Author Topic: Quadcopters for camera use (Read 25511 times)

andygates · « **on:** 17 February, 2014, 04:06:50 pm »

Distaff to the lifting kite thread, I'm toying with getting a little quad. Kites need you to have a friend and I'm Billy No-Mates, plus I often want to take photos of things too close for kitey interaction (buildings, cliffs, Verity's boobs).

Anyone played with quads enough to have an opinion? A kit like this one looks like it'll match up with my existing Futaba r/c (from the kite rig).

mrcharly-YHT · « **Reply #1 on:** 17 February, 2014, 04:30:39 pm »

Check out the parot drone. A work colleague messes around with one a lot.

matthew · « **Reply #2 on:** 17 February, 2014, 04:42:35 pm »

Quote from: andygates on 17 February, 2014, 04:06:50 pm

Distaff to the lifting kite thread, I'm toying with getting a little quad. Kites need you to have a friend and I'm Billy No-Mates, plus I often want to take photos of things too close for kitey interaction (buildings, cliffs, Verity's boobs).

Anyone played with quads enough to have an opinion? A kit like this one looks like it'll match up with my existing Futaba r/c (from the kite rig).

Oi

Why the interest in my younger sister's cleavage

Plus I don't think you are the man she's marrying in a couple of months.

andygates · « **Reply #3 on:** 17 February, 2014, 05:02:55 pm »

Parrot looks sexy, a bit more than I have in my jamjar right now... limited to wifi range, though? Hm.

I meant Verity the giant naked lady in Ilfracombe. Unless that's still your sister.

Jaded · « **Reply #4 on:** 17 February, 2014, 05:13:27 pm »

Not played enough yet, but have a toy one and have read around. They are difficult to control, a learning experience. Don't be taken in by the YouTube videos showing them going through letterbox holes - it is quite a learned skill.

A gimbal for the camera is usually advised, although newer quads seem to be more stable.
GPS used for getting it home if contact is lost, and for compensating for wind is pretty useful too.
Battery life or a spare battery (my toy one lasts some 7 minutes)
They break. Probably not too much of a problem for a practical person like you andy
Small ones catch the wind more
FPV at least lets you see what you are taking photos/video of, but usually has a WiFi connection back to a smartphone on your rig.

WRT the no-mates - you are advised to have a second person, to spot other flying things, trees, wires, police etc! Plus taking photos from the air brings you into CAA licensing territory.

A bit here
Plus interesting stuff at the BMFA

My guess is that (until they become so widespread that they are a nuisance, or you are invading privacy) limited hobby use will go unmolested. They've been used to monitor police action in demonstrations - there is a youtube of one being shot down somewhere.

andygates · « **Reply #5 on:** 17 February, 2014, 07:27:10 pm »

Interesting stuff.

FPV exceeds my budget *ever*.

I note that the Parrots have a thriving software community full of sickness like autonomous GPS waypointing. Over the Bosphorous. That's very Byron.

clarion · « **Reply #6 on:** 17 February, 2014, 07:51:00 pm »

The Parrots do look very cool. Though I am a biiiiiig kite fan, I'd have to admit that this has much more potential as a camera platform.

uphillbothways · « **Reply #7 on:** 17 February, 2014, 08:52:10 pm »

Quote from: Jaded on 17 February, 2014, 05:13:27 pm

Plus taking photos from the air brings you into CAA licensing territory.

Only for commercial purposes. As far as the CAA are concerned, a quadrotor or other aerial photography platform being operated by a hobbyist is no different from any other model aircraft and is subject to the same rules. As long as you abide by the regulations as set out in CAP 658, you require no form of licensing or approval. If you're using one in the line of business, then it becomes an Unmanned Aircraft System subject to the regulatory regime set out in CAP 722. UAS of under 20kg require no registration or airworthiness approval, but the pilot does need a suitable qualification (BNUC/RPQ) and to apply for operating permission when flying close to people or property.

Kites are unregulated by the CAA so long as they are used outside of controlled airspace and below 300 feet.

rogerzilla · « **Reply #8 on:** 18 February, 2014, 05:57:22 pm »

Andy proves yet again that the driver of all new consumer technology is pr0n.

andygates · « **Reply #9 on:** 19 February, 2014, 07:32:12 pm »

Alas, silencing the SCREAMING BEES would take too much weight, so no good for peeping tommery.

I'm pretty sold on the Parrot, actually. Time to see how much I got paid during January's on-call hellscape.

Euan Uzami · « **Reply #10 on:** 19 February, 2014, 11:12:43 pm »

Quote from: andygates on 17 February, 2014, 04:06:50 pm

Distaff to the lifting kite thread, I'm toying with getting a little quad. Kites need you to have a friend and I'm Billy No-Mates, plus I often want to take photos of things too close for kitey interaction (buildings, cliffs, Verity's boobs).

Anyone played with quads enough to have an opinion? A kit like this one looks like it'll match up with my existing Futaba r/c (from the kite rig).

