Anyone Tried A Remote Control Quad Copter Camera Rig?

you can check out my footage here: www.heliwatch.com here is direct link to our demo reel:



enjoy!!!

Fantastic footage, FotoNinja! Watching it's exhilarating, my mind reeling with the possibilities of heretofore impossible shots, added value, mega budget look & feel, not to mention the soaring emotional experience embedded. What an exciting time to be a filmmaker. I still remember the exorbitant sums we needed a few decades back to hire a helicopter & aerial cameraman. Must be close to 30 years ago now, but fuel alone was 500 an hour, but in those days a mega-crane was $1000 an hour. Speaking of budgets, yours is the most elaborate rig I've seen in this category, I'll check out your site, but I anticipate that setup doesn't come cheap. Thanks for sharing.

Ok, forget quadcopters, the latest cine-nouveau is to go old school with EagleVision POV!

Click full screen & make sure your sound is on, this is all real!

I've two Phantom rigs; one basic, one very much upgraded. I know someone coming out with a Carbon Fiber water proof case/frame for the Phantom. I'm also just starting to learn with two much more sophisticated systems. Aerial video is huge when you're in a situation that will allow you to take advantage of it. There is also a new site going up with news and tips to help videographers get into aerial work, not sure when it will be live.

Since Peter did suggest that we might post some humorous things here, & though we love all the amazing aerial footage, some are using their drones for other weird purposes...



Want to terrify your superstitious neighbors?




This one's perfect for your SciFi film (but don't you just want to smack the editor for continually monkeying with the frame?)





Since the dawn of civilization, man has always dreamed of making lawnmowers fly.





As for design, this one has it all! It can even film your low tracking shots too.





Finally, nothing livens up a stuffy Chess Conference like the unexpected arrival of a flying drone!

Nothing fancy, just some practice flights around my farm. And it flew with bats, and some birds. The bats flew weird patterns around it for a bit, then ignored it. Birds are very afraid of it. LOL!

If you get a Phantom, get a prop balancer , and the carbon fiber props . Very well worth it. And the gel vibration attachment that DJI makes for it (the gimbal is ultimate, but I read they give out easily).

A short-cut cheap for the camera mount is to get some Sorbothane pads, cut to size, get longer screws, and place it between the stock mount and the Phantom. Works wonders!

Balance CF props and Sorbothane or DJI gel stabilizer will eliminate the jello effect 100%.

Since this video was shot, I've upgraded to more powerful motors, too. Along with a long laundry list of other things. There are several Phantom upgrade kits on line. Better, stronger frames, better motors, even one guy developing a carbon fiber water proof body that is a bit lighter than the stock one.

I can tell you this. I have two, one for serious shooting, one for practice flights. You WILL crash it when you first fly it. And it CAN indeed be crashed easily enough to do serious damage that effects it's stability. My practice model has undergone several repairs. Take your time, take baby steps, learn to fly slowly, little by little. Fly low and close and learn to control it well first. And NEVER loose line of sight! I can tell you that is the scariest feeling in the world! I've put in lots and lots and lots of hours with my practice model. And there is still a lot I need to learn to do the shots I want to get.

And yes, it is illegal in the USA to do commercial photography or video with aerial units, no matter what. You can try to get a "Certificate of Authorization" from the FAA to fly and video, but they won't give you one if any sort of recording device is attached. The FAA currently has an official "investigation" being conducted on civilian drones, or "Unmanned Aerial Systems" as they call everything that has either a recording device on it, or is of a large enough size. Regulations are expected to be announced sometime in late 2014. And it is also illegal to fly these over people, crowds, ground vehicles, within 3 miles of an airport, etc. So be very careful what you do with these things.

So here's some clips from some practice flights.
vimeo.com/73826960

… slightly off-topic:
Stumbled on The Verge today upon this demo

vimeo.com/74765076

some 'movements' are really impressive - behind the skater and out of the garage, in front of the wake-boarders, the 'dolly shot' thru the tree… 

Imagine, what Hitchcock had done with it… 

More amazing aerial footage. Once impossible shots, now appearing like an effortless glide. Perfect music for it too. That fellow must be a very experienced pilot. All in all, a lovely little film.

Nice share, thanks Karsten.

These 8 films show you how great HeliCam can be

www.indiewire.com/article/watch-10-films...making-can-look-like

enjoy

DSLR Pros sell upgraded Phantoms. I recommend getting a cheap unit from DJI and learning it well first. Then go for the higher end DSLR Pros version. Anyway, they are now aiming for an obvious market, law enforcement.

Some fancy flying from France.

Vimeo Staff Pick

Just when you thought the drone wars were dying down thanks to the Gov saying you can't fly them, Amazon (with its eye on the future) is planning to deliver your purchases by remote controlled unmanned flying devices.

Wasn't that on the Jetsons?

Why they would be permitted to fly their mini golden tupperware containers all over the urban airspace while we're forbidden to lift our harmless little GoPro even a hundred feet seems somewhat hypocritical.

Bezos announced this on 60 Minutes. Whether it happens or is even possible, only time will tell...





If this ever gets off the ground (pun intended), I predict street gangs will place a bounty on popshotting these pups out of the sky.

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While we're at it, here's an update on the legal battles of flying these things.

As you're watching this you may contemplate which is more impossible; them winning the case? the astounding ranges they get on these devices? or who in this club has ever had a girlfriend?

I've been following that case. Seems that the FAA published a "recommendation" and not a "regulation" prohibiting drones. So the FAA's own red tape is about to screw them out of this law suit. Hoping those guys win. It would open a whole new market for us. And we'd need to self police our industry, making sure folks are well trained and experienced before they go out damaging property and injuring folks from not being competent pilots.

OR if the FAA loses, they may ram formal regulation through that makes this stuff flat out illegal, which would be very difficult to change in the future.

Here it is folks, the world's smallest lightest drone... with 2 cameras!

Now where's my fly-swatter?

Just posted this on Twitter.

In case you're not following that feed, I thought I'd share it here as well.
Some really amazing stuff...

Here's the direction they're going with quadcopter technology now!

Enjoy