[Quadcopter] DJI Phantom 2

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

Hey, so I got this quadcopter, to take my GoPro up into the skies and fly around.  Did a lot of investigating prior to purchase and this seemed to be the best before I ended up getting a pro-level one.

 

I took it out for a first flight yesterday lunch, and quite frankly I was terrible.  Too scared, too windy and I'd not calibrated the camera or controls yet.  Fixed a few issues and took it out at dusk, much better.

 

Excuse the noise in the videos, I uploaded raw without muting sound.

 

1st flight @ lunch

 

2nd flight @ dusk:

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

Lack of love for the drones here then?

 

Oh well, I took this:

 

[Praetor]

looks good but my concern with drones is the lack of law for them; i mean anyone can have a drone, attach a go pro and start recording private stuff others do, resulting in a lack of privacy.

[xendrome]

looks good but my concern with drones is the lack of law for them; i mean anyone can have a drone, attach a go pro and start recording private stuff others do, resulting in a lack of privacy.

 

You really do not and shouldn't have a expectation of privacy while you are outside, or in your yard, even if you have a fence up. You do however have it in your home, and there are already laws to protect that.

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

Lack of privacy?  I fly it around public areas.  My worry is with phones, anyone could walk around and take pictures of anything.  What a ridiculous argument.

[TAZMINATOR]

Great videos..

 

Quadcopters are expensive..  unless they are down to $400 or less.

 

 

looks good but my concern with drones is the lack of law for them; i mean anyone can have a drone, attach a go pro and start recording private stuff others do, resulting in a lack of privacy.

 

People take pictures/videos everywhere.... even at malls, bars, etc. What's the difference?

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

Thanks.  I am still very much learning (and crashing).

 

This cost:

 

Quadcopter: ?500

Gimbal: ?200

Go-Pro: ?300

 

It's certainly the lower-end of what's available, but fun to play with and a starting point :)

[Praetor]

You really do not and shouldn't have a expectation of privacy while you are outside, or in your yard, even if you have a fence up. You do however have it in your home, and there are already laws to protect that.

 

actually, that's not entirely true. In my country there's laws that protect peoples privacy even if they are outsider (in limited way, by the way); the problem with quads is that they are getting more smaller and silent, so it can be enough for anyone to start spying on others peoples homes without them knowing it or even tracking them; it's so worrysome that there's some political parties that request that only law forces should use quads; others request that a "pilot" should have a licence for it and warn authorities when going to pilot a quad...

 

 

Lack of privacy?  I fly it around public areas.  My worry is with phones, anyone could walk around and take pictures of anything.  What a ridiculous argument.

 

ridiculous? why, if you are using a quad with a camera? that only gives more manouver for taking pictures (not saying you are doing that, mind you) then a person with a phone...

 

Great videos..

 

Quadcopters are expensive..  unless they are down to $400 or less.

 

 

 

People take pictures/videos everywhere.... even at malls, bars, etc. What's the difference?

 

see the above.

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

Look, your argument holds no water.  There are a great many places I could discreetly take a phone that a 4ft whirring helicoptor would be somewhat noticed.  Leave it - you're looking for an issue where there is none.

[TAZMINATOR]

actually, that's not entirely true. In my country there's laws that protect peoples privacy even if they are outsider (in limited way, by the way); the problem with quads is that they are getting more smaller and silent, so it can be enough for anyone to start spying on others peoples homes without them knowing it or even tracking them; it's so worrysome that there's some political parties that request that only law forces should use quads; others request that a "pilot" should have a licence for it and warn authorities when going to pilot a quad...

 

 

 

ridiculous? why, if you are using a quad with a camera? that only gives more manouver for taking pictures (not saying you are doing that, mind you) then a person with a phone...

 

 

see the above.

 

 

It doesn't matter...  Don't forget that people fly planes (big or small planes) from point A to point B ... during the flight, people can take pics or videos through the windows to view the earth even people walking or driving outside...

