Drone or mast for Gopro 4 Silver

visagephoto

visagephoto

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Alan
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I've been considering a GoPro for a while now and with the introduction of the 4 series I opted for a discounted 3+ Silver @ £199.99 from CURRYS, the salesman made a point of explaining the companies open box policy which meant I couldn't examine the camera until after purchase, so after charging the battery, downloading the gopro software to my laptop, desktops and samsung Galaxy, I tried to pair it with my mobile and discovered the camera was either pre-owned or had been purchased, used and returned, as the internal preferences had been personalised with the name "Craig M*****H" and the original seals on the box had been replaced with sticky tape (so much for their open box policy) so, I returned the camera the following day and received a full refund and the stock (cut & paste) apology emailed from their customer services department.

Anyway I have now purchased a GoPro 4 Silver (with accessories) from a reputable independent dealer and I'm now looking for some advice regarding taking aerial or elevated shots, mainly of road junctions, roundabouts etc. I would prefer to use a UAV but I'm not sure of any legalities or restrictions relating to flying over traffic etc, although I probably wouldn't have to fly it above maybe 200 ft, another possible option would be a mast of around 300 ft tall or maybe slightly higher.
 
Will you be taking images for your own use or are you going to charge someone money? There are regulations in place for the use of a drone for commercial use, ( or selling the resultant images) and you would need to be licensed. There are also restrictions using a drone near crowds, traffic, buildings etc.
300ft mast is almost 100 metres. i don't think they do masts that high, tallest I have seen is around 26 metres and that was mounted on a very large 4x4 truck.
Allan
 
Ok that may be slightly exaggerated, but I'm assuming as the camera would be off to the side of the locus on a pole and not directly above it, it would have to be slightly higher to shoot down at less of an angle.???
 
You lose control of the drone (maybe you're not incompetent, but it malfunctions) - in falling it breaks a car windscreen and someone subsequently dies ... but of course you've already explored the insurance options ...
 
The images would be taken on behalf of paying clients, I haven't used the GoPro yet therefore I'm not sure what view can be expected through the lens, so I've made an uneducated guess as to the possible hieghts required, not so much for junctions etc. but some large roundabouts may benefit from the additional height to shoot the whole scene with exits etc. Just a thought.
 
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GoPro's have extreme wide angle lenses, you won't have to go very high at all even shooting very large junctions/roundabouts.

I'm not joking, at 300ft with a GoPro, you'd get the best part of an entire town in a single frame!
 
You know you want one http://droneflight.co.uk/collections/s1000 It's only £4.4k with a Black Magic camera:eek:

In my opinion there's probably going to be tighter/more rules and regulations regarding flying drones because of all the idiots out there who crash them into peoples houses, cars, being a general nuisance with them, etc. would be a shame if that does happen but it only takes a small minority to ruin it for others.

If you are wanting to take aerial footage of junctions, roundabouts, etc then I wouldn't recommend a drone. All it would take is one mistake for it to go crashing down and cause an accident. I've been flying drones for a few years now and I still don't like taking them near congested areas.
 
visagephoto said:
... another possible option would be a mast of around 300 ft tall or maybe slightly higher.
Click to expand...
I think you need to do some more homework.
visagephoto said:
The images would be taken on behalf of paying clients...
Click to expand...
You *really* need to do some more homework. Equipment, training, licensing, insurance.
 
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There's a basic rule - or rather guideline - not to fly with 50m of persons/vehicles/property 'not under your control' which means willing and able to respond to any instruction or warning.
Plus taking photos from the drone for commercial reasons requires a CAA licence.
None of this applies to using a mast.

You'd probably be looking at a Phantom which could give you good results with a gopro.
While basically 'easy' to fly there is a lot of technical stuff to pick up regards maintaining it which is OK if it's your hobby but if it's something slung in the car and expected to just work when required something bad is going to happen eventually!
 
There are a lot of places that sell masts, everything from a telescopic mast on a 7.5 truck, to a bolt together triangular section ex military mast on a trailer, and lots of combinations in between. I don't think you need to go much above 15-20 metres with a Gopro to get nice wide views or even a dslr with wide angle lens.
There is a lot of completion about, especially between the elevated pole users as drones are slowly making their presence felt.
Of course, there is another option. A large helium filled balloon with a Gopro slung underneath, linked to your smartphone, all tethered to a heavy weight.
Allan
 
Could be worse. You could be wanting a drone for your own personal assistant...
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Edit...video isn't working :(
 
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