Aerial Photography / Video

[Okiewan]

Just getting into it ... a LOT of fun. Will post some videos / stills when I get some actually worth posting. Still working out all the kinks in the new "flying camera" , messing with settings, etc. In the meantime, here are a couple quick ones.

Camera is a Go Pro 4 Black, modified with a "flat" lens, ie; replaced the stock super wide ( as in fisheye) lens with an aftermarket one that's great for aerial stuff. The vid here was with the stock lens though.

 

[Okiewan]

This one is low light, cant seem to get home before the sun sets. THAT could be because it's winter. Yack! This one is with the better lens (no fisheye/distortion). Click the HD icon and watch it on Vimeo, much better than the low-res embeded one.

 

[Rich Rohrich]

That is really cool. How high up is that flying?

 

[Okiewan]

Rich...

86 meters. so 280 feet. One of these days I'll have the nerve to go a lot higher, it'll easily reach 3,500ft (limited by battery life). Not that I'd ever reach that, 1K in a safe location is high enough.

 

[Papakeith]

Be careful that you don't violate any airspace rules. some of us still get in the airplane to go take pictures.

 

[Okiewan]

Nice ... now worries brother, I don't get to RI very often :)

Seriously though, I'm certainly not out to get the FAA after me. I obey all "suggestions" they've published. I even check radar before flying in a new place ... to see what alt any air traffic is at. Frankly, 500' is a realistic ceiling for me and getting images.

 

[Papakeith]

I've played with a few of these 'copters' and they are a lot of fun and can be very useful tools.

The key is whether you are flying 500ft MSL(Mean Sea Level) or AGL(Above Ground Level).
In that video I posted I'm at ~1200 MSL which in that area is just above 600 ft. AGL so your 500 feet of vertical flight could put you pretty close.
Granted, you can hear me coming from a mile or so away and there should be plenty of time for you to adjust.
But the FAA is going to come down hard on someone soon. It will be the whole laser pointer thing all over again.
Up here there is someone flying drones on the approach to Logan in Boston. Usually around 3,500 ft. :OHMY: . They haven't caught him yet but they do have an FAA guy working these spottings.
I know I'm being a bit of a curmudgeon, but I don't want to see one of these aircraft take down one with a soul onboard..

Does yours have the homing feature if you ever lose sight of it? I've seen some that at the press of a button will return to where they lifted off and land themselves.

 

[Okiewan]

The controller (Naza v2) has RTH (return to home) either when it loses contact with the transmitter/radio, or manually triggered (failsafe). It will also RTH and land when battery power drops too low.

In addition, all known no-fly zones are programmed ... will not start/fly if I'm within those areas. It will also warm me if I'm close to one (1.5 miles). I can hard program ceiling and distance, both will trigger RTH if I exceed them. All of this assuming I haven't lost contact with all satellites. (I've seen it using 13 separate satellites, usually it's 10. If it has less than 7, it won't fly.

There really isnt a reason to fly one of these higher than the suggested 400-500' (AGL) anyway, at least not for photography ... besides a 24" wide object starts getting pretty hard to see at 300', lol. I do use FPV camera view on a display, with on screen flight data, which makes it easy to keep track of, but hey, it takes some guts to fly out of LOS, I'm no thrill seeker.

I understand the concern though ... I read all the time about the folks that get a ready-to-fly and just get after it, having no idea what they are doing or what harm they can cause. The "Phantom" is a perfect example. $1,200 and it's easy to fly. SOOOO many "fly-away" complaints, the vast majority of which are user error, interference from power lines, microwave towers, cell towers, etc. There's a lot to know about flying a multirotor (or any other RC flyer) than can reach altitude. Unfortunately, there are way too many out there with lots of money and little brain matter.

The LAST thing I'll risk is taking down an aircraft, that's kind of a no brainer.

 

[Okiewan]

BTW ...
http://www.modelaircraft.org/files/memanual.pdf
Scroll down to the "Academy of Model Aeronautics National Model Aircraft Safety Code"|
That's the RC'ers Bible, and where the FAA gets a lot of their recommendations/guidelines.

 

[Papakeith]

In addition, all known no-fly zones are programmed ... will not start/fly if I'm within those areas. It will also warm me if I'm close to one (1.5 miles). I can hard program ceiling and distance, both will trigger RTH if I exceed them. All of this assuming I haven't lost contact with all satellites. (I've seen it using 13 separate satellites, usually it's 10. If it has less than 7, it won't fly.

That is pretty frickin' cool.

 

[Mully]

I want to see you take video of the neighborhood again, only this time I want to see you bring it back down and fly it in your front door..... ;)

 

[Okiewan]

I want to see you take video of the neighborhood again, only this time I want to see you bring it back down and fly it in your front door..... ;)

LOL, I've gotten close to the house... "ting ting ting" on a window. Pull Back! Pull Back! . Window survived, but dumped the copter. 2 of 6 props toast. :BANG:

 

[Okiewan]

And another, just messing around at Thump's house . Set this one on 4K and run it full screen