 

Many years ago, I went to the high school and told the teacher that I had to leave for a few hours for flying with my friend. So I met my friend at the airport and got on a small plane and went up in the air... I took photos of the high school with people walking outside...   no one was complaining about what I did.    Then after finished taking photos, my friend and I had fun with the plane in the air such as loop, twist, etc...  It was fun.

 

I can see people that they were outside of their homes walking around before we went back to the airport to land.

 

Don't forget that the movie makers have that quadcopters or hire helicopter pilots to fly over the movie scene to film the actors anywhere in the world for a few hours or most of the day depends on their movie story/plot.  That's the reason that the movie makers are buying quadcopters for cheaper instead of hiring the pilots by hourly rates which is expensive.

 

 

I was on TV a few times ...  I don't care if they were filming me...    If I don't want to be on TV, I'd tell the producers/managers to blur me out or cut me out of the film.

 

 

Here is one of the examples:

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

So back to the subject in hand.  Anyone else fly?

[TAZMINATOR]

So back to the subject in hand.  Anyone else fly?

 

Yes I fly a small plane once a while. But not RC though.

 

I flew helicopters a few times.

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

I used to love flying actual aircraft - specifically a Chipmonk :)

[TAZMINATOR]

Cool.

 

I fly a Cessna.

[Praetor]

well gee you guys are taking this personal. I'm just talking about a subject that is getting some heat in my country (quads and their applications).

[Scott Hellewell]

I bought a quadricopter and had a blast with it for a few weeks and then one of the four engines locked up on it.  It was a cheaper one in the $100 range, but great fun to fly.

 

Since then I have purchased a GoPro and at some point want to get a new quad to attach it to.

[TAZMINATOR]

personal? HA!

 

If your country do not like that, then they should have ban Quadcopters and accessories for that country in the first place...

 

In USA, people do not care that RC planes/copters with cameras, etc flying over their heads....   if they want privacy, they can stay indoors with blinds closed. Simple.  I have seen people building their own glass houses without the blinds or drapes...  They have the best view...  and they don't care if the houses in about 50ft to 200 ft away from their house and someone with DLSR with big lens that can be zoomed up close to that house without people knowing.

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

well gee you guys are taking this personal. I'm just talking about a subject that is getting some heat in my country (quads and their applications).

 

Nobody is taking it personally, so you can stop that train of thought.  You are derailing a thread with a subject that holds no weight.  Now please stop else it will be reported as trolling.

 

So you fly a Cesna?  Blimey, that's a fair few steps up from a Chipmonk ;)

 

Scott: The cheapie "toys" are prone to failure.  On the Phantom, every part can be replaced :)  There are cheaper options available, such as a Phantom1 or Blade 350 :)

[TAZMINATOR]

Chipmonk is a nice plane.  I like Cessna myself.  I did the tricks with it such as twists, loops, etc.  :D

[notta]

This is a case of policy has not caught up with technology. I think it's cool as ######, but I imagine the fun will be taken away eventually. A co-worker received his Tuesday. $1200 on Amazon :(

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

That's exactly why I bought mine now.  As soon as an overly-harsh policy comes into play then prices will rise.  And then over time it will relax again.  Let's face it, RC planes and copters have been around since the 70s.

 

Which did he get?

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

Crashed it this weekend!  It came down because I panicked and went the wrong way.  Stright into a 7ft tall, 12ft wide brable bush next to a lake.  I first thought it had gone into the lake but realised not - then I tried to find it.  Found out where it was and how inaccessible it was.  Not close enough to the water to swim out, but impossible to rach from the dry side of the bush.  Cue me for two hours destroying a bush very aggressively wearing padded clothing I dialed a mate to bring to me (I could hardly leave it, go home, come back).  Cut myself to shreds, but it seems fine - broke 2 props but they are like the "consumables" of the device, so not worried about that.

 

Anyhow, I took this: