Anyone Tried A Remote Control Quad Copter Camera Rig?

The prices are really coming down. Some you can control with your iPhone, while watching real time video.

These guys have a great demo reel, with plenty of fast & slow dramatic footage.

www.rcaerialcam.com/Aerial_Video.html

I had this baby in my shopping cart, ready to place the order.

And then I was informed that due to new legislation the are unable to ship internationally due to restrictions on carrying those batteries in aircraft.

dslrpros.com/Products/tabid/94/ProductID...e/en-US/Default.aspx

Shockingly cheap, ready to fly, and comes with preprogrammed flying presets (it will even come back and land at the point of departure automatically using gps if you lose control of it).

Looks great, but I think I really need to be able to see my framing from back at the base. Sure beats the days of the mega crane shots. Once I was on a set with a huge crane, it was over $1000 dollars an hour, & that was 30 years ago! God only knows what they cost now. These little copter rigs are so much more versatile, allowing you to be more creative. Low tracking shot across a raging river, I mean, whatever you can imagine, for once impossible shots.

Gotta love this one's GPS, come home to Papa feature. My wish-list would have to include pan tilt head & remote viewing. Preferably thru iPhone or better yet, iPad.

Perhaps you could request that they send the batteries by cargo shipping. (reminiscent of the old George Carlin joke - Why when a package goes by boat it's called cargo, by car it's called shipping?)

With the new GoPro you can monitor the image on your smartphone, so that is taken care of (you just have to rig your smartphone to the remote control).

At this price range a pan/tilt head would not be possible - it would require a larger copter to handle the weight and extra servos. With the GoPro you have such a wide point of view that you just set the bracket in the rough angle you want, and you will pretty much get the shot.

This rig would be better suited to getting aerial shots for corporate style shoots, advertisements, sports, and extreme documentaries. Not really suited to cinema style work (though I am sure someone would make it work).

Here is a hands on review from provideocoalition:

provideocoalition.com/jfoster/story/prod...quadcopter-for-gopro

If only budget weren't an issue. Maybe just have to win one online video contest to afford a luxurious gear aggrandizing OctoCopter ... with RED Epic no less...


fearsomesteve.com/551/

Nothing beats aerial footage, & the quadcopters allow passes thru upright structures a plane couldn't navigate.
Here's some gorgeous scenes with soaring music.

Unfortunately the XP2 quadcopter is close to 3 grand US, but hopefully a budget priced similar item will surface soon. Shot with GoPro.

Enjoy




Ok, how about 400 bucks?

Granted, this guy's not the most eloquent spokesman, but at that price who cares...

Their site is RotorConcept.com
Who needs cranes, jibs, even a dolly? Just get savvy with this device.
Still, I really would prefer to be able to see the POV thru the iPhone or iPad which acts as a controller.

We had talked about governments making these devices illegal , classifying them as drones. Here's some footage from the Turkish unrest where the cops shoot a guy's quadcopter out of the sky...



Here's the article for it from Forbes.

On a more positive note, check out this gorgeous aerial footage that would be impossible with a conventional helicopter.

Was just playing with one today...

Love it! Any links? What's that one worth? Any footage?

Brilliant color scheme & LED's, that way you can tell at a distance or altitude which way it's facing.

I've been looking at a few online & really see the advantage of having one that's controlled or at least provides a POV camera monitor thru the iPad or iPhone. All in one control & view seems best to me.

GJI as in the link a few posts up...painted to make it easier to see and which is the front

TrixTrax9000 wrote: Love it! Any links? What's that one worth? Any footage?

I have this as well. It is beyond awesome. It's called DJI Phantom.
$680 for Quad + Transmitter
$400 for GoPro Hero Black (+$20 for a microSD if you don't have one)

That just gets you started. Here are some random clips from a video I'm putting together with just this basic equipment. In almost all these test clips I've stabilized the footage and "fixed" the GoPro's fisheye at the expense of resolution. With a gimbal you would not need to stabilize.

A gimbal (stabilizer) is a must for good video. The DJI gimbal for the Phantom is called Zenmuse H3-2D, and it will run you another $700. (I have this on the way).

Finally, you can add FPV (First Person View) equipment to frame your shots. This can run you another $250-500. The WiFi on the GoPro has a range of about 100 ft and about a 5 second lag so it is imposible to fly using the GoPro's WiFi feature.

Everything I've quoted here is what I consider a "prosumer" rig. You can get everything for much less money but you would likely spend more time tinkering and trying to make things work than shooting your aerial footage. I guess what I'm saying this is the closest to "Plug and Play" you can get with quality equipment at the moment. And even so, be prepared for a moderately steep learning curve if you've never been exposed to the RC hobby. You also need to think beforehand if you would be comfortable with at least one grand up in the air. The Phantom does have a feature that automatically comes home and lands itself but you need to put in the effort to become thoroughly familiar with operating it and take it slowly. I hope this helps and did not discourage you, this thing is no less than a modern wonder; you just need to take it slowly and you'll have a new tool at your disposal to take your productions to new heights.

And Carbon fiber props.. (I have 11 carbon fiber guitars)...anyway...

Great information, impressive rig. The random clips link takes me to a service entrance for youtube, not your page. It'll be nice to see your finished work on it. I wonder if in the future, as these things become smaller & more precise, if they could be used instead of dolly shots, cranes, jibs, even steadicams...

Of course around actors you'd need to have something guarding the blades, like some toy helicopters with a ring around the spinning blade. Since they now have mini drones the size of insects, perhaps it won't belong for this technology to really expand our options.

Here is my first ever flight with a DJI Phantom:
I should have read the instructions better...

Oops! Fixed the link: Here it is again.
I'm currently editing a video for a competition from the quadcopter manufacturer. I'll link the video in a couple of days when I'm done with it.

Cool...(I justed "cool"ed it at the video as well)

Ok I'm done editing my aerial footage .

If you like it, please thumb it on Youtube since the video is for a contest based on likes. :S
Thanks!

We'd talked about governments shooting down your flying camera rig, well check this out, a US town is considering placing a bounty for citizens to shoot down camera carrying drones !

OK, so I totally lost all my sanity and jumped on the band wagon. Super impressed.
My absolute first time with a GoPro, and with my very first time with a Phantom.

vimeo.com/70981908

vimeo.com/70986932