame back and landed spot on from where it took off.
The first time was a bit nail biting waiting to see if it would return.
 
DavidMartin said:
With regards to flyaways etc I have had a couple of dummy runs with mine by turning the transmitter off. Itcame back and landed spot on from where it took off.
The first time was a bit nail biting waiting to see if it would return.
Click to expand...
I keep meaning to give it a trial run but haven't done yet! Reassuring to know it does work.
 
SaintSLR said:
I keep meaning to give it a trial run but haven't done yet! Reassuring to know it does work.
Click to expand...
I was surprised at how accurate it was, it touched down a couple of feet away from take off point. It then took off again a metre off the ground and moved the couple of feet and then landed.
I wouldn't want to try it with a load of trees around as I think it would collide en route back.
 
Given a shotgun licence, I imagine that a drone of this type is easier to hit than a pheasant or a clay? I foresee a new 'sport' arising. Ha!
 
droj said:
Given a shotgun licence, I imagine that a drone of this type is easier to hit than a pheasant or a clay? I foresee a new 'sport' arising. Ha!
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I had thought of this, but seeing other discussions on UAV sites I don't think whoever shot one would have their licence or freedom for a while.
 
But I can see various contests arising between those who may be held to be 'observers' and those who may feel that they're being observed. Which will at times be justified.
 
DavidMartin said:
I was surprised at how accurate it was, it touched down a couple of feet away from take off point. It then took off again a metre off the ground and moved the couple of feet and then landed.
I wouldn't want to try it with a load of trees around as I think it would collide en route back.
Click to expand...
Will try it next time I take it out. It's one of those things, you know it can do, but always dread using the first time!!
 
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