A friend of mine's website: www.3flite.co.uk
He's only 15 but has put a lot of videos on YouTube about quadcopters and the like and is extremely knowledgeable about them. He flies them (and planes) around with go pros attached. Was showing me one today he's planning on selling but not sure if available yet.

fuaran · « **Reply #11 on:** 20 February, 2014, 11:44:31 am »

How good is the camera on the Parrot drone? Some reviews say it is pretty poor image quality.
It seems people have tried attaching GoPros to the Parrot, but it struggles with the extra weight.

andygates · « **Reply #12 on:** 27 February, 2014, 07:57:28 am »

It's a bit like a meh phone cam: on days with good light it's okay, rez isn't astounding. The interesting factor is the viewpoint.

Looking around, there's a Mobius HD Action Cam which is basically a non-waterproof matchbox-sized Gopro-type thing. Video at various rates, interval stills, wifi. At 40g naked and about £80, the AR will have no problem with that.

...of course, I've got to fix the motor I broke fixing the pingfuckit that pinged on first flight, first. Tinkering and fettling and possible money pit? Sounds like a bloody bicycle.

Wombat · « **Reply #13 on:** 27 February, 2014, 12:27:08 pm »

Hmmm, GoPro's a bit heavier than that, I think. As I've already got a Gopro (which is a very nice thing indeed), my issue is not so much "what can I get aerial pics/videos with?" but more "what can lift my GoPro?" I'm still being tempted by an RC truck to chase the dog round the park with. Childish, I know, but hey, I'm only 61... truck, kite, quadcopter, too much toy temptation.

andygates · « **Reply #14 on:** 27 February, 2014, 01:15:11 pm »

The canonical answer to that is a DJI Phantom. But get a toy quad first and learn to fly that.

Jaded · « **Reply #15 on:** 27 February, 2014, 01:18:26 pm »

wot he said

and don't fly the toy into a puddle

Jaded · « **Reply #16 on:** 28 February, 2014, 08:28:22 am »

Quadcopter used for some footage here. Plus, at 3:41, the biggest arse in the world!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-26372277

andygates · « **Reply #17 on:** 02 March, 2014, 07:41:05 pm »

Yup, that built-in camera is crap.

I've given it a clean and will try to focus it better, but it's not good for much. I've just ordered the Mobius HD.

It's a hoot to fly, thobut.

Buzz buzz! by andygates, on Flickr

andygates · « **Reply #18 on:** 05 March, 2014, 10:39:56 pm »

Mobius is nice. Well-behaved, the size of a matchbox and 40g. Will try to fly it tomorrow

frankly frankie · « **Reply #19 on:** 07 March, 2014, 04:03:21 pm »

http://www.dpreview.com/news/2014/03/06/the-photography-show-2014-tidbits-from-the-show-floor/19

andygates · « **Reply #20 on:** 09 March, 2014, 07:52:56 pm »

Very nice! I think a secondhand Parrot comes in about one arm of that beast. *envies*

Here's a couple of the nicest things I've got from the Mobius: First a framegrab (using VLC) from about 35m (100ft):

And with the timelapse snapping every second, this is a full-frame still shot:

This one's at about 20m, and I've used Photoshop to undo the fisheye distortion and crop a little:

The rig still has plenty of jello (worn and crashed transmission makes wobbles which make stretchy-image distortion); will be fettling and looking to play in post. The tiny payload weight and lack of a controllable gimbal makes this less useful for video than for stills. Each of these flights has 250-500 shots, the traditional thing with funny-location shooting.

By crikey the auto-hover is useful. Hands-off and let it right itself. I'm hardly even crashing any more!

andygates · « **Reply #21 on:** 19 March, 2014, 08:05:57 pm »

...and he's gone and parked it in a tree.

This is the r/c equivalent of a clipless fall at the lights. Nearly twenty metres up in thick shrubbery invisible to the ground and needing climbfriends to rescue. Bah!

I'm ever so glad I didn't park a big lump of money in this tree.

Jakob · « **Reply #22 on:** 20 March, 2014, 05:51:46 am »

Quote from: andygates on 17 February, 2014, 07:27:10 pm

Interesting stuff.

FPV exceeds my budget *ever*.

I note that the Parrots have a thriving software community full of sickness like autonomous GPS waypointing. Over the Bosphorous. That's very Byron.

You are aware of hobbyking.com, right? One of my friends is into FPV big time (He just got the Fatshark goggles and has reached peak-geek) It can be done for a reasonable budget and on quite small.

Also, this frame is not a bad place to start:
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__49725__Q450_V3_Glass_Fiber_Quadcopter_Frame_450mm_Integrated_PCB_Version.html

I parked one of my scratch-built planes in some power-wires

..only about $30 worth of electronics, but it was flying really well, so that sucked. Went back a few days later and it was gone..

clarion · « **Reply #23 on:** 20 March, 2014, 11:19:13 am »

On Micklegate Stray, my best boomerang throw ever was halted by a Very Tall Tree with no low branches

toontra · « **Reply #24 on:** 20 March, 2014, 02:59:08 pm »

This was in the Bath local rag today:

http://www.bathchronicle.co.uk/Sightseeing-clouds/story-20831074-detail/story.html

Author Topic: Quadcopters for camera use (Read 25511 times)

Euan Uzami

Jakob